Building an online business is not something you can do in a day. There’s a process involved, and often, the process will take quite some time for you to complete. You also need to assemble the tools you will use to maintain your online business. These tools can include web services, software, apps, or any other. With these tools, you will run your online business in a much smoother and easier way.

Automating your online business is often possible with the use of these tools. Here are 5 must-know tools you can use to start an online business:

• WordPress + Ecommerce Plugin

To run a successful online business, you will need to build a website which you can use as the primary communication channel between you and your audience. For beginners and professionals alike, WordPress is perhaps the best platform to build their website. It’s simple to build a website with WordPress, and you can use this platform for various purposes. It doesn’t matter the type of website you will build. With WordPress, you can always find the theme best suited for your business.

Additional Information: It is also important for you to install an e-commerce plugin in your WordPress site if you plan to sell products on your website. With the e-commerce plugin, you can accept orders from your customers on your website with no hassles.

• Hootsuite to Manage Your Social Media Marketing

For any online business, social media presence is important. However, today, you will need to manage several social media accounts at once, as there are several popular social media platforms available. You will need to manage your accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and perhaps other platforms. So, you need a good social media management software to help you do that. Hootsuite is the tool you can use to manage all your social media accounts in one dashboard.

Additional Information: With Hootsuite, you can keep a good engagement with your audience throughout all social media platforms you are using for your online business. It’s a handy online tool that will save a lot of your time in managing all your social media accounts.

• Fiverr + Freelancing Platforms

When running an online business, you can’t do all things by yourself. Yes, you might do that when you are just starting up. But, as time goes by, you will need to use the services of other people to help you run your online business. Sometimes, you will need someone to make a logo for your new brand. Some other times, you might need someone to help you create content for your website, edit your promotional videos, create infographics for your website, and so on. Fiverr is the best place for you to find outstanding talents that can help you run your online business better.

Additional Information: Aside from Fiverr, you can also hire other people through various freelancing platforms. There will be plenty of good freelancers that can help complete your assignments and boost the progress of your online business.

• MailChimp for Email Marketing

Your online business needs to establish constant communication with your audience to keep them coming back to your business again and again. One important communication method for your online business is email marketing. With email marketing, you can ask interested website visitors to subscribe to your regular email communications, so you can turn them into your loyal visitors. It’s also a good way to turn your website visitors into loyal customers. MailChimp is a good email marketing tool you can use for your online business.

Additional information: Aside from sending regular promotions from your business, you can also send your email subscribers useful information related to your niche. They will appreciate it, and it can help you establish trust with them.

• Trello for Project Management

Sometimes, you need to work with other people to run your online business. It might be for some specific projects, or it might be for long-term work contracts. It’s better for you to manage all your projects with a good online project management tool. Trello is a good project management tool you can use online, and it will ease your communications between members involved in a project. You can assign a task to your members and communicate with them along the way.

Additional Information: Trello is a free project management tool, so it’s a perfect tool you can use if you’re just starting out. There are also alternative project management solutions you can explore online.

Tips to Build a Successful Online Business

Remember, not all online businesses will become a success. Sometimes, the business owners have lack of motivation to continue their online business, and they might quit after seeing no progress in their business. So, can you build a successful online business? To build a successful online business, you need to have enough preparations for what’s coming. Here are some tips to build a successful online business:

• Establish your brand. Branding is important for any business, and it’s also important for your online business. It will set apart your business from the competition, and it will allow you to lead the market.
• Get the right motivation. Don’t be a quitter. In your online business, you will make a lot of mistakes. The point is to learn from those mistakes and continue on your steps, not quitting.
• Focus on acquiring loyal customers. Getting a sale is not enough. You need to keep your customers coming back to your business. So, it’s important to keep your customers loyal to your brand.
• Keep expanding. Always expand your business, so you can reach more customers by doing that. You need to keep the existing customers as well as attract new customers all the time.
• Use the right tools. The right tools will help smooth your way in managing your business. It’s an important part of growing your online business, so you need to invest your time, money, and effort in using the right tools for your business.

Conclusion

These are the must-know tools you can use to start an online business. Remember, you need a lot of patience and determination to succeed in your online business. Don’t let any minor problems hinder you from achieving success in it.

Always spare some time to learn more about the business you’re delving into, about your customers, new opportunities, and so on. It will help you a lot in growing your business and succeeding in it.