Aurelius’ Top 33 Internet Marketing Tools and Resources

Is there any Internet marketer who’s revealed their list of top tools and resources for running a successful Internet business?

The way this list came about was after numerous requests from subscribers of my “Unstoppable Internet Marketing newsletter”, who were curious to know what tools I use to run my business.

In this post, I will share with you 33 of my best tools and resources I use to run my own business, since 2005 (free and paid). You’ll find that most of these aren’t “ordinary”, meaning I’m not going to simply tell you that “Paypal” is one of my best tools, even though it is. I figured that there’s already enough sources out there that/who tell you to get a Paypal or Clickbank account. I’m not even affiliated with most of these tools and resources, so I’m not here to make money.

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Shortkeys – This free tool will help you save 10, 20 even 30 minutes a day. It’s a simple text replacement tool that allows you to program text you type regularly. I’m telling you, this tool has saved me the pain of having to type the same things over and over again. You can watch a video tutorial I did for this program here.

2. Camtasia Studio – Ever wondered how people record their screen? Well, it’s by using this screen capturing software. The price tag for this software may be rather dear for some, but the return-on-investment you get out of it is priceless. This, by far, has been the most useful tool for creating most of my products. People consider video higher in perceived value than regular ebooks and reports. If you’re on a budget, there’s a free screen capturing software called CamStudio.

3. Adtrackz – You may have heard a thousands times, from the “gurus”, just how important testing and tracking is. This software script runs on your server and with this software you can basically track all types of things like – your text links, PPC ads and email promos. You can even split-test your salesletter to see which headline, price, bonuses etc, out-pull the other. You can even cloak/mask your affiliate links so people don’t steal your commissions. Your cloaked link could look like this: www.yourdomain.com/Recommends/abc-product.htm. You can then check your stats to see how many people clicked on your link. Great tool to measure your conversion rates! Alternatively, you can use Frank Bauer’s Goto-Pro adtracking system, here.

4. JV Manager/Fantasos – This is the core script that drives my business. You install it in one domain and you can setup all your products, affiliate programs, memberships etc in the one central location. If you click on the order button, on a product like UnstoppableMarkets.com, you’ll see how JV Manager works. I’m using JVManager version 1, and there’s a newer version called “Fantasos” that has a really hefty price tag on it. JV Manager 1 is not being sold by the owner anymore, but you may purchase it for dirt-cheap ($97 or so), from resellers. Just Google “JV Manager 1″ and you’ll get a list of resellers. I purchased mine for about $500 back then.

5. DigitalPoint Forum – this is where I get all my cool logos designed for about $5 each in less than 24 hours. Talk about a bargain! Once you’re in the forum, scroll down to where it says “Buy, Sell or Trade” and then click on “Services”. Like the logo I used here? Costs me $5 bucks . I also use this forum to find writers to write articles for my niche sites, too.

6. GMail - If you don’t already have a GMail account, get one. The last thing you want is to get hammered with a ton of email in your personal email account. Use it to subscribe to newsletters. One thing I like to do, since I’m an email marketer, is to sign up to as many Internet marketing newsletters as I can to see which emails get my attention. I then create a “swipe file” of emails that have attention-getting subject lines and email copy. So now you can have your very own rolodex of “winning” emails.

7. Need An Article – Do you hate writing? Do you need content for your sites? Do you need articles to submit to directories for traffic? This is the writing service the “gurus” didn’t want you to see! My friend, Scott Foster, has created a service where you can get your writing projects done by ghostwriters. The pricing is relatively affordable for anyone wanting to get their articles, press releases, ebooks and reports written.

8. Dictionary.com – I always like to increase my vocabulary, and find new words to use using their built-in thesaurus.

9. Niche-a-day – This free service will send you a hot niche via email, each day, with very specific details about the niche (like search results).

10. Web 2.0 site list – If you’re ever going to use Web 2.0 in your marketing, this page lists almost all Web 2.0 sites you can tap into.

11. Kayako Support Suite – This is the software that runs my customer support desk, located here. The price may be steep for some, but it’s well worth every dollar because of its features and flexibility.

12. NoteTab Light – Great, free tool for those email marketers. The main feature I use is the “split lines”. It basically wraps your text to whatever width you want. As a general rule of thumb, your emails should be no wider than 75 characters.

13. OpenOffice – Free alternative to Microsoft Office. You can use the word processing application to turn your documents to PDF files.

14. Mozilla Firefox – Firefox is a flexible browser and feature packed.  I have nothing against I.E., but I’m not a big fan of it because of past experiences with it crashing.

15. Affiliate Organizer – This is one of my best tools. If you don’t have it already, get it. This powerful tool saves all your Internet business information. You can keep track of all your login details such as your webhost details, blogs, autoresponders, domain registrars, URL’s, names, memberships, forums etc. This will save you time going through all those emails and papers containing your login details.

16. Sitepoint Marketplace – This is a great place if you’re looking for full sites that are for sale, or you can even sell your own site.

17. Warrior Forum – By far the best forum out there when it comes to Internet marketing. I guarantee you’ll learn a lot from this forum. This is the only forum I visit, everyday, to see what’s everyone talking about.

18. DigitalPoint’s Keyword tools – free to use keyword suggestion tool to build your keyword list.

19. Marketing Sherpa – For the most up-to-date marketing news, this is the best place.

20. IM News Watch – This your one-stop site to find out the latest Internet marketing news.

21. RoboForm – Hate filling in online forms? This software here is god-send and will save you a lot of time.

22. WordPress Spam “Protect Web Form” – There’s an easy solution to stopping those “spammy” WordPress comments you may be getting. Simply install this plugin and it stops spammers for good. The “Did you pass math” plugin didn’t work for me. I kept getting spam.

23. Compete.com – This service is similar to Alexa’s ranking tool, but features more comprehensive anaylytics that Alexa lacks, such as site growth and demographics.

24. Project Gutenberg – Heard of “Public domain” before? This is where you can get thousands for free ebooks whose copyright has expired. You’ll find dozens of topics to suit your area of target.

25. Phototricity – If you’re looking for images to use for your site design and product covers, this is a great site. The problem with most stock image sites is that they will only allow you to use their images on your own work. If you’re selling resell rights to your product, you cannot pass the images to your resellers. This is where Phototricity comes in. As long as you do not distribute the original images, you’re good to go.

26. AutoWebLaw – When it comes to selling or sharing any information online, you need to make sure you’re protected in case someone tries to sue you. This software creates legal documents for your websites, such as your agreement, disclaimer, earnings etc. This is the least you should do until you can hire a lawyer to specifically create legal documents for your sites. Please seek professional legal advice. With that said, do know that I’m sharing this for educational purposes only.

27. Aweber – The only autoresponder I’d recommend for any online marketer. I’ve tried many other autoresponders and nothing can beat Aweber, in terms of features, efficiency and reliability. Don’t even think about using autoresponder scripts installed on your own server just to save the monthly fees. If you’re serious about your business, then using autoresponder services is the way to go. There’s just too many benefits to list here.

28. Ebooks.com – This is my number one source for bookshelf books in digital format.

29. eScriptionist – These guys will transcribe your audios to words for about $1.50 /minute worth of audio.

30. Web Copy That Sells – This book, by Maria Veloso, is one of the best books I’ve read on the topic of copywriting. This is an essential read for anyone selling anything online. When subscribers ask me which book I’d recommend on the subject of copywriting, it’s Web Copy That Sells. This book helped me write my very first salesletter.

31. MindJet MindMapper – I use this tool to mindmap everything! When you get to a stage where you need to keep things simple and understandable, there’s nothing better than using mindmaps. I’ve been using mindmaps for almost everything I do in my business – When I read a book, I draw a mindmap to extract the main points. When I want to jot down ideas for a new project, I mindmap, and so many other uses.

32. Google Analytics – An easy, free and simple to use website analysis tool you can install to any webpage you want to track. You’ll get stats on what keywords people searched for which resulted in them reaching your webpage, where your traffic came from – organic, direct, referred etc, and more. If you have a website at all, then Analytics MUST be installed.

33. BannersMall – I saved one of the best ’till last. I love using BannersMall for all my promotional banners because of their experienced design skills, quality banners, affordable prices and most of all – the quality of service they provide. All you need to do is tell them what you want, and they’ll turn it into magnetizing banners that’ll make readers want to click on your banners! Tell Chris (one of the site owners), that I sent you

So there you have it. The top 33 tools and resources I use to run my Internet business.

If you’d like to see more tools I use in my business, make sure to download your FREE copy of my ‘Resource Cheat Sheet’ – www.ResourceCheatSheet.com

If you liked this post, feel free to leave a comment.

Do you have a favorite tool or resource you use that’s not listed here? Let us know by posting a comment…

I hope you’ve found at least one tool that would be useful for you and your business.