5 Tools to Help You Start Your Own Business in 2017

Have you ever wanted to start a business of your own through the power of the internet? Of course you have, who hasn’t! The good news is that there has never been a better time to take action and get the ball rolling.

When it comes to making money online or even starting a business of your own, you have a lot of options to choose from. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

• Affiliate Marketing - Earn a commission by referring leads and sales to other businesses.
• eCommerce - Create a product or become a middle man and start your own online store.
• Sell Your Expertise - Start a website or blog to show off your expertise, and sell your time as a service.

While those are just three ideas that come to mind for starting a new business in 2017, the truth is that there is a whole world of opportunity. At the same time, there are also plenty of tools to help you along the way. Having over 20 years of experience in the world of online marketing and branding, I know what it takes to create a great name for yourself and a solid reputation to go along with it.

Here are some of my recommended tools for 2017.

WiseIntro/WiseStamp

Everyone needs to have a website. Not just for their business, but also for their personal brand and online identity. However, when you are investing in starting a business, you might not have the time, money or focus, to run multiple websites at once. A perfect way to establish a name for yourself and still getting a personal profile site live is through the use of WiseIntro -- an extremely cost-effective and simple solution for getting a personal website live in just seconds. To create your site, all you need to do is plug in your name, personal bio, contact info, social profile pages and then select the theme of choice and you are good to go!

I actually first came across WiseIntro because I've been an active user of WiseStamp for a few years now. If you upgrade to the premium version of WiseIntro, you can access both. WiseStamp is amazing because it allows you to create a custom signature that appears at the bottom of your email. This makes everything more professional, personal and it's almost like getting free advertising every time you send an email out!

MeetEdgar

No matter what type of brand or business you are going to have, you will still need to be active on social media. However, this is no easy task. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn... they can all add up to a lot of work if you are trying to manage everything yourself.

The good news is that there are plenty of tools to help with this process. MeetEdgar for example, allows you to connect all of your social media accounts to their dashboard area and schedule everything out for days, weeks or months to come. This is one of my favorite tools for managing social media, as it puts many of my sites social updates on auto-pilot!

WordPress

WordPress has completed changed the way websites, blog and content is created on the internet today. In previous years, if you wanted to create a website, you would need to hire a designer, learn HTML and also upload all of your files one at a time. Now through the power of WordPress, everything is done through a content management system where you never really need to touch a line of coude. In short, if you know how to write in Microsoft Word or send an email, you can definitely use WordPress.

The free CMS is also great because it allows you to build any type of online business you like. Through the use of third party software, application and plugins, you can create a content site or even an online e-commerce store where you can sell products to audiences around the world. In short, when it comes to WordPress, there are no limits.

Domain Name Generators

One of the hardest parts about starting an online business is actually coming up with a name for it that isn't already taken. This is especially true if you are trying to get a matching domain name for it. Basically, anything remotely generic and in a .com, .net, or .org form is going to be taken. This means you have two options... pay a lot of money to try and acquire an owned domain name, or get creative and come up with a new one.

Thankfully there are also tools out there to help with this process as well. Domain name generators are all over the place, and each of them are useful in their own way. The way they work is simple. Just plug in a few keywords or ideas around the type of domain or business name you would like to create, then the generator will scour through thousands of domain names and give you the best options that are available. It doesn't always work out the way you'd like, but they are still a great resource and tool for finding available domain names.

Google Tools

The last useful resource in the bunch if Google Tools, which has been extremely useful for my business over the years. I throw a whole bunch of items into this list... which includes GMail, Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Google Docs, Google Sheets and pretty much anything else they create.

Through the use of these tools and applications, there is really no need to purchase Microsoft Office software, as Sheets and Docs can accomplish the same thing -- while also allowing you to access it and save your data from anywhere. Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics will allow you to view and manage all aspects of traffic flowing to and from your site, while also making sure it's ranking in the search results. And then there is Gmail... simply one of the best email platforms out there!

Make 2017 the Year You Start Your Online Business

As you can see, there are plenty of tools out there to help you get started with a business of your own. Right now is the best opportunity you will have, so don't let it pass. Check out each of the recommended tools above, come up with a great name for your business and go live with your first site. It's gonna be exciting, let me know how it works out!