5 favorite blogging resources to help busy bloggers- and who isn’t?- be as efficient and organized as possible. I bet you haven’t heard of some of these.
Blogging is hard. You’re supposed to be active on 17 different social media platforms, read and comment on other sites, take award-winning photos. And, oh yeah, you’re supposed to write authentic, engaging content, too.
Sometimes, it feels like I’m being pulled in so many different directions as a blogger. Yes, I love it, but I work full-time outside the home and blogging is technically just a hobby for me. Here are five tools I use to make sure I get the most out of the few hours I do have to devote to my site.
1. coschedule headline analyzer
I first learned about this neat tool from a useletter (see #3 below). Basically, you enter in what you think you want your blog post title to be and coschedule analyzes it based on a bunch of different factors. You can tweak the wording until you get a title that, according to the analyzer, people are more likely to read.
2. link party list
One of my goals lately has been to participate in more link parties. I know they can be an awesome source of traffic, as well as a fun way to meet and interact with other bloggers. Pretty much any big blogger will tell you she got to where she is in large part thanks to link parties.
So how do you know who’s hosting parties and when? I use this huge list that my friend Brandy from The Dutchman’s Wife introduced me to. The list includes dozens (maybe hundreds?) of parties taking place every day of the week. You’ll never lack for places to party.
3. the useletter
Amy Lynn Andrews, blogger extraordinaire, sends out this free weekly newsletter jam-packed with the most useful blogging resources. Seriously, this thing arrives in my inbox every Saturday morning and I can’t wait to read it. I save every edition. Several of the tips I use regularly, and several more I’ve filed away for when they’re relevant to me. You will not regret signing up for this.
4. this card reader
I’m not sure what it is about this USB card reader that makes it so much more convenient than a camera cord. For one, I love that I can take the memory card from my camera, put it in the reader, and stick that right in my computer or tablet. I don’t have to connect the camera and carry it around, hooked up to my computer, while I work. It’s just one of those things that might not seem much different, but in reality it makes day-to-day use so much easier.
5. building a framework
In the world of blogging, Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog is kind of a big deal. Not only is her blog super successful, but she shares all her secrets in her book, Building a Framework. I had read quite a lot about blogging before I stumbled across the book, so to be honest, I wasn’t sure I would learn much. Oh my gosh was I wrong. Whether you’re new or you’ve been at this a while, Abby’s book will be a worthwhile investment.
What are your favorite blogging resources?
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Love this1 Building a Framework was a huge part of my starting blogging at all. So much goodness there! I love link parties too. They were a huge part of my starting to discover new bloggers and help people find my blog and they still are today! Thanks for sharing all these!
Thank you, Lauren! Both resources were game-changers for me, too. I love that there are so many awesome tools out there available to us!
I hadn’t heard of the Coschedule Headline Analyzer. Definitely using that! How are you going to do your link party list Abby? A separate page? Still figuring out how to list these on mine. I had them on the sidebar, then started linking at the bottom of the post, but I think I want to have them on a separate page.
You’ll love the headline analyzer! I have a page for my link parties, under my about category. I’ve tried the different ways you mentioned, but this is my favorite.