Updated August 30, 2021
We are regularly asked for recommendations on different tools, training, resources, and services available to blogging. People usually want to know what tools we use to run our money-making blog.
As a result, we have put together a list of recommended blogging resources that we have either personally used (in most cases) or which have come highly recommended to us by people we trust.
We will add to this list as we come across new blogging resources that we recommend.
Blog Platforms
WordPress
Our recommendation for blogging platforms is pretty clear – WordPress.org. For the last 3 years, we have not built a blog on any other platform and it is also the blogging platform of choice of most other bloggers today.
A couple of other platforms exist of course including:
- WordPress.com– a free hosted blogging platform
- Blogger– another free hosted option – owned by Google
Hosting
There are many hosting services available for bloggers.
If you’re just starting out or have a smaller blog we highly recommend you check out Bluehost who has put together a special discount offer for our readers.
Bluehost– WordPress has been recommending Bluehost for web hosting since 2016. With 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7 support, and a super affordable rate, Bluehost is a great option for building your first website or blog.
We have been able to get you amazing deals for other web hosting sites as well. Check out these great hosts if Bluehost is not for you. You can also check our top 7 WordPress hosts.
Blog Design/Themes
There are tens of thousands of blog themes available for WordPress blogs. My only word of advice is to choose one that is updated regularly for holes in security as you do not want to get your blog hacked with a poorly designed template.
The premium theme supplier that I have used over the years and highly recommend is StudioPress. I’ve used their themes in the early days of numerous blogs and love their design but also support.
Tools for Graphic Design
- Canva– an online graphic design tool that even someone like I can create decent visuals for my blog with! Great for creating graphics for social media.
- PicMonkey– another useful tool for creating visual content for your blog
- 99designs– need some graphics, a logo, or some other design element created by a pro? Check out the services offered by the thousands of designers at 99designs.
- fivver– are a team of professional presentation designers who specialize in building awesome PowerPoints, Keynotes, and more. An efficient service to make you look good.
Tools and Services for Email Marketing
- Drip– the email service provider that we highly recommend for advanced bloggers who are monetizing their blogs and want to supercharge their email marketing
- ConvertKit– built for bloggers, we recommend this email service for beginner to intermediate bloggers
- Feedblitz– a great tool for managing your RSS feeds and email
- SumoMe– a tool to help you collect email addresses through a variety of popups, hello bars, welcome mats, and other innovative tools.
- OptinMonster– a similar tool to SumoMe
- LeadPages– a powerful tool to create landing pages for your blog.
Tools for Social Media Management
- CoSchedule– an essential blogging tool that can manage your social media messaging, blog post-publication, and an editorial calendar – all from within WordPress. We love using CoSchedule for Amela Mujic.
- Edgar– a social media tool that has revolutionized the way that I approach my social media strategy. It’s very powerful and allows you to make the work you put into creating your tweets and social updates to keep working for you indefinitely.
- Sprout Social– a tool that manages most of my day to day social media interactions on Twitter and Facebook.
Tools for Productivity and Team Management
- Evernote– where I manage a lot of my brainstorming, note-taking, capturing of ideas, writing of blog posts, and much much more!
- Slack– the tool we use for our team’s internal communications.
- Trello– another tool that we use internally for communications and project management
- Fantastical– a great calendar app for Macs and iOS.
- Wunderlist– my todo list application
Other Blogging Resources and Tools
- Ecamm Live– an amazing tool for Mac users to create Facebook LIVE videos
- BuzzSumo– a fantastic tool for analyzing how well content is being shared on your site (or anyone else’s)
- MarsEdit– a little Mac blog editor that allows me to write content and upload it to my blog without actually logging into WordPress
- Easy Digital Downloads– a fantastic solution for you to use from within WordPress if you’re selling products from your blog. It’s what we use to sell our eBooks here on Amela Mujic.
- E-Junkie– another solution for a shopping cart if you’re selling products from your blog. It’s not as powerful as Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) but is very simple to set up and use. We have used it on my blog over the years but are now shifting to EDD.
- Auphonic– a great little online tool that we use in our production of podcasts to level out different tracks and levels.
- Zoom– a tool that we use for webinars but also to broadcast to Facebook Live video that allows bringing on guests and screen sharing.
- ScreenFlow– a tool for recording Screencasting
- Grammarly– a very cool Chrome extension that checks your spelling and grammar for you!
- Google Analytics– a great free metrics/statistics program. It’s an industry standard, you need to have it installed!
Blog Monetization
There are many ways to make money blogging– many more than I can cover in great detail on our resources page. But a few networks and services that might be a good starting point include:
- AdSense– Googles Ad network – one of the most used monetization strategies for bloggers.
- Amazon Associates– make money recommending products from the biggest online store.
- Genius Links– a great tool/resource for managing your affiliate links – particularly useful if you have a global audience and monetize with Amazon’s affiliate program.
Tools for Online Store
Shopify– If you are interested in starting an online store then you have to check out Shopify. They have amazing deals as well as an easy setup process. Get started with them today and you can have a store up and running in minutes.
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