What we use

Recommended products and services

Website Hosting

Building a high performance website required high performance website hosting. When I first started, I took the recommendations of the hosting companies everyone else suggested. But later I found out, they weren’t using those hosting companies for their main money sites.

I currently use or recommend two different website hosting companies. Veerotech is who we use for our website hosting that I manage and maintian. High quality, not overloaded and a variety of other upgrades you won’t see at other hosts (litespeed instead of apache, cloudlinux instead of centos, etc). And because it is not wordpress specific, I can run other platforms on it.

For my customers that want to manage themselves, and use wordpress I recommend WP Engine. Super fast, staging sites, backups, everything you need. There is just less technical hassle for a non-technical user. Add to it the speediness and its hard to beat.

<a target="_blank" href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1141247&u=485068&m=41388&urllink=&afftrack="><img src="https://static.shareasale.com/image/41388/PremiumWordPressHosting300x250.png" border="0" /></a>
<a href="https://affiliates.veerotech.net/clickthru.php?id=108_1_1_31" target="_blank"><img style="border:0px" src="https://affiliates.veerotech.net/media/banners/300x250-3.jpg" width="300" height="250" alt=""></a>

Email Marketing

If you aren’t doing email marketing then you are leaving money on the table. My current email marketing platform is Convertkit.  Convertkit is fairly new compared to other companies and doesn’t have as much technical debt as legacy platforms. The two biggest pluses for me was marketing automation, and the fact that I wasn’t paying for the same email address multiple times.

Mailchimp and Aweber are the two companies I have also used for myself and my customers. Mailchimp is who I recommend for my restaurant clients because it is inexpensive to start (read free). If you are like me and have multiple products and lists, ConvertKit is a better match. If you are looking for something for your offline business, Mailchimp is what I recommend.

I have also used DRIP for one of my customers and has a lot of the same functionality as ConvertKit and is used by a lot of offline businesses. You can check them out HERE.

<a href="https://mbsy.co/convertkit/calivation" target="_blank" style="outline:none;border:none;"><img src="https://ambassador-api.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/marketing/11256/2018_08_17_17_07_07.png" alt="ConvertKit" border="0" /></a>
<div style="text-align:center;"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <a href="https://www.aweber.com/whattowrite.htm?id=393469&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=static&utm_content=300x250whattowrite02" title="Email Marketing"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <img src="https://www.aweber.com/banners/whattowrite-2017/wtw-display-02.jpg" alt="Get more than 30 email content templates" style="border:none;" /></a><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> </div><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->

Shopping Carts

Ecommerce is becoming bigger and bigger every year. And the technology has gotten better every year. When it comes to e-commerce, I have found that hosted shopping cart solutions have a better cost of ownership than building it in woocommerce. Unless you are selling restricted items that the hosted solutions don’t like, or you need to do something special, they are really your best bet.

I currently have three carts I like. They all serve a multitude of purposes. Some you have heard of, others are less well know but I like where everyone is going. You can create free trials on all of them by clicking the banners below.

I have worked with Shopify, BigCommerce and 3DCart since 2010 when they were just starting out. You owe it to yourself to check them out.

<a href="https://app.shopify.com/services/signup?ref=calivation"><img class="alignnone wp-image-1826 size-full" src="https://onlinestorehelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/300x250-light@2x-300x250.jpg" alt="300x250-light@2x-300x250" width="300" height="250"></a>
<a href="https://onlinestorehelp.com/bigcommerce"><img class="alignnone wp-image-1349 size-full" src="https://onlinestorehelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Partner-Badge-Large1.png" alt="Partner Badge -Large" width="284" height="237"></a>
<a href="https://www.3dcart.com/412-2-1-14.html" target="_blank"><img style="border:0px" src="http://www.3dcart.com/idevaffiliate/media/banners/3dcartA-300x250.jpg" width="300" height="250" alt="Start your online store in 60 seconds"></a>
<a target="_blank" href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1151481&u=485068&m=46483&urllink=&afftrack="><img src="https://static.shareasale.com/image/46483/whoisguard_001_300x250.gif" border="0" alt="Free WhoisGuard with Every Domain Purchase" /></a>

Domain Names

To get online, you need a domain name. A registrar is where you buy (technically rent since you have to renew it every year) your very own .com domain name. Over the last few years, I have moved everything over to Namecheap. Their domains are fairly priced and even include Whois Privacy for the first year for free.

My Everyday Equipment

When I first started out, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on equipment, I just couldn’t afford it at first. And I live in Hawaii where everything is expensive so I had to be frugal. But even as I make a lot more money, I still only spend money on what I find value. You can see what I use on a daily basis and I have links to where you can buy it on Amazon.

Apple iMac MK472LL/A 27-Inch Retina 5K Desktop (3.2 GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB DDR3, 1TB, Mac OS X) (Certified Refurbished)
PC or Mac, does it really matter? I use both but my everyday machine is a 27inch 5K iMac. I like the operating system better than windows 10 which is the only reason I moved away from Windows machines.

Canon PowerShot Digital Camera [G7 X Mark II] with Wi-Fi & NFC, LCD Screen, and 1-inch Sensor - Black

This little camera is amazing. Great white balance and just works. It is missing a microphone jack but thats ok, clap your hands and sync up in post with your audio recorder.

Sennheiser EW 112P G4 – A Omni-directional Wireless Lavalier Microphone System
I use the older G3 system but when it comes to wireless, it’s hard to beat Sennheiser. You can plug it direct into your DSLR or do what I do, run it into my Zoom H4n.

Audio-Technica AT2035 Large Diaphragm Studio Condenser Microphone Bundle with Shock Mount, Pop Filter, and XLR Cable

I have been pleasantly surprised by this little guy. Great noise reduction and makes my voice sound like a sexy radio DJ.

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools  First, Red, 2i2 - 2 Mic Pres

This is my audio interface that I plug my condensor microphone into. It runs phantom power and my headphones.

Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder

I currently use a Zoom H4n but if I did it over, I would spend the extra money and get the H6 which has more inputs and more control.

Get Our Free Mini Ecommerce Course

Get Our Free Mini Ecommerce Course

Jumpstart building an ecommerce business.

Check your email!