Landing Page and Sales Funnel Creator
I have tried lots (ad lots) of landing page and funnel creators. The big names are ClickFunnels, LeadPages, and InstaPage. A lot of ESPs also allow you to build landing pages - without having a separate landing page app.
The landing page and sales funnel creator software that I use and love: Convertri. It's fast, flexible, and intuitive. Did I mention it's fast? Pages load almost instantly. Google counts page speed in its ranking. I build my website on Convertri to capitalize on the speed and drag and drop simplicty.
Convertri also seamlessly integrates with all ESPs and lets me add my blog to my website.
Leadpages is a beginner-friendly landing page builder designed to help solopreneurs and small businesses launch high-converting pages fast—with no coding required. Leadpages shines with its polished templates, simplicity, and tools made for quick list growth without the tech hassle.
Monitoring and Checking the Competition:
If you are ready to ethically "spy" on your competition, these sites will help you get an inside look at your competitors keywords, web traffic, ads and more. The Google sites are free and contain a wealth of information - but you might need to spend a bit more time sorting through results. The other sites will give you a free trial to check out their capabilities.
Google Alerts: Yup. Google is great at monitoring. Set up the alert on your name, website, social accounts – whatever you want. Fine tune it to hear the news you need to hear. Free.
Google AdWords. Want to find keywords around your product or service? Google AdWords has a Keyword Planner that lets you search for words and key phrases. Since Google owns about 90% of search traffic, this is a very valuable resource. Free.
Google Trends: Find trending topics from Google search. View trends in various industries, by country, or search for the topic of your choice. Free.
Semrush. Want to see the keywords your competition is ranking for? Links? Ads? Semrush will let you peek under the hood. You can get a 7-day free trial.
SpyFu has a lot of the same info as Semrush. The free search bar on the main page gives you the “big picture” results. You can get a free 30-day trial and you can take advantage of special pricing.
SimilarWeb lets you deep dive into any website and see where they get their traffic, rank, competitors, and more. You can get a free trial. This is one of the most comprehensive tools out there.
Social Scheduling and Sharing
SocialBee. SocialBee is an all-in-one social media scheduler that helps you plan, post, and recycle content across platforms—so you can stay visible, save time, and grow your audience without burning out.
Buffer. Easy to use. Integrates via plugin so it’s easy to add content to your social accounts. Up to 3 social media accounts are free. Buffer integrates with nearly all social platforms to make it easy to connect to your accounts. Pricing is pay-per-channel. If you know someone who uses Buffer, they can give you a link for a (limited) free account.
HootSuite. I like the card setup of the dashboard. Pinterest scheduling is not available without a third-party app. Integrates with the big social platforms.
MissingLettr - MissingLettr is a smart, time-saving tool that creates automated, evergreen drip campaigns to efficiently boost traffic through hands-off social scheduling. I use this to share my content across four platforms and share and repurpose it over time.
Pin Generator - Pinterest is often overlooked as a social platform - which means you might be overlooking a source of traffic. Pin-Generator lets you quickly batch-create many pins to help your profile. It's what I use - and love - for my Pinterest account.
Quuu - Quuu is a curated content platform that handpicks high-quality articles for your niche and automatically shares them to your social media—unlike other tools, Quuu focuses on human-vetted content, not algorithms, so your feed stays valuable, relevant, and engaging without the spammy feel. Quuu provides me with high-quality curated content that I can dial in to my exact needs. You can submit your own content for other users to share which allows you access to more audiences.
Hubspot Social Media Scheduling Template. Easy-to-use template lets you plan your social media posts. Excel spreadsheet with tabs for each platform. You still need to post to the social platforms yourself, but if you're not ready to sign on with a paid scheduler, this scheduler can help organize your campaign.
Free Stock Photos, Videos, Illustrations, Music:
You know you'll need high-quality images and tracks for your creative efforts, but copy/paste from a Google search is just asking for trouble for copyright infringement. These sites have a variety of free images and tracks that you can use.
Pay attention to the attribution and usage requirements. While most are pretty generous, do your research and read their terms of use before you use the content.
Yes, you can use AI for image generation, but there is both a learning curve and images can often appear fake (hello...people with 16 fingers or sitting inside furniture). For now, my vote is to use one of these free stock images and edit as needed.
These sites are the best of what I have found.
Pixabay Images that you can use anywhere – even for business – and no copyright issues. I am finding some images that are AI-generated, which may or may not be a positive for you. Photos, videos, music, sound effects, and illustrations.
Pexels I have to admit that this is my favorite site. Seems to be less “stock image” than other sites. You can sort by “trending” or “new." Great selection of people. Photos and videos.
Stocksnap I like their search function and their “trending” sort. I try to find images that aren’t trending – who wants to use what everyone else is using? Tends to lean more to things and landscapes than stock photos of people. Photos only.
Unsplash seems to have a little different selection than other sites – heavier on landscape and architecture. Great if you are creating quote of the day images for Pinterest or Instagram. Unsplash has a paid tier that gives you access to select images. Photos and illustrations.
Shopify Images (formerly Burst) sorts into categories like Fitness, Fashion, Business, Music that make is easier to quickly find what you are looking for – and discover related images. Mostly photos and some limited videos.
FoodiesFeed is perfect for food-based blogs. Lots of nicely lit food shots (which will probably beat your "I snapped my lunch just before eating it." Not as large in absolute numbers – but very well curated. Some images are AI-generated - but still delicious-looking.
New Old Stock I love this site! New Old Stock photos are public archive historic photos. Scroll and discover or search (not intuitive – little magnifying glass in upper right). I like stumbling across random photos of people to spice up my blog posts.
Kaboompics emphasizes product shots, interiors, architecture, and abstract work. Their photos are often available as part of a "photoshoot" collection - so you might see 5-8 photos using the same setting, letting you pick just the right shot.
PikWizard has lots of gorgeous food and landscape shots as well as people doing things besides sitting around tables looking at charts. Built-in photo editor is handy. Photos, videos, templates, and PNGs.
Email Service Providers (ESP) for Email Lists
If you are going to start an email list (and you absolutely should) then you need an ESP. Sending bulk emails from your personal email account will probably get you banned. You need a service that will help you manage your list and automate your emails.
BirdSend: BirdSend is a lightweight email marketing platform built specifically for online course creators and digital product sellers. What makes it different? It strips away the clutter and focuses on what matters—automating emails that convert, with clean tagging, fast setup, and a simple dashboard that gets out of your way so you can focus on selling, not tech. My readers get 500 free contacts for their account. This is the ESP I use and love.
GetResponse: GetResponse is an all-in-one marketing platform that goes beyond email—offering email automation, landing pages, webinars, and sales funnels in one place. What makes it different is its built-in webinar and funnel tools, making it perfect for solopreneurs and small businesses who want to sell, nurture, and grow—without stitching together multiple apps.. My readers get a free 30-day account to try before you buy.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit). A creator-first email marketing platform built to help you grow your audience and sell digital products with ease. What makes it different? Kit focuses on powerful automation with a personal touch—using tags, segments, and simple funnels so you can send the right message to the right people without getting lost in tech. It’s like having a smart assistant that understands your creative business.
AWeber - AWeber is an easy-to-use email marketing platform designed for small business owners—helping you grow your list, send beautiful emails, and automate follow-ups without tech overwhelm. With built-in landing pages, templates, and live support, it's everything you need to start and scale your email marketing—all in one place.
MailerLite - MailerLite is a clean, beginner-friendly email marketing tool that gives you powerful features without the overwhelm or high price. What sets it apart is its all-in-one simplicity—you get email automation, landing pages, pop-ups, and even website tools, all in one dashboard, making it perfect for creators and solopreneurs who want results fast without needing tech skills.
✅ Quick Picks by Use Case
Fastest list setup: BirdSend
Beginner-friendly + free: MailerLite
Most personal automation: (Convert)Kit
Live support + templates: AWeber
All-in-one marketing tools: GetResponse
Want to see how all the features stack up? Download a comparison chart of the leading email providers
Graphics Creation:
Canva. Quick, intuitive, and flexible. Dead simple to download. Tons of built-in templates for social, eBooks, graphics, and general publishing. Free tier has a lot of what you need. Pro tier adds a lot of functions such as resize and AI and additional templates and graphics.
ClickDesign. Powerful, easy-to-use graphics app. Great for creating branded graphics or batch creating. One-time or monthly payments.
Designrr. If you want to repurpose content, Designrr is the app to choose. Turn blog posts into eBooks in a snap.
GIMP. The closest Photoshop replacement you can find. It has all the pros including lots of powerful features - and the con of having a steep learning curve. If you are already familiar with Photoshop, you will love this. Free.
Photopea. If you're looking for something simpler than Photoshop or GIMP and with more editing controls than Canva, Photopea may be exactly what you need. This free app lets you output in more than a dozen different file types. Definitely worth checking out. Free.
Adobe Express. A little like Canva with pre-made templates. They have made changes to the editor (out with the style-wheel and in with a blank canvas-type editor) that make it more user-friendly. Free and paid tiers.
✅ Quick Picks by Use Case
- Want to turn blog posts into ebooks? Designrr
- Need fast, flexible designs for social and email? → Canva
- Creating branded graphics for landing pages? → ClickDesigns
- Tight budget, simple social media visuals? → Adobe Express (Free)
Here are the "best of the best" resources that I love and use to grow and PROFIT in my business.
Some are free, some have free trials, and some are pay only. Whenever possible, I look for free products, but sometimes you gotta pay for quality.
Some of these are affiliate links, which mean I will earn a small commission if you purchase. You will not pay any more. Often, my readers get a bonus when you use my links.
Check out my favorite resources and see what can help you with your business.
Want a cheat sheet with all my recommendations?
Heads up: This content contains affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I might earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It helps keep the tea hot and the free content coming. Thanks.
