3 Tools I Kinda Regret Buying for My Site

Regret is a strong word.

Whatever happens, you always learn, right? So in that way, there aren't really any regrets.

At the same time, if you're new or newish here, I want to let you know the things I regret buying for my site and why.

You may be thinking of buying these things. And you can. They might perfect for what you're trying to accomplish. I just want to give you my point of view in case it helps you save a few bucks in the long run.

It's really just 3 things that I kind of wish I didn't buy. At least not for a little bit.

Let's go...

#1 - Thrive Themes Membership

Oh boy.

I am struggling with Thrive right now. With the Thrive Membership, you get access to a whole host of plugins to help create conversions on your sites. I paid for and have them all, but I only use two.

And the two that I use aren't working well for me.

I use Thrive Architect and Thrive Leads. Architect is causing some things to break on my site (Yikes!), and my pop-up boxes don't always work correctly.

I'm currently transitioning all of my posts that were built with Thrive Architect back to the Wordpress builder.

(And sometimes those posts are so messed up I'm not even sure I can fix them. Where's a cry emoji when you need one?)

It. Is. A. Job.

Jay mentions sometimes that he doesn't like site builders, and now I get it. (Once again, Jay is right.)

P.S. Thrive has fantastic tutorials on their site (some just for members and some for non-members too), so I would definitely recommend checking those out.

P.P.S. Some of our top affiliates here use Thrive successfully, so maybe it's just me.

Question for you:

If you don't use Thrive Leads, what tool(s) do you use for pop-up boxes and lead capture forms? I'm on the hunt for replacements!

#2. ConvertKit

I like ConvertKit a lot.

However:

My list is too little for such a high-priced product.

I wish I would have started with a less expensive option and then moved to ConvertKit if and when it made sense.

• ConvertKit = $29 / month up to 1000 subscribers
• AWeber = $19 / month up to 500 subscribers
• MailerLite = $10 / month up to 1000 subscribers

It's possible that ConvertKit does fancier stuff, but I don't need fancy right now. I just need to send out some emails now and again.

I'm debating about moving to a simpler email service provider for now, but I don't know if it's worth the hassle at this point.

Question for you:

What would you do? Would you move to a simpler email system to save a few bucks, or just keep things where they are since you know your list will continue to grow?

#3. Tailwind

Do you use Tailwind? If not, it's used to schedule pins on Pinterest or posts on Instagram.

I got it for Pinterest.

It's actually a really good tool. If you use it.

I kind of let my Pinterest account go as it just hasn't been a high priority.

I have seen a lot of rumblings about Pinterest and some people seem to be having issues getting traffic from their pins. Some others have been completely blocked by Pinterest (possibly due to spammers stealing their pins and content.)

So I'm not even sure if it's worth it to get back going with Pinterest right now.

Question for you:

Are you still on Pinterest? Is your Account OK? Are you getting traffic? Having any issues with Pinterest blocking your content?

Do you use Tailwind and do you think it's still worth it? Do you think a manual pinning strategy could be just as effective?

Those are the 3 things I wish I would have thought about a little more before buying. Although, with Thrive, I didn't know I was going to have issues until I tried it. Sometimes you just have to experiment.

Have you purchased things for your site that you wish you hadn't? I'd love to hear! Leave your comments below!

- Christina