Blogging and Business Resources

Starting a blog and a business can be overwhelming. There is so much to learn, which is fun and sometimes frustrating at the same time. I am a researcher at heart, so when starting my business and this blog I, of course, became obsessed with researching everything to do with business and blogging.

So, I want to share this information to provide a resource to other bloggers to help others find great resources and save time doing so. Community and helping each other out is SO important for any group who is determined to grow and be successful. I will continue to add to this list as I learn and grow.

Favorite Books

How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup

Pinterest Resources

Tasty Pins – This is a must-have plugin and I wish I had known about it from day 1! Tasty Pins allows you to create your Pinterest descriptions right in your WordPress media library— that way, when you or your readers pin from your site the optimized description is shared automatically.
Tasty Pins has some other really cool features: Tasty Pins allows you to hide Pinterest-specific images on your page; you can use Tasty Pins to disable pinning on specific images; using Tasty Pins can help you improve your SEO.

WordPress Resources

wpbeginner – Everything you need to know about wordpress from starting a blog to building an online store.

Keyword Search and SEO

Ubersuggest – Ubersuggest is a FREE tool for finding the best keywords and keyword phrases. In addition, with the top SEO pages report, you can discover which of your competitor’s pages are ranking for popular organic keyword phrases and which ones are ranked highly on Facebook, Pinterest, et.. It’s also great for finding more keyword ideas. You’ll also see volume, the competition, and even seasonal trends for each keyword.

Print and Digital Tools

Printful.com – I’ve been using Printful to create and sell my own custom design products. It’s great because they print on demand and they ship the products for you (meaning that you don’t have to have a stock of t-shirts in your house and a shipping center). They have options for clothing, accessories, and home products.
Creative Market – Creative market is an online shop for thousands of digital products that can be used for your blog and business. They have photos, graphics, templates, themes, fonts, etc. I love that it is a platform for handcrafted, unique design content from independent creatives around the world. After signing up you will have access to six free resources every week.

Canva.com – I think I use this just about every day to easily create beautiful designs and documents. It is super easy to use and there are thousands of templates to choose from for social media, blog posts, pinterest, etc. It is free to use, but I have upgraded to the business version so that I can quickly resize my projects and save more of my brands color codes.
SmallPDF – Easy to use tool to reduce the size of your PDF online. I use this before uploading freebies and eBooks to my site.

Organization

Trello.com – Trello is a tool that you can use to organize your projects into boards. In one glance, you can see what you’re working on and keep track of blog posts, affliates, etc. It’s meant for use as a group (there are helpful features like seeing who’s working on what). I have the app installed on my phone as well so that when I come up with an idea or something that I need to do I can quickly note it in the app.

Photos and Tools

Table Top Photography Studio – If you take your own photos for your blog, then you should really get a table top photography studio. I used to have to wait for the right natural lighting or set up complicated lighting that would never come out the way I wanted it too. Now, I just have this set up on my work table and can quickly take photos with great lighting.
Unsplash.com – This site has an amazing collection of photos and it’s FREE. After signing up you can save your favorite photos to collections. There is a great variety and they are of great quality. Just make sure to credit the photographer in your post.
PicResize – Easily crop, resize, and edit your images online for FREE at PicResize.

Blogging Websites + Podcasts

Sweetandsimplelife.com – I love this site by Cate. Her content is based on working from home, building a money-making blog, and enjoying the sweet side of life. She shares guidance and strategies for monetizing your blog, growing your social media, and balancing your biz with family life! She also has a great facebook group that is SO supportive and is a great resource: blogging community here.
Bloggingyourpassion.com – I’ve been listening to this podcast daily for great tips about blogging and motivation. Their goal is to help 1,000 bloggers go full-time in the next five years. My goal is to be one of those 1,000? ?‍♀️
Chica Confident – Morgan provides great resources and services for enhancing your blog and overall brand into a purposeful & profitable business. She can provide you with useful tips on how to guest blog, build and engage with your audience, stay inspired, time-management, and more.
Do It Scared Podcast – Do It Scared® with Ruth Soukup is the podcast created to help you face your fears, overcome adversity, and create a life you LOVE. Each week you’ll discover actionable strategies for greater productivity, motivation, entrepreneurship, creativity, fulfillment, success, and happiness, along with the motivation and encouragement to actually start making real changes that lead to big results.

Affiliate Programs & Sponsored Posts

Intellifluence – Join and create your profile so brands can find you based on your experience and interests. Brands can find you and send offers (pitches) that may include free products, services or cash in exchange for your review or promotion on your social media account(s). If you like the pitch, accept it to begin a transaction!

I just got paid to review a product! Join me @intellifluence and you can too!

ShareASale – ShareASale has been in business for 20 years, exclusively as an Affiliate Marketing Network. Their reputation as a fair and honest business is well known within the industry.

Blog Submission Sites

Blogs Collection is a huge blog directory which collects all major blogs news articles from all over the globe and it is another oldest blog submission site which was started over 9 years ago. Click the link below and select their “Partner and Regular” listing option to submit your blog for free:

Blogs Directory

Time Management & Productivity

Pomodoro Technique PDF – This is the technique and tracker that I use to get more done in less time. It helps to me stay focused and motivated while creating blog posts. It’s a game-changer!

I will keep updating this with great resources for you, so check back soon. If you have favorites that I should add to this list let me know and I will research them. Thank you!