There are a lot of folks out there that have asked me… “what do I need to start a online business?” They ask if they need a certain type of software or a certain type of hardware. The truth is you can start a online business with any PC that has internet access. No fancy hardware, no fancy software, all the tools you need are available online. Many affiliate programs will completely setup up the website for you and all you will do is spend your time promoting it.
However, if you are really serious about quitting you day job and creating a full time internet business I would recommend buying a good PC or Mac and investing in some decent software tools.
By no means do you need to have all the same tools as me but for sake of interest let me list for you the hardware and software that I use on a daily basis.
My arsenal of hardware and software tools are as follows:
Hardware
- iMac – 2 gigRAM, 500gig HD, 24 inch screen.
- MacBookPro 2 gigRAM, 160 gig HD, 13 inch screen
- ASUS EeePC 1000HE Netbook
- iPhone 3G
My main computer is my iMac and I use my MacBook to work from remote locations (such as the park or my backyard). I bought the Netbook because of it’s ultra portability and long battery life, plus is was so cheap I couldn’t resist! The iPhone is a great investment, I can monitor all of my websites from where ever I am, I can easily update all of my Twitter accounts and I can even write full blog posts with my WordPress iPhone app. I would HIGHLY recommend getting an iPhone if you are serious about online marketing. You might be able to find a good deal on a refurbished iPhone.
Software
- Mac Browsers (FireFox, Safari)
- PC Browsers (FireFox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome)
- Transmit (Mac FTP software)
- Adobe Illustrator (great for creating logos and illustrations)
- Adobe Photoshop (invaluable for creating graphics and prepping files for online use)
- Adobe GoLive (great for creating and editing web pages)
- Adobe Fireworks (another great graphics app)
- iWork (Mac’s version of MS Office)
- iLife (This comes standard with most Mac computers)
- twhirl (update multiple Twitter accounts without logging in and out)
- tweetdeck (update multiple Twitter accounts without logging in and out)
- mail (Mac’s built in e-mail application)
There are dozens of other applications I use on occasion but the items listed above are the ones I use on a daily basis. Many of these applications are free such as: mail, TweetDeck, Twhirl. Others are very inexpensive such as: iWork, iLife, Transmit. And of course all of the Adobe products are expensive, and if you cannot afford programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator you might want to search out less expensive alternatives.
As you can see I use three different computers. Do you need three computers? No! One will do just fine but I have so many things going on simultaneously that I have grown to where I need three (it’s a good problem to have).
