I started my business Coin Ring Maker well over 1 year ago. I tried and tested many different online business tools. These are for people who want to start a small business on their own and do not have a ton of money to invest.
I think it’s important to start by focusing on sales platforms so that you can start making money to pay for some of the tools we will discuss later.
I do want to point out this blog post does contain referral and affiliate links that if you use I benefit from. I only share what I use myself.
Sales Platforms
My first suggestion is that you set up a Mercari account. This is how I started. Mercari provides buyers so you don’t have to worry about sending traffic or seo as much. Just list your products. Of course the more care and effort you put into your listings the more likely you are to make sales.
Sign up for Mercari and get up to $30. Here’s my invitation link : https://merc.li/G6bzJWb
The second sales platform I had success with is Etsy.
Etsy like Mercari will send people to your listing. While there is a bit of a learning curve to Etsy and some fees I think it is a good place to start.
The 3rd and my favorite sales platform is called Ecwid. I know the name is kind of weird but hear me out. Ecwid allows you to set up an online store website and start selling for free! You can upgrade you plan after a few sales as I did to unlock more features. My current website store is on Ecwid and I can not say enough how much I like it.
The support is fantastic. It’s pretty easy to set up. It looks professional from day one and it works! I’ve made over 100 sales using it and everyone of them has been super smooth.
Sign up for Ecwid here: http://open.ecwid.com/
The latest sales platform I have been using is called Whatnot. This platform is a live video auction phone application. While they started out as mostly a collectibles selling platform they have expanded out to many other categories including jewelry. If you are liking for a new and fun way to sell give I think Whatnot is worth a try.
Sign up as a Whatnot seller here: https://www.whatnot.com/invite/seller/coinringmaker
Shipping
If you are selling physical products online your going to have to pay shipping. Saving any money as a small business is key. That’s why I use Pirate Ship for my shipping labels. It’s free to sign up and they have the lowest shipping discounts I have found yet.
Banking
Personally I use Lili. It is a bank account, debt card and app all in one. Perfect for small businesses or freelancers.
One of my favorite features is the app itself. It’s very nice to check all my numbers on my phone. You can set up a tax bucket to set aside a specific percentage of your income for taxes, I have mine set at 30% to be safe. You can also sort transactions as business and personal to keep your accounting accurate. Honestly I really enjoy Lili.
Hey!
I think you’d love Lili – a new bank account designed for freelancers! If you use this code when you create your account, you’ll receive a $100 sign up bonus when you start using your card! https://get.lili.co/referral?r=504S0J
Accounting
Keeping track of your numbers is important. For this I use quickbooks self employed. Their support has been very helpful and their software has saved me tons of time accounting compared to using pen and paper. My sign up link will save you 50%.
Sign up for quickbooks here. http://fbuy.me/v/kevin_22873
Conclusion
I hope putting all these online business tools in one place was helpful. I also hope it saves you some time and money. Thanks for reading! 😎👍
Bonus Bits
This is an extra little bit I thought I’d add on for you. The links in the above article are referral links. I’m going to tell you about each of these referral programs so when you start using these tools you can benefit from referring others to them as well.
First up is Mercari’s refferal program. This program has two focuses, buyers and sellers. When someone signs up through a referral link they are given a $10 coupon. If they use it to make a purchase the person who referred them receives a $10 Mercari shopping credit.
For sellers, once someone who signed up through a referral link makes over $100 in sales they will receive a $20 Mercari shopping credit and the person who referred them will receive a $40 Mercari shopping credit.
Next we have Ecwid’s referral program. Ecwid let’s you earn a 20% commission on all of your paid referrals.
Quickbooks referral program is pretty straight forward. Your referral receives a 50% discount and you receive a $30 Amazon gift card if they use a paid plan for over 60 days.
Finally we have Lili’s referral program. Lili will give you and your referral $100 after the referral spends at least $250 using their lili debt card within 45 days of signing up. ATM withdraws do not count.
https://get.lili.co/referral?r=504S0J
If you know someone who could benefit from this post please share it with them. Thanks!