Recommended Resources
Here are a list of products, services, people etc that I recommend. Some links are affiliate links, so if you click through here, you'll be supporting this site at no additional cost to you. Please know that everything listed here is something that I use currently, or have used and strongly recommend.
Webhosting - Siteground
I have used a large number of web hosting companies over the years, but I like Siteground most of all. The prices are reasonable, the servers are fast, and the customer service is excellent. They're not the cheapest around, but they are far from the most expensive and are a great place to host your Wordpress site.
Domain Names - Namecheap
Every single domain that I own (which is a few) is registered at Namecheap. I even moved the ones I bought at other places so that they would all be there. The prices are great (and they have discounts every month), the dashboard is easy to use and it's also not a bad place to get hosting if money is really tight.
Shopping Cart - Thrivecart
If you are now or are ever planning to sell your own products, you'll eventually need a shopping cart software. Thrivecart is an excellent option. They are always working on making it better, it competes well with all major options currently available, and for the time being, you can get lifetime pricing! Pay once, use forever. You need to check this out before they move to a subscription model.
Email Marketing - Klaviyo
Another email service provider... I know! But this one is an absolutely KILLER app for e-commerce. If you have an online store (especially with Shopify), I really think this is essential. I am certified with this company and have helped a number of businesses grow their sales with this tool.
Email Marketing - Moosend
One of the lesser-known, but very competitive email service providers. They have a free tier with limited features for up to 1000 subscribers, but the full service is only $10/month up to 2000. Development is adding new features and integrations all the time. Very much worth checking out!
Biz Tools - Appsumo
Appsumo sells lifetime deals to all kinds of software and business marketing services. They're not all great, but sometimes you get a deal on a tool that can change your business, and you only have to pay for it once. I have purchased numerous deals here from stock photos to SAAS products and you can get some great stuff. Check it out often to see what's new.
Wordpress - Thrive Themes Membership
This is another category in which I've used a wide variety of products, and this is one of the the best. Not only do you get a full suite of themes and marketing-oriented plugins for your site, but they have a tremendous amount of educational content to help make your site better as well. All for an affordable yearly rate. This is essentially all you need to get started.
Wordpress - Elementor
Elementor is an extremely powerful page-builder plugin for Wordpress. I also use this one quite a bit for client sites. The free version is extremely useful, and the Pro upgrade adds a number of additional items that are very useful. Definitely check this one out.
Wordpress - Elementor Add-Ons
Elementor Add-Ons inject some additional functionality to the elementor program, providing widgets to do several things that weren't originally included with Elementor. Very useful.