Tools I use

This is a compilation of tools/software I currently use and trust with clients and my own businesses.

Last updated on September 19th, 2018.

Email marketing

• MailChimp – I’ve used MailChimp for longer than I can remember. The product has continually improved and it’s all I recommend for solid, reliable, and cost-effective email marketing.
• Customer.io – If you’re looking for robust email automation campaign building, then Customer.io fits the bill. Doing what many other companies do, but for a fraction of the cost, I’ve trusted Customer.io with multi-million dollar marketing lists.
• Mandrill – For transactional emails (receipts, confirmations, etc), I’ve used many companies. I always come back to Mandrill. Even though they are no longer a standalone product (you must have a MailChimp account), I still use them for many projects.

A/B testing

• Google Optimize – It’s the new tool on the street, but the free version gets the job done for most people. The limit of 5 concurrent tests can be a bit of an issue, but it’s hard to complain when the price is right. It also plays perfectly with Google Analytics.
• Maxymiser – If you need to run a serious A/B testing program, Maxymiser fits the bill. Extremely powerful, but there’s a steep learning curve.

Customer feedback

• Google Consumer Surveys – If you need to collect data on your own website users or on the general public, Google Consumer Surveys makes it really easy. Pricing is based on how much information you want to collect and from who. The real pro here is Google’s demographic information is included in the survey responses.
• Hotjar – If all you need are the basics for polling, then Hotjar fits the bill. Pricing is low and includes a suite of other analytics tools.

Servers and databases

• Amazon AWS S3 – Perfect for hosting images and files online. Easy to use interface and reliable.
• Rackspace Cloud Databases – This is my go-to choice if I need a MySQL database with a lot of data or a lot of traffic. Easy to scale and easy to backup.
• LiquidWeb Cloud Sites (formerly Rackspace Cloud Sites) – Great customer service, uptime, and interface. If you manage a lot of websites and need scalability and reliability, this is your choice.