I created this resources page to be able to share all of the valuable tools, services, and products that I recommend. These are resources that I’ve found to be extremely helpful either through my own business, work I do for clients, or in my personal life.
There are a few affiliate links below, but everything listed here is something that I have personally used and genuinely recommend.
Blog & Freelance Tools
- Go Daddy – I use Go Daddy to host my blog and have been a happy customer so far. I’ve worked with them for several years on various client sites as well, and whenever I’ve had problems or questions, they’ve always been very helpful. They have hosting plans that start at $1/month (that includes a free domain, which is pretty incredible). I’ve also heard nothing but great things about Bluehost as well, so I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
- Blog Design – I use the Genesis framework with the Swank theme. Visit my how to start a blog page if you’d like more information.
- MailChimp – If you would like to create a newsletter or marketing piece to send out to your readers or customers, this is a great email service provider to use. I’ve used various other providers, but find this interface to be the most user-friendly. It is also free until you hit 2,000 subscribers, so it’s perfect for starting out.
Photos & Editing
- Canon EOS Rebel T3i – This is the camera I use. We purchased this after Little Miss was born to be able to take some quality pictures of her at home. I’ve been able to take some professional looking photos of her, as well as use this for some blog images. It has a pretty hefty price tag, but when we considered that a typical photo shoot session with a photographer can cost as much as this camera itself, it was a no-brainer. We’ve gotten our money’s worth out of it already!
- PicMonkey – This is what I use to edit all of my images here on the blog, including adding text to them.
- Photos – If I don’t take the photo or design an image myself, these are some great and free places I typically use to find images for each of my blog posts: Unsplash, Death to the Stock Photo, Flickr (just be sure to use photos under the creative commons license and credit the original source).
Productivity Tools
- Evernote – Evernote is my lifeline. I keep notes, lists, drafts of posts, and many other things stored there. I also have the app on my phone so I can edit my notes from anywhere.
- Unroll.me – An easy way to manage and streamline your inbox. Unsubscribe from unwanted email subscriptions, discover new ones and organize them all in one place.
Online Storage
- DropBox – I use Dropbox to store and share files and images with clients and friends.
Books, Reading, & Training
- How to Start a Blog – My step-by-step guide for how to easily start your own blog.
- 11 Habits for Work-at-Home Productivity – Habits that help me stay productive while working from home.
- How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul – An awesome, in-depth book that gets into the nitty-gritty of how to make money from your blog. I highly recommend it!
Personal
- Ebates – An awesome online shopping cash back program. If you sign up for an Ebates account through my link, you will receive a free $10 gift card to either Target, Walmart, Macy’s, or Kohl’s. I’ve been using this for a year and a half now and have already received over $100 in cash back for online purchases I would have made regardless. It’s completely free to use, and literally only takes an additional 5 seconds to go through the Ebates site to get the cash back instead of just going straight to the retailer’s site. It’s very uncomplicated and quick to do, and is an easy way to earn a little extra cash!
