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namecheap

Simply put, namecheap is the domain registrar I love and trust the most. I have tried GoDaddy and 1&1domains and they don’t compare. You do NOT NEED TO BE PAYING FOR SUPPORT FOR A DOMAIN. If you are, then you probably shouldn’t be buying the domain. Get comfortable with nameservers, DNS, forwarding, and http shtuff, before you dive into this world. Namecheap offers FREE Who.Is Protection, which is absolutely mandatory, I feel! Get the security and privacy you need! Also, the prices at namecheap stay the same with renewal and they are upfront about what you will be paying the next time you renew, which is something that GoDaddy loves to hide. There are also free domain names for students from recognized institutions! Make sure you look for the coupons of the month! You will not regret it. I have all of my domains and many of my client’s domains on here. The only thing that I don’t love is that I can’t prorate my billing schedule so that all of my domains are charged to me once a year. Maybe that feature will come. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: These are my hand-picked favorite tools and resources from years of scouring the web. The sources have not paid me to appear on this page and I do not receive a commission or other compensation from any of the links. Please do your own due diligence before paying for any services. I am not responsible for the services provided or the results of their services.

WordPress

I owe WordPress.org a lot of money because of how much money I’ve been able to make off of using this CMS. Thank you! From the bottom of my heart! Everyone who contributes and who keeps this platform alive is also helping to pay for my grocery bill! Bless your nerdy hearts!

For those who poop on WordPress, please remember that I’m talking about the .org and not the .com. Do your research. This is a robust CMS powering 30% of the web (link provided just in case my stats are not accurate anymore, WordPress reports that the number is 38%). AND IT’S FREE, PEOPLE. Listen, if you call yourself a developer or designer, but you haven’t worked with WordPress, I immediately question your knowledge of the web. Just sayin’. But I love you still.

envato

This is one of those duh kinds of recs. If I didn’t post this, ya’ll might think I was a total phony. Now! Keep in mind! I’m not even recommending this next one for it’s more commonly known aspects. Here it is! envato is a huge hub for paid and free resources.

Let’s start with one of their newest features: Elements.

Envato Elements is their paid subscription, but I recommend signing up for a free account only. You’ll get a batch of freebees every month that could help you out with a project somewhere!

Next is ThemeForest.net and CodeCanyon.net.

I have taken advantage of Code Canyon for sure and my clients have purchased themes on Theme Forest. I would say make sure that you read the specifics and features of whatever you’re buying VERY CAREFULLY. I have definitely purchased some duds that I have promptly returned! The only thing I haven’t regretted purchasing was EventOn. CodeCanyon recently changed their terms so that the purchaser receives lifetime updates for the products. This really helps with WordPress version updates or security updates, for example. Both ThemeForest.net and CodeCanyon.net are part of the Envato Market. I have not used VideoHive, PhotoDune, GraphicRiver, or AudioJungle, though they are also a part of the market.

Tuts+

Yup. Helpful. But if you end up here it’s because you did a google search for it.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!! MIXKIT!!

I use this like every other day!! SO FREAKING HELPFUL! I’ve made lyric videos using this stock footage and I’ve used this media for hero videos on client’s websites! It’s amazingly stocked, great quality, and easy enough to find what you’re looking for! 10/10!

Fanatical

This one is pretty rare from me. A gaming rec.? Wild! If you’re looking for a deal, don’t forget to check out Fanatical. They often have the lowest prices for the hottest games.

CD Baby

Ah yes, now into a music rec. Good old CD Baby…

Okay, so there’s a lot going on here. I use CD Baby for digital distribution and also for disc duplication. Expect great service even though it comes with a price. I’ve even had moments where I uploaded a track for digital distribution that was damaged and they were willing to replace it on all platforms for free! Bless their hearts! 🙂 <3 They’re a great indie resource that has helped me loads to take my career to the next step.

I particularly like their diy musician blog. They’ve got some great unique articles on there! This one about saving your voice is my favorite!

They also have many free promotion resources available. Subscribe to the newsletter to take advantage of their coupons! Always worth it. I’ve tried distrokid as well and wasn’t as happy.

Divi

The design portion of this blog wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Divi from Elegant Themes. It is as gorgeous as you think it is. And with half of the WordPress community completely in love with it, it’s certainly worth it. You’ll get loads of extensions that are sometimes free from other sites like Divi Den and needyesterday. It is worth it to go with the lifetime subscription. Trust me, it pays for itself. Especially if you use it on a few client websites. Just get your clients to look at the themes in their library. The one thing I’m not the biggest fan of is that the library is only sorted by the resident designer’s intended use for the theme (like an Art Blog Theme or an E-Commerce Site Theme) and not by the design technique or trend that was used in the design (like flat design, 2.0, 0r brutalism). But whatever, it’s easy enough to find what I’m looking for or more importantly, make a spanking hawt new theme!

SiteOrigin

Before I bought Divi, SiteOrigin was my WordPress builder of choice. Lots of great features while still being super light. I couldn’t get behind WordPress Bakery or Elementor because they were so bulky and often errored out which caused a lot of my work to be lost often! SiteOrigin is reliable and has great flexibility. The free version gets you just as far as you might need to go!

Pantone Color Picker

Painting the office any time soon? Have a digital HEX or RGB for the perfect color that’s already been incorporated into your branding? Then you need the Pantone Color Picker. Bring that digital color into the real world!

Disney Movie Insiders

You’re already watching Disney Movies anyways. Might as well get rewarded for it at Disney Movie Insiders. Go through all of your old Disney DVD’s right now and find all of those little codes that you ignored when you were an angsty teen and get some sweet Disney merch! I got my sister an extremely rare Explore the World kind of pin. She’s obsessed. You’ll find stuff on there that’s only available to those in this insiders club. And the best part is… it’s free. Might as well jump on that! I’ve paid nothing to get some pretty sweet stuff!

Affinity Photo and Designer

Photoshop too expensive? Obviously. Yikes. That’s not even a real question. I don’t care if it tries to disguise itself as an “affordable subscription.” Over time, that would put me out of way too much hard-earned cash. You and I both need Affinity. They’ve got a suite of products that you pay for once and then they’re the gift that keeps on giving. It’s so cheap anyway right off the bat and the best part about it is that they GIVE YOU free updates after that. Like wow. Ooo. Hey. What. It’s like wow.

So you’ve got your pick: Designer, Photo, Publisher… and they’ll likely roll out more products. I have Affinity Photo. I like that they also have really affordable versions for the iPad, but I haven’t tried that yet. Sign up for their newsletter to get their coupons and sale discounts. Don’t forget the trials either! Figure out what works for you!

Mint

Another finances one: Mint! So simple and clean and it’s free. 🙂 I have the apps on my phone and my iPad and I use the in-browser version. I don’t love that all of those versions are so vastly different from one another, but I do like the ease of categorizing and tracking income and expenses. It’s simple and that keeps me coming back for more! 🙂

ClickUp

Okay, so this next rec. is a little gem I found during COVID quarantine. It has been a lifelong search for me to find the perfect productivity tool. Presenting…ClickUp!

I had tried EVERYTHING. Reminders on the phone? NOPE. The Things app? NADA. Asana? GET OUT OF TOWN! Trello? EW. Swipes, Google Assistant, Airtable, Jira. ACKKK! Nothing does the trick!!

I needed ONE program to help me organize my personal life and my work life all together. And if you know me well, you know that at any given time, I have at least 8 jobs going on, 2 projects on the go, and friends who I want to spend time with.

So here it is! ClickUp.

My list of favorite features in this program is honestly waaaaayyyy too extensive. But essentially, what I was looking for in a program was: 1) The ability to have multiple workspaces, folders, and lists for all the domains of my crazy life, 2) The ability to sort my tasks by due date, priority in multiple views (INCLUDING GANTT!!!), and 3) The ability to see all of it together in one massive view!

Yup! It delivers!

And to boot, I was able to replace my homebrewed web-app ‘Routinr’ that helped me to auto-schedule my routine tasks.

Yeah. I know! You WILL be pleased.

The only con that I see is that there are so many features and features constantly being rolled out that I can see how it might be overwhelming for someone who really enjoys software that never changes or keeps up with the times. If you like Outlook, this is not the software for you!

It’s available in web app, app, and standalone desktop versions.

Ooooo, shiny!

And yes, my bucket list does consist of 464 items. It’s gunna be a LONG LIFE, OKAY?! LISTENNNN!!!

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