Sometimes it seems like I have tried every blogging tool out there. I’m always looking for something to make my blog-life easier. I want to quickly tell you about the main tools I use to maintain my blog. These are just the top tools and what I am using right now. If you have a question about another tool you’ve heard about, feel free to ask me about it.
My favorite blogging tools
First of all, I use SiteGround for my hosting. They are very affordable and I haven’t had any issues in almost a year. Previously I was with BlueHost and it was problem after problem. Don’t get me started!
Next most important to me in my toolbox is CoSchedule. I use CoSchedule to post my newest blog posts to FaceBook, Twitter, G+ and Pinterest on a schedule automatically after publishing. I would be lost without it. I am a busy mom and I need to automate everything I can.
Next up, I have fallen in love with Tailwind Tribes. It is still in beta testing, and only available by invite. You can join my Mommy Lifestyle Tribe here -> Practical Mommy Lifestyle Tribe. Basically it is a place to share your content with other bloggers who will repin your posts and also find great content from those bloggers for you to use in your pinning schedule.
I use PicMonkey to make images for my blog, included headers and Pinterest images.
For my emails, I use Madmimi. It’s easy, affordable and their customer service is THE best.
I use Gleam and King Sumo for my contests. I purchased King Sumo for the viral sharing capabilities, but honestly, I think I am liking Gleam more.
Sponsored posts
IZEA – this is my go-to for sponsored tweets. Most are about $5 but they can add up.
Clever – this is my newest favorite. Lots of opps and not many hoops to jump through.
Affiliate partners
ShareASale – most affiliate partner websites are very confusing and hard to manage. ShareASale isn’t perfect, but it is the easiest I have seen.
Comission Junction – aka CJ. They have a “content certified” network which helps get you approved for many programs. To get added, they like to see over 10k pageviews per month and consistent, high quality content. Sign up here and use 4679594 as your referral code .
Ebooks I recommend
Blog Traffic E-book: 17 Strategies I Used to Go From 17K to 350K+ Page Views in 9 Months – the title says it all.
Courses I recommend
Start a Blog ecourse – my newest blogging ecourse, this is how to Start a Blog from day one. I explain what a blog is, what the different platforms are, how to purchase domain and hosting and how to find and set up your theme. It’s just the basics!
Build an Engaged Facebook Page from Scratch – this is the free ecourse I created teaching you how to start a Facebook page from day one. Take this course now and then dive into the Moolah course below on January 1st.
Moolah: Strategic Facebook Growth (Advanced FB) – this course launches January 1st, but you can join the waitlist here or join the advance Facebook group here. You can also go through a sample lesson here. This is seriously good stuff people! I have been in the group for a while and I CANNOT wait to join the full course on Jan 1!
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course – the one-stop course of everything you need to know to make money from your blog through affiliate marketing. I loved this course and highly recommend it.
Pinning Perfect – this is the course that taught me everything I needed to know about Pinterest for blogging. As a blogger, you NEED to learn how to leverage Pinterest in order to grow your pageviews. This course will show you how.
That’s the top stuff I use on an almost daily basis. I really hope this helps you find some great tools to help you automate your blog life.
Remember to let me know if you have questions about any of these tools or anything I haven’t mentioned. I love giving free advice 🙂
You might also like:
The Ultimate Blogging Cheat Sheet – Over 90 Blogging Terms and Tools Defined