Resources

I use a variety of products - here they are:

OneDrive (and OneDrive for Business) - http://onedrive.com - use your Microsoft account to get 5GB of free storage space. You can also share to social networks or collaborate in real time with people on projects.

BackBlaze - Backblaze is a cloud storage/backup service I'm currently using. It's been very easy to implement. I get emails if they think anything is wrong. Cost is around $50/year. I haven't had to restore my computer from an outage so far, but I'm glad it's there backing up my entire hard drive.

DropBox - http://dropbox.com - get 2 GB of free storage. Easy to set up sharing

Carbonite - http://carbonite.com - I used to use this and it's a good product.  Cost is $59/year. Business plans available.

Google Drive - I have it because I need some Google services. I do send some of my client website backups to my GDrive for backup purposes. It is good for that.

TeamViewer - This is software I use to log in to my clients' computers to check on things, fix things or screenshare with them. I've been using this since about 2014. There is a 1-time cost (I paid $775 with some discounts). The cost is 1-time, but as they release new versions, current users can upgrade for around $240.

For WordPress themes, I am now using (as of 2018), the Astra Theme by Brainforce. It is a lean code, which means my sites load up fast. They also work well with either the Beaver Builder plugin or Elementor. In addition to that, they provide quite a few free templates that can really get your website kick-started in a hurry!

Chrome Web Developer tools for examining websites and dig down into the code.

Colorpicker - identifies colors for me that I find on the web. Also an add-on in Firefox

Images for blogging, websites, etc. I use Unplash, iStock Photo, Morguefile and then this link will take you to a megasite where there are 50 resources for free images.

Hover - for registering domains. Love that they answer the phone and will not transfer you or refer you on.

SiteGround & A2 Hosting - I use both of these hosts and think they are both just great. When I started making WordPress websites, I used Hostgator. Their customer support is very good, but I had too many clients' sites going off-line multiple times a week. I think their servers are too crowded.

My memory used to be pretty good for recalling passwords - until I had more than 10 to remember! Then I started a spreadsheet and kept it handily next to my computer - not real secure, was it?

Then I discovered LastPass - the last password you'll ever need to remember and life was good again. Seriously, you need some kind of secure, quality password keeper for your sites. The great thing is, once you sign up (free service + premium add-ons) and install the browser extension, the software will automatically ask you to save each new site you visit - you do NOT have to enter in all your passwords. This saved my sanity!

RoboForm -  - have not used, but I've heard good things.

Keepass - I started using this, but I didn't keep up with it. I think I had to enter each password in - too tedious. This is an open-source software, so if you want to dig into the code (not for me), go for it.

Mailchimp - great for newsletters, autoresponders, doing email blasts

Microsoft Snip & Sketch - this is replacing Snip in 2019. I'm a huge Snip fan and keep it on my task bar. It comes bundled with Windows 10. Later in 2019, you'll automatically be switched to Snip & Sketch - no url needed.

Camtasia Studio - I use this product to record all my videos. It is so powerful, yet if you don't need to do a lot of editing, it's also easy to use.

YouTube - The #2 search engine and the place where I grow my audience more than anywhere else. If you have a blog, you should think about recording videos and start a YouTube channel. This link goes to my YouTube Channel.

Slideshare - This is owned by LinkedIn and is a place to showcase videos, documents and presentations. It's well known and respected. I consider it a great place to re-purpose content. For example, if I make a video and upload it to YouTube, why not put it over on SlideShare too?

Canva - since this free tool came out around 2015 or so, it has helped me create eye-catching graphics and images for me and my clients. It's free to use and there are pay portions of it. Get this!

HootSuite - this is a social media schedule that I've used since 2016 or so. It makes scheduling my client's social media so much more efficient. The newer (in 2018-2019) posting interface is much nicer and includes a FREE media library - nice!

Feedly - this is a feed reader. I cut and paste urls in it that are associated with blogs I enjoy reading or for blogs I check for curating content for my clients. It's free with options to pay for bigger and better.