When starting a new blog there are countless resources that can help you get started on the right foot and succeed! Not a week goes by when I’m not asked about my favorite resources and tools. Here are some of my favorite links that I hope will help you find your way, or at least inspire you! Every single one of these products and services are ones I have personal experience with – either using them directly within my business or when working with clients – and love.
Just a quick FYI – some of the links are affiliate links. That means if you decide to purchase a product or service by going through that link, a wee bit of money will make it into my bank account so I can pay for ’em student loans or hit up Starbucks (just keeping it real) but the price you pay will not be affected in any way. It’s a win-win for every one.
Hosting
- Siteground: I highly recommend going with Siteground if you’re just starting out. They are offer shared hosting at incredible prices – their packages start at $3.95/month! My clients love Siteground and they have top-notch support team.
- Flywheel: This is a dedicated WordPress hosting company, meaning they only host WordPress sites and their servers are therefore optimized specifically for WordPress.They are offer fabulous service, amazing security, great customer support, and free migrations if you’re moving from another host! They are who I personally use to host this site and I absolutely love them.
- WPEngine: This is also a dedicated WordPress hosting company, similar to Flywheel. They offer great customer support and free migrations.
- GoDaddy: This is another great option if you’re just starting your blog. I’ve had a few clients host with them and overall the experience has been great.
Domain Names
Both options below are great and I honestly don’t have a preference on one over the other. I have domain names registered with both and each time it’s come down to who it’s having a sale that day.
WordPress Themes
- Genesis: I only recommend Genesis themes for bloggers and all of my custom blog designs + themes are built on the Genesis Framework. Think of WordPress as the engine, Genesis as the framework, and the child theme as the paint job (and sparkly flames on the side)! Read this post to find out why the Genesis Framework is perfect for bloggers!
- Freeborboleta Themes (Genesis Child Themes)
- Restored 316 (Genesis Child Themes)
- Pretty Darn Cute Designs (Genesis Child Themes)
- Shay Bocks (Genesis Child Themes)
- Coded Creative (Genesis Child Themes)
Social Media
- Tailwind: Tailwind is the absolute best Pinterest scheduling tool. Since I started using them my page views have grown every month and my following on Pinterest has been growing by the hundreds each and every week.
- CoSchedule: One part editorial calendar, one part social media scheduler, CoSchedule is an incredible tool that will help you get organized + increase your pageviews all in one fell swoop. Learn more about how CoSchedule works by reading this post!
Email Marketing
- Mailchimp: A great beginner newsletter service, Mailchimp can get you started with your newsletter in no time. Free for up to 2000 subscribers and drag-and-drop newsletter design make them a go-to for bloggers just getting started. Mailchimp does offer automation but you must upgrade to their $10/month plan.
- ConvertKit: All the bells and whistles you could ever possible want and need and more! ConvertKit provides all you could possible need to make the most out of your email list – automations, landing pages, content upgrades, and more – however, it comes at a price.
- MailerLite: I think of MailerLite as the unknown child between Mailchimp and ConvertKit. You get the same ease of use as with Mailchimp, with a drag-and-drop newsletter designer, and it’s free up to 1000 subscribers and it comes with automation and landing pages in their free plan.
- Easy Content Upgrades: This plugin has truly been the answer to all my prayers. I wanted to implement content upgrades on my blog in order to grow my email list quickly and efficiently. Easy Content Upgrades allows me to do just that for a fraction of the cost associated with LeadPages. I cannot recommend this plugin enough!
Monetization
- Shareasale: If you’re looking to get started on affiliate marketing, shareasale.com is THE place to get started. There are thousands of companies on this platform, offering their affiliate programs. This makes it easy to join them and keep track of all of them.
- Thinkific: Thinking of creating your own course? Thinkific is, in my opinion, the best platform to do so! That’s where I host my own Pinterest course and love them.
Need a blog planner? Check out my Level Up! Blog Planner.
It has 25+ pages to help you plan everything related to your blog!
Graphics, Fonts, Stock Photos
Creative Market
Shay Cochrane’s StockShop
Learning
Creative Live: Creative Live has quickly become one of my go-tos for furthering my knowledge to run a better business. I’ve taken classes on everything from selling wholesale to photography to email marketing. You can catch the classes for free when they stream live or buy unlimited, watch-when-you-can access. Their prices are super affordable too – I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $90 for a class and the value is worth x5.
Treehouse: If you want to learn Web Design, Coding & Much More, Treehouse is the place to go. They offer a 7-day free trial where you can access their entire course library. Click on this link, you can get 50% off from your first month!