Providers We Recommend

All of the businesses or services on this page we have dealt with first-hand. Some supplement ClearCart services, and some are just general business services that we value and recommend.

Domain Names

Dynadot – a no-nonsense domain name registrar with excellent customer support. Unlike some domain name registrars, Dynadot does not give you the hard-sell, trying to get you to add all kinds of services to your cart when all you want is a domain name. Their site is simple, secure, and easy to navigate.

If you choose to purchase your domain name through Dynadot, ClearCart's referral code is :
6E7j6W9B7i7N9J6s

Email providers

ClearCart hosting includes unlimited email accounts, and spam filtering via SpamAssassin. However, if your company is large and/or prone to the attention of spammers, you may require a more robust solution. If so, we strongly recommend Rackspace email. Find out more at:
http://www.rackspace.com/email_hosting/rackspace_email

Portland, OR Resources

ASAP Mac & PC Services – A friendly, affordable, very service-oriented PC and Mac computer shop in SE Portland. Owned and operated by Scott Buntin, this is the place to take your computer when it gets sick or acts up; when it's time to upgrade; or when you realize that you've been crazy not to install a sensible backup system. ASAP will also drop by your office or home on a regular basis to do routine maintenance, updates, backups, etc. They also offer discounted prepaid rates.

Vicki Lind, M.S., Career Counselor & Marketing Coach – Vicki Lind enjoys working with three groups of kindred spirits: creatives in all fields; people who want to make a difference; and procrastinators. She can help you with a job search in a creative field; resume and cover letter writing; interview preparation; and membership in the "Job Club", a group which meets twice monthly and helps you focus on marketing your creative business. She also offers individual sessions for freelancers. I was a member of Vicki's Job Club for a year, and it helped me focus my business and marketing plan more than any other resource.

Productivity Tools

Remember the Milk – RTM's byline is "The best way to manage your tasks." It's true. I've used various systems--including old-timey, hand-written lists, for managing tasks, and RTM beats every one of those systems, hands down. Goes very well with the productivity tips in the bestselling book Getting Things Done.

Toadtime – If your own your own business, and you need a tool that lets you keep track of the hours that you spend on client projects, and invoice them, look no further than Toadtime. It's simple, no-nonsense, and affordable. Because it's hosted online, it's perfect for managing subcontractors' hours as well; your subs can just log in and enter their hours; at the end of the week, you can produce beautiful invoices with a single click.

Site Development Resources

Color Schemer Online – a free tool which transforms colors into their hex code equivalents.

Copyscape – a free tool that searches for sites that are copying your content.

Filezilla – a free FTP solution. Transfer files from your local machine to your web site with ease.

Istockphoto.com – an inexpensive source of stock photos.

Stock.xchng – the largest collection of free stock photos.