Free and paid services I use

Wed, Aug 12, 2009 Posted By:Eric Friedman

Internet, Marketing.fm, Technology

As a follow up to the Wordpress plugins post and my 10 tools for web traffic research I wanted to share some services that I use, and pay for.


multitools

Disclaimer: where possible I use affiliate links

Hostgator – This is where I host Marketing.fm and refer anyone looking for great shared hosting.

GetDropBox – the easiest to use backup and synchronize file tool across multiple computers. If you are not backing up your work, it is only a matter of time before you learn the hard way.

Digsby – Best multi IM client for Windows. I use AIM, Gchat, and Yahoo chat on a regular basis and Digsby makes it all possible with one multi tabbed client.

Feedburner – best way to track and get analytics for your RSS feed.

TwitterCounter – shows follows and and easy link back to your Twitter profile.

Google Docs – great and easy way to take notes and share documents online.

SiteMeter and Google Analytics – I use both of these services for analytics as they both provide important stats I checkout often. I know that GA is now real time, but I rely on Site Meter for quick and easy referral links to my site(s)

Amazon Web Services – S3 and EC2 – the static storage and elastic cloud solutions from Amazon are somewhat new to me, but I have been working on a project that will be deployed on AWS to avoid some of the headaches of traditional shared hosting.


Google Reader – best platform for consuming RSS feeds. You can see how I use Google Reader here.

What am I missing?

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This post was written by:

Eric Friedman - who has written 635 posts on Marketing.fm – Eric Friedman.

Analyst at Union Square Ventures, blogger at www.marketing.fm and operating experience within SEM, SEO, and Social Media. You should follow me on twitter @EricFriedman

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  • I use a lot of the tools you mentioned, I'm also a big fan of:

    Chartbeat [ http://www.chartbeat.com ] - for the ability to watch traffic real-time, as well as delve into what was going on at any particular point in time, to see what led to a traffic-spike, etc.

    Clicky [ http://www.getclicky.com/25099 (my affiliate link) ] - if your site is lower-traffic, i find Clicky both better and easier to use than Google Analytics. All the basics are readily available in the dashboard view, and you can also see the real-time activity, and delve into any individual visit's actions - the latter is the part that sells me on it.
  • Hi Daryn,

    I have not had a chance to try out chartbeat yet, but I am not sure I need
    it as I may not have enough visitors:)

    Tried GetClicky and just didn't want to pay for the service with SiteMeter
    and GA
  • jual_rumah
    Thank for the suggestion. Still many I don't know but every day I involve with Analytics and Webmasters tool.
  • one word - feedly - spectacular rss reader using google reader as its source. its so good i havent logged into google reader in ages.
  • I have tried it a few times without much traction - will try it again.

    Hope you enjoy dropbox!
  • lol that is scary - I have used a tonne of services like dropbox but none worked great - Microsoft's Mesh was the closest. First impressions are positive though :)
  • I tried Mesh too, and livedrive, JDisk, and a few others, but none work as automagically between computers like dropbox.
  • I pay for highrise from 37 signals for CRM, Mozy for backup, and Remember The Milk for tracking tasks, though those aren't traffic related.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
  • From Mozy to Dropbox?

    I have dropbox on my computer and have used it in the past, but don't
    see the point.

    Mozy also release Decho, which does a lot of what Dropbox does...

    What about Microsoft Live sync?
  • I went through about 6 services before settling on DropBox - Live Sync,
    Folder Sync, JDrive, Mesh, LiveDrive, Mozy, and I believe a few others.

    I havn't seen Decho but I should check it out.

    The biggest benefit for me about DropBox is that the files are local, can be
    accessed fast, then get backed up in the cloud AND other computers. Since
    its always a local file edit\get\copy its much faster than accessing my
    "drive in the sky" which relies on a constant connection and bandwidth.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
  • I will convert you to DropBox once you see it. I know the price point is higher but its worth it.
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