Productivity Tools for Creatives

Helpful Resources for Your Business

There are a ton of resources, courses and applications to help you create and make amazing improvements to your business. In this section I will focus on online resources that make life easier for me. Resources that will help you grow your business for not much outlay. The secret is in taking action.

Get Paid with Payoneer

Need to get paid from Paypal or Amazon into your local
bank account?
Payoneer is the answer.

Get Paid Internationally without the hassle:

Payoneer is a convenient service that lets you:

Open a US bank account quickly and easily.
Confirm your Paypal account and, if applicable, your Amazon account with Payoneer.
Simply link up your local bank account and once you have sufficient funds credited to your Payoneer balance you can withdraw the funds to your local bank account.
The international transfer takes place within a couple of days and the costs are reasonable.

If you are not a US citizen then Payoneer opens a whole world of potential internet based work and income. This includes freelancing on sites like Upwork, publishing books on Amazon or getting your funds from Paypal quickly.
Plus Payoneer is free to sign up.

Learn More About Payoneer

Featured:
Canva

The power of Canva for creating anything from banner ads, books and social media images is staggering. All for free too.

Visit Canva

Your Online Store

This can get confusing and you will certainly end up experimenting as you go along. I will give you a bit on my own experience with this journey and you can try a few of these tips out if you like. I cannot say what will work for you, but at least I have had some experience with these.

Your Own Website Store
A useful option is to use a platform that incorporates a store, website and blog all in one place. There are three options that I prefer:

Weebly: The pro and business upgrades provide all the tools and building blocks to create a beautiful looking store. You can use one of their integrated payment portals like Stripe and Paypal. You can also use another payment service and simply paste in the html code for your pay button. It is flexible like this. Weebly continues to grow and has recently been acquired by Square, a major e-commerce business. This bodes well for Weebly as a commerce based platform too. Learn more about Weebly here.

Selz: This platform has come out with stunning options for beautiful stores. Selz has a free option for a limited number of items. It has a very attractive pro package too. A big plus is that you can sell digital goods easily. Plus you can incorporate your store into Facebook pages. Selz aims to make it easy for you to incorporate their platform into your existing blog or even social media like Facebook pages and Twitter. Find out more about Selz here.

Ecwid: A somewhat odd name, but one of my favorite store platforms. It is easy to set up, cost effective and you can also sell from your social media platform and existing website or blog. For South Africans it is a nice choice because it partners up with a local payment platform called Payfast. I like to use this option for sales on my current website too. Find out more about Ecwid here.

Alternatives:

As mentioned there are many options. The stores above will be excellent options for most entrepreneurs. But if you do not want to process credit cards - and not everyone does - then you can go old school. A simple contact page where you make personal contact via email and possibly a phone call may work better. Especially if you sell a more exclusive, once off type of product.

In this case an invitation to connect via email or a chat service like Messenger and Whatsap could help you to clinch a deal. Then arrange payment via EFT. This may be safer. However always make sure the money is cleared and in the bank. Do not accept cheques either.

So there you have what you need to start selling online today ... or at least this week.

Productivity Tools:

AppSumo: Software for Entrepreneurs at a fraction of the price. Useful apps and software can make a BIG impact on your creative business's productivity. That is why I like AppSumo because they use their size to get massive discounts on excellent apps. Simple. Browse through what they have available here.

Google Docs: The versatility of Google Suite and the apps on offer is staggering. All for free. There is a premium option where you can get a domain name email for G-Mail. But this may not be important for you if you simply want similar tools like Microsoft's without the cost.

Pexels: When you need the perfect stock photo you can find it at Pexels. Not only do they have great free photos, but they also have stock video too. Add some flash and dash to your next blog article.

Picmonkey: Then to work with your photos I can suggest Picmonkey. I know it is not Photoshop, but honestly most people do not have time to learn complex software. This is why Picmonkey is so fantastic. Simple, intuitive and powerful. In this case I can say that the paid version is more than worth the price. No question!

Dropbox: Storing files in the cloud sounded mad a few years ago. Now it is simply essential for productivity. Dropbox makes storing files, sharing files and backing up a breeze. Open a free account today.

Paypal: The classic payment system still works well. Open a business account with Paypal. If you are in South Africa you can get paid out to your local bank account with First National Bank. A big plus if you are making international sales.

Payoneer: Need an American bank account? Payoneer has you covered. You can open a US account quicker than at your local branch. The benefit is that US customers can pay directly to your US account. No red tape with wire transfers. Payoneer then allows you to withdraw to your local bank account in your home country. If you sell goods on Amazon, for example, then this is the way to get paid on time every month. Awesome.

Tailwind

What is Tailwind? It is an app available online that is great for scheduling Pinterest and Instagram posts. But it does much more than that too. It helps you to share Pins among an active group of pinners in various categories. This can help you reach masses of potential followers and repins. Free or Pro. I do use this app with great results.

Courses That Will Help You

Photography: Taking better photographs is immensely useful for an artist. But it is also essential for any creative person to create great visuals for websites and email. You cannot always rely on stock photos. When you have to illustrate your work through photography you want it to look the best.
As for course I can suggest How to Become a Better Photographer Parts 1 and 2:

Photography - Become a Better Photographer - Part I

Photography - Become a Better Photographer - Part II

I found both of these courses fun and helpful.

Presentation Skills: Be confident on camera. At some point you need to get up and speak on camera. If you want to market yourself online or even before an audience at a workshop you need basic skills. These courses by actress Alexa Fischer will help you achieve these essential skills.

Confidence On Camera: Make Amazing Videos, Easily.

Radiate Confidence: How to Create a 1000 Watt Presence

Screen Capture Software: If you want to present to an audience both online or in person you are going to use a screen to demonstrate something. Screen capture software will help you. Plus making videos for courses, sharing information or whatever is happening on your screen is possible with screen capture software. I rely on Screencast-o-Matic to help me. Great value for money and rock solid.

Check it out here.

Make Awesome Videos: Part of making your message resonate comes with making great videos. It is no secret that video is the fastest growing sector of the internet. It is massive. So it is time to hone your video making skills today. The Lone Video-maker's Guide will help you do just that.

The Lone Video-makers guide to making videos at home

Social Media Marketing: You might have heard of social media .. ha ha... Well getting it right for your business is not as simple as it seems. Get it right and you will see massive growth in traffic over time. This course covers all the bases and I think it is good value. It will also save you time and money.

Social Media Marketing 2017 - Complete Certificate Course

The Art of Content Marketing: And my course on marketing strategy based on the book may also help you.

The Art of Content Marketing: Your Dynamic Strategy