I’ve been blogging for over a decade and have reached millions of readers, earned a substantial living doing it full time and over time, discovered the best tools and platforms out there for being a successful full time blogger.
Here is a list of the services and tools that I use to give me a ubiquitous presence online and in social media, and drive engagement, traffic, sales, conversions and brand elevation:
1. WordPress
The first thing you need to do is sign up for a self-hosted WordPress account. All of the top bloggers and professional news websites operate on that platform. US Weekly, Business Insider, Politico and The Huffington Post are among the popular mainstream websites that have operated on this platform. If you are blogging as a hobby, the free platforms like Wix, Blogger or WordPress.com or the low cost ones like Squarspace, may suffice. However, if you plan to monetize (make money) from your blogging, you have to host it yourself.
If you are nervous about creating a self-hosted site, I HIGHLY recommend you hire someone on Fiverr to set it up for you. There are ample tutorials online to show you how to go from there once set up. You can also use my tutorial for setting up a Dreamhost wordpress blog here!
2. GoDaddy
Even though I find Dreamhost the best platform for beginners on a budget (you can pay like $5 per month on some plans) I think that you get better customer service going with GoDaddy because there is someone 24/7 available to help you in case your blog disappears off the Internet or shuts down for any reason.
I go into detail on why I prefer Go Daddy on this blog post!
3. ViralTag
This is the platform I use to create a ubiquitous presence EVERYWhere!!! When I discovered ViralTag a few years ago, it replaced like 5 other tools I had been using a the time (Buffer, Hootsuite, Klout, Tailwind, Boardbooster)
You can add various social platform and blog feeds. I have several social media or blogs so it’s great to be able to manage them all from one place. I really love it and it helps me drive in thousands of views, visits and eyeballs to my websites!
I did a tutorial on how it works that you can find here!
4. Envato Market
This is the website I turn to for attractive website and blog themes. They range in price from free on up and you get excellent customer service and updates and integrations. You can get so many ideas getting lost on that website. Good luck settling on just one.
Check them out today!
5. Tailwind
Tailwind is a highly specialized tool for using Pinterest to drive traffic and its Tribe feature helps expand your pins’ reach to wider audiences. You can try it out for FREE first to test it out!
A lot of my fellow content creators who realize they get most of their traffic from the social sharing platform, Pinterest, are finally starting to take it more seriously and dedicate more of their lives to learning the platform and growing their followers.
I am too. I started last year to shift priorities to it given that I have several viral pins that bring in thousands of visitors weekly. I have dedicated lots of content and blog posts to Tailwind on this site that you can see by clicking Here!
6. ConvertKit
All of the six to seven figure blogger recommned ConvertKit. I am one of the early users and adopters who switched over from MailChimp when this company was really amping up. It is tailor made for bloggers. I prefer Convertkit because it’s best for bloggers but any of the other popular tools will work.
7. VID IQ
For YouTube videos and channels, VID IQ is my tool of choice. With it, you can get a deeper dive into measurement of your videos and the videos of your competitors. How long people stay on a video, how much money was earned by the YouTuber for each video but the best part of VIDIQ is that it lets you know which tags your competitors used. You can then easily copy their tags and use them for your videos.
I created a tutorial you can access here.
I use Leadpages for allmy lead magnets and LeadSites to create my personal coaching website, JayJayGhatt. It has been instrumental to growing my subscriber list from 0 to over 10,000!
Leadpageshas long been the industry standard for capturing emails, leads, and growing your email subscriber list. The site used to require annual subscriptions but now permit monthly payments and has expanded to lead sites and has a host of new offerings. It has a large library of attractive designs that work to convert.
9. Etsy
A lot of bloggers don’t just earn money from ads,they also create and sell products, real and digital ones. While Etsy is traditionally for handmade products, a lot of online entrepreneurs and bloggers sell digital products like templates and planner sheets via Etsy. It charges just .20 to list and takes a small commission off sales.
Consider signing up for an account when you’re ready to start selling!
10. Picnoi
I want my website to reflect my world so I created Picnoi which offers free images and is totally searchable. Download the entire database for $59.99.
OTHER CONTENT YOU MIGHT LIKE
How I Reach Close to 8M On This Underutilized Social Media Platform
No One Cares About Your Blog Post But You Can Make Them Care; Here’s How (VIDEO TUTORIAL)
Pinterest Marketing Made Easy With Tailwind (VIDEO TUTORIAL)
I Ignored My Online Biz for 6 WKS but still Reached 7.M {Here’s How}
Master Pinterest for Sales and Traffic This Year with These Tools and Plan
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
