Mint

Mint is the best “free” way to manage your money.  At-a-glance they automatically download and categorize your balances and transactions.  Everyday.  Making it effortless to keep track of where your money is going , create budgets and categories, and check balances.  You can read more about using Mint here.

Freshbooks

Great for many reasons but the best is their simple invoice management system.  No longer will it be a PITA (pain in the a$$) to invoice your clients, save time and money.  Integrate with your Project Management software for easy reporting and tracking.  Or you can keep track of your projects within Freshbooks.  Whatever works best for you!

Outright

This is one of my fav tools!  Combined with Freshbooks and all of my accounts for automated accounting! Organize all of your accounts including Etsy, Paypal & your eCommerce!  Be prepared at tax time with a clear report.

inDinerio

inDinerio monitors your money in real-time so you always know where you stand.  It brings you a financial advisor via the internet. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll know precisely how much you’re earning, spending, what your cash situation looks like and more. Create budgets and eliminate data entry!

Shoeboxed

Now I am going to show off and tell you about the best freaking way to organize receipts, bills & even business cards! Your accountant will L-O-V-E you and how organized you are.

The process is simple! Grab your account here, use your own envelope or one of their Magic Envelopes to send in whatever you want to be scanned in by Shoeboxed {<–This is an affiliate link that helps me get free points.}, and {POOF} they are magically transformed for you.

Have you ever noticed that the new receipts fade after a while?  You need to have a copy of this to keep. There is an app for that as well!

Shoeboxed has an app for your mobile device so you can record them yourselves while you are out to eat or on the go! Bad a$$!!

Use Freshbooks, Outright & Shoeboxed combined for a powerful and automated combination.

Shoeboxed is also FAST! I mailed in my recent package last Saturday. They received it on Monday and by Wednesday my receipts were made available for viewing.

Have a bunch of business cards laying around that you want save but not take up space in your office? Use the Magic Envelope to send in your cards too!

Want to Make More Money in Your Business?

Making money doesn’t have to be hard.

It can be as simple as adding an online shop to your WordPress site!

Check out the Labs 4 Preneurs where I’ll help you offer your customers LOTS of payment options so buying is easy. We’ll cover PayPal, credit cards, monthly payment plans, and beyond. I promise, we can make your online transactions are super-safe + secure – I’ll even teach you how to turn your smartphone into a money-making, credit-card swiping machine!

Click here now to become a member.

I am stoked to announce that I am now available for download.

One-Third of people would give up sex rather than their smart phone.

A crazy stat huh? I would NOT be one of those people.

What will you receive when you download me?

You will receive a place to receive quick tips daily to your device that you have the app installed on.

I know as an entrepreneur you can feel like there is so much to do with your business that it becomes overwhelming.

Each day I will send you a small / quick tip that you can implement in 10 minutes or less.

You’ll receive prompts to increase your social engagement, new tools to help grow your presence, and action steps for marketing.

What’s Under More?

Diagnose

I’ve also created an area called “Diagnose” where you can send a screenshot of your techastrophy so I can help you diagnose your techie woes. This is a great way to prevent yourself from beating your head against a brick wall.

Consultation

And one more area you will want to check out, there is a lso a spot to schedule a strategy consultation with me. If you’ve been wondering about any of my programs or working with me 1:1, this is great opportunity for us to chat.

In 15 minutes, I helped a womanpreneur discover her USP { Unique Selling Point } to position her business towards her income and sales goals for hitting 6-figures. In another session, I helped another enterpreneur implement how they can bring in an extra $12k for each new client they sign on in 2013!

So go – NOW – Check it OUT! Grab the Ali Rittenhouse app below and schedule your 15-minute session with moi!
 
For Apple Devices
For Android Devices
 
xo, Ali

{PS}  -  Thanks to Dana @ Amplify for the kick-ass app that she built for me. Her and her team were amazing to work with! Watch for her in an upcoming Goddess Lounge interview as part of the Labs 4 Preneurs.

Capture the Moments

Tools to Purchase

Glif for iPhone 4/4s and iPhone 5- A super cool and inexpensive iPhone Tripod attachment that was created from a Kickstarter campaign that I helped fund! Now sold on Amazon for $20 for your iPhone 4/4s OR iPhone 5! If you are not using an iPhone, check out this great universal smartphone option. {Which can be used on your iPhone too}

iPad / Tablet Tripod attachment - Another cool tool to help you make professional videos using your tablet or iPad! It also comes with a windshield mount for your kids to use on long car trips! Only for $22.95!

Tripod – Having a tripod is a great thing to have whether you are shooting videos or taking pictures! Most cameras have the ability to attach to a tripod and you need to have something to hook your new tripod gadgets up to!

Microphone – Recording your audio gets a little trickier than the rest of the items, you have to first purchase a splitter and a microphone. You need to have a splitter with an input built in rather than two outputs.

Lighting Kit – If you want to really kick your recording up a notch, purchase a lighting kit, this is the one that I have in my home video studio!

Cool Apps mentioned

iMovie for iPhone or iPad – Create your own trailers or clip your videos easily with iMovie on the go!

Magisto - If you’re an Android users, download this app to do your video editing after shooting your awesome footage.

Teleprompter+ for iPad – Record videos for your business? Turn your iPad into a Teleprompter. {Instructional blog post coming soon.} This cool app will help you look and sound more professional on camera.

Teleprompter for Android – We aren’t leaving you out if your Tablet or Phone runs off of the Android market! Check this cool Teleprompter app out!

Hello Bar Sample

Hello Bar is a creative way to increase your sales, subscribers, and social peeps.  The options are endless as to where you can direct your readers to with your attractive Hello Bar.   It’s a clean option that can be formatted to stand out.

Set up your bar to “drop in” a few seconds after they land on your page to really grab their attention. It’s key to send them to a page with a call-to-action and direct them to the next step.  You never want your visitor to feel lost and unsure of their next move on your website.

Ways you could utilize your Hello Bar:  sales pages, events, freebies, social networking, recent blog posts, current events, sales offers, and more.

You can effectively grow your list by using the Hello Bar.  Connecting the link to a landing page for your freebie is a creative way to attract your readers to get on your list.  Track your click-throughs and sign ups to see what is working and what may need some tweaking.

Did you just release a new book or about to launch something big?  Attract them with a catchy headline and send them to a customized page to promote what’s going on.

Keep promoting your brand via your Hello Bar by sending readers to a fun landing page that incorporates your freebie, has your Facebook widget inserted so they can like your page, and even your signature product.

Hello Bar Sample

It is uber important to track your stats to keep up with what is working and what is not.  Upgrade your plan to Pro and set up A & B Testing to see what headlines are attracting clicks and what needs help!

You can set up your Hello Bar up in 10 minutes or less!  To grab your bar go to hellobar.com.  Have fun setting up your Hello Bar! And I am not recommending this because I am an affiliate. Straight up, this is a tool that I think will help you!

Join the Labs 4 Preneurs.

Interested in learning how to create content and more for building your business.

During the labs this month we are talking all about list building and content creation.

Find out more about creating your list to grow your bank account.

Consistency is key and you decide what your consistency will look like. Make a plan you know you can keep up with. What works for you and your business. If you’re not doing anything right now to create content for your blog, begin with once a month.  If you’re ready to go into serious content creation mode, consider once a week. Just be sure you can deliver if you move to that route.

Keep in mind that your content should be stellar. You will connect with your audience on a deeper level with awesome content once a month rather than semi-awesome content that you produce each week.

Not sure what to blog about?

When you are planning out your content, consider when you will have launches or other events and position your content posts around them. Use trending topics, holidays, or books you are reading as potential blog post. Consider jumping not video with vlogging! Brain dump ideas onto a blank sheet and pull your favorite topics for your Blog Content Worksheet. Print off the worksheet below and complete it with content topic ideas or blog post titles so you know what your content posts are going to be.

Click here to download a worksheet to plan out your blog content! It will help you see what content you need to create for your blog.

Join the Labs 4 Preneurs.

Interested in learning how to create content and more for building your business.

During the labs this month we are talking all about list building and content creation.

Find out more about creating your list to grow your bank account.

But only having one could be hurting your list building.

When I work one on one with entrepreneurs, we work on creating multiple pink spoons that they can offer their audience. Now only does this help build your list but it helps build your relationship with your audience, it gives them something valuable right out of the gates. You should be giving them some of your best content right away, why make them wait to discover how awesome you are. Your pink spoon doesn’t have to be a pdf/ebook if your trying to say, “but Ali, I am not a writer”, be creative in what you offer your audience.

Here are a few additional Pink Spoon ideas that you could use on their own or create a combination:

• Video or video series
• Audio recording
• Autoresponder series
• Webinar / Workshop
• Survey / Test
• Interactive Tutorials

Having multiple Pink Spoons allows you to offer different freebies for different subjects or events. A few exacmples are:

Your Homepage

This is the main spot of where your traffic will be driven to. Having a pink spoon here gives new visitors an inventive for wanting to give you their information.

Custom Link Squeeze Page

This will be used to drive traffic to when you do interviews, guest posts, give-away, speaking gigs and more. This can also be used to post on social media to drive traffic to.

Custom Facebook Landing Page

Creating a Facebook Landing Page allows you to send traffic from Facebook to. Every page you create has a custom URL link that you can send traffic to. Link all your Facebook Icons directly to this page. You want a separate freebie that is different and from from the one on your website.

Believe it or not, creating your own Facebook Landing page is pretty simple thanks to Heyo.com. Using a Reveal Page will help you build your Facebook Likes AND build your Email Marketing List.

You have to be strategic when you are building your list and this is a great way to get it started!

Join the Labs 4 Preneurs.

Interested in learning how to create your own custom Facebook Landing Page? Or is List Building a high priority to building your business {Which it should be, if it is NOT. }

During the labs this month we are talking all about list building and content creation.

Join now to begin creating your list to grow your bank account.

On this webinar, we will…

• explore the top reasons you should be using Pinterest as an entrepreneur
• discover ways to use Pinterest to gain more traffic to your website
• discuss successful case studies
• the new changes coming to Pinterest very soon
• all about the new analytics and how to get it

Click here to grab your seat for this awesome webinar that you are not going to want to miss!

Facebook Timeline Thumbnail Image Size

You must create images that are exactly 111 x 74 in size. Facebook’s system will not upload anything that is bigger or smaller than that. If you give your graphic’s person those dimensions, they will be able to create something small for you.

Tip on creating your Thumbnail Image. Keep it simple, yet branded. I used my font and colors to bring the branding out rather than images. You want the wording to tell them exactly what it is! Using a busy image with a lot of text will not work for this size of image.

Timeline Image Tool

Use the Timeline Image Tool to easily create a thumbnail image if you do not have one from your graphic designer.

This tool has build in options that allow you to create images in seconds. Go to http://timelineimagetool.com to get started now.

Special Gift from the Labs

Here are two special gifts for you to use in your Facebook Marketing, these are both straight out of the Labs 4 Preneurs.

Click here for a Timeline cheat sheet with the exact sizes your images should be.
Click here for a Timeline checklist of what your Facebook page should be equipped with.

Want to learn how to create your own images?

Interested in learning How to Create Your Own Branded Facebook Thumbnail Images and finding out more about the Labs 4 Preneurs. Click here and join the only membership that your business needs to build it’s empire.

Here is a list of my top plugins, what they are used for, and how they are going to pimp out your site.

Backup Buddy

Backup Buddy’s name describes what it does. It is your buddy to back your site up. There is nothing worse than waking up to find out that your site has been hacked and compromised. By having an automatic backup of your site, you can save it and restore it in minutes. Even if your hosting provides you with backups, you should still have your own way to get it done. You just never know and your website IS your business.

WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache stores a copy of your loaded site on the server so that it loads faster for visitors. (There are more technical ways of explaining this but this way you understand it.) This is a great feature because some hosting sites and themes take longer to load.

Building your list on your site is a very important step, maximizing your website for list building can be automated and simple to integrate.

Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms allows you to create custom webforms to embed on your site. You can style these directly in WordPress with Gravity Forms too. Create forms for surveys, contest or list building with Gravity Forms. This is a great post about Add-Ons you can do with Gravity Forms too!

Magic Optin Box

Another fabulous plugin that allows you to pimp out your forms is Magic Optin Box. The great thing about this plugin is that it has templates that you basically just have to select your colors and input your content, the plugin does the rest. This plugin makes it easy to create calls to action with your forms. You can also create sales forms too. Check it out.

Post Footer

Now a popular landscape that gets overlooked is the end of a blog post. Readers are engaged when they finish reading your post, give them the next steps — have them sign up for your list with a Post Footer Plugin. This plugin helps you add a web form to each and every blog post you write without having to paste in your form code in each time. Use this area to grab their name and email for your list, give them something awesome in exchange for this information!

Tweet Old Post

Another cool plugin that will help drive traffic to your blog post is Tweet Old Post. The name speaks for itself but this plugin gives you the ability to automate and share old posts on Twitter. This is great because many entrepreneurs write their posts, share them that week and then it is forgotten about. Make sure that each rocking, kick ass post stays fully alive!

Premise

Now if you are at all interested in creating a product or service and selling it, you will need to create a sales page. Premise is exactly where you should start to do it yourself. Premise allows you to create landing pages, sales pages, AND membership access within one WordPress install and it won’t affect the current theme because it is a plugin and stands alone. You MUST check this plugin out.

Affiliate Link Cloaker

If you help promote anyone’s products or services that you love, then check out Affiliate Link Cloaker. This plugins allows you to organize, customize, and track your affiliates links. This is a seriously cool plugin! Have certain words link up to affiliates links.

Labs 4 Preneurs

This month’s theme for the Geek Labs is all about learning the tricks of WordPress to improve your list building and money-making abilities for your business. We are covering plugins and other cool tutorials to create a powerhouse with WordPress. Imagine having an idea for a product and being able to launch it yourself!

Join the Tourmaline Level to attend the online LIVE workshop where you will learn how to create your own landing and salespages utilizing WordPress. With the Tourmaline Level you will also receive access to our guest expert call on Branding Your Business.

Click here to join now.

If you haven’t heard the official announcement, Ed & I were chosen for the 4th Annual Shelby County CASA/GAL Dancing with Our Stars. You can also watch Ed’s commercial he made!

DWOS serves as CASA/GAL’s largest fundraiser. CASA is 100% funded by donations as well. So, it is a BIG DEAL that we raise as much as possible to help the kids who need a voice!!

We are running a FUN Campaign!

Want a preview?

Check out a preview of our dance routine!

So many have asked about being able to watch us dance. Here is your chance. And this is also your chance to win 3 Months of Coaching with me!!

Donate to Enter!

Ever dollar you donate will enter your name into a drawing for the chance to win 3 months of coaching with me. $1 = 1 Entry.

I will be picking 3 winners with the Grand Prize being 3-Months of Business Coaching!

But I am also giving you gifts for donating different amounts.

Donation Levels

$10

Donating $10 will get you access to the Livestream of our dance on March 23rd. Watch us perform on Dancing with Our Stars.

($10 and up will receive the Livestream Access link!)

$25

Donating $25 will get you access to one special Geek Lab module from the Geek Labs 4 Preneurs.

$50

Donating $50 will get you one month complimentary access to the Geek Labs 4 Preneurs Program at the Tourmaline Elite level (a value of $97+).

$75

Donating $75 will get you one Website Critique on the website of your choice. { This is a service only offered during a VIP session }

$125

Donating $125 will get you access to 1-hour of business coaching with me.

Once you donate, send your Paypal receipt to support @ aliciarittenhouse.com and we will take care of the rest. The deadline is March 20th! So don’t wait to enter!