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6 Blogging Tools to Grow and Monetize your Blog

6 Blogging Tools to Grow and Monetize your Blog

6 blogging tools to grow and monetize your blog

 

If you have ever wanted to start a blog or have one and you want it to grow and make money read on. There are many free and paid blogging tools available to the beginner blogger that all promise to help you succeed.  After due consideration I have narrowed the list of must haves to six that will help you to make money blogging even if you are new. If you are interested in the real cost of starting a blog read my post on the subject Real Cost of Starting a Blog.

1.  Host with GoDaddy

It is important for the new blogger to have a website host that they can rely on.  I have found that GoDaddy is that service for me.  I have been with GoDaddy for the past 4 years and have a very reasonably priced self hosting package with excellent customer service.  In fact, I only pay $4.99 per month for my package and I know that they offer plans that are less expensive and some that are more but mine is perfect for my sewing, crafting, and blogging site.

I have been very pleased with the self hosting environment through WordPress and the assistance I received as a new blogger.  The few times I had to call them they were easy to deal with and solved my problem right away.  On those occasions, I had done something wrong that caused the problem but they helped me to fix it anyway. Check out everything that GoDaddy has to offer right here.  I know you will find a plan that is perfect for you and your budget.

2. Create a Beautiful Theme with Studio Press and Pretty Darn Cute Design

To have a successful blog you need a great theme that is going to appeal to readers and rank high in search results.  I highly recommend Genesis from Studio Press and Pretty Darn Cute Design for a great theme experience.

You can find free and paid themes in a lot of different places but if you want something that is perfect for your blog, runs fast and is easy to customize, the Genesis framework through Studio Press is the way to go.  Once you have the framework there are numerous themes to choose from that range from modern and sleek to pretty and fun.

Studio Press has many themes to choose from but I chose a fun and feminine theme from Pretty Darn Cute Design.  This child theme is perfect for the pretty and fun site that I wanted to create.  It is highly customizable to meet my exact needs.  Both the Genesis Framwork and the Pretty Darn Cute theme cost me less than $100 and I got exactly what I wanted with great support.

When I started my blog I knew absolutely nothing abut blogs or blogging so I really relied on both Studio Press and Pretty Darn Cute to get my site up and running.  I could not have asked for a better experience.  I am confident that you will have a similar experience to mine with these products.

3.  Create Amazing images with PicMonkey and Dreamstime

Because most blogs, including mine, rely on getting the perfect image I use PicMonkey and Dreamstime as my go to tools for getting it right.  It took me a while to learn the value of images and presenting them on my blog and in social media but once I understood it I searched for the best way to accomplish that goal.  After much research I came upon PicMonkey and Dreamstime.

Dreamstime is a stock, royalty free photo site where you can find a million different images to use in your blog.  I use both stock photos and my own photos in my blog but when a stock photo is the perfect image I head over to Dreamstime</a>.

<a href=”http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=460974&u=1233696&m=46133&urllink=&afftrack=”>PicMonkey is the easiest and simplest way to create social media pins and posts using your own images or those from Dreamstime.  It is a photo editing website that provides you with pre-made, customizable   templates or blank canvases to create your own.  It is so simple to use that I have created a short video on the basics of PicMonkey that you can find here.

Whether you go with stock images or your own go with PicMonkey to create the perfect pins and posts.

4.  Grow your Following with Pinterest Ninja and Tailwind

Pinterest and Instagram are two of the most important places that you will pin and post to grow your blog.  To learn all of the ins and outs of Pinterest I highly suggest that you purchase Megan Johnson’s course Pinterest Ninja to guide you step by step how to grow your following and increase your income using Pinterest.  You will find that Pinterest is likely to be the primary source for referrals to your site so knowing the how Pinterest works and what you can do to conquer it invest in Pinterest Ninja.

Once you have conquered Pinterest you will want to turn to Tailwind to automatically pin and post to Pinterest and Instagram.  Tailwind is a scheduler that allows you to spend a little time once a week setting up all of your pins and posts so that it will schedule them throughout the week.  You will learn from Megan the importance of pinning on a a schedule and Tailwind helps you with that.  The page view and my income have steadily increased with the use of Tailwind and the tips and tricks in Pinterest Ninja.

5.  Start your EMail Marketing with Converkit

If you really want to make money blogging you will need to increase your email list and Convertkit is the tool for that.  Convertkit not only keeps track of your email list but it helps you to grow it with the use of incentives.  Incentives or downloadable freebies are the perfect way to get people to opt into your email List.  By offering them an incentive they are more likely to sign up.  You can use that list to email your blog’s content and to advertise your pertinent affiliates.

6.  Monetize with Shareasale

Finally you will need to monetize your blog.  There are multiple ways to make money using your blog that include Google Adsense, Amazon and Target affiliates and affiliate marketing companies among others. The affiliate marketing company that I use most is Shareasale.  It costs nothing to sign up and there are hundreds of possible affiliate opportunities with Shareasale.  Each affiliate makes their own decision on whether to allow you to advertise their product but a good rule of thumb is the one that I follow which is I do not recommend a company, product or tool that I do not use myself.

Shareasale has enough affiliate opportunities that you can align yourself with products and companies that you use and can recommend from personal experience.  If you want to make money with your blog sign up for Shareasale and start your affiliate marketing campaign.

*This post contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you click and purchase from them.*

6 Tools to Grow ans monetize your blog

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