Tools for Building and Sharing Brand Stories*
(*Buckets and shovels encouraged, but not included)
To build great stories for your business, you’re gonna need great tools.
For me, this task has been daunting because there are SO MANY OPTIONS. I’ve researched, tested, implemented, accepted and rejected more of them than I can even count.
So, to (hopefully) help you avoid such a HUGE time drain, I’ve listed some of my favorite tools for running a story-focused business below.
These are the tools I use and LOVE. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on this page. Some are affiliate links because I want to help support these companies by getting the word out about them. But you don’t pay anything extra for that. And, if you want, you can always go directly to each company’s website without clicking on the links provided on this page. Sound good?
Email Marketing
ConvertKit
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ConvertKit for email marketing. It’s simple to use and it has everything I need for growing my audience at this stage of my business. I tried out a LOT of email marketing services before making the decision to go with ConvertKit. There are many great options out there. But ConvertKit had that little something extra that made it the best choice for me. I particularly liked how they’ve adopted GDPR requirements into their system.
You can use ConvertKit FREE up to 1000 subscribers. What does this free plan include? Pretty much EVERYTHING. You’ll have access to:
- Unlimited landing pages
- Unlimited, customizable CTAs & signup forms
- 30+ premium landing page templates
- Unlimited traffic
- Customizable domain setup
- Mobile responsive designs
- Manage up to 1000 subscribers
- Unlimited email broadcasts
- Subscriber tagging
- Seamless Unsplash integration
- Creator community
AI Writing Assistance
The AI Content Reactor is literally one of the BEST online courses I’ve ever taken when it comes to content creation.
Developed by Rob Lennon (who you can follow on Twitter at @thatroblennon), this course provides a step-by-step roadmap for using AI to generate content ideas. Some of the topics he covers include:
- Definitions of common AI terminology
- How to create prompts that result in better AI outputs
- How to create an “Endless Inspiration Board” using AI (This was AMAZING!!!)
- How to use advanced AI techniques (after you’re comfortable using the basic ones)
Interesting in trying your hand at writing a novel? Short story? Screenplay? Anything with a plot? Then Sudowrite is the AI-powered writing tool you’ve been looking for.
Designed specifically for creative writers, Sudowrite can help you enhance character development, assist with world-building, explore different plot scenarios, generate detailed descriptions, and pretty much anything else you need along the journey from idea to plot to published work.
As a new fiction writer, the whole idea of writing a novel was overwhelming to me. But Sudowrite has proven to be a fantastic sidekick. It’s easy to use. And, even more importantly, it’s FUN to play with!
Design
Canva Pro
My guess is that you’ve used Canva for something at some point, am I right? And I’m also getting that you used the free version because, well, it’s FREE. And it’s also a great design tool—especially for non-designers.
But, here’s the thing: Canva Pro offers SO much more to help you build a stronger and WAY more interesting brand. In addition to everything you can do with the free version of Canva, these are additional (and much-needed) tools you have with the Pro version:
- 100+ million premium stock photos, videos, audio and graphics
- 610,000+ premium and free templates with new designs daily
- Easily save and apply your brand or campaign’s colors, logos, and fonts with up to 100 Brand Kits
- Remove image backgrounds instantly with Background Remover
- Resize designs infinitely with Magic Resize
- Save designs as templates for your team to use
- 100GB of cloud storage
- Schedule social media content to 8 platforms
Check Canva Pro out for yourself to see if it’s the right fit for you and your business. It certainly is for me!
Writing Systems for Content Generation
The Content OS
Putting systems in place for content creation and publication is an absolute MUST DO for building your business.
Thankfully, Justin Welsh had done it for us with his Content OS program! (And, by the way, if you don’t already follow Justin on LinkedIn or Twitter, you should.)
The Content OS uses Notion to help you keep track of topics, ideas, post structures, categories, sources and everything else you need for a smooth running content machine.
As someone who’s not a natural “system maker,” I was absolutely THRILLED to find this program. It has made content creation and publication so much easier and faster for me — while also supporting high-quality and high-value output.
The LinkedIn OS
This is another gem created by Justin Welsh! And if you’re interested in building an audience using LinkedIn — the LinkedIn OS is exactly what you need to get started.
Legal
plainlyLEGAL: Generate Custom Legal Documents for Your Online Business in Minutes
My friend—Harvard Law School graduate Bobby Klinck — created plainlyLEGAL for folks like you and me. As both an attorney and a long-time online entrepreneur, he knows exactly what we need when it comes to protecting our businesses.
I have a subscription to plainlyLegal myself and absolutely LOVE IT! Plus, in addition to the legal document generator, Bobby and his team are also building out this tool to include ChatLegal™, which will allow you to get lawyer-approved answers to your legal questions 24/7/365 without having to pay hefty fees to a lawyer!
Legal documents built specifically for online businesses:
Programs & Products
- Online Course Terms & Conditions
- Coaching Agreement
- Group Coaching Terms & Conditions
- Mastermind Agreement
- Membership Terms & Conditions
- Digital Product Terms & Conditions
- Membership Terms & Conditions
- Bootcamp Terms & Conditions
- Workshop Terms & Conditions
- Virtual Event Agreement
- Website
Website Privacy Policy (GDPR, CALOPPA, & COPPA COMPLIANT)
- Website Terms of Use & Disclaimer
Confidentiality, Waivers, & Releases
- Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
- Publicity Release
- Testimonial Release
- Podcast Guest Waiver & Release
- Video Show Guest Waiver & Release
- Guest Blog Post Release
Client Services
- Client (Services) Agreement
- Copywriting Agreement
- Web Design/Development Client Agreement
- Tech Services Agreement
Hiring & Team
- Virtual Assistant Agreement
- Independent Contractor Agreement
- Employee Offer Letter
- Employee Confidentiality Agreement
- Employee Confidentiality Agreement
- Employee Intellectual Property Transfer Agreement
Other Important Docs
- Event Sponsorship Agreement
- Brand Photography Addendum
- Speaking Agreement
- Single-Member LLC Operating Agreement
- Affiliate Agreement
- Guest Expert Agreement
Ready for a Little Compare and Contrast?
Outsourcing (a.k.a, Freelancers)
Need a logo? A website? A quirky cartoon of you and your dog?
If you’re in need of pretty much anything that has to do with graphic design, check out Fiverr. Seriously. This is my go-to resource for logos and illustrations.
The Story Sandbox logo? Fiverr.
The cartoon of my dog and me? Fiverr.
I’ve hired freelancers from Fiverr for years. Literally. Years and years. And I keep going back because I’ve found the freelancers there to be affordable AND super talented! Fiverr provides a way for you to expand your team with excellent professionals without breaking the bank!
Start building your business’s creative team today! You can use the “Find a Freelancer” search box to the left (if you’re on desktop or tablet) or at the top of this section (if you’re on mobile) to get going!