Tools of the trade
Tools of the trade
Here are a list of products that I own, use and love in order to setup various projects and helped me dig into my bucket lists.
Web hosting
I only use 1 host and I won’t leave anytime soon. I use Pixeno based in the UK. They are a small yet efficient company with lightening quick speeds. I have had no downtime and I hire them to do my coding work which is always top notch and professional.
Blogging platforms
I have only used one and I have stuck to it. WordPress.
I also use the Thesis Theme as my theme of choice for WordPress. Basically, I will not use anything else. I’m used to it, I understand it and all my sites use it. Thesis is very flexible and this site is using Thesis and was even chosen to be added in the Thesis showcase section of their site. For more information check out my Thesis theme review
Premise – I use Premise to create amazing landing pages but I also learn from Premise with their content helping you understand what works and what does not. When you buy Premise you get:
- The Premise Guide to Effective Copy by Brian Clark
This 69-minute seminar and 23-page manual reveal the power of the premise as the start of any effective landing page campaign. - Magnetic Headlines Intensive with Jeff Sexton and Brian Clark
- An intensive 55-minute webinar on writing content titles that work, plus a 10-page manual and slide deck.
- Anatomy of a Landing Page: The 10 Elements You Must Have with Bryan Eisenberg
- This 50-minute seminar breaks down what you must have for an effective landing page, and why, from one of the most respected online conversion experts around.
- Your “Magic Formula” For Success: The Conversion Trinity with Bryan Eisenberg
- Watch this hour-long webinar, and you’ll see and learn the 3-step process that turns traffic into money (or whatever other action you might be after).
- The Premise Content Marketing Strategy with Brian Clark
- In this 45-minute seminar, you’ll discover the “5A” strategy for attracting an audience with content, and how landing pages help you achieve your goals every step of the way.
- Landing Pages that Work with Google AdWords with Geordie Carswell
- Buying traffic from Google AdWords works, but you’ve got to know what you’re doing with your landing pages to make it profitable (and to stay on Google’s good side).
Email lists
Still a powerful tool if used correctly. I use Mailchimp because they are awesome and I love their sense of humour. Plus you can now you can send 12,000 emails per month to a list of 2,000 subscribers—completely free.
SEO
Your blog/website is useless if no one can find it. You have to have a basic understand of how search engines work. Don’t worry though good SEO doesn’t change. You can get away with not knowing about SEO if you have mind blowing content which everyone needs but with SEO then you’ll do much better.
The art of SEO – This book has allowed me to get to grips with SEO and give me the skills needed to work from anywhere in the world.
Market Samurai – Keyword research tools and so much more. It is constantly updated so even when Google changes their algorithm, Market Samurai has it covered.
Photography
18MP APS-C CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 4 processors, ISO range expandable to 12800, continuous shooting at 8 fps and full HD video recording. It also incorporates a new viewfinder with 1.0x magnification and 100% coverage and a 3 inch LCD with 920k dot resolution.
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens
This exciting zoom lens provides ultra wide-angle coverage to the EOS 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D and Digital Rebel SLRs. Equivalent to a 16-35mm zoom, it offers excellent performance and optics designed from the ground-up for digital SLR use. Three Aspherical lens elements, plus a Super-UD element, assure image quality. Its ring-type USM means fast and silent AF along with full-time manual focus. It focuses as close as 9.5 inches.
Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM – Canon EF
The 50mm f/1.4 standard lens is a terrific choice for both casual and professional photographers. The lens is outfitted with two high-refraction lens elements and new Gaussian optics, which combine to eliminate astigmatism and suppress astigmatic difference. As a result, the lens obtains crisp images with little flare even at the maximum aperture. The lens’s f/1.4 speed, meanwhile, is perfect for available-light shooting.
LCD Timer Remote switch cord cable
This is a remote switch with an 80cm cord and a self-timer, interval timer, long-exposure timer and exposure count setting feature. The timer can be set anywhere from 1 sec. to 99 hrs. A dial enables you to easily enter the numeric settings with a single thumb.
Flexible, wrappable legs allow you to secure professional camera equipment weighing up to 3kg (6.5 lb) to virtually any surface, expanding the range of shots you are capable of capturing.
Canon BG-E7 Battery Grip for EOS 7D Digital SLR Camera
Battery grip for the Canon 7d. This allows me to add extra battery power to my camera for such things such as time lapses or giving me the ability to continue taking photos while in remote area. Essential.
SanDisk 16GB Extreme CF Compact Flash Cards 60MBS
16 GB card allowing me to take plenty of RAW and JPEG photos while on the road. Also pretty good for video.
Canon Battery Pack Lp-e6 For The Eos 5d Mk 2
Extra battery allowing me to use two batteries at a time with my extra battery grip. Taking 3 of these batteries with me. Although the title says for the Canon 5D MK II they do work on the 7D.
Books and blogs and awesome websites
Tim Ferriss – The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. One of the best books out there giving you advice in order to live the life you want.
Escape The City – Amazing website helping people break free of the rat race and take interesting worthwhile jobs.
Ridiculously Extraordinary - Learn from Karol Gajda who lives the life he wants via the internet and shows you how to do it. Learn from people who have done it.
Unconventional Guides – From Chris Guillebeau – I started this business as a result of all the questions I was asked about travel and self-employment. The goal is to empower our customers to take control of their careers and passions away from gatekeepers and into their own hands.
Think Traffic - To make a website work you need traffic and loads of it. This site run by Corbett Barr will help you build your traffic and your email lists.
Social Triggers – Using human psychology to help drive traffic and sales. Gold mine. From Derek Halpern
Affilate programs and advertising
Google Adsense easy to set up and start making money but you’ll need to research and experiment if you want to make more. Some niches pay well e.g credit cards etc others/most you’ll find yourself getting a few pence/cents a click.
Shareasale - wicked affilate program, very professionally run and good support. You’ll find good companies on this program which you can promote. You’ll need a website before you start though.
Commission Junction - Again, very well run company and you’ll find good products which you can promote.
Analytics
You want to know how much and where your traffic is coming from right? Well Google Analytics helps you figure this out so that you can apply changes to help you optimise your website. Also use Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity to understand how GA works
Getclicky - Another web analytics program but this is in real-time. What’s good about this is that if you’re a Google Chrome user there is an extension you can use so you can see how many people are on your site right now as you work/play/waste time.
So that’s it. A quick run out of the products/services I use in order to set up this project which will help me create the lifestyle I want.