Four Business Tools I’m Actually Using to Build an Online Business at 60
I’m not a tech expert, and I’m not building this business with an unlimited budget. I’m learning as I go while working a demanding full-time job, so the tools I choose have to either save me time, help me create something useful, or make a process easier for me to understand.
I also don't want to recommend tools simply because everyone online says I should use them. The whole purpose of The Digital Carpenter is to document what I’m actually doing: what I buy, what I try, what works, what frustrates me, and what I decide is worth keeping.
These are four of the tools I’m currently using to build my online business.
1. Hostinger — Building My Website Without Being a Web Designer
Hostinger is where I’m building The Digital Carpenter website you’re reading right now.
One of my biggest concerns when I started was that building a website would require technical knowledge I simply didn’t have. I wanted a professional home for my business journey, but I did not want to spend my evenings learning computer code.
Hostinger’s website builder gave me a way to build visually. I can create sections, edit text, add pages, move things around, and publish changes without coding the site myself.
That does not mean everything has been effortless.
I’m still learning where settings are located, how different pages work together, and what Google expects from a website. In fact, one of the reasons I’m updating this article is because my first Google AdSense application came back with a “low value content” notice.
Instead of hiding that, I’m documenting it.
The website exists, it works, and I built it while learning the process. Now I’m improving the depth and usefulness of the content before asking Google to review it again.
My takeaway so far: Hostinger made getting a real website online much less intimidating, but a website builder can build the structure—it cannot replace the work of creating useful content.
2. Descript — Editing Video Through Words Instead of a Complicated Timeline
Video editing was one of the parts of YouTube that concerned me most.
I don’t want to spend an entire day editing one video. My goal is to build a business, not become a professional video editor.
Descript caught my attention because it lets me work with video through a transcript. Instead of learning a complicated editing timeline first, I can work with the words I actually said.
I’ve used it to clean up recordings, remove mistakes and retakes, tighten unnecessary gaps, improve audio, and prepare videos for YouTube.
There is still a learning curve. AI editing tools can make decisions I would not make myself, so I’ve learned that I still need to review the finished video rather than simply clicking an AI button and assuming everything is perfect.
For me, that is an important lesson about AI in general: it can save an enormous amount of time, but I still have to be the person making the final decision.
My takeaway so far: Descript is valuable because it makes video editing feel more like editing a document, which is much easier for the way I work.
3. Teleprompter — Helping Me Speak Without Trying to Memorize Everything
Recording a YouTube video sounds simple until the camera turns on.
I know what I want to say, but trying to remember every point while watching the camera can make speaking feel unnatural. A teleprompter lets me prepare my thoughts beforehand while still delivering them directly to the viewer.
It has not been completely trouble-free.
I’ve had to work through settings such as text positioning and alignment, and there have been moments when the words did not appear where I expected them even though I thought I had selected the correct setting.
Those little frustrations are exactly why I think documenting the learning process matters. A tool can be useful and still have things that drive you crazy.
My takeaway so far: the teleprompter helps me concentrate on communicating instead of memorizing, but I’m still learning how to make it feel natural rather than sounding like I’m reading a script.
4. ChatGPT — My AI Working Partner
ChatGPT has become one of the tools I use across several parts of this business.
I use it to help organize ideas, research questions, work through problems, develop content, understand unfamiliar technology, and think through the next step when I get stuck.
But I’ve also learned something important: AI is not automatically right.
There have been times when instructions did not match what I was seeing on my screen, or when something needed to be corrected. That has taught me not to blindly follow AI simply because it gives an answer confidently.
I ask questions. I check the result. I correct things when necessary. And when I’m working inside software I don’t know well, screenshots have become one of the best ways for me to show exactly what I’m seeing.
That combination—AI assistance plus my own judgment—is much more useful to me than treating AI as if it can never make a mistake.
My takeaway so far: ChatGPT saves me a tremendous amount of research and problem-solving time, but I remain responsible for what I ultimately publish and do.
What These Tools Are Actually Teaching Me
The biggest thing I’m learning is that building an online business at 60 does not require me to suddenly become a technology expert.
It requires me to learn the next thing I need.
I don't have to understand every feature in Hostinger before building a page. I don't have to master professional video editing before publishing a YouTube video. I don't have to memorize a script before speaking on camera. And I don't have to understand everything about artificial intelligence before learning how to use it productively.
I can learn one tool, one problem, and one step at a time.
Some tools will stay. Some may eventually be replaced. Some things I purchase may turn out not to be worth the money.
I’m going to document those results too.
Because The Digital Carpenter isn't supposed to be a website where I pretend I had everything figured out from the beginning.
This is the building process.
One board. One nail. One mistake. One lesson at a time.
— Trisha Hayes
The Digital Carpenter with Trisha