My FAVORITE Resources
I’ve come across many great resources that have been incredibly helpful as I've built my business. I’ve gathered them all on one page so you can reference them. If it's on this page, I've used this resource myself and would be happy to discuss my experience with the product or service.
My Team
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT - PEYA ROBBINS
Peya and I started working together in February 2020, so she has been with me from the very beginning of my reinvention rollercoaster ride. She provides support in a variety of ways and her responsibilities have increased a lot over the years.
Trusted Referrals
GET HELP HIRING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (VA)
Having the right people on my team has made a world of difference. Melissa Smith has been so helpful whenever I needed to find a new virtual assistant. She runs the Association of Virtual Assistants and has written multiple books about becoming and hiring VAs. She provides a variety of services to support you through the hiring process.
NEED AN ACCOUNTANT?
Ask and I'll introduce you to Clare Garaty. She helped me get my S-Corp setup and simplify by bookkeeping.
PODCAST EDITOR AND CONSULTANT
When I started working on my podcast in 2015, I knew I would not be able to consistently produce a weekly show without professional support. I feel so fortunate that I met Joshua Rivers, owner of Podcast Guy Media, that year and that he and his team have supported my show ever since.
TIME TO SET UP PAYROLL?
Becoming an S Corp requires setting up payroll. I rely on ADP to help me manage that and they can help you too.
Online Networking Events
Some of the places I like to network online…
#NOMOREBADZOOM VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR
Since March 13, 2020, I've hosted a free #NoMoreBadZoom Virtual Happy Hour. It is now held on the first Friday of every month at 5pm ET and you're invited to join us. This is a great opportunity to network and share wins in small breakout rooms with interesting people, hear from a guest speaker on a business-related topic, and ask me your Zoom-related questions during an extensive Q&A. Register (no fee!) at www.NoMoreBadZoom.com to receive the Zoom link.
GENEROUS ENTREPRENEURS IN MEDIA
Hosted by my friends Jason Van Orden and Michael Roderick, this gathering attracts a mix of podcast hosts and guest experts. They provide the structure to make it easy for participants to meet and connect in small groups. There are also always opportunities to learn. No fee to attend. Occurs monthly. Register at www.generousentrepreneursinmedia.com
INNOVATION WOMEN
Every Friday at 8:45am ET and 1st Friday at 12noon ET, Innovation Women hosts a Speaker Friends networking event. Everyone gets a 15-second intro and then the host Bobbie Carlton invites participants to share questions and everyone is invited to respond and share resources in chat.
Membership is open to all genders. Innovation Women's mission is to provide equal visibility opportunities for women, supporting career development, business success, thought leadership and diversity.
Tech Tools & Resources
LANDING PAGES THAT CONVERT
Want to look professional and design landing pages that showcase your value? Leadpages will do that.
ORGANIZE VIDEO CONTENT
I use Podia to organize 60+ videos available to current and past members of The 5% Advantage Program.
CREATE PROFESSIONAL VIDEOS WITH SUBTITLES
My team uses Clipscribe to create branded video content that has captions and a countdown clock.
BOOKKEEPING FOR SOLOPRENEURS
Since 2015, Freshbooks has been helping me manage my expenses and get paid by my clients.
TECH TOOLS INVENTORY & SIMPLIFY TAX PREP
Take inventory of all your business expenses and then cancel or start using the tools you forgot about. I created a template you can copy and it doubles as a way to track how you want each expense categorized in your accounting software. When it's tax prep season, your future self will thank you for being so organized.
MAILING CARDS WITH EASE
I found it very easy to build an address book using Postable. Having addresses and the ability to mail a card with a few clicks led to me regularly sending cards for all kinds of occasions. I love that this is another way to surprise and delight a client, colleague, or friend. Another great resource for this is SendOutCards. If you intend to send 30 cards a month that would be my suggestion because they offer better pricing at that quantity (they also offer a “first card free”).
ZOOM DISCOUNT
Is the free version of Zoom cramping your style? Upgrade to Pro to get unlimited minutes on group meetings. Here is $30 off your first year.
PROFIT FIRST
If you've been wondering when you can pay yourself or how to ensure you have a profit at the end of the year, I highly recommend you read this book, “Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine“ by Mike Michalowicz and implement the strategies he shares.
MANAGE YOUR EMAIL LIST
Ready to graduate from MailChimp? Drip is my preferred email service provider and it integrates beautifully with Leadpages.
RECORD QUICK VIDEOS (SALES/INSTRUCTION/SOCIAL MEDIA)
Loom is one of my favorite and most frequently used tech tools. It has a Chrome plug-in and integrates with Gmail so it's always a click away.
SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH EASE
No more endless emails to schedule a 20-minute call. ScheduleOnce makes scheduling easy.
EASILY IMPORT GOOGLE DOC TEXT INTO WORDPRESS
Before we used Wordable it was a painful process to get content from the Google Doc draft to WordPress and now it's done with a couple of clicks.
WANT TO SET UP YOUR OWN PODCAST?
Robbie's Professional Home Studio Podcast Setup
FUNDRAISING EVENT STRATEGIES:
A random resource I developed during my decade-long role as the Senior Manager of Events and Donor Engagement. Strategies for Successful Fundraising Events (free template)
TEDx Tips
I put a lot of effort into preparing for my 9.5-minute TEDx talk, “Hate networking? Stop bageling and be the croissant!” The first hurdle was getting my idea accepted. To thank my TEDx launch team, I created a video sharing what I learned about the TEDx application process. Check it out if you're considering applying! (Note, please don't say you did a TED talk if you were on a TEDx stage, they are vastly different things. Also, it's TEDx, not Tedx or anything else.)
Masterclasses
Looking for support around writing a book, launching a bestseller, creating a podcast, or discovering your ideal client? I have created masterclasses on all of these topics and more. Each is at least an hour-long video replay, plus Q&A and some include 15+ pages of detailed notes. Nearly all are free. www.robbiesamuels.com/masterclass
Book Launch Resources
These are the resources that supported my second book launch. “Small List, Big Results” reached #4201 in all US Kindle, #1 in eight paid categories (including two Canadian and one Australian), #1 New Release in five categories (including Women & Business), and received 150+ reviews within one week of the launch day. To learn more about how I accomplished this for each of my self-published books, check out my Book Launch Strategies Masterclass.
Editor
You get what you pay for is the lesson I learned when hiring an Upwork editor for my first book. The second time around, I invested in a professional editor with business experience. Bonus, Linda Popky was also the demographic of my ideal reader. I really appreciated her feedback along the way and that she wasn't just copyediting.
free ISBN barcode with price embedded
Bookow will generate a barcode for the back of your book that has the price embedded. If you leave this section blank when uploading your book cover, Amazon (KDP) will insert a barcode that has 90000 which indicates that the book is only available on Amazon (i.e., self-published). If your book is $19.99 the barcode should include 51999 and have the price in tiny print. I recommend writing the price in a larger font right above the barcode or in the bottom left corner.
Podcast Guesting
For my second book, I decided to work with a podcast placement company to gain access to top business podcasts. I'm very pleased I worked with Marie Incontrera and her team. With their help, I was interviewed on 30 shows that were not on my radar.
Formatter
My first experience with a formatter taught me that you really need to work with someone who has experience. Jenny Lisk did a great job and had several helpful suggestions. She's an award-winning author so she also knows what it feels like to want everything to look perfect.
Email Merge
Yet Another Mail Merge is what enables me to send personalized messages to each member of my launch team – and filter out members if they already took a specific action. Easy to use and under $30 for the year to upgrade to 400 emails a day.
ISBN - at a discount
ISBNAgency.com – they purchase ISBN numbers in bulk and sell them at a discount as lead generation for their book-related services. The publisher name is “Movement Publishing” – you cannot use your own publisher name if you use these ISBN numbers.
Book Promotion
There is always more to learn when it comes to launching a book. One thing I was happy to leave to the experts was book promotion through websites and email lists that feature free and 99 cent books. Happy Self-Publishing did a great job with this for both of my books. They offer a lot of other services for authors that I didn't use.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, 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. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.