A Peek Under My Online Hood

When I first started building my online business, I was incredibly grateful for those who openly shared the tools that made their work run more smoothly.

Now, I’d love to pay it forward by giving you a peek under the hood of my own setup. Here’s what I use for website hosting, word processing, social media scheduling, content organisation, and more. Some tools I absolutely love—others, not so much (and I’ll explain why).

Before I dive in, huge credit goes to Marie Forleo for inspiring me to turn Project Me into a business in the first place. When I joined her online programme B-School, I had only the seed of an idea. A few weeks later, I walked away with everything I needed to bring my dream business to life.

Website: WordPress & Squarespace

This website is self-hosted at WordPress.org, meaning I don’t have ‘wordpress.com’ tacked onto my URL. That required purchasing my domain (myprojectme.com) and finding a web hosting service. Back in 2013, GoDaddy was the go-to option, and for years I was happy with them—until I wasn’t. Their constant upselling, sneaky contract extensions, and a disastrous site crash during a crucial launch left me looking for alternatives.

For my newer website, kellypietrangeli.com, I chose Squarespace—and I’m so glad I did. One flat fee covers everything. No more plugin breakdowns, backups, or maintenance headaches. I hired a web designer to set it up, and now I can easily update and add pages myself. Big fan!

Acuity Online Scheduling

No more endless email back-and-forth when someone wants to book a session with me! Acuity lets me set up different appointment types, syncs with my calendar, collects payments, and sends reminders—all in one place. It even integrates seamlessly with my Squarespace site, making my life so much easier.

Google Drive & G Suite

Right from the start, I swapped out Microsoft Word for Google Drive, and I’ve never looked back. Auto-saving? Check. Easy document sharing? Check. No more worrying about lost files? Check. I even wrote my entire book in Google Docs, with each chapter neatly organised in subfolders for quick access.

I’ve since upgraded to Google Suite, which gives me business email addresses and extra cloud storage—all in one system that just works.

Aweber & FloDesk

Back when I started my newsletter, the main options were MailChimp and Aweber. Many advised starting with MailChimp’s free plan, then switching to Aweber after reaching 2,000 subscribers. But I knew I’d hit that number quickly, so I jumped straight into Aweber—and within six months, I’d outgrown the free limit.

That said, I never loved Aweber’s interface. After 10 years, I switched to FloDesk, and the difference is night and day. Created by two women (and you can tell!), it’s much more user-friendly and beautifully designed. I can still segment my list, create landing pages, and send automated sequences—just with a whole lot more ease and style.

Zoom

I use Zoom all the time—for my Soul Explorers membership workshops, 1:1 Soul Plan sessions, and podcast interviews. Thanks to breakout rooms, I can split participants into small groups for deeper discussions. The sessions are recorded, and members receive replays the next day.

I’m on the lowest-tier paid plan, which allows up to 100 participants with no time limits. Totally worth it.

Xero

For the first two years of my business, I tracked income and expenses with pen and paper—a complete disaster. Then I discovered Xero, and bookkeeping became so much easier. It syncs with my PayPal and bank accounts, categorises transactions, and simplifies tax time. Plus, I can see a clear breakdown of my business income from different revenue streams.

Trello

If you love the idea of a digital bullet journal with drag-and-drop task management, you’ll love Trello. I use it for everything—content planning, project tracking, book outlining, and even personal to-do lists. The Trello phone app keeps everything accessible on the go.

Evernote & Evernote Webclipper

Evernote is like an extension of my brain. It’s where I store ideas, notes, and important resources, eliminating the never-ending paper clutter. The Webclipper extension is a game-changer—I no longer bookmark sites I’ll forget about later. Instead, I save them in neatly organised folders, ready when I need them.

You can start with the free version, and if you ever reach the storage limit, upgrading to Evernote Premium is an easy transition. Bonus: Their referral programme lets you earn credit towards your subscription.

Canva

I use Canva for everything—social media graphics, blog post images, newsletter banners, PDFs, workbooks, flyers, invoices… you name it! The free version is great, but Canva Pro is even better, letting me store my brand fonts, colours, and assets in one place.

Final Thoughts

These are the practical tools that keep my business running—but there’s more to a heart-centred business than just tech. When we align our energy before taking action, things flow with so much more ease.

That’s exactly what my B-School Bonus offerings are all about. If you’re interested, check them out!

Now, over to you—are you using any of these tools? Have a favourite you can’t live without? Share in the comments!

Positively yours,

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission or extra time on my own subscriptions if you make a purchase through them. That said, I only share tools I genuinely use and find valuable. Whether or not you decide to buy anything is completely up to you! 😊