Casey Design San Diego Resources
Quality partners and services are essential to the success of your business. When customers count on you to deliver outsourced products or partner services, you are putting the future of your business in their hands.
We've worked with plenty of vendors and partners over the years and have hung on to the good ones. The resources listed below are ones we use and trust them to treat you as well as they do us. If we do use 'em we don't refer 'em.
GoDaddy.com
Over the years, we've used several web hosting companies and now use GoDaddy exclusively. Not that we don't like other hosting companies like 1&1, Brinkster, Network Solutions, etc., but we've found that GoDaddy has the most services at the best prices. Learn more about GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans.
Joomla.org
If you will be administering your website (aka. you're saving money by ousting your web designer) I highly suggest trying Joomla!. It's a robust content managment system that is PHP based. If you've used Wordpress, then the learning curve will be non-existent. Look for a web hosting company that supports Joomla! and installation is as easy as clicking a button. Visit JoomlaShack.com for templates, plug-ins and support.
Rockettheme.com
If you go with Joomla!, you will need easy to use and reliable templates. We've been working in Joomla! for almost 5 years now and have tested several template providers....errr. Before you try any other template provider, check out Rockettheme templates - you'll thank us later.
Artisteer.com
If you want to skip the web designer (don't worry, we understand) and the expense and the learning curve of code - go straight to Artisteer. This application allows you to build your own template for Joomla!, Wordpress, Drupal, DotNetNuke, HTML, and ASP.net - all without knowing how to code. If you can use MS Word (Word 2007) - you can use Artisteer.
iStockPhoto.com
If you own a business, you'll need stock photography. Find low-cost, quality images on iStockPhoto.com - they're the best. A close runner-up is BigStockPhoto.com.
Additional Services
Phone.com is fairly new to the VOIP market, but is already making a great impression.
If you're running your business from your kitchen table and on a tight budget, don't worry. All you need is an internet connection and less than $10 per month to get an (800) business line.
Phone.com offers tons (I mean tons) of features for very little out of pocket expense. Get a Virtual Phone Number that handles all your calls, an easy Online Chat for quick customer service from your website, or conferencing for FREE with a Virtual Office Plan.
Do your business (and your wallet) a favor by visiting Phone.com for Great Rates for Virtual Phone Systems for Business.
MailChimp.com is simply our favorite part of marketing.
If you own a business, you know how vital effective marketing is to keeping and growing your customer base. We've tried lots of providers, and while most of them are good, there is one that blows the rest of 'em away!
MailChimp.com is a robust email and newsletter marketing application makes sending and autoresponding a piece of cake. You can get a FREE account if your campaign is less than 100 recipients! The most basic account is only $10 per month and covers 500 recipients.
Their service includes detailed tracking information on delivery, openings, and clicks for every email you send. The interface is very easy to follow and use - even for the most non-technical old-fogey newbie.
Plus, the MailChimp mascot is one cool chimp with mad email skillz and a cool sense of humor. You'll find out what we're talking about when you sign up at MailChimp.com.
