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 17 years of keeping track.
These are not random. I have personally paid for (unless free or noted) and use (now or when it applied) 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
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