To develop an online business — one that gives you the freedom to travel, like I love to do, or to just
run your business from home in your pajamas (like I also do) — you’ll need several essential business tools. Here’s a short list of the MOST essential:

Email service provider (ESP). This is for sending out emails to your growing contact list — newsletters, promotional emails, announcements, etc. Don’t make the mistake of trying to send group emails from your private email account (like Yahoo or Outlook or Gmail). That can get you in trouble with spam flaggers fast. Plus, you’ll miss out on the mailing statistics that ESPs provide. A few of my favorite ESPs: MailChimp, Aweber and, for the more advanced, Ontraport or Infusionsoft.

Shopping cart or other payment processor. If you’re serious about developing online products and programs, get a real shopping cart.

If you’re keeping it small and exclusively 1:1 client-based, you may be able to get away with just a PayPal account.

Website. The quickest to put up and easiest to maintain is a WordPress site. Pick a “theme,” customize it quickly and rock out.

Teleseminar or webinar delivery system. There are a variety of services available, and your choice will be based on whether your free OR paid training is live or “evergreen” and automated. A few of the online biz standards are: Instant Teleseminar, GoToWebinar (or GoToMeeting), Stealth and Evergreen.

Opt-in page generator. These services make creating a smart-looking opt-in page super easy. Two of the oft-used systems are: LeadPages and OptimizePress.

Rock these 5 systems and you can do anything — and go anywhere — you want!

What systems do you use as an online entrepreneur? Leave a comment below.