9 Awesome Blogging Tools and Services I Pay For
One of the great things about blogging is that it can be a completely free activity. It is possible to have a free website where you have the freedom to express yourself, you can find fans and followers through social media, and to some extent, you can even make money blogging, all without spending a dime.
There will probably come a time, though, especially if you choose to make money blogging, that you will need to spend a little money on your blog.
That being said, you really don’t have to spend a lot of money on your blog, especially at first. As your readership grows, you may need to invest more, but don’t worry if you choose to start small. It will still have a positive impact on your blog. Here are 9 awesome blogging tools and services that I pay for. (Some of these are affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through my links, I will earn a few dollars. However, all of the listed tools and services are those that I use and pay for myself.)
What #blogging tools are worth paying for? Here are Coach Debbie’s choices.
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Domain name
The first investment I made in Coach Debbie Runs (formerly Live from La Quinta) was to purchase my own domain name. It costs about $10 a year, but it is priceless in terms of branding your website. I originally purchased mine through Blogger, which was actually through Go Daddy, but in the course of creating my blog URL collection (yes, I have one) I have also purchased from Domain.com and through my blog host.
Hosting
When the time came to go self-hosted I chose Hostgator and I’ve been very happy. I started with the Hatchling, their basic plan, but I recently upgraded so that I could host multiple websites. It has been a virtually worry-free experience, downtime is extremely rare, so I am always happy to recommend Hostgator. Price range: $3.95 per month and up
Theme
Yes, there are free themes on both Blogger and WordPress, but I decided when my blog became a business it was time to look more businesslike. After talking to other bloggers, and doing some other research, I decided to go with Studiopress Genesis Framework, and for my child theme, I chose Beautiful Pro theme. Before I made the change, I used to switch up themes every six months or so. I love my theme so much now that I haven’t changed it (except a few tweaks) for over two years. With no plans to do so. Price range: Genesis Framework: $59.95. Beautiful Pro theme: $99.95.
Design Palette Pro
You know those tweaks I mentioned? They are made so much easier with Genesis Design Palette Pro. It is perfect for blogging do-it-yourselfers like me (and probably for blog designers too!). It allows me to make changes in fonts, colors, modify my header or footer, navigation, sidebars, or content area without knowing how to write a single line of code! It’s one of my 13 Essential WordPress Plugins! Price range: $49 to $199 per year.
Help
I may be a do-it-yourselfer, but I do know when I’m in over my head. When I first installed the Genesis framework, Rita from Blog Genie did the work. And again, when I rebranded and changed my domain name, I called upon Rita to make sure that I didn’t lose everything.
If you’d rather use a designer, Rita is a great choice, as is Lindsey and the crew at Pretty Darn Cute Design. While they specialize in feminine blog design, they can create the site you want to your specifications. Some of what PDCD has to offer: 20+ WordPress Video Tutorials with purchase of any theme, WooCommerce Ready, Header Uploader (Retina Ready & Responsive!), Completely Mobile Ready Design, Multiple Page Layouts and much more! Price range: varies
Blog School
One of the best investments I made in my blog was Blog School. I was a participant in Rita’s inaugural class several years ago and I learned so much. It covered many topics from getting started, to design, social media, making money and so much more.
Security
Several years ago, shortly after I went self-hosted, my site got hacked. All of a sudden weird things were happening and when people came to my site, Google warned them away, saying that it was dangerous. Not a good thing when you’re trying to bring more people to your blog.
Through a Facebook group I was in, I was referred to Ryan Sullivan and WP Site Care. Within an hour, Ryan had fixed my problem, cleaned my files and got me up and running again. He didn’t charge me for any of this, but I decided right then and there that I needed someone to protect my website. There are several different packages, but all include for 24/7 security monitoring, daily cloud backups, WordPress, theme, and plugin updates, access to WordPress tutorial videos, and real-time activity tracking. Best of all, if I’m concerned about anything that’s going on, I can send an email, and get a quick response, telling me either not to worry, or that they already fixed the problem.
That is peace of mind and totally worth the price to me. Price range: $79 per month and up.
Picmonkey
I love PicMonkey because it is easy to use and very versatile. There is a free version, but I found that the extra fonts, frames and other goodies were worth the upgrade. Price: $33 per year.
CoSchedule
I am a recent convert to CoSchedule and so far I’m loving it. It makes planning and scheduling blog post easy, plus you can set up your social media schedule from within the calendar. I resisted for a while because I had a hard time using an editorial calendar consistently. I started by using the free WordPress version, then when I felt I had committed, I took the leap. I made a few changes with some of my other paid social media tools so that I wasn’t putting out a lot of extra money a month, but CoSchedule picks up the slack. Price range: $15-$79 per month.
Board Booster
When I made changes to afford CoSchedule, I made the decision to keep Board Booster, which I use to schedule pins to Pinterest. It is just so easy to use, customizable, and has great reports, so for the few extra dollars a month I pay, I decided it was worth it. You get your first 100 or so free to try it out (I actually had about 300+ pins before they asked for any money), then there are plans starting at $5 a month.
So there you have it, the nine tools and services that I feel are worth my precious money. I estimate I pay around $75 a month for these services (not counting themes and services I paid for previously). Considering these tools have helped me grow my blog and actually earn more, I consider it money well spent.
What blogging tools and services have you found are worth the money?
And now it’s time for the Blogger’s Pit Stop!
Friday, 8th April 2016
Blogger’s Pit Stop #18 – Welcome
Blogger’s Pit Stop is open from 9 pm ET(US Thur) 11 am(AUS Friday) and Closes 3 am Monday ET(US) 5 pm(AUS)
Gordon B. Hinckley
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Congratulations to the Bloggers who have learned the value of engagement.
Our challenge: To learn engagement by visiting and encouraging other bloggers.
The click rate challenge started at around half (1/2) a click per post, it went up to 1.5 clicks per post. It came back to 1.3 clicks per post.
This week’s challenge: is to increase this from the average of 1.3, to two (2) clicks per post.
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The Pit Stop Crew are bloggers who collectively have significant blogging experience. We don’t know it all! We are willing to step out and try new things, to think outside the box. If something does not work we move on to more innovative solutions. All the way we are learning and going forward. Each week you will find constructive posts that relate to Blogging. We hope you will glean information to assist you to re-charge your blogging battery, or to fill up with motivation fuel, help to change a tire, find a higher gear, or reset your GPS.
Bring your posts, they can be on any subject that is family friendly –
Affiliate links within content posts are OK. (Exceptions: No direct sales or shops.) Giveaways must have a content post.
Dear bloggers, you are the reason we are here, and we are super excited to open up to you the benefits of joining the Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Meet Our Pit Stop Crew
Kathleen from Lifestyle Building Blocks: She finds it both humbling and satisfying to write posts and to have bloggers express their appreciation for the help and guidance gleaned from her insight. Kathleen loves the blogger’s lifestyle, thinking outside the box and to keep learning. She is presently studying Professional Editing and Proofreading.
Kathleen/Blog / Facebook /Google+ / Twitter /Pinterest / StumbleUpon /
Janice from Mostly Blogging: Janice loves writing, and meeting people from all over the globe who are like-minded and supportive. The thrill and validation she gets when bloggers tell of how she has helped them with their blogging is unparalleled. Her posts are thorough and beneficial to her many readers who are building their own blogs.
Janice/Blog / Facebook / Google+ /Twitter /Pinterest / StumbleUpon / Instagram /
Debbie from Coach Debbie Runs: Debbie has spent many years blogging, designing, and building social media accounts. With all that valuable experience she felt that she wanted to share her love of blogging as well as her knowledge. Her site offers easy to follow tips and advice to build your own blog and become successful as a blogger.
Debbie / Blog / Facebook / Google+ /Twitter /Pinterest / StumbleUpon /
Julie is the wife of Pauli and the mom of two beautiful children. As a family, they have worked hard for the lifestyle that they now enjoy. They have a successful online business, they are entrepreneurs who teach, train, coach and are mentors of their strategies to make more money more easily. Julie has two blogs, one for online coaching and one for their Niche Travel Hub.
Julie/ Blog1 / Blog2 / Facebook / Google + / Twitter / Pinterest / Stumble Upon / Youtube / Linkedin / Instagram /
Blogger’s Pit Stop uses Inlinkz to make your experience smoother and quicker.
You won’t need a lot of rules, we do have some suggestions for you –
First time here, it will help you to read the Welcome post in the Linky, which explains the Blogger’s Pitt Stop rationale.
2. Visit some other bloggers, you may want to comment and then leave from another page.
3. Take advantage to follow/like the Pit Stop Crew, they will follow you back. Now when you visit other bloggers why not follow/like them too, if after a week they have not followed back, go and unfollow/unlike them. Take every opportunity to grow.
Join the Blogger’s Pit Stop. Stop by, share your posts, find new blogs to read! #linkup
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Put our beautiful banner on your site. If you have been FEATURED take the awesome Featured one too.
Click on the Banner to get your code:-
Welcome to The Blogger’s Pit Stop #18
Let’s practice engagement
Check the Resources
Blogging – Personal Finances – General Health Topics
Make use of these resources at any time 24/7
Could we please have a drum roll to reveal the FEATURES from last week
Grab your awesome FEATURED banner
The Pit Stop Crew chose these FEATURE posts
Fitness an active approach for managing menopause presented by Sue
Freedom Feature: Chelsea Gray presented by Rebecca
Cell Phones by Lisa
These FEATURES were the most clicked last week
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You can join the Blogger’s Pit Stop (Add a Post to the Linky and put our banner on your site) take every advantage to grow from the helps, motivation and the tune up we are working to deliver. By joining the Blogger’s Pit Stop, you signify permission to share your posts and images here and on social media. If you entered an email address into the Linky you indicate permission to send you an email reminder when our next rally is LIVE.
time to show us what you have got –
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We are excited that you joined the Blogger’s Pit Stop #18
Join us on Friday 15th April. 2016 to see what we have for you.
Enjoy Pinterest? Go to The Pinterest Game
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Sunday Blog Hop with Jenn
Meatless Monday with Sarah and Deborah
Meatless Monday with Annmarie
Inspire Me Monday with Janice
Anything Goes with Marilyn
Bonnie, the Pin Junkie
Tip Tuesday with Debbie in Shape
Wild Workout Wednesday with Annmarie, Michelle, Sarah, and Angelena Marie
Wednesday Wisdom with Nanna’s Wisdom
The Running Coaches’ Corner with Rachel, Suz, Lora Marie, and Me!
The Blogger’s Pit Stop with Kathleen
Let’s Get Real with Karen.
Friday Fitness with Jill
Fitness Friday with Miranda
Coach Debbie Runs - Healthy Living. Fueled by Plants.