The BEST and WORST Choices for your tech tools

You know how some people are coffee snobs. Or wine snobs. That's exactly how I am about my tech platforms. Because I've tried many different options or at least heard about them, and I know the good, the bad, and the UGLY about all of them.

Websites

Let's start with the biggie. Websites. I know this is going to make people come after me with pitchforks, but I really feel that WordPress is the way to go. I know there are plenty of cheaper (and easier) options out there - I'm looking at you Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, even Blogger. But hold tight. There's a reasoning to my thinking.

First of all, your website is a terrible place to save money. It's your face to the world, so it's the last place you want to go with the CHEAPEST choice.

The whole point of having a website is to get traffic, right? Who gives or withholds traffic? Google, and a few other cohorts.

Did you know that 60% of the world's websites are built on WordPress? If you're Google and you're dividing up the traffic pie, are you going to go with the elephant in the room or the canary?

That's why I only build WordPress websites. And particularly Kadence WordPress websites. It's a free theme, it's lightweight and infinitely customizable. For just the header image, there are like 25-30 choices you can control. Most themes offer maybe 5-8.

Website Hosting

This field has a few more contenders in it. I've heard good things about Host Gator, Host Armada, Dreamhost, and a few others. Personally, I use Siteground and I love it. I've had 4 sites with them for several years and have never had a problem.

The one you want to avoid like the plague is BLUEHOST! A lot of folks are with them, because they're cheap and they pay a significantly higher commission than the others, so a lot of people use them, but according to Trustpilot, they are ranked 31st out of 35 providers. They are SLOW, don't provide consistent backups, and don't offer any security or speed plugins which are free all free with Siteground.

If you want to switch, or do anything with your WordPress website, I'm your girl!

PS: GoDaddy sucks. I cry a little inside when a new client tells me they bought their website from them. There's lots of other options - Domains.com, namecheap.com, anything but GoDaddy #soannoying

Let's Talk Newsletters

I've tried a BUNCH of these - both for myself and for clients.

Good - MailerLite and ConvertKit (pricey)

UGH - MailChimp, Keap, Aweber, and Active Campaign

When I'm looking for an Email provider, I'm looking for a good free plan, easy to use templates, proper unsubscribes - Active Campaign doesn't do one click unsubs, so you look like a real jerk if you have people on multiple lists.

Keap - they ain't kidding. They want you for KEEPS! It took me like 12 hours of work to move a large client off their platform.

MailChimp - I really loathe this one. It's just difficult to use, even for someone like me who does this for a living. But it has a widely publicized free plan, so lots of people use them. Let me know if you want an intervention.

Trello

If you've been around me for at least 5 minutes, you'll know how obsessed I am with Trello. I've literally used it every day for either business or personal uses for about the last five or six years. And here's the kicker - I'm still on their FREE plan. That's just crazy!

People think it's just a glorified to-do list. But they realize how WRONG they are when I give them a quick spin around my boards and see all the ways I use it. Here's a YouTube of a mini workshop I did a while back that shows how I use my Trello boards to run my business.

I'm also an affiliate for a kick-ass course that offers more than 25 pre-built Trello templates for less than a BUCK a piece, plus shows you how to use them. It's just $24 bucks. I think you NEED this one - Kate Doster Trello Magic.

That's all folks. That's my top-ranked tech stack. Speak up if you want some help with any of these platforms. It's just about my favorite thing to do as Your Fairy Techmother.