Welcome back to the next and last part of the blogging series. I am sure you have gotten the hang of starting a blog by now. If you haven’t read the previous parts here and here.
Blogging is a lot of work! A. LOT! If I had known I would have to be a creative director, accountant, photographer, editor, writer, recipe generator, developer and taster and marketer, I would have probably never started the blog in the first place! That said, blogging is beyond fantastic. If you are doing it for the right reasons. I cannot recall the many times I have had pinch-me moments!
To culminate this blogging series, I am sharing with you the essential tools that have helped me ease the mammoth of a job that blogging is. My hope is that these will help ease your work as well so that you can create time for what matters most.
WordPress and I have come a long way. It is hands down the best blogging platform I have used. If I ever decide to change, I will clearly have a hard time because I have gotten too comfortable. Did you know that WP lets you create a custom email for your website? How cool is that?! WordPress has a ton of templates that you can use to design your blog and many more features.
Good ole Google. Who can live without it. Google actually has an array of tools. For example, once you have an email, you can create a YouTube account, have your own storage drive and photo storage, draft documents and do so much more.
Mailchimp lets you create newsletters every time with easy to use tools and already made templates. There are so many helpful features with guided tours on how each feature works. In March I started sending out monthly newsletters and I am overwhelmed by your amazing responses. If you are thinking of starting newsletter, Mailchimp is a tool to consider.
I cannot stress enough how PickMonkey and Befunky are great photo editors. And they are free. There are a ton of editing features that are free and if you want to get even more features, you can upgrade. If photo editing is not your strong point, I recommend, especially for a cohesive Instagram feed, A Color Story. ACS has pre-made actions that you can just add to your photos to make them great.
Canva is bae. Yes. At one point that was my password. That is how essential Canva is for me. Do you want to design ebooks, posters, info-graphics, ads, social media campaigns, etc. Canva is your go to site and its free. It has a ton of features that with the right knowledge can change you graphic design game for the better!
You know how frustrating it is to keep changing the links on your Instagram profile because you only have one slot for placing a link? Ever since I discovered Linktree (from another blogger), I don’t have to worry about changing the link anymore. Link tree lets you add the the important links you want to a single link which you can then put on your Instagram profile. Awesome right?
If you are serious about your food blogging journey and want to invest in it, Food Blogger Pro is the school for you. Not only do you learn the basics of food blogging but you also how to improve your photography and how to make it a full fledged business.
Gett is a great site for storing files (photos, PDFs, Word.dox, etc) that you intend to share with your readers. It will let you know how many people have downloaded your work and they can leave comments thanking you for sharing.
Slacksocial is a very helpful tool that lets you schedule your social media posts. As much as we need to be connected to each other in social media all the time, it sometimes isn’t good for our creativity. If you like taking a break off social media once in a while without being any less consistent, Slacksocial is for you.
Pixieset is a neat site that lets you create your portfolio and you can upgrade your account so that you can have access to cool features like a custom domain and logo. I recently just fixed my portfolio which you can view here and it is a great feeling knowing yo have a place you can put all your work.
Who hasn’t been on Pinterest? I have been on Pinterest for as long as I can remember. I started out with pinning endlessly crafts to try then pinning for my future home, then moved onto pinning all the glorious natural hair! And of course AKIU has a board as well. Pinterest is brim-full of inspiration from all over the world. If you haven’t joined, what are you waiting for?
In this era of the internet, constant self education is important more than ever. Education is now at the tip of our fingertips. If you would like to improve your knowledge on certain topics that will help you make more informed decisions for your career and blog, A Beautiful Mess is a great place to start. Courses like DSLR Basics and Blog Life will take your blogging to the next level. Brit + Co. also has great online courses like Photoshop for Bloggers, How To Use Photo Editing Apps Like A Pro, and How to design your own font. They also have an Instagram course called Kill it on Instagram. I also find Grammarly a great helper when it comes to editing and polishing articles because sometimes there can be those annoying hidden misspelled words.
I hope this list will help with your blogging journey. If you have any other tools that you find helpful, don’t hesitate to share.
NOTE: This post includes affiliate links. I am only sharing products and services that I believe in and know will add value to your blogging experience or business. If you decide to purchase a product or service, I may earn a commission for my recommendations. Thank you for your support!
A Kitchen In Uganda 
La La La Loved this post! Yes going to get my hands on some of these!
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Great. I hope they help you as they have me.
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