Tools We Use
Clients often ask what tools we use for a particular task. We’ve endorsed some of these companies and share revenue with some. Relationships don’t influence us, and in every case where a service or product requires payment, we make that payment. This is not an advertising page. We have never received anything free from the companies listed below (not even a T-shirt, guys, c’mon!).
If we say we use something, rest assured that you can come visit us and see it for yourself. Think of this page as the page you see in a music magazine where you learn what guitar strings Eddie Van Halen uses or which microphone Diana Krall prefers. These are our instruments.
Web Services
Hosting: HostGator
HG is simply the best affordable shared web hosting service. We use HostGator. We love HostGator with its silly name and great pricing.
Blogging Platform: WordPress, the self-hosted variety.
If your site is at HostGator, a link automatically deploys WordPress. WP even works for small sites of 3-6 pages. In fact, WP is a brilliant choice there.
Software / Webware- make your life easier
Accounting: latest Pro version (Intuit Quickbooks Pro 2010)
Doesn’t every small business use QuickBooks? When we lost our file (long story), we rebuilt our entire financial past in QuickBooks and it worked! With a new app store, Quickbooks Pro is a must-have for any small business.
Antivirus: Trend Micro.
We’ve all tried multiple packages. We like Trend Micro. It’s on our machines now. Unless something radically changes, we won’t switch.
CRM: Batchbook
We use BatchBook by Batchblue. We love this program so much we’ve blogged about their customer service. Twice.
Desktop Organization: Fences Pro
Fences makes everything neat. No more Windows auto-arrange nonsense. Client here, corporate there Drag, drop, hide. Fences is awesome software.
Email: iContact
We tried Constant Contact and like iContact better. A robust array of tools to create, send and track your email marketing campaigns.
Productivity: Rescue Time
How much do I love Rescue Time? The website emails a weekly report telling me how much time I’ve spent on productive sites like our ad consoles or on client sites. The report also shows me timewasters. The summary is easy to digest in a couple of minutes or you can drill into the data to your heart’s content. I love this service.
Hardware – we all need machines
Laptop: Toshiba Satellite Pro Laptop Computers
The laptop George swears by, and he beats every computer to death. After blowing through Dells and HPs, his favorite is Toshiba.
SEM – Keywords, competition, conferences
Advertising Management – Acquisio
Acquisio offers robust pay-per-click advertising and great service. You’ll pay to use this one–as much as 5% of the ad spend so make sure you need this thoroughbred in the stable. Manage Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft from the same console and offer reporting that clients adore.
Keyword Research – iSpionage
iSpionage lets you examine competitive advertising efforts, including landing page URLs, times shown and much more all for around $100 a month. We actually gave them a testimonial while iSpionage was still in beta.
Education/Community – SEOmoz
There is so much good information and so many great tools on SEOmoz that we pay for a subscription despite much of the content being free.
Tracking Telephone Numbers – TeleCapture
We’ve used Telecapture for years. Their pricing is terrific, and we’ve never had a service problem. Service, price, quality – what else do you need?
