The Essentials

Siteground Web Hosting

Lots of "gurus" out there recommend Bluehost. And they're OK. But trust me when I say Siteground is better. I personally had a site hacked on Bluehost and their support was lackluster. Siteground is a better run operation, their support is stellar, and it is a higher value for your dollar.

Thrive Themes

Thrive Themes is the best game in town now for marketing-focused themes. Their Content Builder provides infinite flexibility to create any kind of page you want. Their landing pages are conversion-focused. I now recommend Thrive Themes as the "best bang for your buck" in terms of both themes and landing pages.

Aweber Email Marketing

I have been using Aweber for over a decade. They are tried and true, integrate with pretty much everything, and they are a great home for your valuable email list. While I no longer use Aweberfor the Blog Marketing Academy (you'll see what I use below), I still use Aweber for another project and continue to recommend them to people first starting out.