Recommended Marketing Tech Stack
This recommended products page is a curated list of the tools and services I recommend most. I have used and tested every recommendation on this page, and I use all of these today today in my businesses. Some of these are affiliate links which means I'll get a small commission for referring you to these tools I love.
Theme, Page Builder & Course Platform for WordPress
Thrive Suite
ThriveSuite is the all-access subscription to every Thrive Themes product. You'll get Thrive Theme Builder which allows you to make a custom theme exactly how you want it, Thrive Architect to build any page you want, Thrive Apprentice for courses, Thrive Quiz Builder for your quiz funnels, and tons more you need to run your business online. Thrive Suite powers every website I build.
Community Platform
Circle
My community runs on Circle! Create a private and customizable community experience that YOU own instead of leaving your data and user experience in the hands of Facebook. Circle allows you to create public and private spaces, manage permissions, live stream, host events, and everything you need to run a thriving community. You can even enable SSO (single-sign-on) so that users log into your WordPress site and are already logged into your Cirlce community. You can even create courses in Circle! It's a fantastic platform that has become a crucial and central platform for my entire business.
Email Service Providers
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a SaaS solution to email marketing automation and CRM needs. I highly recommend ActiveCampaign if you're a Thrive Suite user or a digital course or membership creator. It integrates with just about everything and makes email marketing incredibly easy. Since it's a SaaS solution, you'll pay for the quality and robustness of the tool, but for most people that's going to be well worth it for your business in the long run. When I need a robust powerhouse marketing tool, ActiveCampaign is my go-to.
FluentCRM
FluentCRM gives you nearly all of the marketing automation features of external SaaS products but on your own WordPress website instead (and at a fraction of the cost). What makes FluentCRM so attractive is its ability to integrate with Amazon SES and other email API's, which means you'll spend mere pennies for your list and unlimited contacts compared to SaaS solutions. But you'll have to work a little harder with integrations and getting everything set up. That's the tradeoff.
Carts & Payment Platforms
ThriveCart
ThriveCart offers the best cloud SaaS cart and checkout experience on the market. If you're selling courses and looking to integrate with a membership platform or simply looking for a hosted and highly-integratable and feature-rich platform then you must check out ThriveCart.
P.S. I offer AWESOME bonuses to anyone who purchases through my affiliate link including a course on how to use ThriveCart AND my complete Thrive Apprentice course. Learn more here.
SureCart
SureCart offers a checkout experience that's integrated with your website but processed offsite so that your site doesn't have to carry the load. SureCart offers beautiful and fully-customizable checkout funnels, secure download protection, upsells/downsells, and an integration with Thrive Suite that I helped to shape. I highly recommend it for selling products and courses.
You can get my Thrive with SureCart course completely free when you purchase SureCart BUSINESS or PRO plan through my affiliate link.
CartFlows
If you're a WooCommerce user or looking to start using WooCommerce to sell your products, I highly recommend CartFlows. CartFlows creates a streamlined sales funnel while still utilizing WooCommerce for the checkout. CartFlows can be used with the regular shopping cart experience of your site, or transform WooCommerce into a single-product checkout experience that doesn't feel at all like a shopping cart. I can't use WooCommerce without CartFlows.
Hosting Providers
BigScoots
BigScoots is the first truly managed WordPress hosting provider I have found that actually keeps their promises. I needed someone to watch over my sites, proactively keep them running fast, and be there when I need my hosting provider most. Their hardware is blazing fast. The fastest I've seen. And it's reliable. They're not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for when you choose a host. Have an ecommerce site, membership, or big dynamic site? Want someone to manage all the hosting tech and give you peace of mind? Get BigScoots. I did.
WPX Hosting
I've been with every major web host out there, and I can confidently say that no one comes even close to WPX Hosting for standard WordPress website hosting. WPX offers very fast customer service. Their response times are nearly instant, and they are available 24/7/365. They offer free migrations, fast servers, and a friendly interface. If you want super-simple shared hosting and none of the tech hassle that goes with it, WPX is for you.