Learn the top 10 resources I’ve used to grow my blog to attract a large audience and earn income.
Are you a blogger who is ready to take your blog to the next level? Are you considering starting a blog, but you aren’t sure where to begin?
Listed below are resources that have helped me grow my blog relatively quickly. Developing a website and blog is a lot of tough work! But, it’s also been great fun, and I’ve loved it.
Top 10 Resources to Grow a Blog.
Here are the top 10 resources I recommend to grow your blog.
This 12-week online class was one of the biggest investments I’ve made in my blog and also one of the best. I’ll be honest that I was really nervous about spending the money ($350 at the time I took it), but it’s been totally worth it. Traffic to my blog has at least tripled if not more. The whole concept is how to make a profit from your blog without selling your soul, and Ruth (of livingwellspendingless.com) takes you through the process every step of the way. While it’s a week-by-week process, you can go at your own pace and have access to the materials forever. I will say you need to be ready to WORK because it’s a lot of work and only for those who are ready to take their blog to the next level.
UPDATE! UPDATE!
Ruth has a new e-book, “7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blogging Income Overnight” that you can get for free just for signing up for her waiting list, AND a 3 part video series, “Blogging Made Simple: Turning Your Passion Into Profits”. Even if you aren’t sure if you would sign up for EBA, sign up just for the fantastic information in these two resources! Click here to sign up for these blogger resources.
One of my favorite parts of the Elite Blog Academy Class is Ruth’s in-depth teaching on how to use Pinterest! If you are wondering how to use Pinterest for bloggers, she takes you step-by-step through it, and I want to share that you do NOT have to be food or craft blogger to make it work for you. This is my Pinterest page. (I would appreciate your follow.) Pinterest is a great way to grow your email list as well. I use and love Convertkit! Here are a couple of my most popular pins that are not about food or crafts, just to give you a quick idea: To My Daughter on Her 18th Birthday, Dear Self, Dealing with Sadness, Pain, & Grief
Pinterest now far surpasses my blog traffic source above Facebook.
3. Pinterest Pinning Programs.
At first I didn’t “get” how to use Pinterest as a blogger. I pinned to my own boards, but what else is there? There are group boards! Group boards have that little group logo in the top right corner. Some of these boards are HUGE and as such can be pinned to over and over (depending on size, once or up to 3x per day). You can do this yourself (called hand-pinning) or as your blog gets bigger, you can use a program to do this for you. There are several options. Ahalogy is a free option, but there is a waiting list to join, and a limit to how many pins you can do per day. I do use it, though!
The other program I use is Tailwind. I LOVE Tailwind. Tailwind takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have it set up, it pins to Pinterest for you, making it easy and automated so you don’t spend your whole day on your phone pinning stuff. WORTH IT!
4. Blue Host
I highly recommend Blue Host for getting started with a website and blog. My website is hosted through Blue Host and it’s what I’ve used for hosting since the beginning. For just a few dollars you can get started with a blog quickly and easily. I got set up fast, accessed the features I needed as my website has grown, and customer service is always available.
Click on the link below for more details. Blue Host will walk you through the process step by step:
5. Programs for Ads
If you’ve not added any ads to your website, a couple of easy places to start are shareasale.com and Skimlinks. Both are very easy to use and offer plenty of options without being overwhelming.
6. Real Life Stuff
We can’t forget the real life stuff that helps make it all happen online. My Timbuk2 messenger bag that my husband bought for me when I first started my business is one of my very favorite business items. These bags are pricey but sooo amazing. My favorite feature is that you can take a laptop through airport security without taking it out of the bag. (Their website has a video of this.) Plus the fact that these bags are waterproof, have all the right pockets and are just generally amazing. My husband, daughter and I all have one. My husband has had his for several years and it barely shows any wear.
Mike and the kids gave me this bag with my logo on it. I love it so much!
The other thing I use constantly is my Erin Condren Calendar, for planning out my blog posts.
Do you have a digital product to sell? I use a company called Send Owl to sell My Hope Toolbox and I LOVE it. I spent about 6 months looking at a variety of programs to host an online product before I chose Send Owl. This is one of the most simple programs to use, both for me and for the purchaser. It took me about an hour to set up. I simply downloaded the PDF and it’s ready to go. Send Owl has an included affiliate program that is very easy to use. One feature I also like is that if I upgrade my product, they give me the option to send it to anyone who has purchased the product in the past free of charge. The program has a monthly fee, not a commission.
Here is the link to My Hope Toolbox to see how Send Owl works.
8. Blog Planner A paper blog planner can be just what you need to stay organized with your blog posts and be sure each post has all the necessary features.
9. Write 31 Days has been one of my favorite blogging challenges. The goal is to write something every single day for the month of October. Hundreds of bloggers participate. Check out many of the previous years’ blogs on the Write 31 days website here. This challenge is free, the friendship with other bloggers is great, and I’ve grown and stretched myself as a writer and website developer.
10. Read other blogs about blogging. You can spend forever and a day reading about how to develop a great blog. If you are a geek like me, you might do just that. Here are my favorites:
Michael Hyatt: Intentional Leadership
There you go! These are 10 tools that have helped me grow my blog successfully. If you start a blog or grow your blog, I would love to hear about it. What tools help you blog successfully?
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I’ve taken two classes offered on Blog Clarity (Pinning Perfect and Media Kit Smash).
Both were worth the time and investment. I’ve found Melissa’s tips to be super helpful too. Here’s the link: http://shop.blogclarity.com/
Thanks for the links! I’m hoping to start a blog in February and I’m learning everything that I can about blogging. It’s helpful to read what others find helpful.
Good for you for starting a blog soon, Sarah! Have fun with it.
Susan and stuckinindiana, I know it’s hard to decide how to balance our time. There is sooo much to possibly spend our time on as bloggers/website developers, writers, etc.! It’s a constant decision making process and I’m still learning too. Please feel free to write to me any time if I can help. 🙂 Ultimately the MOST important thing is to write on our blogs! That will never change. If the content is really good, people will share it.
Great info. THANK YOU. Still groping through Pinterest!!!
Thanks for these resources Sara. I must admit… I’m overwhelmed with all of this. But, I am bookmarking it to refer to again & again. I am a small, non-professional blogger… Facebooker… Twitterer… Instagramer… and NOW Pinterester 🙂 I’m trying to balance being a mom, wife and DeeDee (that’s what our daughter’s 3y/o calls me). So, I hope I can get all these plates spinning while keeping the really important ones on top!!