Software Tools

These are the bare necessities of software tools for your work at home business.

Your business depends on people finding it, viewing it, and, more importantly, buying from it. In order for you to determine this, you must track your advertising. However you advertise, you must know what is working, where it is working, and how well it is working. That is the role of tracking. From there, you can concentrate your energies on the sources that give you the best results.

VitalViralPro is the best place to start for "newbies"! VitalViralPro allows you to track any page that you want, regardless of whether you own it or not! The unique software that Troy Wray put together allows you to track a simple point-and-click splash page or a signup list capture (or squeeze) page that collects names and email addresses. It doesn't offer the page creation that TE Toolbox does, but you can easily track and brand pages that don't belong to you!

One of the other best affordable tracking programs available for your use is also a very versatile tool for creating splash and squeeze pages. The free version of TE Toolbox allows for you to create and track a limited number of splash or squeeze pages. The basic tracking in TE Toolbox allows you to see which traffic exchanges are getting you the most "clicks" for your views in those traffic exchanges. You can also determine which version of a splash or squeeze page is getting the most clicks. The paid membership level of TE Toolbox allows for a greater number of pages that you can create and track within TE Toolbox. This eliminates the immediate need for your own hosting. However, you will want to get your own hosted domain before long in order to use the more advanced and detailed tracking available in there.

Domain Hosting

A domain is not only the “address” where people find your business. It is also where you keep your advertisements. Advertisements with your picture, your logo, your name, your business name... Nobody else is going to promote all that for you! A domain is also where you store any products that you rebrand or create. A domain is where you put your redirect links to hide your affiliate links from being hijacked. A domain is also where you keep your download pages and all the other pages that you need to sell your products. As long as you are using other peoples' advertisements, sales pages, etc. you are not promoting or building your business as much as possible.

Host Gator is one of the most established and respected domain hosting companies available on the internet. Part of that respect is for the fantastic customer service that is included with your account. You may find better prices elsewhere but that won't include the dependability and degree of service that you get at HostGator! I recently tried a cheaper service and came back to Hostgator exactly for those reasons. Many others that I have talked to also use Host Gator or are about ready to come back to it!

Autoresponder Software

Autoresponders take the place of you sending out emails to your list of subscribers. This software allows you to collect people into your list, send a schedule of pre-made emails to them, allow you to send an unscheduled email to them quickly and easily without typing all the addresses into the email, and other useful options, as well. An autoresponder is a must for building and growing your business.

Once again, there are many autoresponder companies available on the internet. One company that has stood the test of time and offers the most profitable commissions, despite recent, unfounded, adverse publicity is TrafficWave. This autoresponder company is becoming the preferred choice for many businesses, large and small. It also is becoming known as one of the most "traffic exchange friendly" choices. TrafficWave also includes an extensive amount of training.