Tools and Resources for Regional Businesses and Brands
At Prairie Studio, we’re all about helping regional businesses and brands grow online with real, practical support.
This resources hub is packed with tools, guides, and curated links to help you build a stronger brand, improve your website, and market your business more effectively.
Whether you’re looking for the best stock images, website tools, or simple marketing advice, these are the resources I personally recommend for rural and regional businesses ready to show up and stand out online.
*Some links marked with a * are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you make a purchase. I only recommend brands I genuinely trust.
Stock Image Resources
Looking for beautiful, brand-friendly photos? Here’s a curated list of stock image websites, a mix of free and paid options to suit every budget and style.
Free Stock Image Sites
Perfect if you’re just starting out or need beautiful imagery on a budget.
Unsplash
Free, high-quality photos for commercial use.Pexels
Free photos and videos across a huge range of categories.Pixabay
Free images, illustrations, and videos. Some photos feel a bit "stocky," but there are gems if you dig.Kaboompics
Free photos with colour palettes included. Great for lifestyle, interiors, and flat lays.Dupe Photos
Free modern stock photography for businesses with Gen Z audiences.Life of Pix
Free high-res photography donated by photographers.Styled Stock Society (Free Collection)
Feminine, styled stock images. (Paid membership available too.)
Free + Paid Options
Best of both worlds: free libraries with paid upgrades.
Unsplash+
Premium access option for exclusive content.Canva Pro*
Access premium stock photos, templates, and videos with a Canva Pro subscription. Great value if you’re designing social media, websites, and more.
Paid Stock Image Sites
For unique, high-quality imagery or a broader range.
Shutterstock*
Huge, professional stock image library. Pay per image or via subscription.Stocksy
Stunning, curated stock images from real photographers. Authentic and editorial-style.Death to Stock
Unique, non-corny stock photography. Paid membership. Lifestyle and brand-friendly.Haute Stock*
Beautiful, feminine stock imagery designed for creative businesses.TrueStock
Australian-focused stock imagery — diverse and local.Australian Stock Images
A library of Australian landscape, nature, and lifestyle images.Austockphoto
Real, unfiltered Australian life photography. Great for brands wanting authentic imagery.Brandeliza Stock
Bright, editorial stock images perfect for modern, bold brands.Editorial Stock Images
Natural and editorial-style stock images for small businesses and entrepreneurs.Elevae Visuals
Premium feminine and wellness-focused stock photography collections.Her Creative Studio
Beautiful lifestyle and workspace stock photos for female entrepreneurs.Atelier 21 Co
Minimal, neutral-toned stock photos for sophisticated brands.
Quick Tip for Choosing Stock Photos: Always pick images that align with your brand's tone, colour palette, and style. Avoid anything that feels too staged or overly generic, authenticity builds stronger connections online.
Design Resources
Need design tools that make your brand look polished and professional? Whether you’re DIY-ing graphics or levelling up your brand visuals, these resources will help you create high-quality content without the stress.
Free Design Tools
Great for beginners or quick DIY projects without breaking the bank.
Canva (Free)*
Drag-and-drop design tool for creating social media graphics, flyers, presentations and more. Easy to use, no design skills needed.Unsplash+Canva Integration
Access thousands of free stock photos directly inside Canva.Coolors
Create beautiful colour palettes for your brand or next project. Free and super simple.Font Squirrel
Free, hand-picked fonts that are 100% licensed for commercial use.Google Fonts
Free and easy-to-use web fonts for your website or branding projects.
Free + Paid Options
Mix and match depending on what you need.
Canva
Free plan available with the option to upgrade to Canva Pro for even more templates, brand kits, and premium features.Creative Fabrica*
Many free assets available alongside paid subscriptions for access to premium content.
Paid Design Tools
For more advanced features, bigger asset libraries, and time-saving extras.
Canva Pro*
Unlock premium templates, stock photos, brand kits, and scheduling tools — perfect for busy small businesses.Creative Market*
Buy fonts, templates, logos, social media kits, graphics, and more. Ideal for giving your brand a professional look without starting from scratch.Creative Fabrica*
Affordable fonts, graphics, crafts, and templates — especially great for makers, DIY brands, and Etsy sellers.Envato Elements*
Unlimited downloads of graphics, templates, fonts, video templates and more. Massive value if you create a lot of digital content.Easil
An easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor focused on professional-looking templates. Great alternative to Canva.
Quick Tip for Choosing Design Tools: Pick one or two platforms you really like and get to know them well. It is better to fully use a few tools than to spread yourself too thin trying everything. A simple, polished design wins every time.
Business & Productivity Tools
Running a business involves juggling various tasks; from project management to client communication and financial tracking. These tools are designed to streamline your operations, enhance productivity, and keep everything organised.
All-in-One Productivity Platforms
Notion
A versatile workspace that combines note-taking, task management, databases, and wikis. Ideal for organising projects, documenting processes, and collaborating with teams.
Google Workspace
A suite of cloud-based tools including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Calendar. Facilitates real-time collaboration and communication across teams.
Zoho Workplace
An integrated suite offering email, document management, chat, and other productivity tools. Designed to enhance team collaboration and streamline workflows.
Project & Task Management Tools
Asana
A project management tool that helps teams organise work, track progress, and meet deadlines. Features include task assignments, timelines, and integrations with other apps.
Monday.com
A work operating system that allows teams to build custom workflows, track projects, and collaborate efficiently. Offers visual project tracking and automation features.
Trello
A visual collaboration tool using boards, lists, and cards to organise tasks and projects. Suitable for both individual and team project management.
Client & Business Management Tools
Dubsado
An all-in-one business management solution for creatives and service-based businesses. Features include client CRM, invoicing, contracts, and workflow automation.
HoneyBook
A client management platform that streamlines proposals, contracts, invoicing, and communication. Designed for freelancers and small business owners.
Accounting & Financial Tools
QuickBooks
A comprehensive accounting software offering invoicing, expense tracking, payroll, and financial reporting. Suitable for businesses of all sizes.
Xero
A cloud-based accounting platform providing tools for invoicing, bank reconciliation, inventory, and payroll. Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
Rounded
An Australian-made accounting tool tailored for freelancers and sole traders. Offers features like invoicing, expense tracking, and BAS preparation.
Quick Tip for Choosing the Right Tools: Identify the specific challenges you face and select tools that address those areas.
Email Marketing Tools
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to engage with your audience, drive sales, and build lasting relationships. For businesses in regional areas, these tools offer user-friendly interfaces, automation features, and integrations to help you connect with your customers efficiently.
Email Marketing Platforms
Omnisend
Designed for e-commerce businesses, Omnisend offers powerful email and SMS marketing automation. Features include pre-built workflows, segmentation, and product recommendations to enhance customer engagement.
Flodesk
Flodesk provides beautifully designed email templates and intuitive automation features. With unlimited subscribers and emails for a flat fee, it's ideal for creatives and small business owners.
Mailchimp
A popular platform offering a range of features including email templates, audience segmentation, and analytics. Mailchimp's free plan allows up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 email sends per month.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo excels in data-driven email marketing, providing advanced segmentation and personalisation features. It's particularly effective for businesses seeking to leverage customer data for targeted campaigns.
MailerLite
MailerLite offers a user-friendly interface with features like drag-and-drop email editor, automation, and landing pages. Their free plan includes up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month.
If you already are a Squarespace user, you can use the inbuilt email marketing tools for an additional $10 a month.
Email List Management
Clean Email
Clean Email helps you manage your inbox by organising emails into easy-to-review bundles and automating routine tasks. It's effective for maintaining a clean email list and improving deliverability.
Quick Tip for Effective Email Marketing: Use automation to send timely and relevant emails without manual effort.
Social Media Scheduling Tools
Managing your social media presence can be time-consuming. These tools are designed to streamline your workflow, allowing you to focus more on engaging with your audience and growing your business.
Free Scheduling Tools
Meta Business Suite
A free tool by Meta that allows you to schedule posts for both Facebook and Instagram. It offers a unified dashboard to manage your content calendar, insights, and messages. Ideal for businesses primarily active on these platforms.
Paid Scheduling Tools
Planoly
A visual planner for Instagram and Pinterest, Planoly lets you drag and drop your content to schedule posts. It also offers analytics to track engagement and performance.
Later
Later supports scheduling for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. It provides a visual content calendar and analytics to optimize your posting times.
Hootsuite
A comprehensive tool that allows you to manage multiple social media accounts, schedule posts, and analyze performance metrics. Suitable for businesses looking to manage various platforms from a single dashboard.
Buffer
Buffer is an intuitive social media management platform designed to assist businesses and individuals in planning, publishing, analyzing, and engaging across social media accounts. It supports various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Google Business, Mastodon, and X. Buffer offers features like customizable posting schedules, a composer to tailor posts for each platform, and a visual content calendar.
Loomly
Loomly is a user-friendly social media management platform that streamlines content creation, scheduling, and collaboration for businesses. It allows for easy import of images and videos from various sources, including Google Drive and URLs, with direct access to Unsplash and Giphy for high-quality, royalty-free content.
Vista Social
Vista Social is a cloud-based social media management tool that caters to businesses of all sizes. It offers a range of features designed to simplify the process of managing multiple social media accounts, scheduling posts, and analyzing performance.
Sendible
Sendible is a social media management tool offering scheduling, analytics, and collaboration features. It allows users to schedule tailored and targeted social media posts to Instagram, Threads, Facebook, TikTok, and more.
Iconosquare
Iconosquare is the all-in-one platform for social media managers. Enhance your workflow with analytics, scheduling, and listening tools. It allows you to plan and publish your social media content in one place, including regular posts, carousels, and even Stories.
Quick Tip for Effective Scheduling: Consistency is Key. Maintain a regular posting schedule to keep your audience engaged.