Software and Services I Recommend

This page contains affiliate links to products or services I use myself. I'll receive a commission if you sign up from my links. The price will be the same for you or possibly discounted at times.

Ecwid is ecommerce software. I've used this myself since 2014 on my Sonrise Stable Books website. Prior to finding Ecwid, I went through a dozen other ecommerce systems, but always ran into problems. When you have a website that sells things, you definitely don't want your ecommerce software to give you headaches or not function properly!

I can honestly say Ecwid is the easiest system I've used in terms of setting it up, adding products, incorporating it into a website, and using the day-to-day operations involved in processing orders. In case you're wondering, Ecwid stands for "Ecommerce Widget."

You can get started with Ecwid's free plan which allows you to have up to 10 products. Ecwid Ecommerce Link

Ecwid

best phone service provider

Phone and Cell Provider

I suppose phones are a necessary evil in today's world. I'll admit they are useful—perhaps too much so—meaning it's easy to spend waste too much time on them.

Recently, I decided to reduce my reliance on my phone. A big factor in achieving that was finding a phone that made it challenging to do things on it. :)

I settled on the Jelly 2E from Unihertz.

This thing is small! It has a 3" screen. While I can (if I have glasses on) read texts on it, that's something I'd rather avoid. I set up texting on my computer using MightyText.

I've had the phone for a while now and really like it. It's been instrumental in helping me cut down phone time. The voice quality is good—and isn't that what phones were created for? My other main use for it is audiobooks. It's nice to be able to easily slip the Jelly into a pocket and listen to books while I'm walking or doing some mundane task.

When I got the Jelly, I discovered it wouldn't work with the phone service I had at the time. In fact, Mint Mobile was the only service I found that it would work with. That turned out well, because I now have a plan that is even less than the inexpensive plan I had before.

I don't know why anyone uses the big name cellular providers. These third party providers use the same networks (Mint uses T-Mobile) and usually are much cheaper.

Get more details on the Mint Mobile site.

For the past few years, I've used the MooSend Email Marketing Service for sending my own and client newsletters. While not as well known as some of the big name providers such as MailChimp, it offers most of the same features—at a lower price.

MooSend offers the usual features such as a visual email editor, scheduled email sends, and statistical reports on campaigns. What I like about the service is the option to purchase email credits rather than paying a monthly fee—one credit equals one email send and the credits don't expire.

You can sign up for a free MooSend account to test it out.

moosend email marketing

jotform web form builder

I highly recommend the JotForm form-building service. I have to confess building web forms isn't something I find entertaining.

It's such a relief that JotForm makes it so simple. In addition to an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop form builder, your submissions are emailed to you as well as being stored for viewing in your JotForm admin panel. JotForm is an extremely helpful and reliable service. I just checked my account, and I've been using JotForm since 2009. The form on my Contact page was created in JotForm.

They offer a free plan which provides 100 form submissions per month. On the free plan, the JotForm logo and link are displayed at the bottom of your forms. If that doesn't bother you, the free plan is a good way to get started with JotForm. With a paid monthly plan, the JotForm logo can be removed from your forms. JotForm affiliate link.