The Toolbox

Below is a list of various resources and tools that are valuable for successful blogging and internet business. I will be adding to it as I test new solutions, and I’ll likely reference this page fairly often.

Some of the out-going links are affiliate links (full disclosure), however you have my word that nothing makes it to this page just for the commission. If it is on this page, then I give it my full endorsement.

Themes

  • WooThemes. These guys offer some of the best premium themes around.
  • Elegant Themes. These guys make great premium themes, and their price is about the lowest thing I’ve seen around. Cant beat it. Used their themes a few times. Good stuff.
  • OptimizePress. I frickin’ LOVE this theme. It is a launch theme which makes life easy when you need to launch a product. Pretty much anything marketing-wise you want to do using the simplicity of WordPress, get OptimizePress. [Read my Optimizepress Review]

Hosting

  • Pair Networks. I use Pair Networks for my web hosting. I’ve been with them for years and they have served me well. I use two dedicated servers and they are managed by Pair Networks.
  • Hostgator. If you’re not up to needing dedicated servers quite yet, definitely check Hostgator. Awesome support. 1-click WordPress installs.
  • Amazon S3. Reliable cloud storage, best used for serving large files like videos.  I use it for self-hosted videos as well as off-loading larger files to save load on my own servers.

Ad Networks

  • BuySellAds. BuySellAds is a network which brings buyers directly to publishers. BuySellAds takes a cut which is a bit high, but it isn’t as high as Google Adsense. BuySellAds is a nice way to put direct sponsorships on automatic for your blog.
  • Chitika. Chitika is a good way to get relevant product links on your blog through the use of their minimalls. Their Chitika Premium ads are a nice way to take advantage of search traffic to your blog. Works ideally on product-oriented blogs.
  • Kontera. Kontera is an ad network for contextual, in-text advertising. I have been using Kontera for some time over on PCMech.com and it works quite well for me. They are easy to work with.

Membership Site Software

  • Amember Pro. A real workhorse of the membership site community, and I personally use this software on several sites. A little technical, but extremely flexible and, well… just works.
  • Wishlist Member. If you’re not technical, Wishlist is great. Installs as a WordPress plug-in. Quite powerful. Has a few limitations, but overall, a very good system. [View video presentation for quick membership sites.]

Keyword / Market Research

  • Market Samurai. I’ve started using Market Samurai just recently. Gives tons of tools for keyword research and ranking improvements. A lot of people swear by it, and I’m starting to become one of them.
  • Google Keyword Tool. Designed for use in evaluating keywords for Adwords campaigns, but it gives some useful data for general keyword research and evaluating market strength.

WordPress Plug-ins

  • Action Comments. People enter their name and email address every time they post a comment to your blog. Why not provide them a one-click option to subscribe to your mailing list while posting their comment? That’s what Action Comments does. It makes SO much sense and I can’t believe I didn’t do it earlier. Integrates beautifully with Aweber, too, but will work with most any email system. [Read my Review]
  • Gravity Forms. This is the most powerful forms plug-in for WordPress. Take everything you think is so awesome about the free contact form plug-ins and forget about it. You’ll find more uses for Gravity Forms than you even realize, it does so much. [Gravity Forms Review]
  • MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate. I highly recommend this plug-in if you engage in affiliate marketing on your blog. It allows you to create your own clean URLs which re-direct to your affiliate links. It also allows click tracking and automatic keyword linking throughout your blog. If you make money with affiliate links on your blog, I consider this plug-in a necessity. [Review | Video]
  • OIO Publisher. OIO is a full-featured ad manager for your WordPress blog. But, it is more than just a banner rotator. It actually manages the purchase of advertising on your blog. You can manage banners, in-text ads, paid reviews, or even sell your own products with OIO. If you want to sell your own ads on your blog, I definitely recommend you check out OIO Publisher.

Collecting Money / Ecommerce

  • Paypal. If you’re going to run an internet business, you need a Paypal account. Period.
  • Clickbank. Convenient way to sell digital goods if you want to have affiliates. Their transaction fees are higher than average, but the tradeoff is that you’re able to use their amazing affiliate program to get your product marketed.
  • E-Junkie. Another great way to sell digital goods. Very popular, integrates with many payment systems, and has an integrated affiliate program. Hard to go wrong with these guys.
  • Nanacast. My new favorite shopping cart, and what I now use for all of my products. Their interface isn’t pretty at all, but DAMN, this thing is powerful. It does pretty much everything you’d want, from a marketing perspective. If you sell things online – including membership sites – you should definitely check out Nanacast. I’ve checked out much of the competition, including 1ShoppingCart and Infusionsoft. 1SC is just “OK” – that’s it. And Infusion is way too complicated and most of the people I’ve found who like it have employees to run it for them. After exhaustive searching, I settled on Nanacast and am VERY happy with it.
  • PowerPay. One of the best merchant account providers around, and I personally use these guys for my merchant account needs. Awesome service, and they understand the way online marketing works (which is good). [Review of PowerPay]

Email Marketing / List Management

  • Aweber. I use Aweber for managing my email lists and they are top notch. I recommend nobody else besides Aweber. Period.

Analytics

  • Google Analytics. Popular, free, and extremely capable. Even if you use another stat service, I’d recommend using GA as well.
  • Clicky. I use Clicky and really like these guys. I use them in addition to Google because (a) it is real-time, (b) it gives me an intuitive interface to get to the data I need quickly.

Video Hosting/Distribution

  • Easy Video Player. An AWESOME video player system which works with your S3 account. Features view stats, in-player calls to action, video split testing. If you’re going to do videos, this is simply the best player I have found so far. Simple awesome. [Easy Video Player Review]
  • TubeMogul. TubeMogul is a service where you can upload videos and automatically have them distributed to several different video sites. It is free. Videos are an important component to power blogging and TubeMogul is a must-have tool. I use it almost every day.