Software
How We Make Money
Nashville Digital makes money two ways: monthly retainers and project fees from clients, and affiliate commissions when someone buys software through a link on this site. That second one creates an obvious conflict of interest. This page explains exactly how we handle it, because you should know before you read a single recommendation.
The short version: we only recommend tools we've actually deployed for paying clients, and commission never decides what goes on the list.
The disclosure
Some links in the software section are affiliate links. If you click one and buy, the vendor pays us a commission at no additional cost to you. Every one of those links is marked rel="sponsored" and every software page carries a disclosure at the top before any content.
That's the legal requirement — the FTC requires disclosure to be clear and conspicuous, not buried in a footer. It's also just the right way to run it.
What commission never changes
| Whether a tool gets recommended | Only tools we've deployed for a paying client appear at all |
| The order of a "best of" list | Ranked on what we'd actually pick, not on payout |
| Whether we publish criticism | We publish the limitations of tools that pay us well |
| What we deploy for you | Client stack decisions are made on fit. If the better tool pays nothing, you get the better tool |
The last row is the one that matters. If we ever recommended a tool to a paying client because of a commission, we'd have sold a $3,750-a-month relationship for a referral fee. That trade doesn't make sense in either direction.
The rule that governs the whole section
We don't review software we haven't run in a live client account.
Not demoed. Not trialled for an afternoon. Deployed, configured, and used to do real work for someone paying us. That's why the software section is small and grows slowly — there are only so many tools we've actually put into production.
It's also why several obvious, lucrative affiliate programs don't appear here at all. We haven't used them, so we have nothing worth saying.
This isn't only principle. Google's March 2026 core update cut traffic to template affiliate content sharply, and the pages that survived were the ones built on genuine first-hand use. The honest approach and the durable one turned out to be the same approach.
We publish negative reviews of tools that pay us
Some of the software we recommend has real problems, and we say so on the page — including for vendors with generous affiliate programs.
If every review on a site is positive, the site is a storefront. The useful part of a software recommendation is usually the part about what it doesn't do, and a review with no criticism in it has had that part removed.
Zero commission on ad spend
This one is separate from affiliate links and worth stating plainly.
We take no commission or markup on your advertising budget. Not on Google, not on Meta, not on LSA, not on anything. Your media spend goes to the platform. Our fee is the fee on the pricing page and it doesn't change if your budget goes up.
Most agencies charge a percentage of spend, typically 10–20%. That structure pays the agency more when you spend more, whether or not spending more is the right call. We didn't want to be in a position where recommending a budget increase also happened to be a raise.
Where the money actually comes from
| Source | Share of revenue |
|---|---|
| Client retainers and projects | The overwhelming majority |
| Affiliate commissions | A small fraction |
| Commission on client ad spend | None |
Affiliate income is not what this business runs on. The software section exists because prospects and clients ask what we use, and writing it down once is better than answering it fifty times. The commissions are a byproduct of a page that would exist anyway.
What to do if you'd rather not
If you'd prefer we didn't earn anything from your purchase, go to the vendor directly rather than through our link. The recommendation is identical either way and nothing on the page changes.
If you spot something on this site that reads as commercially motivated rather than useful, tell us. That's a real offer — a recommendation we can't defend in an email is one that shouldn't be published.
Frequently asked questions
Do you get paid for software recommendations?
Sometimes. Some links pay a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Every affiliate link is marked and every software page discloses it at the top.
Does commission affect what you recommend?
No. Only tools we've deployed in live client accounts appear at all, lists are ordered on what we'd actually pick, and we publish criticism of tools that pay us well.
Do you take a percentage of my ad spend?
No. Zero commission and zero markup on media budgets. Our fee is published on the pricing page and doesn't change with your spend.
Why do you review so few tools?
Because we only write about software we've run for a paying client. That rules out most of the market, including several affiliate programs that pay well.
Can I buy without giving you a commission?
Yes — go to the vendor directly instead of using our link. Nothing about the recommendation changes.
Do clients get pushed onto tools that pay you?
No. Stack decisions for clients are made on fit. Trading a long-term retainer for a one-off referral fee would be a bad deal for us as well as for the client.
Written by Jared DeValk, founder of Nashville Digital. Last reviewed September 2026.