Blogging is something that I am becoming as passionate about as parenting! When I started blogging I was looking for a way to stay connected with all that is going on in early childhood as well as continue to work with parents, but from home.
If you are thinking about starting a blog, you should go for it! I have no regrets!
My life changed when I became a stay at home mom and blogging has led me to opportunities that I had no clue existed.
(This post contains affiliate links. To read our full disclosure policy click here.)
If you are a blogger or looking to start here are a few of my favorite resources:
Host Provider
Blue Host: They were one of the first companies I looked into and went with my gut! I have had EXCELLENT experience with customer service. Blue Host makes blogging affordable and possible for anyone looking to get started. If you are technologically challenged (like me) they will walk you through anything you need help with. Once you get traffic coming to your blog you want to make sure that you have a web host that can support it! Click HERE to check them out.
Best Books and Courses
Pinteresting Strategies: From 0-200k Pageviews with Manual Pinning: This was one of the first resources I bought it and it totally changed blogging for me. With her easy to follow guide I was able to up my traffic quickly and reach my audience. If you are looking for a way to figure out Pinterest while gaining traffic…this is it! I increased my views by 20,000 after implementing this strategy for a month! You will want to snag a copy of this…you can take a look at it HERE.
How to Make Money with Amazon Affiliates: If you LOVE Amazon and you LOVE blogging then it is a no brainer to combine the two and make money. This book laid out everything I needed to do in order to become a successful Amazon affiliate. I made back the cost of the book in a month…so it is totally worth it! If you are looking for a simple way to start monetizing your blog then is it. Make sure to get the Ebook+Facebook group so you can continue to learn! Click HERE to read more about it!
Traffic Transformation Guide: I have read this book not once…but twice! It is packed with awesome information on how to drive traffic to your site with less work. This guide lets you know what you need to do to get CONSISTENT traffic and to really build a following. Click HERE to grab a copy. You can also grab a FREE blog traffic bonus guide HERE.
Billionaire Blog Club: This covers everything you need to know about blogging from traffic, SEO, Pinterest to affiliate marketing. Paul Scrivens runs several successful blogs himself and has great insight on what you need to do to get your blog where you want it to be. He has a no-nonsense form of teaching and great support from him and many other bloggers is included when you sign up. Read more about it here.
Mailerlite: If you have a blog then you know how important having a good email service is. I wanted a free provider and started out with Mail Chimp. That ended up not being a good fit for me so I made the switch to Mailerlite. It is free up to 1000 subscribers and then $10 the first level of plans.
Sumo Sharing: If you want people to share your blog then you need to have an easy way for them to do that! Sumo has lots of different options and free plans included. I currently use the Sumo Sharing Bar and the image sharer to make my posts easy to share on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Stumbleupon, and everywhere else. Both of these tools are free to use when you sign up. Click HERE to make your posts easy to share!
It was easy to set up and I am able to do everything I need for my subscribers. If you are technically challenge than this is the email service for you. You can set up opt ins and send out campaigns quickly. Check them out HERE.
Deposit Photos: When starting a parenting blog I was faced with the dilemma of: should I use my own child in my photos or should I keep him out of it? Everyone has to make this decision on their own but for me it made sense to keep him out of it. I have been very happy with my decision as my site has become much more parenting focused and not just focused on my son. I was just not comfortable putting him at the center of it.
If you choose to go this route then you need stock photos. There are a few sites that you can get them for free, but it can take hours to find the right photos (trust me I know). Deposit Photos is inexpensive and has AWESOME pictures. It took the headache away from me searching various sites for perfect photos. I hop onto my account now…and can find a photo in less than 5 minutes to fit my needs. So if you are looking to simplify your blogging tasks I highly recommend checking them out HERE for yourself. There are lots of great options and plans!
Keep coming back to this resource page as I will update it as I stumble around the blogging world and find great resources!
