My 8 Favorite Non-WordPress Recommendations For 2022

Here Are My Favorite Non-WordPress Recommendations

Yes, I know it's Christmas. But I'm hoping by now that you've finished your big meal and are waiting for the family movie time to start, or are in-between NBA basketball games. Either way, I'm still writing daily to hit the 365 day streak, so it's time to tell you about my favorite non-WordPress recommendations.

By the way, I own a license or account for each of these solutions. I've paid, and continue to pay, for each account. In other words, I'm a customer for each, not just a fan.

And I should add that because I write a lot of posts, there are tons of lines lifted from my posts and put on home pages of products all over the internet that have a “testimonial” from me. But they're sometimes just quotes from a post (without the entire context). The list you see below have my strongest recommendations and if they ever post a quote of mine on their product pages, you can know I stand 100% behind it!

1. Zip Message

I've told you a lot about ZipMessage already. First I told you about using it for coaching. Then I told you why I thought everyone needed ZipMessage. There's not a lot more to tell you other than, if you've not checked it out yet, ZipMessage is the best communication tool for asynchronous video.

Think about how powerful you thought Slack was when you first started using it, not think about async done well for video. It's that powerful. And the best news is that it doesn't interrupt your day like Slack does. Because it's truly asynchronous.

2. Testimonial.to

Testimonial.to is another one I've written about on this blog in the past year. I told you how to request video testimonials, and encouraged you to use video testimonials right away.

Testimonial.to is a simple SaaS that doesn't require your customers to have a lot of gear or software to be able to leave you a great testimonial.

3. Savvy Cal

I know for a fact that I told you about SavvyCal already. First I told you it was my favorite appointment software on the planet. Then I told you how important it was for protecting my time.

You have likely heard of tons of other solutions for appoint scheduling. But this one is without question the easiest to use with the best features available. That's a ridiculous combination – worthy of checking out.

4. Bento

I've written several posts about Bento but my favorite was on the need for anonymous personalization. There are so many things you can do with Bento that are much harder to do with other similar products. Between you and me, I really think this is the platform that will give Hubspot a run for its money.

5. BlackMagic.so

This started as a tiny little utility for Twitter – check out my header image on my profile and you'll see its magic. But Tony, the founder and developer, has also created a Magic Sidebar that is pretty powerful. All I can tell you is that you should really check out BlackMagic.so.

6. SparkLoop

I've only briefly mentioned SparkLoop to you in a summer post about how I discover new products. I've bought a license and love what it does but you haven't seen it implemented on my newsletter. It's on track for early next year.

But what SparkLoop does is turn your newsletter recipients into lightweight affiliates by giving them rewards for sharing your content with others. In other words, it's a referral solution for newsletter growth. And everyone who has used it has loved it. I'm betting you will too.

7. Mindstamp

Readers of this blog will also remember that I've mentioned Mindstamp before. First I told you that it was now easy to produce interactive video. Then I told you that I thought interactive video was the next big thing in eCommerce.

The company and the technology continue to evolve and advance and I'm positive you'll like it – mostly because (like I said) it isn't hard to adopt.

8. Fathom Analytics

Back in February I told you that I had switched to Fathom Analytics so that a) it was easier to see what was important, and b) I could do it without all those cookie notifications. Well, I made the switch and have never looked back.

I love Fathom Analytics and its position should highlight that this list wasn't in any order other than when I jotted down notes for this post this morning. If it was by how awesome I think it is, and how technically magical it is, it would have been on the top of the list.

So there you are – eight of my favorite non-WordPress recommendations.