Tools of The Trade
Running an online business is hard. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle. I like puzzles and figuring out the best tools to get stuff done. My criteria are usually nice design, easy to use and affordable. I pay for quality, but I like free or cheap best. This page is a list of everything I use (some more than others). It’s always changing.
My Gear on Kit
Disclosure
I participate in the Amazon Associate Program and I also take part in affiliate programs of other companies or brands that I really like and think make good products or services. Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, which means I may receive commission from the company at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I use and love or that I think will be helpful to you. The affiliate partnerships allow me to maintain the website and keep creating and sharing content to help both of us move forward in business and in life.
Designed with love by Mike. Click Shirt to View on Amazon.
Podcaster SM58 T-Shirt
$20
Podcaster SM7B Outline
$20
One Man Band T-Shirt
$20
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Shure SM7B
Dynamic ($349)
Rode Procaster
Dynamic ($229)
Shure SM58
Dynamic ($99)
Heil PR40
Dynamic ($325)
Audio Technica ATR2100
Dynamic, USB & XLR ($79)
ElectroVoice RE-20
Dynamic($399)
Allen & Heath Zed 10
10-Channel ($249)
Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen)
USB 2-Channel Audio Interface ($149)
Mackie 1202vlz4
12-Channel ($269)
DBX 286s (Pre-Amp)
Pre-Amp & Processor Only ($199)
Scarlett 6i6 (2nd Gen)
USB 6-Channel Audio Interface ($249)
Sony MDR-7506
My Headphones ($79)
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones
Very Popular ($149)
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO
USB 6-Channel Audio Interface ($249)
Zoom H1
Handy Small Recorder ($99)
Zoom H4N Pro
New Version ($199)
Zoom H6
My Favorite Recorder ($399)
Cloudlifter CL-1
Add Clean Gain to Dynamic Mics
($149)
M-Audio BX5 Monitors
Desktop Speakers
($149/each)
Rode PSA1 Swivel Boom
Desk Mounted Swivel Boom Arm
($99)
Auray Sheepskin Earpads
Replaces Sony MDR-7506
($67)
Furman PST-6 Power Conditioner
Keep Power Clean ($79)
Hosa Deoxit D5 Cleaner
Safe, cleaner for Electronics
($13)
Web Tools
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe CC is the lifeline of my business and I consider it a bargain at $50/month for what you get. Photoshop, Lightroom, inDesign, Illustrator Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition….
Freshbooks
Freshbooks is the easiest way to invoice and manage your expenses and track your time. Make getting paid easy, use Freshbooks. It’s going to cost you $25/month which is tough at first, but it’s so worth it to not have to stress about sending invoices. I’m a fan.
BlueHost
BlueHost is web host of all of my websites. Their customer service is responsive and friendly and my website is always up and you can get started for $3.95 a month to host multiple websites. Happy with BlueHost and I recommend them.
Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes is the best. One price for unlimited themes with no limit to the number of websites you make. This site is made with Extra Theme, but MikeMurphy.co is on Divi 3.0, which is the flagship theme. Extra is more magazine style, which I wanted for Podcaster Toolkit.
Shopify
Shopify is a very easy way to create an e-commerce website or store. The templates are really nice right out of the box and adding products and customizing the site is really easy. Pricing starts at $29/month and there is a ton of add-ons that may get expensive, but if you make money, isn’t it worth the investment? If you need a dedicated store, consider Shopify.
Design & Graphics
Graphics
Where I buy icons, illustrations, patterns, textures, web elements, product mockups…
Fonts & Lettering
Great resource for hipster and hand-drawn and brush fonts and slab-serifs.
Photos
I don’t buy a lot of stock photos from Creative Market, but when you need that unique photo that isn’t on all the free sites, Creative Market has a great selection at very affordable prices
Online Education
Thinkific
Thinkific The best resource to host and sell your online courses.
Camtasia
Camtasia is my screencasting tool of choice. This is my primary tool for making tutorials. The new Camtasia 3.0 is all fancy and slick and really makes screencasting simple. I’m a fan.
Lynda.com
Creative Live BusinessLearn from incredible instructors who are at the top of their game. Creative Live only gets the best and each class is filled with actionable items.
Screenflow
Screenflow is the screencasting tool I used for a long time. It works great, but I find the interface a little confusing and not as fun to use as Camtasia. I still use it for some purpose and it has some features I like better than Camtasia, but it’s now my #2 screencast tool.
Lynda.com
Lynda has been my #1 girl for almost 10 years. I owe most of my tech & design learning to Lynda. When you are serious about learning, Lynda is the place. College level learning. The best. Really.
Creative Live
Creative Liveis up there with Lynda for online education for me. Awesome classes and instructors. The Alex Blumberg Podcast Class was surprisingly great for me as I am not a storyteller, but I picked up a lot from this class. If it’s on Creative Live, it’s good. Simple.
Wirecast
Wirecast is a professional live broadcasting and live-streaming tool made by Telestream, the company behind Screenflow.
Udemy
Udemyhas a ton of great classes, but in all honesty, I use it for my courses to earn revenue. There is opportunity to make a good living on Udemy selling courses and it also has tons of classes.
Big Resource List
Productivity Tools
1Password: Password manager. Would be locked out of everything without it. Game-changer.
Asana: Another great project management tool.
Backblaze: The best cloud backup solution I have used. Unlimited backups $5/month!
Baron Fig: Notebooks that make me feel creative and smart.
Buffer: I think I’m in love with Buffer.
ByWord: Great markup writing tool.
Calendly: Very cool scheduling tool. Integrates with Google Calendar.
Dropbox: No explanation needed. A must-have
Evernote: Oh how I try to love you. We’re making headway.
Google Apps For Business: If you do one thing for your business, install Google Apps.
List.ly: Make & share lists with the world.
Medium: Write & publish articles. Love Medium.
Scrivener: Trying to make this my default writer.
Slack: Communication tool. Eliminate emails.
Trello: My favorite organizer. Trello keeps track of everything.
Workflowy: So awesome! Forget to use it, but love for long lists!
Podcast Hosting
Libsyn: Where I host my podcast files
BluBrry: I use PowerPress WordPress Plugin to generate RSS Feed.
Soundcloud: I like Soundcloud, but do not recommend you host your podcast with them.
Spreaker: Spreaker is a one stop shop for podcasters and I really like their whole vibe. I want to be more active with Spreaker as I really like everything they have going on.
PodBean:The pricing is good and people generally have good things to say about Podbean.
Podcast iOS APPS
Gear Vendors
Amazon.com: Much of my gear is available in my affiliate store on Amazon.
B&H Photo: Simply the best place for photo & video gear.
ZenPro Audio: Amazing Customer Service
Sweetwater: Amazing Customer Service
Outsourcing
Odesk:
Fiverr : Like Fiverr a lot for little jobs.
People Per Hour:
Upwork
Online Education
Audible.com
CreativeLive: A staple in my world
KelbyOne: I owe a lot of my design & photoshop skills to Scott Kelby.
Lynda.com: The cream of the crop for online education.
Skillshare: One of my new favorites for tutorials.
Udemy.com: Massive library of courses
Audio & Video (Editing)
Adobe Audition: The best audio editor. Period.
Adobe Premiere Pro: The tool I use to edit video.
Audacity: In the browser editor. Looks ugly, but works.
Auphonic: A bit of magic. Upload a file and it spits out a really good quality file. Impressive.
Camtasia: Very similar to Screenflow. Better annotations.
GarageBand: Oldie but goodie for making music and editing audio.
Hindenberg Pro: Online Editor that is very popularReaper
Pro Tools
Screenflow: Powerful, easy-to-use screen recording and editing software for Mac.
Wipster.io Good for proofing with clients
Wistia.com: One of the best video resources around for tools and learning video.
Podcast Directories
iTunes: The big kahuna
Google Play
Stitcher – Popular, but I think the quality of audio is not very good
Tune In
iHeartRadio
Product Hunt
Wordpress
Bluehost (Hosting): The best hosting company with equally as good customer service.
Divi Theme by Elegant Themes: Words cannot say enough about how great this theme framework is.
Extra Theme by Elegant Themes: This site is built on Extra. I rather like it :D.
Accounting
FreshBooks: Beautiful Invoicing & so much more.
Xero: Love Xero. They make accounting fun.
Email Newsletters
MailChimp: My preferred email service for newsletters, etc.
Stock Photos & Graphics
CreativeMarket.com
DesignCuts.com
Envato
The Fancy Deal
The Stocks: Hispster Heaven.
Unsplash: Good images
AudioBlocks.com
VideoBlocks.com
CompFight (Photos): A FlickR search tool
Pixabay
PicJumbo
Placeit.net (Mockups)
