Here, I will list many of the products and services I use as a blogger. Whenever possible, I’ll use affiliate links to these, because that’s part of how you monetize as a blogger!
Hosting Companies
HawkHost – If you’re not afraid of cPanel and want to have reliable web hosting for as little money as possible, I *highly* recommend them. I’ve hosted with them for years, and this is the company I started out with. However, if you’ve never done this before and you’re not that adventurous, I would use a managed plan from BigScoots.
BigScoots – when my first website got really popular, I needed more support from a host and I switched to a plan with BigScoots that had a lot more user support as well as really reliable services and servers. The uptime is great and BigScoots is recommended all over the web by real bloggers making a living from blogging. The cream of the crop.
WordPress
Very few would disagree that WordPress is the best platform for blogging, and in many cases it’s going to be the best for websites in general. If you only need one single page, then *maybe* another platform would work, but I tend to think you should start with the best and grow from there. Since WordPress is free to use and install, there’s no cost reason to skip it. You will have a bit of a learning curve but again, if you learn now, you can grow with it indefinitely.
Now, when it comes to WordPress, there are two kinds of WordPress: hosted and self-hosted. Both are free. It’s kind of confusing for newbies but I’ll give you the overview, below.
Self-hosted: If you’re going to use WordPress for your business, it is generally agreed that you’ll want the self-hosted version. To get that, sign up for one of the hosting companies above and tell them you want a WordPress website. You’ll pay for hosting, but you won’t pay for the software itself.
Hosted: If you want a personal blog or if your business does not need complete flexibility and independence, you may opt to sign up for a website at WordPress.com This option can be completely free, or you can pay for premium access to limited features. I have only used the free version at WordPress.com, and it’s the easiest way to get started and learn how to use the WordPress platform if you don’t have any money to invest. If you decide to go further and pay for premium services, like their Pressable web hosting, just evaluate at that time whether they offer what you need. See options and pricing here.
I will say that WordPress.com is very reliable and this option might be fine for anyone getting started. You could switch later if you find it doesn’t have what you need.
Back Up
Jetpack VaultPress Backup – This service saved my bacon once when a glitch took down my site. At the time, the price was ridiculously low. Although the price has gone up since then, the package deal (called Jetpack Security) covers more potential issues. I am fairly happy with it and until I get back to managed hosting, I feel like it is an affordable way to protect my site.
iMark backup service – a client of mine uses this and I like two things about it: it’s affordable and there’s a real person behind it. We haven’t needed to use it, so I can’t speak to that aspect yet. Ideally, you never need to use your backup service but it is absolutely essential to have one if you rely on your blog for income.
Monetization
Earning as a blogger is fundamental to being able to do this as a full-time business or side-gig. Typically, bloggers earn in three different ways:
Ad income – You know those advertisements that follow you around the web? That is one of the easiest ways to earn as a blogger. For the most part, you write about what you want and the ads show up on your site and earn you money. This method does require decent traffic even just to make enough to cover your hosting expenses. It can take quite a bit of time to get to that point. Everyone’s experience will differ in just how much time that is. I use and recommend Journey by Mediavine for new blogs you want to monetize with ads. This is my preferred monetization method and the one I have been most successful with. I have previously used Google Adsense to start but I much prefer Journey. It’s easier and your earnings will likely be higher than going directly through Adsense, even though they get a cut of your earnings.
Stock Photos
You’re going to need photo and video for a blog in almost every case. You can and should probably have some of your own photos and video, but at times you just need to grab something that already exists. For that, I always purchase the AppSumo Black Friday deal for DepositPhotos, and I’m not the only one! This deal is known around the Internet and probably half the world’s bloggers jump on this when it’s available.
If it isn’t even close to Black Friday, you should still get a plan at DepositPhotos because it’s the best price with many of the same photos you’ll find at the more expensive stock photo places. They run special offers all the time. If you use my referral link we’ll both benefit. I would recommend them anyway, and have, for years.
Social Automation
To get traffic, many bloggers use social media. But to keep people engaged on the various social media platforms, automations are pretty much not optional. Most bloggers I know of use ManyChat. You can get signed up here and then check out the various offerings to select the one that best meets your needs. This is the only automation service I’ve used; it is the best and most mature that I know of and I can recommend it. When it comes to Instagram, it’s the only sustainable way I’m aware of to get your audience to actually visit your site. (ManyChat will DM a link for you when your followers request it. It’s VERY handy!) If you go pro, get 30% off your first 3 months if you use my link.
Email Newsletters
Choosing your first email newsletter provider can be a daunting task, but I would recommend you do it immediately. You can always transfer to something else later. Take it from someone who has been blogging since 2009 – any time you aren’t collecting the email addresses of willing recipients is time wasted. I put off doing an email newsletter because I had a very large social media following and a pretty large RSS subscriber base, so I didn’t think I needed email subscribers. (That’s how long ago I started blogging – you may have never even heard of RSS feeds, but it was a popular way to follow blogs you like.) Then Facebook decided it needed an algorithm and Twitter (which is what it was called back then) did something and RSS went out of fashion. Thank goodness for Google, but it was being updated all the time too.
So, I learned my lesson and began collecting subscribers. People who like you are almost always willing to sign up for updates, and if you send them content they’re interested in, they will continue being subscribers. This is a great way to reach your readers and it can be a very personal way.
I used FeedBlitz newsletter service initially because they had invented a good way of switching your RSS subscribers to email subscribers. Then I kept using them because the service was very reliable, affordable, and it kept up with the competition by offering the same features. Use the code FBTRIAL for your 30-day trial of the service.
When I sold my first blog and started with a brand new one, I had zero income and needed a reputable service that had a free tier , so I chose MailerLite. So far, so good. I haven’t done much with it yet besides collect email addresses and send out updates whenever I publish new posts at that blog. But it has capabilities I can use for targeted email campaigns when I’m ready for that. It also is supposed to integrate easily with Grow by Mediavine.