The Resources I Use And Recommend

The three most popular questions I receive via email or on my site are either 1) how to start blogging and 2) how can I work with you and 3) what resources I use to run TrishJones.com

Well, on this page I’m going to jump ahead straight into #3 and share the products and services that I have personally used and highly recommend, or continue to use here on TrishJones.com.

One thing I dislike is complexity and online, complexity seems to equal intelligence. Me? I just want simple every time, and my dedication to you is to give you simple. That doesn’t mean it won’t require work, but it does mean with some help, you can do it.

So here we go, here are some of the resources I use to simplify my life and business …

Lead Capture Software

Thrive Leads: Used in conjunction with Thrive Themes (see below), it’s easier than ever to turn your WordPress blog into an automatic lead generation powerhouse, without the monthly cost of similar software. Thrive Leads is versatile and easy to use.

Blog Theme

WordPress: Every site I build for myself and my clients is built with WordPress, simply because it’s the most versatile and easy to use Blog Publishing Platform available. It’s also free and you’ll find a myriad of free training videos online to get you up and running. Ensure you go to the .org site, not the .com site.
Pressive: I discovered Thrive Themes this year (2015) and fell in love with their content builder. It’s the only theme that captured my attention since I began using StudioPress in 2009. Their customer service is exceptional and the tech guys and gals inside the forum will always go the extra mile to resolve issues you may experience with your site. The Thrive Themes crew are both beginner and advanced level friendly.
StudioPress (Genesis Framework): StudioPress have an excellent range of WordPress themes and I’ve personally been using StudioPress since 2009 to build my own and my client’s sites. Their support is A1 and the community forum is excellent.

WordPress Hosting

WPX Hosting: Name one of the big web hosts and I’ve probably used them, but not one of them beat the speed I get from the WPX Hosting servers. Apart from their outstanding customer service, WPX Hosting is optimised specifically for WordPress. They will even migrate your site from another hosting server, free of charge.

Products and Membership Sites

Kajabi: If you want to hide your content behind a password protected page, and even if you want a website that looks and feels professional, I cannot recommend Kajabi enough. Ask any of my clients from the past ten years plus and they will tell you that I never recommend hosting your site on a proprietary platform … at least not until now. This is also the perfect solution for anyone who considers themselves a technophobe. I’m currently using Kajabi for my membership site as well as my programs / courses.
Zenler: An All In One course creation, delivery & marketing platform. If you want an alternative to Kajabi with a lower price tag, you should definitely check out Zenler. Zenler has everything you need from course creation, marketing funnels, email automation to community without needing to hire designers, developers or marketers.
ClickFunnels. If you want pre-designed funnel pages, ClickFunnels offers easy to customise templates as well as full featured funnels. So if you want a funnel to capture leads or sell your program, that’s built right into the software.

Video Capture and Screencasts

Screenflow: If you’re on a Mac, this is the best screen recording, screen capture and editing software out there. It’s what I’ve been using to create tutorials for my clients since 2010 when I switched from PC to a Mac
Camtasia: There is a PC and Mac version of the software, though having been a user of Camtasia for PC for many years and loved it, I highly recommend you just stick with Screenflow if you’re a Mac user. My experience is that the Mac version of Camtasia is somewhat limited.
Veed.io: If you want an All In One video recording, screen recording and video editing solution, you need look no further. If you’re a solopreneur, ain’t nobody got time to record and edit in one application, use another app for subtitles (and yes, you should be using subtitles) and worse, trawling through a load of backgrounds to give your videos that Gary Vee pizazz. Veed is what I would call a thumbstopper. As people are scrolling the social media feed, they will stop to check out your video.
Jing: This is a free screenshot and screencast software by Techhsmith, the developers of Camtasia and it’s available for PC and Mac. You can record for a maximum of 5 minutes, but it’s great for sending mini tutorials to your clients.

Email Autoresponder

Aweber: This is a sequential email autoresponder service that allows you to capture names and email addresses so that you can keep your readers updated via email, and promote your products and services to your readers online.

Podcast Hosting

BuzzSprout: Whatever you do, you do not want to host your audio files on a standard shared hosting, or even VPS server. BuzzSprout offers the best, most complete podcast hosting and publishing services available at very affordable prices.

Shopping Cart

SamCart: This is much, much more than just a shopping cart and this is the only reason I a) recommend it and b) use it for my own business. SamCart makes upsells, downsells, order bumps, PDF downloads and the customer buying experience easy and enjoyable. Try SamCart for 14 Days, Free.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are my affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase via any of those links, but there is no additional cost to you. I recommend these companies because I believe they provide great products that will benefit you and your business. Please only purchase these products if you feel the same.