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Ahh yes, that magical time of year when I look back at my purchases and wonder WTF I was thinking. However, it’s not all bad, right? It actually ended up being a fairly cheap year, overall, since I’ve pivoted to focus more on content strategy.
That said, you’ve still got to spend a little money to get out there. Here are the things I’m super grateful for buying last year.
Apps and Services
- Squirrly SEO – Squirrly is similar to Yoast but has a more robust plugin that pulls daily rankings and helps me keep focus on my, um, focus pages. I’ve been really impressed with both what it does now and what their roadmap is pushing for soon.
- Appsumo Plus – Okay, I am NOT a fan of buying things solely to get a discount but this is the one exception. If you’ve read this blog before, you know how nutso I am about apps, so getting 10% off every purchase + extended time to satisfy my FOMO has already paid for itself.
- Gravitec – Gravitec is the annoying thing that pops up here and asks if you want push notifications when I do a new post. I was really against it at first but honestly, can’t deny how successful it’s been getting you guys to keep in touch.
- Niche$$$ – AI writing tools are popping up like whack-a-moles and being a writer it’s…not my favorite thing. However, I like niche$$$ because it helps me brainstorm ideas. The AI isn’t the best and you’d probably hate anything it wrote on its own but I like to use it as a jumping off point.
- Adobe Photography Plan – I resubscribed to their yearly plan after taking a little time away, but I just can’t find anything that’s better and as easy to use as Lightroom.
Amazon Stuff
- This tilted stand for my keyboard – Now that I’m writing way more often for clients, I picked this stand up to better angle my keyboard and give me less wrist pain. I also replaced my keyboard and mouse wrist guard because mine ALWAYS get dirty (why is that?!) .
- Armrest covers and seat pads – My desk chair looks absolutely ridiculous and like an octogenarian sits in it but I don’t care. No more butt fatigue!
- This giant-ass ethernet cable – I had two livestreams that were over in Australia and BOTH times my internet connection just hated it so I finally sucked it up and bought a long enough ethernet cable that it could reach my office without moving the finely-tuned, oh-my-god-don’t-touch-it!, router.
- An upgraded USB hub – Because I always forget to turn on/off my webcam and mic
- Audio-Technica ATR2100X-USB USB/XLR Microphone Bundle and Windscreen – I sold off my Blue Yeti for this set and was embarassingly impressed at the difference in audio. Unfortunately, the headphone jack no longer works in it but at least the mic and sound are crystal clear.
- A set of blank cards – Yes, these are similar to notecards that you’d get for study sessions. I picked these up after a client of mine recommended them and keep them in their box on my desk. They’re great for when I need to write some idea down quickly.
- a lens kit for my iPhone – mostly for taking pictures of my betta fish, Zorro, but you know…work stuff, too (maybe)
