I’m what I call an “entrepreneur to the core”, having built businesses from home while raising my three kids for nearly 20 years.
My entrepreneurial experience includes:
- Freelance copywriting (my first business)
- Inventing two baby blankets called Swaddleaze and Blankeaze, which I sold to Summer Infant in 2008
- Developing a now-defunct WordPress plugin called May We Suggest
- Creating and selling a mobile apps portfolio (apps were an epic fail for me)
- Founding, building, and selling TheMogulMom.com, the leading website for mom entrepreneurs
- Being interviewed and featured in The New York Times, Working Mother, Fox Business News, ProBlogger, Entrepreneur, Visa Business Network, Daily Worth, Etsy Blog, Simple Mom, American Express OPEN Forum, SheKnows and YellowPages.com, as well as several best-selling books including The $100 Startup and The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds
Over the years, I’ve used many tools and services to run my various businesses. Here is a list of my timeless favorites. :)
Business Favorites
Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) when you make a purchase. Please know that I only recommend things that I personally use and love, and that I feel may be useful to you as well. These commissions help keep me in wine and non-fiction, and I’m very grateful when you support my site in this way. ;)
Blogging/Website
WordPress: In my book, WordPress is the absolute best publishing platform. It’s free, easy to manage, and has a great community. You can set up your own WordPress site for about $150.
Siteground: Super fast, secure, affordable hosting. My site runs on the Grow Big plan with the annual billing option which costs just $71 per year!
Genesis: Genesis is a WordPress framework that provides a secure and search engine optimized foundation that’s easy to customize and very user-friendly. I use the Genesis framework with a StudioPress theme.
StudioPress: Make your website yours without spending a ton of time or money (been there, done that) with awesome themes from StudioPress. I’m currently using the Essence Pro theme.
Marketing
Flodesk: After many years with MailChimp and MailerLite, I made the switch to Flodesk. Why? Aside from having awesome work flows, landing pages, sign up forms, integrations, and email templates, Flodesk is one of the only email marketing company that allows both affiliate marketing and network marketing (ConvertKit is the other one). Get 50% off Flodesk now.
SmarterQueue: I switched to SmarterQueue for my social media scheduling after using another service that was more than double the price. SmarterQueue lets you create categories for your social updates, design a custom posting schedule for each of your social networks, and build a library of social updates. Then, it takes care of the rest. Get a free 30-day trial, and then it’s just $19.99 per month.
One Drop: If you are building a doTERRA business and want to save yourself a ton of time, check out One Drop. It’s a full stock library of dōTERRA graphics, photos, stories, downloads, done-for-you content and more. If you use my link, you will save 10% off.