All professions have tools that help them do their job and blogging is no different. Over the years, we’ve learned what works (and what hasn’t) and are sharing our favourites – the blogging tools we can’t live without. At least, we don’t want to live without them because they help us so much! They keep us organized, help us creatively and allow us to be more productive with our time.
Top blogging tools:
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Trello: My love for Trello runs deep. I would seriously be lost without this tool. I use it for my daily to-do list. I plan my day with cards and as I complete tasks I either move them to the next day (if they are a daily thing) or delete them. I have it open all day on my desktop and I can also access it on my phone. Thank goodness it doesn’t go down very often or I’d be in trouble!
Tailwind: I use Tailwind to schedule my Pinterest account. I go in a few times a week and schedule my own pins and pins from the Tailwind Tribes I’m part of. I can also view detailed stats about my account like what boards are most popular and how many pins my site had that week.
Google Drive: I thrive on organization and Google Drive keeps my blog (and life) running smoothly. I have spreadsheets for everything including blogging income, an editorial calendar and to keep track of individual campaigns I’m part of.
Link in profile: I use Link in Profile on Instagram as the link in profile (get it?) so that when people click on it they’ll be taking to a page with my recent Instagram shares and can go check out each one. Check out my Instagram account to see it in action.
Hashtracking: I love Hashtracking for Twitter party analytics. I use it when I’m hosting a party and they’ve hired me to provide a report. It’s also useful to track hashtags on campaigns so you can see how it’s doing (and how you are performing).
Lightroom: I bought the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription in 2015 and never looked back. I LOVE using Lightroom to edit ALL my photos. I shoot in RAW only so I needed a program that would be able to edit that type of file. Plus, Lightroom is user-friendly and I’ve got my workflow down to a science now.
iMovie: I started using the iMovie app on my phone to edit my videos. I transitioned over to the desktop version on my computer because it has more bells and whistles. I use iMovie to edit my videos. You can see them all on my Facebook page.
Grum: I found out about Grum through an AppSumo deal and saw everyone talking about how great it was for scheduling Instagram. Yes, you can schedule your Instagram through Grum on your desktop. I used to email photos to myself and copy and paste the text and hashtags on my phone. Using Grum is so much easier!
Tasty Pins
I trust all things that have been put out by the people at Food Blogger Pro and WP Tasty. Tasty Pins is their newest release and its only $29 USD! I’m super excited about that.
Grab Tasty Pins and make SEO for Pinterest and Google a breeze.
ConvertKit
Stacie and I have been driving ConvertKit to all of you since we both signed up, yes I know but we swear by this incredible email tool. See how Stacie gained 1000 email subscribers in 30 days.
Tailwind
Out of all the blog tools I use, I use Tailwind the most. I have it to schedule both Click Start Club and The Bewitchin’ Kitchen’s Pinterest accounts plus I also use the Tailwind Instagram scheduler.
Try Tailwind for free
Already have Tailwind but need a little guidance? Check out Simple Pin Media’s How to Master Tailwind.
Meet Edgar
Meet Edgar is new to us, I’ve been playing around with it and have it automating Click Start Club’s Twitter and Facebook. I’m really liking it so far, and I love the organization. The downside is, as of right now, you cannot schedule previously sponsored posts as you can’t schedule with Facebook’s branded handshake tool.
Wave Apps
I use Wave accounting for my invoices because it’s free. It’s free and it works great! I found it easier to use than Quickbooks, and I like that I can customize my invoices.
Also suggested from our readers: Freshbooks. Freshbooks is another popular accounting software that bloggers love, there is a fee.
Closing Strong Reporting Sheet
Closing Strong is technically a course from the team at Businessese and Hashtag Legal, but the small course fee (I believe it’s $49) is worth every penny just for the reporting sheet!
I dive deep into it on my blog post of One Thing You Can Do to WOW a Sponsored Campaign and I show how I use the reporting sheet. You will LOVE this.
Adobe Creative Cloud
My friends, it’s time to ditch PicMonkey. For only a few dollars more a month you get both Photoshop and Lightroom and the freedom to transform your photos that will land you more work.
Overwhelmed? Don’t be! Stacie and I created The Editing Courses for this exact reason. If you’re new to Creative Cloud, we got your back!
Grammarly
I personally use the free version of Grammarly and I love it, it catches many errors for me as I rapidly type my blog posts. It’s an extension for chrome that’s easy to install and helps improve your writing.
Free Photography eCourse
Improve your photography and finally learn how to use manual in an easy to follow course that is delivered to your inbox every day for ten days.
