Recommended Vendors & Resources to Help You and Your Small Business

The recommended small business vendors and resources I have used for my own small business and for my clients' small businesses are marked with an asterisk (*). I recommend these resources from my personal experience with them; however, I make no guarantees. Please do your own due diligence.

If you're happy with the service you receive from any of these vendors or resources, please let me know. If you're not happy from the service you receive, please let me know that as well.

If you have or know of other resources you think should be added to this list, please contact me and let me know.

Domain Name Registration (Name for Your Website)

*Cheap Business Domain Names
www.cheapbusinessdomainnames.com
I register all of my domain names and all of my clients' domain names with Cheap Business Domain Names. Very affordable prices... starting at just $9.95 for .COMs. Don't spend $15 or $30 for a domain name (like I used to), check out Cheap Business Domain Names.

eZine (Email Newsletter) Software

*Aweber
www.aweber.com
I use Aweber to manage my email and eZine lists, and I love it. I think it is the easiest
and best solution on the market. I highly recommend that you check out Aweber.

Exact Target
www.exacttarget.com

Constant Contact
www.constantcontact.com

Hosting (Websites)

*DogBark
www.dogbark.com
DogBark is the best hosting company on the planet. Okay, maybe I'm a little biased... I know the owner of DogBark personally (he was one of my professors in college) and thus, recommend them without hesitation. Their prices are great and their customer service is unparalleled. You can order via their website or call 1-877-864-7929. Be sure and tell them I sent you. You'll love working with these guys!

Cheap Business Domain Names
www.cheapbusinessdomainnames.com
Cheap Business Domain Names also offers hosting packages. I have only registered domain names with them, not hosting, but their prices are very reasonable and seem to have many options for hosting.

Mailing Lists (Purchase and Rental)

*InfoUSA
www.infousa.com
I use InfoUSA for many of my clients, as well as, my own direct mail campaigns.
InfoUSA has very reasonable prices and a lot of different lists, such as household
consumers, corporate executives, new small businesses and professionals such
as lawyers, doctors and other medical personnel.

*AmeriList
www.amerilist.com
I have used AmeriList a few times with good results. They do offer a few types of
lists that InfoUSA does not. Good prices, too.

Merchant Accounts (Credit Cards)

*Practice Pay Solutions
www.practicepaysolutions.com
I use Practice Pay Solutions for my merchant account (to accept credit card payments) and I love them. A great feature is their "virtual terminal" service where I can simply log-on and charge a client's credit card via my web browser, versus having to buy an expensive, portable machine to swipe a card. Practice Pay integrates seamlessly with 1ShoppingCart (listed below) and they are one of the few merchant account providers that will let you sell electronic products (such as eBooks). I always recommend small business owners make it easy for a client to pay — accepting credit cards gives your clients one more way to do business with you. I recommend you accept credit cards with Practice Pay Solutions.

Printers - Traditional (Brochures, Flyers, Stationery)

*PS Print
www.psprint.com
Good quality and prices. You can order directly on their website. They also have several options for turn-around times. However the shorter the turn-around, the more expensive. So plan your printing schedule accordingly.

*Copy Craft
www.copycraft.com
I use Copy Craft a lot. They have good quality, great prices and helpful customer service. You cannot order on their website, so call 1-800-794-5594 and ask for Rollie Sheppard. Rollie is my account rep. Tell him I sent you.

Printers - Specialized

*Modern Postcard (specializing in direct mail postcard printing and mailing)
www.modernpostcard.com
I love Modern Postcard they are the absolute best postcard printer there is. Their quality is fantastic, their prices are great and their customer service is very helpful and on the ball. You can order via their website or if you want to speak to a human, call 1-800-959-8365. Dial extension 1960 and talk to my Account Rep. Matt Schlegel. Tell him I sent you and he'll take good care of you.

Referral Groups (Word-of-Mouth & Leads Groups)

*BNI–Business Network International
www.bni.com
Business Network International (BNI) is, in my opinion, hands down, the very best
referral organization you can join. It is not a leads group, but a word-of-mouth
referral organization. I recommend that all small business owners seriously consider
BNI.

LeTip
www.letip.com

Search Engine Optimization (Website)

*Web Position Gold
(Do-it-yourself, intermediate to advanced solution)
www.webposition.com
Web Position Gold is the tool for doing your own SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your website. A lot of professional SEO businesses rely on Web Position. It is a great tool that I recommend. However, it does take a little time to learn (that's why I have listed it as an intermediate to advanced solution). It is powerful software that will take time to dig in to and learn how to use to its full potential, but if you're the do-it-yourself type and want to get your website listed as high as possible in the search engines, you should check it out.

*Guide to Obtaining a #1 Ranking in the Search Engines by Ryan Allis
(Do-it-yourself, beginner to intermediate solution)
www.search-engines-guide.com
This is a great eBook on getting your website listed high in the search engines. It is easy to follow and the information you'll does work. This is a great resource if Web Position Gold scares you a little. It is easier to do and to follow and there is no software to learn. I highly recommend Ryan's eBook for your small buiness.

*Coastal Sites
(The best solutions when you don't want to do-it-yourself)
www.coastalsites.com
Coastal Sites is a professional SEO company. I have used them for some of my clients' SEO projects and have been happy with them. All they do is SEO and they offer a guarantee on their work. If you don't want to do the SEO for your website yourself (which can be time consuming) then I recommend you call Coastal Sites at 1-800-910-1999 and tell them I sent you.

Shopping Cart Systems

*1ShoppingCart
www.1shoppingcart.com
If you are wanting to sell items on your website or take credit card payments, I recommend 1ShoppingCart. It is the shopping cart system I use for my small business (including this website) and I really enjoy it. Easy to use and integrates powerful online marketing tools.

Speaking & Conducting Seminars

*Fred Gleeck
www.fredgleeck.com
I have learned a lot from Fred Gleeck. He has many books, products and information
on speaking and conducting seminars, as well as, many other topics.

*Speak and Grow Rich
www.speakandgrowrich.com
Dottie Walters is the Author of Speak and Grow Rich, which is the classic book on
speaking.

Toastmasters International
www.toastmasters.org

Surveys

Survey Monkey
www.surveymonkey.com

Zoomerang
www.zoomerang.com

Question Pro
www.questionpro.com

Website Statistics

*WebSTAT
www.webstat.com
I had been using Webalizer (listed below) for my website stats/tracking solution, until I discovered WebSTAT. I now use WebSTAT exclusively and absolutely love it! Fantastic information, including how much time (down to the second) a person stays at your website and how long they visit each page, which is very helpful to know exactly what part of your site needs to be tweaked and changed. If you want access to excellent stats about your web traffic that can help make your website more profitable, then WebSTAT is it!

*Webalizer
www.mrunix.net/webalizer
My website hosting service uses Webalizer, and it is part of the yearly hosting fee
I pay. I think it’s a good solution. It’s very straightforward, with a good variety of
information. But if you want detailed statistics, I recommend WebSTAT (listed above).

Stat Counter
www.statcounter.com

Hyper Tracker
www.hypertracker.com

Writing Articles

*Articles That Sell
www.articlesubmissionsites.com
Articles That Sell is a great eBook written by Bonnie Jo Davis. On her website you can purchase the eBook, as well as, an article submission package that will submit your articles to approximately 200 online article and eZine websites. This can really increase your website traffic.

*Turn Words Into Traffic
www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
Jim and Dallas Edwards are the Authors of this eBook. It is a great resource that I recommend. Keep in mind that their website has a long sales letter that will take awhile to read. But don’t let that sway you. This is a great eBook.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the small business vendors and resources that can help you in marketing your small business... I hope you'll check out these service providers and see how your small business may benefit from their offerings.

Again, if you have a vendor or resource you would like to see listed, please contact me and let me know.

Thanks!

Jeanna Pool