Resources

Books – Business – Color Scheme – Copywriting – CSS – Domain Registration – Fonts – Google Chrome Browser Add-Ons – HTML – Images – jQuery – Measurement & Tracking – Productivity & Efficiency – Q/A + Forums – SEO – Social Media & Sharing – Testing Tools – Textures & Patterns – Vector & Graphics – Website Hosting – WordPress – WordPress Plugins

Books

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

by Stephen R. Covey

This is one of the rare books that has influenced presidents, CEOs, educators, and individuals all over the world not only to improve their businesses and careers but to live with integrity, service, dignity, and success in all areas of life. It has had an undeniable impact for the past 25 years–and will no doubt continue to be influential for many more.

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15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management

by Kevin Kruse

New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Kruse, presents the remarkable findings of his study of ultra-productive people. Based on survey research and interviews with billionaires, Olympic athletes, straight-A students, and over 200 entrepreneurs—-including Mark Cuban, Kevin Harrington, James Altucher, John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn, Grant Cardone, and Lewis Howes—-Kruse answers the question: what are the secrets to extreme productivity?

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Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business

by Michael Masterson

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Changing the Channel offers you a detailed look at twelve of today’s most important marketing channels-explaining how each one works individually as well as in conjunction with each other, leveraging the power of your message for explosive profits.

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Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

by Peter Thiel

The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.

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Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done. It is not a time management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter.

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

by Marie Kondo

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again.

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The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

by Gary Keller

In The ONE Thing, you’ll learn to cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time, build momentum toward your goal, dial down the stress, overcome that overwhelmed feeling, revive your energy, stay on track, & master what matters to you.

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Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work

by Steven Pressfield

TURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT’S NOT EASY. When we turn pro, we give up a life that we may have become extremely comfortable with. We give up a self that we have come to identify with and to call our own. TURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT DEMANDS SACRIFICE. The passage from amateur to professional is often achieved via an interior odyssey whose trials are survived only at great cost, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.

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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

by Steven Pressfield

Think of The War of Art as tough love… for yourself. Since 2002, The War of Art has inspired people around the world to defeat “Resistance”; to recognize and knockdown dream-blocking barriers and to silence the naysayers within us. Resistance kicks everyone’s butt, and the desire to defeat it is equally as universal.

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Principles: Life and Work

by Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business – and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

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Great Leads: The Six Easiest Ways to Start Any Sales Message

by Michael Masterson

Marketing research shows that 80% of an ad’s or sales letter’s success comes from the headline and lead. Every marketer worth the name can tell you how important the headline is. But far too many of those same marketers ignore the critical importance of the lead.

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Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

An updated edition of the blockbuster bestselling leadership book that took America and the world by storm, two U.S. Navy SEAL officers who led the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War demonstrate how to apply powerful leadership principles from the battlefield to business and life.

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Choose Yourself: Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream

by James Altucher

As a board member of a job recruiting company, he spells out what he sees in the near future. And it’s less full-time employees and more people utilizing their unique skills to work for themselves. Some great tips include write 10 ideas a day, give them away for free, offer a service, build connections, be grateful for what you have… if you do these things, success and money will come.

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How I Lost 170 Million Dollars: My Time as #30 at Facebook

by Noah Kagan

An interesting look at the early days of Facebook. Also a tale of the mindset it takes to recover from bitter disappointment. Short read, and I really enjoyed it.

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Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

by Austin Kleon

All creative people are simply inspired by others. They take pieces of art they connect with, then re-purpose in their own way. He provides examples and offers ways to become more creative yourself. One of my favorite is separating your computer desk from your creative space, which should have colors, papers, tape, scissors, etc. It takes you back to being a kid!

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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

by Timothy Ferriss

The title has ignited debates among business folks. But the end-goal is not to work 4 hours a week – it’s to increase your per hour output. And he provides a road-map of ways to do just that, whether you are an entrepreneur or want to advance your career.

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The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

by Michael E. Gerber

This was the first book that really taught me the difference between working IN your business and working ON your business. If you are doing tasks every day that can be outsourced for $10/hr, you are not using your time wisely. It also reminds me of a common question by Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank, “if you got hit by a bus, how would I make my money back?” Harsh, yes. But if your business dies with you, you haven’t set up the right systems as a business owner.

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The Greatest Salesman in the World

by OG Mandino

I read this in a day while camping, and it’s one of the most concise and well-written stories about what it takes to succeed as either a salesman or entrepreneur. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it’s one of those books that teaches you mindset over technique… and it won me over.

Business

MailChimp – E-mail marketing tool with a free option to kick-start your communication with leads and clients

Color Scheme

Color Combos – Browse a variety of color combinations that may inspire your design

Color Scheme Designer – Generates color palettes based on 1-color

Colour Lovers – Community of people who share colors, palettes and patterns

Hex to RGB Converter – Use this tool to get the correct color code for your stylesheet

Copywriting

Readability Score – Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test, don’t overcomplicate your writing (70% or 7.5)

Spell Checker – Find typos on any page on your website using this tool

CSS

CSS Media Queries – Use within your custom CSS to make your website responsive

CSS Stats – Find out the most used CSS properties on your (or any) website

CSS Tricks – Popular Blog with CSS Tutorials on New Features and Common Issues

Skeleton Responsive CSS Framework – Use their column-based grid layout to quickly develop your HTML/CSS website

W3 Schools CSS Tutorials – Learn the Basics of CSS with Examples

Domain Registration

GoDaddy – Register and Manage Your Domains

Fonts

1001 Free Fonts – Many Free Fonts to Download

FontSpring – Worry-Free Font Licensing for All Devices

Font Squirrel – Free & Premium Fonts

Google Fonts – Free Fonts to Download or Easily Embed on Your Website

MyFonts – Premium Font Licensing

TypeKit – Font Service that Allows You to Use Thousands of Fonts on Your Projects

Google Chrome Browser Add-Ons

ColorZilla – Pick Out Colors from a Website

Dimensions – Determine the Pixel Width or Height of Elements on a Website

Evernote Web Clipper – Clips Content from the Web into Your Evernote Account

Google Dictionary – Provides a Definition for Every Word You Double-Click to Highlight

LastPass – Password Manager that Generates and Stores Secure Passwords for All Your Website Accounts

Link Checker – Checks for Broken Links Automatically on Any Web Page

PageRank Checker – Determines Google PageRank (0 to 10) of Any Web Page

Wappalyzer – Find Out the Technology Behind Every Website You Visit

HTML

HTML Sandbox – Split Window to Simultaneously Test Your HTML Code and View Results

W3 Schools HTML Tutorials – Learn the Basics of HTML with Examples

Images

New Old Stock – Vintage, royalty-free public archive photos

PicJumbo – Totally free photos for personal and commercial projects

Pixlr – Web-based photo editing service that is similar to Photoshop, with a free option

PlaceHold.it – Don’t have images just yet? Use this to generate placeholders

UnSplash – Use the free, high-resolution stock images for anything you want (seriously)

jQuery

jQuery – Javascript Library for Really Cool Animations and Easy-to-Install Features

jQuery API – Help for All Functions Included in the jQuery Library

jQuery UI – More Animations/Widgets Built on jQuery like Drag-n-Drop, Accordion Menu, Progress Bar, Date Picker from a Calendar

Measurement & Tracking

Google Analytics – Analyze your website traffic and make smarter decisions based on actual data

Optimizely – Easy A/B experiments on your website to test variations on colors, buttons and copy

BuiltWith Trends – See the current trends in web technologies that are being used by websites across the internet

Productivity & Efficiency

Dropbox – Sync Files Between All Your Devices

Evernote – Collect, Save and Search Your Notes Easily

FileZilla – Transfer Files from Your Computer to Web Host with FTP, Sync Settings via Dropbox

Klok – Track How Long You Spend on Projects, Sync Settings via Dropbox

Notepad++ – Powerful text editor that applies styles to different code such as HTML, CSS and Javascript

Q&A + Forums

Quora – Question and answer site with authority contributors like CEOs, entrepreneurs and other influential people

StackOverflow – Code-Centric Q/A Website

SEO

SerpFox – Easy-to-use tool to record your Google rankings over time for multiple keywords and phrases, plus export capability

Local Search Ranking Factors – Detailed post regarding the trends in local SEO by a round-up of experts

Social Media & Sharing

Buffer App – Schedule your social media posts in advanced

BuzzSumo – Find out exactly what content is being shared across all social networks

Sumo – Website plugin that adds responsive social sharing buttons to every page of your website (plus other AMAZING features)

Topsy – Social media analytics tool

Testing Tools

301 Redirect Checker – Tool to ensure a URL redirects to the correct page

Google Page Speed Insights – Quick Test with Advice on How to Improve Your Website Speed

iPad Peek – Virtually Shows How Your Website Looks on an iPad & iPhone

MX Toolbox – Test the DNS/MX Settings of Your Domain and Web Hosting

Pingdom Page Speed – Test the Performance & Speed of Each Page on Your Website

Viewport Resizer – Responsive Web Design Bookmarklet that Allows You to Dynamically Resize Your Browser Window

Textures & Patterns

Pattern Cooler – Pick from Several Repeating Patterns and Customize Colors

Subtle Patterns – Repeating Patterns Great for Website Background

Texture King – Free Stock Textures Ranging from Grunge to Concrete and more

Transparent Textures – Test various transparent textures with the background color of your choice

Vectors & Graphics

All Free Download – Free vectors and other graphics

Vecteezy – Free vector art to use in your designs

Website Hosting

WordPress

WordPress.org – Self-Hosted WordPress Installation

WordPress Documentation – Information on WordPress Theme Structure and Back-End Code

WordPress Plugins – Extend the Functionality of Your Website with Popular Plugins

WordPress Plugins

Advanced Automatic Updates – Automatically updates your WordPress core software, including plug-ins and themes

Ajax Event Calendar – Easy to use and slick calendar of events with links to Google Maps

Akismet – Comment spam blocker which is normally pre-installed with WordPress

BackupBuddy – Easy-to-use automatic backup software which works with services like Dropbox, Amazon S3 and others

Better WordPress Minify – Combine several CSS and Javascript files into one to save load time

Contact Form 7 – Build contact forms and surveys which can be added to any page on your website

Disqus – Advanced comment system which is used in place of the standard comments with WordPress

Growmap Anti Spambot – Adds a checkbox to the comment form for users to confirm they are human

iThemes Plugin Suite – Great pack of premium plugins that includes everything from BackupBuddy to photo galleries

Limit Login Attempts – As the name suggests, it increases security by blocking anyone that tries to login too many times

Responsive Lightbox – Add the image “lightbox” effect using a variety of different services

Search and Replace – Search and replace text within your WordPress database instead of manually updating several entries

SEO by Yoast – The best plugin to help your website content achieve #1 rankings in Google

Simple 301 Redirects – Redirect one URL to another

TablePress – Insert a database or table within one of your posts/pages

User Role Editor – Change what different user levels are allowed to update on your website

W3 Total Cache – Caching plugin that helps your website to load faster