Just like anybody else, we have preferences when working with tools and services. Our day lets us explore a lot of different technologies and we've established a list of products and services which are superior to the rest.
Sometimes we recommend those in our blog and on other pages of our websites. Don't fret, we never do it for monetary gain, though. If we mention something that we recommend then it's because it's truly awesome, never because they pay us. In fact, sometimes they pay us and more often than not, they don't!
We even belong to affiliate programs for things we don't even recommend. Why? Because we mention them anyway and you're ultimately going to make the final decision.
Sometimes services aren't that great but we still mention them because they're popular. Of course, we'll also mention our distaste for it and include an affiliate link anyway! Again, you get to decide what you do!
In almost every case (unless we forget, we're human!) we put in parenthesis that a link is an affiliate link. That's just so you don't have to go hunting to figure out if it is. Again, we like to be 100% transparent.
These are some of the products and services we've mentioned on our website. Some of them we love, some of them we hate, others we have no opinion on. Check out some of the things we mention, recommend, or even dislike very strongly.
Superior Products/Services
These are some of the products we love using on a daily basis. They've improved our workflow significantly or provide great service that has made our job easier.
In fact, many of these products and services we use when working with our customers because they are superior to all other options.
Pretty Good
We don't necessarily love these products or services but we don't dislike them either. We've found a lot of people who are passionate about them and we've had clients who work with them and enjoy them. Depending on your needs, they might be a better option than our highly recommended options. That said, some of them are cheaper than the superior options.
NameCheap
NameCheap is a great place to get affordable domain registration with domain security and an easy to use management area. Also, you can buy high-quality COMODO security certificates for an affordable price.
MailChimp
MailChimp is our recommended email marketing system because it is simple to use and has many features for automation. There are also several plugins that allow for a seamless tie-in to WordPress. We love it but recognize that it's not the right solutions for everyone. That's why we've placed it in this category.
DreamHost
While DreamHost is a great website hosting service but we are an affiliate simply because it's mentioned in some blog posts.
SocialBee
Sharing helpful content on social media is a neverending job. Not only that but most people won't see your post the first time around. SocialBee makes it easy to load up an index of evergreen content and keep it dripping out regularly. It's a pretty great tool to make the process of sharing helpful content easy.
Awario
We love how simple Awario is and its ability to track our presence across the internet. No matter where we're mentioned, it shows up in our Awario dashboard where we can manage our response and online presence. We're not sure if it's a superior service but we do love it.
StoryCheif
This is a blogger dream for managing their content across multiple platforms. We use it a lot because it makes it easy when we share a post to schedule those posts a week or so later on other platforms. Not only that but look at that cute animated logo.
Use at your own risk
These are products that we mention on our website at times but not in a good way. It's a good place to show the varied quality in products and services and why we make the recommendations we do. Your website host is everything for your website why would you go for something cheap?
We'd also add to the "use at your own risk" list GoDaddy and Host Gator. We're not an affiliate of theirs but they can be every bit as bad as Bluehost.
Bluehost
We belong to the Bluehost affiliate program because we mention it in a few blog post articles. Our official stance on Bluehost is that friends don't let friends use Bluehost. We have clients on it and it's not good, at all.