In this page, I have gathered all the awesome resources that I have found to be helpful. I started this whole blog thing from absolute scratch. While I had prior experience when it comes to writing I have no clue at all about techy stuff, web design, online marketing, email newsletters, social media and anything else that comes with running a blog that is supposed to thrive.
I have started at zero. And if I could work my way through this I’m absolutely confident that you can, too. This list of resources might help you along the way.
Affiliate links are used and marked with an asterisk. If you make a purchase through my link I earn a commission at no extra costs to you.
Hosting
Design
WordPress Themes
There is only one designer of WordPress Themes I can recommend with all my heart. It’s *Restored316. I found this vendor long before I had a blog and bookmarked it instantly, just in case. Now, I use and love the *Darling theme. Read my post how I chose this theme and why I fell in love with it. Also, Restored316 has a great customer suport. They always get back to me in one day if I email them a bunch of questions. (And I have emailed them a lot). In addition, I asked questions in the comment section of their blog and get an answer in a day. This is important to me because I’m new to web design and need to ask things. As a bonus to you I offer you to pick my brain about anything about using and customizing the *Darling theme. Do you see an element you like? I would love to share with you how I did it.
Photography
Plugins
Addtoany. This is the plugin I use to display custom social sharing buttons on top of posts and floating on the left of the screen. It’s free, super easy to use and if you like customizable. Read how to add custom social media icons with Addtoany in this post.
Meanwhile, I use Social Pug for my social sharing buttons.
Books
My all-time favorite ebook on Pinterest: *Pinterest Launch Plan. By Jennifer Maker.
*Introduction to List-Building. Free ebook. By Jennifer Maker.
CREATE – One year blog and editorial planner. By Meera Kothand.
Courses
Pinterest Ninjas. By Megan Johnson.
Blog By Number ecourse. By Suzi Whitford.
List Love. Build your list with freebies your readers will love. By Jennifer Maker.
Blogs to follow as a blogger
Your Blogging Mentor is a blog by Crystal Paine known as the Money Saving Mom. Her advice is solid as she is not only hugely successful with her main blog but also in business for 12 years. Her posts are geared towards beginners, intermediates and advanced bloggers.
Elite Blog Academy Blog. A blog full of juicy tips and tricks to make your blog stand out and look professional. Run by Ruth Soukoup of Living well, spending less it is one of my favorite ones. Ruth is making seven figures with her blog LWSL.
ProBlogger is one of the blogging advice dinosaurs and still up-to-date. They offer more than 8000 (!) posts on blogging profitable and feature a lot of pro bloggers to share their best tips.
