Recommended Stuff
There are many things that have been influential in my life and career that I wanted to share a list of here. This is a work in progress list… as most things!
Note - Some of the links may be affiliate links in which I earn a small commission or reward if you buy anything from them. Anything on this page is because I 100% recommend it and it’s been useful to me in some way.
Digital Software Recommendations
I couldn’t get by without lots of different tools. Here’s some of my favourite ones:
Freeagent - This has been the best investment I’ve made for my business. It’s really simple to use accounting software which I use daily to create and send invoices, match up bank transfers, submit VAT, see cashflow at a quick glance and much more. Honestly it’s been a life saver
Get a 10% discount with Freeagent
Canva - This has also saved me heaps of time as a none designer to creating branding assets, content for social media posts, templates for almost everything; Powerpoints, Infographics, Vouchers - many friends and family have received a Canva special for birthdays or Christmas
Squarespace - Whilst far from perfect, this website was created on Squarespace which for a simple website like this was much, much simpler to use than Wordpress which had been my go to for many years. Both have their own merits
Siteground - All my sites are hosted on Siteground which I’ve never had an issue with and the support is good. As I hog lots of domains, I’ve got a good package which works.
ahrefs and SEMRush are my go-to paid SEO tools (alongside GA, GSC and Screaming frog) for day-to-day SEO analysis.
Taplio - This is a recent tool I’ve started to use and LOVE for upping my LinkedIn game. It gives you insights into others successful posts, lets you schedule posts, see your stats & progress, has a CRM and there is a chrome extension which gives insights directly in LinkedIn. Sign up to Taplio here
Klaviyo - My favourite email platform. Simple to use, easy to create email flows and gives you the ability to be clever with your targeting & segmentations - I find this to be better than others.
Mailerlite - I don’t use this half as much as I should but it’s a great tool to create things like email newsletter sign up pop ups and integrating lead generation tools on your website
Shopify - For simple ecommerce sites, Shopify is the way to go. The most user friendly site builder & ecommerce platform.
Networking Groups I recommend
When you’re self employed, it’s easy to feel isolated so having a good support network and ‘tribe’ behind you. It took me many years to figure out this value but the below are a few groups I’ve been part of it which have been a massive support.
The Digital Marketing Union - I’ve never known so many super talented, kind and genuinely helpful people in one group before. I can’t shout about this community enough, I’d be lost without the DMU.
The Northern Affinity - For anything Northerners reading, this networking group connects dynamic businesses from York, to Manchester, to Leeds, to Liverpool. Check out The Northern Affinity
Freelance Heroes - The best community for any freelancer - for those starting out or more experiences freelancers. It’s a very helpful community & support network to many. View the FH portal
Digital & Marketing Courses
Kirsty Hulse’s (massive inspiration) Confidence Now is something I highly recommend after doing the 8 week programme. This course helped boost my confidence in many ways both personally and professionally.
The SEO MBA is a big hit in the industry - though I’ll be honest I haven’t finished the course I purchased but it’s a really great course which I know has helped many.
Digital Nomading Recommendations
Selina is a chain of accommodation with destinations across the world for working, exploring and staying. I’ve stayed in 3 Selina’s in Portugal and in Morocco too. Can highly recommend them for amazing locations and a different way of staying. A great way to see the world, whilst working too.
Swiss Escape is somewhere else that I’ve had the pleasure of staying at to benefit from a trip to the alps + working in-between snowboarding and socialising with the other digital nomads.
Check out https://www.ourescape.co/