I know, typically this blog doesn’t cover actual BLOGGING topics – so if you aren’t a blogger, or not interested in becoming one, just check back tomorrow for more awesomeness! If you ARE one, or looking at becoming one, I thought it’d be good share My Favorite Blogging Resources – the things that helped me the most with increasing my blog income, traffic and strategy, as well as the products and such I personally use to make my blogging career easier!

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I started this blog in early 2013, but didn’t really take it ‘seriously’ until early 2015. As I tried frantically to bring up my traffic, social media following AND income all at once, the day-to-day of this business really made me want to pull out my hair. I would read tons of online posts and plenty of Ebooks on the subject, and while many weren’t ultra helpful (some not even accurate anymore, since the blogging world changes quite often) there were some resources that made a HUGE difference and allowed me to finish 2015 with a bang, making over $20,000 for the year.

I’m not going to list the things that weren’t REALLY worthwhile, because – as I said before – there’s plenty I read and researched, but it didn’t make much of a difference. I only want to include in this list the BIGGEST things that helped me grow, and that continue to help me increase as 2016 progresses – and my goals for this year are REALLY awesome!

#1: The Best Blogging Courses

I’ve paid more money than I’d care to admit trying different blogging courses – but I’ve finally found the ONE blogging course that I’d recommend. It included so much, had quality instructions (videos AND free printables) AND made the biggest difference: The Blogpreneur Course. The 3 awesome ladies that put this together make a combine 6+ figure income EACH MONTH from their blogs. Obviously they know what they’re doing!

#2: Blogging Ebooks that are Worth The Money

Originally, I wanted to share with you how many ebooks I’ve read total, so you could see that number versus how many I highly recommend. Once I got to ten (in the past 1-2 years, mind you) I decided I was bored going back through it all – sorry! But of them all, here are the ones I really do recommend and believe are worth the money.

• How I went from 17k pageviews to 350+ monthly pageviews in 9 months
• Blogging on the Side: Where Passion and Profit Meet
• How to Pitch Brands (with free templates!)

#3: Blogging Posts that Really Know Their Stuff

We all love free stuff, right? There truly are some fabulous posts about blogging – tips, suggestions, the social media part, etc. – out their on the internet totally free and ready for you to find them. The problem is, there’s EVEN MORE posts like that that just don’t quite qualify as really helpful. They may have been at one point, but keep in mind that blogging is always changing, especially the social media aspects of it! Here are my top favorite articles that have made the biggest difference in my blogging.

• Pinterest Secrets from a Pinner with over 104K Followers
• Time Management Tips for the Full-Time Working & Blogging Mom
• How I hit 1,000,000 Visitors in a Year of Blogging
• How to Make a Post go Viral

Here’s a list of more good blogging posts – but the above list are my favorites!

#4: My Favorite Blogging Tools and Resources

• Hosting with Servously – I’ve tried several hosting companies, from Bluehost to GoDaddy and more. I’m sticking with Servously because not only have I had so little down time, but the rates are fabulous (starting at just $10 per month), you get into their private Facebook group for even faster support, they back up your site daily, and they grow with you! I can’t say enough good about them!
• Tailwind – I love the ease of Tailwind, making it so I don’t have to be ON Pinterest tons throughout the day. Which is good, since I’d get sucked in even more and spend my whole life pinning and repinning things! It’s affordable, and allows you to set up your own schedule, then just pin through their system and VIOLA, it handles it all for you.
• Adobe Creative Cloud – this is great for editing, creating printables and products, and so much more!
• PicMonkey – this is what I use for 99% of my blog post images, as well as creating certain graphics and such for printables and products. It’s so fun, easy and LOTS of great options!

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