Welcome to My Toolbox

One of the questions I get asked all the time is what products, services, resources and tools I use for running my business.

It took me 2 years of researching, testing, and trying out different things to find out my absolute favorites. I want to spare you the time and energy of finding these true hidden gems on your own.

I will do my best to keep this list as updated as possible. Full transparency here: some of these items are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! ♡

Disclaimer: Coach Simona is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, and amazon.de.

P.S. Bookmark this page if you want to know what else is worth checking out.

The Bookshelf

"111 Ways to Simplify Your Life" by Coach Simona

My latest book

"The Shift" by Wayne Dyer

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"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

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"Principles" by Ray Dalio

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"Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferris

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"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

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"I Am Enough" by Marisa Peer

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"The 5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman

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"What Every Body Is Saying" by Joe Navarro

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"Atomic Habits" by James Clear

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What Powers My Business

WordPress

The content management system that powers my website is WordPress. I've been using it for years and, in my mind, it's the best tool for creating websites.

Elegant Themes

With the themes and plugins that Elegant Themes create, I can have a website that not only looks good, but that I find easy to work with every day.

ConvertKit

I've tried many email marketing tools in the course of my business. There's no other that helps me stay in touch with my subscribers like ConvertKit.

What I Use to Make Videos

MacBook Pro 13'' 2020 on Amazon

I'm absolutely IN LOVE with my new 13-inch Macbook Pro! I bought my first Macbook Air in 2015, but editing YouTube videos became a bit challenging. With my new Macbook Pro, I'm able to edit videos and podcast episodes, render, and save as many files as I want to. Best purchase ever!

Canon EOS M50 on Amazon

This was one of my easiest purchases ever. I was researching cameras for YouTubers and everyone recommended Canon's EOS M50 for that price range. I bought mine with the 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 lens (it's best for most use cases).

Zoom H1n Recorder on Amazon

The H1n is a no-frills recorder that helps me capture professional-grade audio for my video clips. Get this if you want clear sound at a bargain price.

Blue Yeti Microphone on Amazon

My podcast episodes are recorded with Blue Yeti. It's a great microphone that picks up a lot of sounds—it's even a favorite among ASMR YouTubers!

Epidemic Sound

Ever wondered where your favorite podcasters and YouTubers get their music from? Epidemic Sound is the place. It's free to try for 30 days.

Neewer Ring Light on Amazon

A ring light is a must-have for portraits and beauty shots. If you're just starting out on YouTube, this is the best kind of equipment to get. Later, you can upgrade by adding softboxes.

Neewer Softbox Lights on Amazon

Softboxes create light that spreads throughout space and eliminates shadows in the background. You'll find them in every good studio and in the homes of most YouTubers, me included.

K&F Concept Tripod on Amazon

Whether you shoot videos with your phone or camera, you'll need a tripod to keep it locked in position. There are very few sturdy tripods out there and the K&F Concept is one of them.

Bluetooth Remote Shutter on Amazon

Here's a small gadget that helped me big time. You can't imagine the number of times you need to hit the shutter in a selfie photo shoot. With this little gadget, each time is just a tap away.

Thinking of buying your own gear? I've linked to some pretty good deals on Amazon. And when it comes to buying on Amazon, there's no better deal than getting a Prime subscription. It's how I get fast and free delivery on everything I buy online.

Check it out

My Favorite Social Media Tools

TubeBuddy for YouTube

It takes so much more than great videos to build an audience on YouTube... Knowing what videos in your niche people like to watch — and how they tend to search for them — is a must if you want to get your channel noticed. TubeBuddy helps me (and many other creators out there) to do exactly that.

Crowdfire for Social Media

It's so hard to find a good tool for scheduling your posts on social media! Believe me, I've tried and tested my fair share... Since I discovered Crowdfire, it's become my best friend for scheduling posts, especially on Instagram. And it's helped me save a lot of hours and nerves on the way.

Royalty-free Stock Photos from Pixistock

Pixistock is a stock photo service that I'm super happy to use and support. It's owned by a fellow female entrepreneur named Alicia who's got a great taste for colors and visuals. I use photos and graphics from Pixistock in my social media posts all of the time. Check them out for yourself!

Creating Beautiful Designs for Images with Canva

Canva is one of those tools that literally changed how I work. It's so easy and quick to create beautiful and eye-catching social media graphics with it that I've become my own graphics designer. I use Canva Pro to get access to more stock photos, templates, and features.

Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for Retouching Photos Like a Pro

I use Adobe Lightroom (and occasionally Photoshop) to retouch my photos and make sure my Instagram feed has a professional and consistent look. With Adobe Creative Cloud, it's really easy to use them as well — select a subscription, choose your payment option and you get apps for your Macbook and iPhone.

Best-kept Productivity Secrets

Evernote

There's no other note-taking app like Evernote. I use it to keep my mind organized, write down things related to my business, and clip useful content I stumble upon on the web. Before upgrading, I started out 5 years ago with their Basic plan (which is FREE!). With Premium, you can find everything you need quickly with improved search features offline, and clip pretty much anything from emails to docs and PDFs.

Productivity Planner on Amazon

This is my all-time favorite productivity tool! A friend introduced me to it last year. As a chronic procrastinator, I can tell you one thing: this planner really upped my game. It helps you apply the Pomodoro technique to keep track of time and boost your productivity. I'm obsessed with it!

The Five-Minute Journal on Amazon

I learned about this journal from Tim Ferris. It's so simple that it's brilliant. Every morning, you write down what your daily affirmations and the things you're grateful for. At night, you reflect on your day and all the great things that happened & what would have made the day better. Highly recommend it!