Toolbox - Automate with Max

My favorite business tools 🧰

These are all the tools I use for my online business to make life easier

As my online business evolves, the tools that I’m using develop as well.

I’ve tried many (really, maaaaaaany) tools that promised to make my life easier and give me more freedom.

But only a few passed the test of time ⏰

Automating everything… except this cat’s cuddle schedule

Some tools I’ve tried were just a result of my shiny object syndrome 🐒💍

Others have helped me tremendously over the years.

On this page, you’ll find a complete list of all the tools I’m currently using.

I use & recommend every single product you see below. Most of them contain affiliate links, but you pay the same amount (or less) if you use those links and I get a few bucks to support my travel addiction.

Here are the sections I divided all the tools in, so you can jump to the stuff that interests you most:

Marketing Automation Setup
Website Related Stuff
Organization & Productivity
Teach Gear

And if you’ve any tool suggestions, I would be happy to hear them! 😄📩

How I automate my marketing 🚀

(used to grow my audience & revenue)

ActiveCampaign

Email Service Provider

As you learn about a contact, you can send personalized emails that align perfectly with their interests — whether they’re on your website, browsing their inbox, or out-and-about on a mobile device.

Make

Automation Platform

I’m still blown away by this tool. You can automate almost everything with it, and it integrates with hundreds of apps. I, for example, use this a lot to create craaaazy marketing automation experiences.

RightMessage

Website Personalization

An incredible tool that will help you to segment your audience and personalize the content on your website based on what you know about this person. Freakin’ love it.

DeadlineFunnel

Authentic Evergreen Deadlines

This tool is perfect for creating ethical urgency in your funnel to increase conversion. You can create evergreen deadlines that you can use on landing pages, email & inside your bot.

How I build my websites 🛠️

(without any coding knowledge)

Cloudways

Fast Hosting

I more than tripled the speed of my website when I switched from Siteground to Cloudways. You can pick a cloud provider (I use Vultr), they manage the server for you, and you just install WordPress.

WordPress

Content Management System

I don’t think this one needs any introduction because WordPress powers 20% of all websites on the internet. I use WordPress as a base for all my websites, and with the right themes & plugins, you can create almost anything.

GeneratePress

WordPress Theme

Most WordPress themes are filled with features to convince people to buy the theme. But all those features slow down your website a lot. GeneratePress is very simple, no fancy features, but blazing fast.

GenerateBlocks

Page Builder

This plugin extends the default WordPress Block Editor with some really handy features. I love it because it’s simple, and creates clean code that doesn’t slow your website down.

Fathom Analytics

Website Analytics

A privacy-focused website analytics alternative for Google Analytics. Your data isn’t being sold, and it’s much easier to use.

ThriveCart

Cart Platform

I totally love ThriveCart. It’s really smart, easy to use and focused on conversion. You can create one-click upsells, and create a whole affiliate platform in just a few clicks. Highly recommended.

How I stay organized & productive 📫

(productivity tools & software I use)

Google Workspace

Storage & Email

Google has some really great products for an incredible low price. I store terabytes of data in Google Drive, and use Gmail with my own domain name. Love it!

Calendly

Scheduling Meetings

Calendly takes the hassle out of booking meetings. Set your availability once, share your link, and let others pick a time that works for them. It’s perfect for one-on-one meetings, group events, and more.

Jumpshare

Quick Video Recording

A browser plugin & desktop app that will allow you to make quick screen recordings faaaast. I’m using it for short tutorials, to answer questions quickly, and to send people spontaneous videos.

Alfred

Productivity App for Mac

The ultimate app to boost efficiency with hotkeys, keywords, text expansion and more. I absolutely love it, and according to it’s statistics I use it 74 times a day on average.

Adobe Creative Cloud

Creative Apps

Adobe has some great products to create content. I use Photoshop to create thumbnails, inDesign to make ebooks/cheat sheets, and Illustrator to make infographics.

Final Cut Pro

Video Editing for Mac

With Final Cut Pro, it’s really easy to edit videos. You can quickly cut parts of a video, improve audio, blur sensitive parts, and all kinds of other cool things.

Tech gear I use 🎥

(for creating my video content)

Sony Alpha 6400

Camera

Best camera I’ve ever owned for recording video. The auto-focus is incredibly fast, which is especially important if you film yourself, and you can record in 4K.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4

Camera Lens

The default kit lens is great, but I wanted this nice creamy ‘bokeh’ effect, which makes the background blurry, so I pop out a bit more. On top of that, it’s also really sharp & works great in low light.

Elgato Cam Link 4K

Capture Card

This allows you to use your camera as a webcam. Especially handy for when you’re doing live webinars, live streams, zoom calls, but also handy for recording tutorials because you don’t have to transfer any files.

RØDE VideoMic NTG

Shotgun Microphone

I was using a dynamic microphone for quite some time, but I didn’t like that the microphone was always in front of my face in videos. That’s why I switched to this shotgun microphone from RØDE.

Aputure Amaran 100D

Main Light

I waited with upgrading my light for waaaay too long. Only after I upgraded, I realized how bad the lighting of my previous videos was. Great value for money.

Aputure Amaran AL-F7

Background Light

I use this light behind me to light up dark corners. The quality of the light is great, it doesn’t flicker. I also take it while I’m traveling because it’s so small.