I used to have a blog on this site with tips, tools and tutorials about blogging. Now I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you my top picks after more than a decade of keeping track.
These are not random. I have personally paid for (unless free or noted) and use/have used everything. Many of the links are my affiliate links through which I’m compensated. Disclaimer.
Starting a blog or website
Courses, memberships & learning
- Make money blogging – Project 24
- Get traffic & followers – Grow Your Audience
- Make a living writing – Self Publishing 101
- Pinterest – Simple Pin Collective
- Favorite business books – My list
WordPress
- Hosting (what I use, kinda techie) – Cloudways / Digital Ocean
- Hosting (for newbies) – Bluehost. Want step-by-step help? My tutorial.
- Hosting (when you outgrow Bluehost and aren’t techie) – Kinsta. A close second is WP Engine which comes with Genesis themes.
- Themes – GeneratePress, Kadence or Astra
- Site speed – WP Rocket plugin
- Spam blocker – Antispam Bee plugin
Where I get…
- Email service – Mad Mimi (I’m grandfathered in at an unbeatable price) but if I was starting today, I’d use ConvertKit (I’ve used the free trial only).
- Images – Depositphotos
- Fonts – DesignCuts
- Mockups – PlaceIt (ex. my book page). (I’ve only used the free templates.)
- Other design elements – CreativeMarket (ex. Canva templates, icons and slides)
- Domains – Namecheap
- Privacy / Disclaimer / Terms templates – Plug and Law’s Legal Bundle
- Hosting for my one-page website – Carrd
- Healthcare – CHM
- LLC filing – Nolo
- Cell phone service – Mint Mobile
Productivity & workflow
- Organizing content & affiliate links – Airtable
- Editing video & recording screencasts – ScreenFlow (Mac only)
- Create graphics – Canva
- Following blogs, podcasts & YouTube channels – Feedly
- Saving notes and snippets – Evernote
- Writing outlines or lists – WorkFlowy
- Writing long form – Ulysses (Mac only)
- Text expander – TypeIt4Me
- Tech gear – My list
Making money
- Digital products (one-page, skip the funnels!) – SamCart
- Digital products (if you have multiple) – Podia (I’ve only used the free trial)
- Digital products from own site (cheap & very basic) – SendOwl
- Physical products – Shopify
Finances
- Personal finance / budget tracking – YNAB
- Business bookkeeping – Wave Accounting
- Payroll service (needed because I’m an S Corp) – Wave Payroll
- Creating & sending invoices – PayPal
- Business banking – Spark
- Retirement accounts & investing – Vanguard, Betterment & Robinhood
Social Media
- To keep up on all things social media – Geekout newsletter
- To keep up on a curated list of social media news – Digital Coffee