One of the main challenges for digital entrepreneurs is to stay on top of everything.
You have to respond to emails, make sure your website works perfectly, organize projects, keep in touch with peers, and avoid getting distracted by the Internet.
The Internet does not just enable procrastination, though. It also offers solutions to busy people: there is an abundance of tools and services that were created to help you organize your life and business, so you can focus on what matters.
These resources were created by people who know what it’s like to have a to-do list that never seems to end. Many of them can be used for free, so there’s no reason not to give them a try.
I don’t know how I survived before using these tools. They make it so much easier for me to do what I love, and I’m sure they’ll do the same for you!
Disclosure: Please note that most of the links below are affiliate links, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
How to Start Your Website
- Siteground WordPress Hosting
Siteground is the only host I trust for my business – and have for nearly five years now. In all of these years, my sites have never been hacked, crashed, or been anything but fast and secure. On top of all of this, their live support is the best I have ever experienced.
Siteground is the basis of all HTE’s traffic, conversion, and results.
Get started for as little as $3.95/month by clicking this affiliate link.
- ConvertKit
Email marketing is the most profitable driver of any digital business. Choose wisely. I choose ConvertKit because I have not found a better email provider.
With ConvertKit I easily set up free email courses, tag subscribers and sort subscribers, add opt-in boxes to my sites, and send my Sunday emails to thousands of people. There is no better tool for email marketing for my needs.
Exclusive offer for HTE listeners: Click here to get a 1 Month Free Trial
Read My Article: 10-steps to Starting a WordPress Blog
- SEMrush
We can have the best products or services for sales, but without traffic to our websites none of it matters. To do this, you need to be optimizing your content for search engines. Is Semrush worth it? Let’s put it this way: SEMrush is the only tool you will ever need to drive endless traffic to your sites.
Included in your SEMrush FREE trial is: daily SEO audits, competitor research, backlink analysis and opportunities, organic position tracking, social media (and brand) mention tracking, content calendar, and paid traffic management.
To learn a little more about SEMrush’s functionality and features, check out our full SEMrush review.
Sign up for your exclusive FREE trial of SEMRush here, by clicking this affiliate link.
Hack Your Projects
- Trello – Free
Trello is a free project management tool that helps you get organized. It shows a board on which you can create lists filled with cards. When you open a card, you can add comments, upload files, create checklists, and more.
It is super versatile, so it can be used for many different types of things: to organize a specific project, write an ebook, create an email course, etc.
I regularly use Trello for my course outlines and to-do lists, but I also used it while writing my book. Every list was a chapter, and the cards in the list were the introduction, the individual hacks, and the conclusion.
With Trello I could easily see which chapters were finished, which still had to be written, which were in need of a title, etc. It really helps you to keep an overview.
- Google Docs – Free
I’m sure you know this one, but it’s too good not to be mentioned. Google Docs is an essential tool for working on a file with multiple people. Everyone can add or remove text, proofread content, and give comments for others to see. You can also see who else is working on the document and chat with them, so it’s a great tool for teams.
It’s also a big help for people who get confused when they have several versions of a work-in-progress.
Sign up for Google Docs for free
- Asana – Free
This is the ultimate tool for managing your projects more effectively. It works with tasks, projects, conversations, and dashboards.
Teamwork has never been easier. You can turn conversations into actionable tasks, provide comments on other people’s actions, and immediately see what progress has been made – all without having to schedule meetings.
The best part of all? Your inbox only shows updates that are relevant to you, so you don’t get inundated with useless information.
- Dropbox – Free
You’ve obviously heard of Dropbox – it’s been around for a while. Dropbox is great for storage and backups. It has a huge amount of awesome plugin apps to improve your experience. Moreover, it provides apps for every device, which means you can access your files from anywhere.
Dropbox is for those of us who lose USB sticks on a weekly basis.
Hack Your Productivity
- Slack – Free
This beautiful chat app is an amazing communication tool for teams and mastermind groups. Its smooth design is by far the nicest you’ll come across. Even though it’s relatively new, it is already very popular.
You can create several channels to discuss different topics, or you can have a private conversation. Slack also allows you to share files and to easily find messages, notifications, and files in your archive. Everything is automatically synced on all your devices, and you can easily connect it to other apps, like WordPress or Skype.
Start sharing your ideas with peers and get inspired by their questions, suggestions, and expertise. We’re all in this together.
- Momentum – Free
Momentum is a homepage replacement that inspires you and keeps you focused throughout your work day. When you open your browser, Momentum greets you by name with an inspiring picture and quote.
I find Momentum immensely helpful when determining and completing my One Thing every day. Every morning, I tell it what my focus for the day will be. For the rest of the day, it reminds me of my commitment every time I open a new tab. This makes it much easier to stop wasting time on Facebook and the likes.
It’s the perfect way to break the cycle of endless procrastination!
- Spotify – Free
Listening to music really helps me stay focused and productive. Obviously, this is different for everyone, but many people seem to function better with music in the background.
Spotify is a great place to find the right music for every moment. You can choose what you want to listen to, or you can let Spotify surprise you.
Find out what type of music keeps you focused and alert. It’s great to help you through the early afternoon dip.
- 7-Minute Workout – Free
This app helps me stay fit and focused with short workouts. Each workout consists of 12 exercises of 30 seconds, with 10-second breaks. All you need is a chair and a wall, so this is the perfect workout app in your (home) office.
If you’re trying to find inspiration, doing a short workout can really help you get there. We often have the best insights while doing something entirely different (for example, taking a shower). A short workout will get both the adrenaline and the ideas flowing!
Get the 7-Minute Workout app from Google Play Store for free
Hack Your Email
- Boomerang – Free
I use Boomerang daily to keep my inbox under control.
You can temporarily remove messages from your inbox to be reminded of them later. This really helps you focus on the task at hand, without getting distracted by other things on your to-do list. Boomerang archives the email(s) and brings them back to your inbox at your chosen time.
You can also use this app to write an email and send it later. You tell Boomerang when you want the email to be sent, and they take it from there. Moreover, it will remind you if you don’t hear back from someone, so messages won’t slip through the maze.
Take control of your inbox, before it becomes an uncontrollable mess.
- Voila Norbert – Free
It can be very frustrating and time-consuming to look for someone’s email address on their (company’s) websites. This was a massive problem for me when looking for potential guests for my podcast.
Voila Norbert finds the right email addresses, even when they’re not explicitly mentioned on a website. You just have to know the name of your contact person and the domain name of their company.
Sick of having to send emails to support@… or info@…? You can now immediately contact the right person, without further ado.
Get your first 50 leads for free with Voila Norbert
- Sidekick – Free
This email add-on tells you whether someone has opened an email you sent. It shows you when, how many times, and from where the recipient has opened your email.
You can also see all the relevant information about your recipient when composing an email, like past contact history, social media content, mutual connections, etc.
This can be very useful when you’re doing a round of cold emailing, trying out a new marketing campaign, or starting a newsletter. Observe people’s behavior and learn from it!
Get access to Sidekick for free by creating a HubSpot account
Hack Your Time
- 99 Designs
99 Designs is perfect for finding a logo or landing page that you really love. I used them for the design of my book cover.
The process is easy: you fill out a design brief, buy a package, and launch a contest. Designers from all over the world can sign up, create one or more designs, and send them to you. After receiving the results, you can choose the best one and pick the winner.
It’s a great way to compare the ideas of different designers and end up with the best result.
Get started for as little as $3.95/month.
- Canva – Free
Canva is an online graphic design platform. I often use it to create artwork for my website.
No, it’s not a place where you find designers – you’re the designer.
It is a simple drag-and-drop design tool with a library of more than 1 million photographs, graphics, and fonts to choose from. It offers free access to a wide assortment of design tools and options. You can create anything from book covers to infographics.
If PhotoShop is giving you gray hair, this tool will definitely come in handy!
Create your free Canva account here
- Fiverr
Guess where the original HTE logo came from? Yep. Fiverr.
This cheap service (everything starts at $5) offers fast graphic design, translations, SEO enhancement, business cards, and anything else you could need for your business.
You can also pay someone to write your message on their belly and do a jungle dance – if that’s what you’re into.
It’s the go-to service if you need something done fast.
Create your Fiverr account here
- ThemeValet
ThemeValet will get your WordPress website up and running in less than 24 hours. This is great if you don’t have time to figure out the mysterious world of WordPress, but still need a website that looks professional.
After you’ve bought a WordPress theme, ThemeValet will take over. If you can’t decide which theme you want, they’ll even help you with that.
The result will be a fully functioning website that you can’t wait to show off to the world.
Asking Questions and Getting Answers
- Clarity.FM
Want to get advice from an expert? Stop wasting your time browsing blogs. Clarity.FM connects you with a community of experts. You can look for professionals by name or by expertise, depending on the type of advice you’re looking for.
After you’ve submitted three possible times when you are available, they will confirm a time, and jump on a call with you.
A personal conversation with an experienced entrepreneur is the ultimate way to get the answers you need. Want to know what Brian Wong or Chris Brogan would do in your situation? Just ask them!
Have a question about a business idea, email marketing sequence, or product development question?
Contact me or countless other experts in their field on Clarity.FM
- Typeform – Free
I use this free service to create awesome-looking surveys. We all use online forms to get feedback from our readers, listeners, and customers. Unfortunately, boring surveys are likely to be ignored, which makes it harder for you to know if you’re going in the right direction.
Typeform’s beautiful, clear, and mobile-friendly surveys can help you get the valuable feedback you need, without extra effort.
Start creating free surveys with Typeform here
- HTE: The Book
Are you stuck and don’t know what to do next? Do you want to control your destiny, do work that matters, and have the freedom to travel?
My book contains 50 hacks by brilliant entrepreneurs, who have turned their startups into successful businesses. Find out how to get started, deal with failure, and learn from your mistakes. Your business will thank you later.
You can get Hack The Entrepeneuer:The Book on Amazon
Hack Your Life
Entrepreneurs typically want to do everything themselves and be in charge of their business. But sometimes that’s easier said than done.
In reality, we don’t have enough time to take care of every single aspect of our business on our own. Let these tools and services help you organize your day, on a professional and personal level.
Stop wasting time and take control, with these simple tools.
Allow yourself to see the forest for the trees and do work that really matters.
awesome list. The 7 minute workout sounds like something I need to whip my ass into shape instead of sitting on my chair for hours on end.
I wish I could get out and do more spot, but let’s face it, as entrepreneurs it is not always possible or we don’t let ourselves. So I am downloading this ASAP!
muchos gracias!
Yes, we are busy as hell. But we’ve got no excuse when it only takes 7 Minutes to get our exercise in! Let me know how it goes.