==== Edited, Originally published on the IT Arsenal Newsletter ====
The e-mail responses were clear, you’re interested in knowing what the “big names” use to run their businesses.
Look below to find out.
Before you do that though, remember modeling greatness is one way to become great, but a business is not just the sum total of it’s tools.
So while you unpack what these businesses use to run their websites, e-mail marketing, sales systems and other technical parts, be careful not to think copying them is a sure ticket. It might actually be a bad ticket, the ideal solutions are different for each business!
It’s not about your resources, it’s about your resourcefulness. – Tony Robbins
If you have questions about these tools, what’s right for you or would like to implement them with your business, IT Arsenal would be happy to take that on or provide answers.
Marie Forleo
https://www.marieforleo.com/
- Host – RackSpace (https://snip.ly/X6Ki) with GoDaddy as the DNS provider
- Platform – WordPress
- Theme – Thesis by DIYthemes (https://snip.ly/apfU) [custom child theme]
- Email Marketing – Office Autopilot (https://snip.ly/E1zI)
- Sales System – Office Autopilot integration (https://snip.ly/E1zI) , Amazon for books
- Other Tools & Comments
- MaxCDN for content delivery
- Google Analytics
- Vimeo for video, she uses lots of it
Tim Ferris
https://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
- Host – WordPress VIP (https://vip.wordpress.com/our-services/) / Automattic Company [starts at $5k/month!]
- Platform – WordPress
- Theme – Custom [but from his blog appears to originate from Thesis]
- Email Marketing – aWeber (https://snip.ly/KJDV)
- Sales System – Amazon, Quarterly, mostly offsite tools, promotes Shopify
- Other Tools & Comments
- Kissmetrics
- Google Analytics
- flickrRSS WordPress plugin
- Optimizely
- CloudFront
- Wufoo
- SumoMe
- Digital Telepathy – designer
Tim is a tool junkie so this is by no means a complete list, check out this old post of his on his favorite WordPress plugins (https://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/26/most-popular-wordpress-plugins/)
NOTE: All information was found online through public means, if you want to know how to find out a majority of the tools those that you follow use, see this post post.
======
Observations
* All use different services for their major providers of website hosting and email marketing! No one tool stood out
* They’ve likely not only paid a designer/developer for their graphics, but keep one on staff or on call, as their themes are custom design frameworks that you would need to have CSS and FTP knowledge to work
* Their tools are relatively low cost, with the exception of hosting which can vary greatly based on traffic
* They all have digital products [free and paid] and a communities that exist off their main website
* They all display “social proof” logos or pictures very clearly
* They all want your e-mail first thing
None of the findings were particularly shocking, it’s clear they all have a team of helpers and are a bit more polished but the fundamentals are similar to many of your business websites, which I hope is encouraging!
Keep working on the clarity of your offering, and learning the ins-and-outs of the tools that are right for your business as you build and grow!
Note: These findings are in no way final and will not forever be accurage, these tools can and do change often!
–> If you found any of these tools useful and would like to know more or are interested in implementing one in your business, feel free to reply to this e-mail, or submit a request at the Build Your Own Request page.
I hope this e-mail was useful and I want to know about it if it wasn’t!
PS. It was incredibly interesting contacting and researching Marie, Tim, and Martha, thanks for the inspiration!
-r
Always glad to help!
—
Robert Granholm
