Menu
Some of the links here are affiliate links, meaning that I may earn a commission for referring you if you choose to sign up. But rest assured, know that I NEVER recommend products I don't personally use, or have previously used. So you can rest assured my recommendations are REAL & honest.
Wandering Aimfully (WAIM) as an ethos is the idea that designing a life and business you love is just one big experiment. The founders, Caroline & Jason Zook believe in wandering, exploring, and being open to the evolution of things—while also striving to define the values that aim you in the right direction. WAIM, as a business, is a group coaching community for online business owners. I've been a part of WAIM for around 2 years now, and credit the community & the support from Carol & Jason with being one of the main drivers behind the successes I've had with my business in the last few years. Equal parts encouragement, coaching, humour and pushing-you-to-take-action-when-you're-resisting-because-you're-scared *cough*oristhatjustme*cough* - they're a fantastic couple who support you to create a business and life that works for YOU.
I’m proud to have been customer #99 for ConvertKit (they’re now at over 28,000!) and I've been a customer for years. I’m now also a ConvertKit Certified Expert! They’re my email marketing platform of choice for any blogger, writer, or business owner that wants advanced email marketing tools - and they are my email platform of choice for Rachilli Creative Studio. Sign up through my link below to get an extended 30-day free trial.
Flodesk are a relatively new contender to the email marketing game, but don't let that fool you! If you are a creator, maker, or love to have more flexibility with how your emails look, then Flodesk is for you. Add in some advanced email marketing tools and they're an email platform to get in early with (and that I personally use for Beyond Ink). Use my link to grab a 30-day trial + get 50% off your Flodesk subscription for LIFE. Oh - and another amazing thing about Flodesk? You don't pay more when your subscriber list grows. Bonus!
We drew the short straw when it comes to payment processors in the UK! Most are slow to pay out - but not Square. Square has been my main payment processor for my services ever since they launched here - and they've always paid me in 2 working days or less! Sign up through my link and we’ll both get £1000 free in processing fees! (But let’s face it - Square’s are pretty darn amazing anyway!)
I’ve used every single project management system you can imagine but NO system allowed me the granular control over each client project that I wanted, as well as the flexibility across different types of projects. ClickUp has become my project management system, daily task manager, and goal planner + tracker. It’s the most flexible yet structured system I’ve used - exactly what I need when I thrive on structure but rebel against doing things the way that a system tells me it “should” be done!
The reason I love Acuity is in its simplicity (are you seeing a theme here?!). It’s easy to set up and you can even set up payments for calls and bookings directly in the app. I connect it to my payment processor of choice, Square, and use it for every type of call booking from discovery calls through to paid sessions.
Payhip are an amazing online, UK-based tool that help you to sell any digital, physical or subscription-based products you might be currently dreaming of creating. They make it easy, handle all the VAT MOSS annoyance for you, and have an incredible support team behind them! They're what I run my own online shop with over at Beyond Ink!
Disclaimer: I get free access to Teachery because I’m a part of the wonderful Wandering Aimfully community, but I love it that much IT DESERVES ITS OWN RIGHTFUL SPOT IN THIS LIST. And all the caps. Teachery is an absolutely fantastic course platform - simple enough to make creating your course easy, but powerful enough to give you the flexibility and customisation that you need. My course students have LOVED using the course set up in this way, more so than any other platform I’ve used!
I use Zoom for so many things - client meetings, catch-up-calls with my peer mastermind - and also for group calls for my online courses! It makes it super easy for anyone to join, and to get feedback in real-time from clients or course participants. You can also add-on the "webinar" option, and host public webinars with amazing quality video, a chat, and a Q+A!
When it comes to video recording + hosting, I’ve used allll the tools. But there’s one prevailing winner: Loom. With their recent release of Loom Desktop + Loom PRO, all my video hosting + recording dreams have come true! Plus, Loom has some cool new features built in to the new PRO version - trimming, basic editing, and HD+ recording. (Loom are also in the process of making it possible to also upload videos, which will mean you can use Loom as a much cheaper alternative to video hosting companies!)
Design Cuts is one of those platforms you buy one thing from...and then another...and then another...and before you know it, you’ve spent £££s with them over the years! Design Cuts are not only another great marketplace for truuuly gorgeous design resources, but every few weeks they run the most INCREDIBLE bundle deals that you’ve ever seen. I own a ridiculous amount of bundles bought from them over the years, and they’re just that good! With extended licensing, you can’t go wrong!
If there’s a resource I need for myself or a client, Creative Market is THE place to go. Whether you’re looking for some illustrations, fonts, templates or more - you can find it here! And with a huge amount of designers and even more products on this platform, you’re guaranteed to find the graphics + resources you’re after in a style to suit your brand too. Just be careful to purchase the correct license for your needs and you're good to go!
I often feel like Zapier is my secret weapon! If you want to connect several tools together that don’t have direct integrations, you need Zapier to plug the gaps in your automations. One great example is that I use Zapier to automatically enroll all of my course customers in the Teachery course platform after taking payment through Paddle on my website!
I originally stumbled across Notion when trying to find an alternative note-taking app to the one I was using - and oh my, within a month I’d signed up to the Pro version! Notion can do ANYTHING you want it to when it comes to data, organisation and note-taking. I use it mostly for note-taking, but you can use it for data organisation, to-do lists, and SO much more! Get $10 in credit by signing up through my link.
I have a love/love relationship with data - and along comes Airtable, making it easy! I originally started using Airtable for task management, but that didn't work for the way my brain does - and now I use it for planning, managing and storing client testimonials, and aaanything at all data related. I even used it recently to help me figure out pricing for a new business idea! It’s beautiful and so, so incredibly powerful.
f you’d rather use a third-party to power your forms (I sometimes do this, particularly for surveys!) then Paperform is THE way to go. It’s the simplest + easiest tool I’ve used for creating forms (seeing a theme here?!) and they have an incredible support team. Use my link to sign up and get 10% off forever!
Guru are my absolute favourite choice when it comes to web hosting. I have been with them for years and have only had downtime *once*. I’ve had many clients switch their hosting over to them, they have a fantastic support team that never make me feel stupid, and they’re always willing to help you solve any problems you have (even if you caused them! I know that from experience… oops) any time of the day or night.
If you're in need of high-powered, high-level web hosting and get a lot of web traffic to your website - then you can't go wrong with Kinsta. With flexible plans and incredible support, you will have a powerhouse of a web hosting company behind you to support you as you grow your business to new heights.
Rachilli is a creative studio dedicating to helping create more authentic brands for creative brands & businesses ready to grow deeper roots with their audience & build their business in a more aligned way.
Rachilli is also committed to helping empower other's with chronic illness to carve their own path and create a life & business that works for them and to lead the way by creating a platform for, and being a voice alongside, those with chronic illness in business.
Rachel, the founder, is an award-winning designer and photographer, published logo designer and author, and is dog mama to two - slightly crazy - pups, Storm & Jasper.
© Copyright 2012 - 2023 · Rachilli Creative Studio · Rachel Shillcock