Startup Resources: A New Era
Brainstorming with pictures, Paypal adds crypto, budget-friendly ways to get ahead, and more fun tools for your business.
Welcome to Start-up Resources Weekly. You’re a busy entrepreneur. Time and money are both important and precious. That’s why we hunt down the best tools, wisdom, and news and deliver them straight to your inbox. Every week.Hello there, 👋
We're back!
And thanks for inviting us into your inbox.
Filling Paul’s shoes is a fairly big task, but we'll try to provide the same great selection of tools, articles, and useful tips to support you and your start-up business.
If you're wondering who we are and what we do, you'll find out more over at smash.vc.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be updating the StartupResources website with a ton of new tools and resources. The site is a learning hub for you, so if you'd like to see a "how-to guide" or article on a specific topic, please let us know in the comments.
Onward and upward. Read on to see this week's featured items.
See you next week,
Juliet Lyall
🧰 Tools
Platforms for Your Newsletter, Blog & Community
Substack has blown up over the last 6 months as a publishing platform for writers to monetize through paid subscriptions. In fact, it’s what we are using to send this email!
But the platform is not a natural fit for startups. Alternative providers have emerged such as Edition.so which calls itself an ‘All-in-one publishing platform for startups - combining newsletters with an integrated community similar to Circle.so. Indeed, Edition can be used by start-ups as a blog to replace WordPress.
Then there is Letterdrop by YC backed founder Parthi Loganathan which lets you:
Easily draft beautiful looking posts
Collaborate with others - just like docs
Track subscriber engagement and demographics
It also has a great Slack community for content creators.
Did we mention that you can start for free?...
Free Premium Music for Your Projects
Unminus offers royalty-free music for use on your website, YouTube channel, podcasts, video or wherever you need to add a tune or two.
The only thing you cannot do is sell this music or create a replica site using these sounds.
There’s a choice of categories if you're searching for a particular style of music or you can simply browse through the selections.
All this for free: but you need to opt-in first.
Brainstorming With Pictures
Mindmeister helps turn your team brainstorming sessions into a visual feast.
This tool lets you share your mind maps with as many colleagues as you want and collaborate with them in real-time. It's the perfect way to develop ideas for your next marketing campaign or simply add a little fun to your meetings.
There are numerous ways to use Mindmeister and you get a free plan for up to 3 mind maps.
The personal plan offers unlimited maps at just $2.49 a month.
→ Try a mind map
SPONSORED LINK
🦄 SEOs with Skin in the Game
Smash Digital - a growth agency, filled to the brim with unicorn images and SEO memes.
A team of SEOs with actual skin in the game, ranking their own portfolio of profitable businesses, and offering the exact same services to clients.
An agency with so much link juice you’ll need a mop and bucket to clean it all up. Check. Them. Out.
📚 Articles
5 Ways to Be Competitive While Staying Financially Conscious
Your competitors aren't going away in a hurry.
And, we know it's tough to stand out when your competition has far deeper pockets than your start-up does.
That's when a little imagination and a focus on the right tactics will give you a boost -without emptying your bank account.
This article provides a quick ideas roundup, with several solid items to action today.
Content Freshness
How often do you update your website content?
Just like your body after an intense session in the gym, your web content may appear a little exhausted and stale.
Believe it or not, Google measures your content freshness and ranks you accordingly. Search engines love content that is both recent and relevant.
We're fans of optimizing content so that it satisfies search intent and helps it perform better in the SERPs.
PayPal Adopts Crypto
It had to happen sooner or later.
If you accept PayPal in your business, this is need-to-know information.
Starting in early 2021, PayPal is joining other major digital payment companies such as Square in supporting cryptocurrency.
You won't actually receive your payment in Bitcoin or alternative digital currencies, but you'll probably want to understand how it's going to affect you.
🎙️ Podcast
We don't always want to read.
Podcasts are an excellent way to absorb information - whether you're relaxing on the sofa, on your morning jog or driving around.
If you enjoy listening to podcasts, let us know and we’ll send you more like the one below.
Systems Are Everything Stupid
So says Michael Gerber, who's an expert on the systems and building blocks needed to run a successful business.
In this episode from the Evergreen Profits podcast, Michael also covers how he started his first business.
👋 The Awkward End Bit
That's it for this week.
How did we do? 😅
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Well Done! Added to my regular reading (etc) list.