recommended tools & resources
Here you'll find a list of tools and resources that I use and recommend, including various types of marketing software, WordPress Plug-ins, video tutorials, and reading material all designed to help launch, market, and grow your business. I have a group to each one of these resources called tool sets. You can find the categories and a quick navigation menu below. Full disclosure: Several of the links below are affiliate links, where I may benefit either monetarily or through credit; however, if you would like to avoid this, you can search for the named to resource and navigate directly to their website without clicking on the affiliate link.
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WordPress Toolset
There is a whole world of wordPress plug-ins and add-ons that I can talk about so I've included a group of what I consider to be either essential wordPress tools.
Over 35% of all websites on the internet run on WordPress. The platform is stable, open source, and completely versatile. And the best news is the platform itself is free. Keep in mind that you’ll need to find a hosting company to house your WordPress site, but that’s a pittance compared to what you may pay for other comparable website platforms out there.
If you run multiple websites, then ManageWP may be a helpful add-on you may want to consider. It essentially allows you to access any of your sites from a single dashboard. Personally, I love their single click login feature. They charge a reasonable fee for each of their a-la-carte add-ons. Their daily backup feature for $2 a month is a “must have”. The only downfall of this company, is they were acquired by GoDaddy (I’ve never been a huge fan of GoDaddy).
InMotion Hosting is quite competitive in their pricing, especially if you purchase more than one year upfront. Be careful though. Their rates will go up once you need to renew. This is a pretty common practice for most hosting companies, but a simple conversation with their loyalty department however may clear this up. On the upside, they offer live telephone support, as well as chat support. Their customer support team is usually pretty responsive and knowledgable, but every now and then you may get a support rep who is a bit “green behind the ears”. I also like the simplicity behind their UI dashboard, which they refer to as their Account Management Panel (AMP).
WPX Hosting is an excellent hosting solution if you have a bit more to spend, and if you want to implement a “set it and forget it” strategy. WPX includes malware protection, website backups, website staging, and placing your site on a CDN network. This company is known for really fast load times. For an in depth article that covers how they compare, make sure to read this article. Another consideration is their customer support. Although WPX Hosting doesn’t offer telephone support (this was initially a deal breaker for me), they do offer chat support. And their support team is very responsive. You can expect to receive a helping hand within seconds.
ThriveThemes offers a suite of tools that I have found invaluable in building and designing my WordPress sites. I can't emphasize enough how much I really enjoy using their suite of products. Thrive Quiz Builder and Apprentice are two of my favorite products. This company has changed the rules of the game for me, and made my transition into WordPress a lot less painless. They have a kick ass WYSWYG editor called Thrive Architect that offers powerful capabilities and is intuitive to use. They do offer each one of their products independently; however, I recommend subscribing to their membership as this is the most cost effective way of taking advantage of all of their products at once.
In full disclosure, I use Wishlist Member as a membership plug-in because I was able to purchase a lifetime license for