If blogging had existed when I was a child, I would have known what I wanted to be when I grew up. (I’m happy to have discovered it now so I have an answer to that question.)
These days, I’m a professional blogger at wichitaonthecheap.com, which I’ve owned and maintained since its inception in 2009.
I’m blessed that it’s been so successful, with tens of thousands of faithful readers and social media followers in Wichita, Kansas, where I live and write.
I’ve also provided blogging services and guest posts for a number of other online publications, including:
- MSN Money’s Smart Spending blog
- LivingontheCheap.com
- HousekeepingChannel.com
- HealthyHouseInstitute.com
Carolyn Erickson is a great writer. She uses both her experience and research to form informative and humorous pieces. Her work has added character and life to our content on HousekeepingChannel.com. – Allison Kirby
If you’re interested in beginning your own blog, here are some blogging resources I’ve found invaluable.
Blogging Resources – The Basics
Some of the links below are affiliate links – meaning I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after following one of my links. This does not add anything to your cost at all, and I’ll only recommend products I genuinely believe will be valuable to you.
- First and foremost, I believe that WordPress is the best platform for blogging, for many reasons. You will not “outgrow” WordPress, and you won’t come up against any insurmountable limitations when using it on your own hosting.
- I use and recommend BigScoots for hosting.
- To learn WordPress, I highly recommend WP101, which is a paid service that makes learning WordPress super simple. I used to teach classes on how to use WordPress, so I know how easy it is to become bogged down in the details and how hard it is to do a good job. WP101 does a great job.
Blogging as a Business
If you just want to blog as a personal hobby, then you likely won’t need the resources listed below. But if you hope to earn money from your blog, or use it to support your business, the links below will really help. (When I started blogging, there were no courses. I would have loved to have these resources available back then.)
These are a mix of free and paid resources. If they do cost money, I list them here because I believe they are helpful. You’ll want to evaluate each of them based on how much help you need, what kind of blogging niche you’ll be in, how you’ll monetize, and how you’ll promote your blog. Not every course will be a good fit for every blogger, but all are valuable in one way or another. Again, some of these links may be my affiliate links.
Your Blogging Mentor – free resource with very reasonably-priced premium courses available. Your Blogging Mentor is by Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com fame. And I do mean fame. She is one of the early pioneers of blogging, especially in the mom-blog and money-saving niches. I’ve worked with Crystal personally and followed her for years, and I recommend pretty much everything you can learn from her. There will be something for everyone here; however, if you want to do a lifestyle or money-saving blog, this is even more perfect for you.