Best Blogging Tools For Entrepreneurs To Scale A Business

Running a profitable niche site requires a few good toolsThis list contains all of the apps, plugins, tech, and resources that I use to run my business.

When you decide to start a blog and/or business, oftentimes it can quickly feel like an expensive undertaking.

BEST TOOLS & TECH TO GROW YOUR BLOG AND BUSINESS

There are many tools, courses and ‘things’ you will want to invest in. You don’t need to spend much money when starting a blog, but you should spend some money on it.


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In order to grow and scale, you need to invest in your business.

One of the hardest parts of running a successful blog is figuring out which tools you need, and which you don’t. In this ultimate roundup, I break down the best blogging tools and best business tools for social media, growing your email list, and making money online. Including Courses, tech, and more! 

I have discovered some fantastic tech and software, taken some incredible courses, and used some awesome tools to stay organized and on track in my business.

And today, I’m rounding them all up for you! I’ve kept the descriptions relatively brief, but where possible and linked to extra resources where you can learn more about that tool or course.

On this page, you will find some supreme discounts on premium blogging tools here, plus many free ones, too!

For any ones that aren’t free, I have included a free trial wherever possible. Here are the tools, tech, apps and educational resources I use to run all of my websites.

Jump to section:

START HERE

Blogging and niche site investing can be a very lucrative way to earn money from home, or anywhere!

HerPaperRoute blogging courses free access new blogger training

START BLOGGING COURSE

Thinking of starting a blog? You need to take this course to learn the ropes. From the initial setup tech, to choosing a niche, SEO foundations and knowing what to write, this course as it all. Take the first step and start a blog today by reading my Start A Blog Step By Step Guide or enrolling in my FREE Start A Blog Course.

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BLOG FLIPPING SOCIETY

This is the ultimate program for anyone who wants a blueprint to build, scale and sell profitable niche sites, with the support of 1:1 coaching and a community of other creators! Unlock our complete sales funnel framework for your niche site, to confidently launch digital products, convert leads, grow your community and go from evergreen to exit. 

Best Blogging Tools For Entrepreneurs To Scale A Business 1

HERPAPERROUTE TOOLKIT

The HerPaperRoute Profitable Entrepreneur Toolkit is a resource library packed with everything you need to grow your blog and biz! And you can access all of the resources for free by joining today!

NICHE INVESTOR -

SELL YOUR BLOG

Curious about how much your niche site could sell for? Get a free website valuation, and a suggested listing price from us. 

Best Blogging Tools For Entrepreneurs To Scale A Business 2

NICHE SITE SELLER’S INTO KIT

Learn how to prime your website so it can sell at the top of its valuation.

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MONETIZE YOUR BLOG

Learn how to monetize your blog in 7 ways at once in this powerful blog monetization training from HerPaperRoute.

EQUIPMENT

Sale
Ring Light Kit
Always look camera-ready with this lighting kit
Sale
2TB Hard Drive
A hard drive is very important! Back everything up with a quality hard drive. This is the one I  recommend.
Sale
 BLUE YETI MIC
  • Custom three-capsule array: This professional USB mic produces clear, powerful, broadcast-quality sound for YouTube videos, Twitch game streaming, podcasting, Zoom meetings, music recording and more
Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera|2 Lens Kit with EF18-55mm + EF 75-300mm Lens, Black
  • Improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF and eye detection AF 24.1 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor with is 100–6400 (H: 12800)
Sale
Logitech Brio 4k Webcam
I use the Logitec Brio 4k webcam. It’s perfect for recording my summit interviews and course lessons in high definition.
Shure MV7 USB Microphone
My favorite podcasting mic! I use this mic for everything.
Chelsea Clarke at desk, planning monthly CEO day

APPLE COMPUTER

I use Apple computers for all elements of my business. 

Sale
Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, Bluetooth Over Ear Headphones with Up To 24 Hours of Battery Life, Black
  • LEGENDARY NOISE CANCELLATION: Effortlessly combines noise cancelling headphones technology with passive features so you can shut off the outside world, quiet distractions, and take music beyond the beat

EMAIL MARKETING & LIST BUILDING

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BEEHIIV

A powerful email marketing system with competitive pricing!

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CONVERTKIT

Convertkit is a professional email system to manage your newsletters, subscribers, opt-ins and landing pages. create and send campaigns (newsletters) manage opt-in forms, automation, and more. 

» Read the reviews

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FLODESK

A simple email system to collect subscribers and send newsletters.  Get 50% off your first year via this link.

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EMAIL MARKETING COURSE

A blueprint to grow and monetize your list of super fans. No sleazy sales tactics in sight.

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INTERACT

Discover how to use quizzes as a list-building and blog growth marketing tool using this awesome quiz-building app!

» Read the reviews

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EMAIL FUNNEL FIXES

Are you losing money every day, simply by not fixing these common email mistakes? Here’s how to make sure you have your email funnel right, and fix the leaks.

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EMAIL TEMPLATES

Email marketing templates you can use in your newsletters and sales funnels. Plus 200+ must-open subject lines! 

» Read the reviews

FUNNELS, SELLING COURSES & DIGITAL PRODUCTS

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BETA LAUNCH BLUEPRINT

FREE GUIDE! How to pre-sell and pre-test your course before you create it.

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COURSE CREATION ROADMAP

FREE GUIDE! Map out your soon-to-be-famous online course

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Sales Funnel Solved

Don’t start building an online course until you take this training.

Free Guide: How To Plan A Stress-Free Course Launch

the five-figure course launch checklist
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THRIVECART

The best cart and LMS for your business. Make more sales with upsells and tripwire offers, manage your affiliate program, and integrate with everything. Pay once, use it for life. No monthly fees, ever! This one tool manages your membership, courses, affiliate program, and coaching programs. It’s amazing.

» Read the reviews

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LEAD PAGES

Easy to use page builder for your sales pages and opt-in freebie pages. 

» Read the reviews

clickfunnels

CLICK FUNNELS

Clickfunnels allows anyone to build their own high-converting sales funnels and landing pages.

» Read the reviews

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KAJABI

Course and membership hosting platform.

Get groovefunnels free

GROOVEFUNNELS

A selling platform with more features than you’d expect. Get it FREE and build up to 3 sites/funnels. Limited-time offer!

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SENDOWL

Deliver your digital products and manage your affiliate program from $10/month. 

» Read the reviews

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TEACHABLE

A course creation platform giving creators full HTML behind-the-scenes access ability.

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PODIA

With Podia you can easily sell digital products and memberships, too. 

 » Read the reviews

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FIX YOUR FUNNEL

Uncover exactly what you’re missing in your funnel in this free workshop, so you can convert more leads.

sales funnel templates

FUNNEL TEMPLATES

These funnel templates make it easy for you to build interest, offer value, and make money with a sales funnel. Grow your email list, host a webinar, create a tripwire, sell a digital product and more!

Best Blogging Tools For Entrepreneurs To Scale A Business 3

SHOPIFY

Get a free trial: A complete eCommerce platform to run your storefront online.

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LEARNDASH

A WordPress-based LMS for hosting your courses right on your own website.

Read the reviews.

RUNNING A BUSINESS

gusto payroll tools

GUSTO

Set up your payroll and pay your team with ease. Trusted by more than 200,000 businesses and their teams.

EARTH CLASS MAIL BEST TOOLS FOR CREATORS

EARTH CLASS MAIL

Use this virtual address to have all of your mail sent, where they will scan it and send it to you as an email.  

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ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD

Get access to all 19+ Adobe apps with the Creative Cloud Suite. Including Photoshop, Lightroom, Premier Pro and more.

 CLIENT & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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HONEYBOOK

The only CRM you will ever need. Capture leads, manage projects and clients, send invoices, sign contracts online, get paid, and more. Get 50% off your first year today!

» Read the reviews

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DUBSADO

The best online accounting tool. Track your blog’s profit and loss and so much more. Take 20% off with code HERPAPERROUTE

» Read the reviews

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CLICKUP

Stay on track with your team, no matter where your team is located. Manage projects, launches, SOPs and never miss a deadline. 

SEO & TRAFFIC GROWTH

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SURFER SEO

Surfer SEO is an SEO tool that shows you how to improve your articles, so your website can rank higher in SERPs and increase organic traffic.

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LINK WHISPER

Make it easy for Google to crawl your site and interlink your content properly! LinkWhisper makes interlinking your blog posts simple.

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RANKIQ

Quickly optimize your articles with Rank IQ’s suggestions. Improve your score to know exactly how to rank your posts on SERPs.

» read the reviews.

frase ai writer

FRASE

Frase AI helps you research, write, and optimize high-quality SEO content in minutes instead of hours.

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KEYSEARCH

One of the best keyword research tools, trusted by top bloggers!

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WP ROCKET

WP Rocket is a lightweight plugin that speeds up your website, handles caching, GZip compression, WebP image delivery, lazy loading images, CSS minification, database optimization and more

» Read the reviews

tailwind Logo-

TAILWIND

Tailwind for Pinterest – The only Pinterest scheduler you will ever need.  Check out Tailwind for Instagram too.

» Read the reviews

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SMARTERQUEUE

Save time with this evergreen recycling social media marketing automation tool.

» Read the reviews

convertbox_deal

CONVERTBOX

Stay on track with your team, no matter where your team is located. Manage projects, launches, SOPs and never miss a deadline. 

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TASTY PINS

Tasty Pins offers all the Pinterest marketing and SEO features you need to optimize your blog for increasing Pinterest traffic.

» Read the reviews

best blogging tools shortpixel sale

SHORTPIXEL

ShortPixel is a plugin that optimizes and compresses your images, so that your website can load super fast. This image CDN and compression plugin majorly helps speed up your website and improve SEO. It even serves up your images as WebP versions, for free.

milotree coupon

MILOTREE

MiloTree is a smart popup and a very helpful tool that converts your blog visitors into email subscribers and social followers.

» Read the reviews

APPS, TOOLS & SOFTWARE

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APP SUMO

AppSumo is a website that offers daily deals and special promotions on popular apps. Get incredible lifetime deals on useful tools and apps.

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ELEMENTOR

Elementor is a simple drag-and-drop editor plugin allowing you to make gorgeous pages.

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OTTER

Otter is an AI transcription tool that transcribes your video and audio files – and even transcribes live!

Read the reviews

LEGAL RESOURCES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

firstbase

REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS (USA)

Incorporate your company and access the greatest startup ecosystem on the planet. Firstbase is your organization’s first step.

ownr

REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS (CANADA)

Incorporate or register your business with ease and help keep your business compliant. Get 15% off with this link.

LLCOperatingAgreement

LLC OPERATING CONTRACT

The Contract Shop® provides contract templates and all the legal paperwork you need to run your business well. No expensive attorneys required.

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COACHES BUNDLE

All of the legal contracts your coaching business needs in one easy-to-use collection.

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NEW BUSINESS BUNDLE

All the legal documents you need to protect and grow your business. Plus sales call scripts so you always know what to say!

AffiliateAgreement

AFFILIATE TEAM CONTRACT

Have an affiliate program?  Make sure you have everyone on your team sign this contract before they start promoting your products. 

BrandCollaboration_2000x

BRAND COLLAB / SPONSORSHIP CONTRACT

This template sets clear expectations of your relationship from the beginning by defining timelines, revision guidelines and what exactly the brand can or cannot do with the materials you create

IndependentContractor_agreement

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR CONTRACT

Whether you provide services to clients or you are hiring a freelancer to perform work for you, you need this template to protect yourself.  

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LEGAL BUNDLE

The Legal Bundle contains fill-in-the-blank templates for the 3 legal pages your website is required to have. 

» Read the reviews

legal sponsored posts contract template for influencers and bloggers

SPONSORED POST CONTRACT

Lawyer written contract template you need to easily work with brands to produce any kind of sponsored content and build lasting relationships with them, while also protecting your financial and legal interests in the process.

copyright template

LEGAL COURSES

Protect your content, website, products and courses by applying what you learn in these step-by-step legal trainings.

ADA & WCAG COMPLIANCE & TRAINING 

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ACCESSIBILITY WIDGET

Trusted tool that makes a website accessible to people with various disabilities.

the ada bundle for your website

ADA & WCAG TEMPLATE BUNDLE

With this ADA and WCAG Compliance legal bundle, you get Amira’s ADA guide, WCAG checklist, Website Accessibility template, and more!

ADA Compliance Now_

ADA COMPLIANCE NOW COURSE

This course will walk you through the required steps to become compliant with ADA and Unruh Act

STYLED STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY & TEMPLATES

Haute Stock photos coupon blogging tools

HAUTE STOCK

Premium stock photo membership with various lifestyle and workspace images. A modern, feminine photo membership. Unlimited downloads, and new collections are added each month, as well as limited time collections.

» Read the reviews

pixie stock coupon

PIXI STOCK

Pixi Stock is a styled stock photo membership that offers chic and feminine stock photos and graphic templates. Perfect for female creators.

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STYLED STOCK SOCIETY

Styled Stock Society is a stock photography membership for female entrepreneurs. Members get access to over 2,000 stock photos (plus tons of new photos are added every single month).

» Read the reviews

entrepreneur templates - Tara Reid

ENTREPRENEUR TEMPLATES

A membership for creative entrepreneurs, giving you unlimited access to a huge template vault 

» Read the reviews

LEARN MORE

Bluchic coupon blogging tools

BLUCHIC

Quickly create your lead magnets, ebooks and digital products with these done-for-you lead magnet templates.

» Read the reviews

envato elements

ENVATO ELEMENTS

Unlimited downloads to millions of stock photos, website themes, graphic elements, templates, logos, and more.

designbundles

DESIGN BUNDLES

Access to 136,466 exclusive products with Commercial Use. So you can use the designs on the digital and physical products you sell

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CANVA

Design all the graphics you need for your website, social media and digital products in one easy-to-use dashboard.

WEBINAR TOOLS & PLANNING A VIRTUAL SUMMIT

webinarjam

WEBINARJAM

Seamless live webinar hosting.

Read the reviews.

otter.ai best transcription tool

OTTER

AI transcription tool for fast transcribing of audio.

Read the reviews.

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SUMMIT IN A BOX PROGRAM

Everything you need to plan, strategize and launch your first profitable online summit with ease. A complete summit coaching program with Krista Rae.

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VIRTUAL SUMMIT MONETIZATION KIT

Includes Canva sponsorship pitch deck template, summit CRM workshop, and strategies to monetize your summit in multiple ways at once!

virtual summit promotion bundle

SUMMIT PROMOTION BUNDLE

With this bundle, you’ll get a marketing calendar, promotion strategy training, 7 email scripts, 7 pieces of social media swipe copy, a Facebook ad strategy overview, Facebook ad swipe copy, and Facebook ad graphic templates.

WORDPRESS THEMES

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KADENCE

The best WordPress theme framework. Build and customize anything your heart desires!

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STUDIOPRESS

StudioPress is a leading WordPress theme developer. They are the creator of the popular Genesis Framework.

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17TH AVENUE

Professional quality Genesis themes, with a feminine style. Beautiful themes to make your website look super stylish.

chicserve-bundle

CHICSERVE

WordPress theme + funnel + landing pages kit for service providers

chicshop-bundle

CHICSHOP

WordPress theme + funnel + landing pages kit for digital product eCommerce shops

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CHICBOSS

WordPress theme + funnel + landing pages kit for service-based creators who ALSO sell digital products

WEB HOSTING

bigscoots_deal

BEST OVERALL: BIG SCOOTS

The award for best professional-grade web hosting goes to Big Scoots! They provide the fastest FREE migrations, offer super-fast VPS and managed WordPress hosting and A+ customer service. Worth every dollar.

Read the reviews

bluehost logo

CHEAPEST: BLUEHOST

On a tight budget, and don’t need much customer service? Bluehost is the cheapest option! They are known for having less than stellar customer service, but if budget is an issue, you will save money. Get it for just $2.95/month. 

Read the reviews

recommended web hosting wpengine

SUPER FAST: WP ENGINE

Another quality, professional-grade web hosting provider. When you sign up via this link you get 2 months of hosting free

Read the reviews.

Sale
Ring Light Kit
Always look camera-ready with this lighting kit
Sale
2TB Hard Drive
A hard drive is very important! Back everything up with a quality hard drive. This is the one I  recommend.
Sale
 BLUE YETI MIC
  • Custom three-capsule array: This professional USB mic produces clear, powerful, broadcast-quality sound for YouTube videos, Twitch game streaming, podcasting, Zoom meetings, music recording and more
Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera|2 Lens Kit with EF18-55mm + EF 75-300mm Lens, Black
  • Improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF and eye detection AF 24.1 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor with is 100–6400 (H: 12800)
Sale
Logitech Brio 4k Webcam
I use the Logitec Brio 4k webcam. It’s perfect for recording my summit interviews and course lessons in high definition.
Logitech Brio 4k Webcam
My favorite podcasting mic! I use this mic for everything.

The Best Tools & Resources For Creators

Fact: You’ll never get ahead as a blogger or business owner if you don’t have the right tools, systems and mentors.

Instead, use these awesome and tools to manage your time, store your digital files, and prep for a productive and profitable year.

Email Service Provider: ConvertKit

This tool is something I’ve had tucked away in my toolbox since the early days of my business.

I feel like I’m always shouting about ConvertKit from the rooftops, but that’s because it’s truly *that* good.

Looking for a platform to start your email list on? Or ready to upgrade from the free program you’re currently using (and not loving)?

Sign up for your first month of ConvertKit here. Oh, and here’s my handy Guide to ConvertKit!

Landing Page Builder: LeadPages

Once you’ve set up your email list, you’ll need a way to create professional, high-converting landing pages to get people to join your list.

Enter: LeadPages. With hundreds of templates to start from (literally, hundreds), the ability to create standalone signup pages AND pop-up boxes, plus an amazing support team, there’s nothing not to love about LeadPages.

Pricy? Sure. Worth it? 100%. Learn more about what you can do with LeadPages and start creating beautiful landing pages.

Stock Photography Membership: Haute Stock

I use the Haute Stock images to design all of my opt-in freebies and make them look as pretty as possible.

But really, I use these styled stock photos just about everywhere in my business – on my website, for my social media images, and in my emails + freebies. Become a member of the Haute Stock Library here (this is one purchase you definitely won’t regret). 

Social Media Automation: SmarteQueue

I’m all about automating my social media accounts. I like things to run seamlessly in the background while I’m off getting my “real work” done. SmarterQueue tool that helps me do just that.

SmarterQueue will put your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Page, and Facebook Group posting completely on autopilot.

It’s as easy as loading in your pre-written content for each platform, setting up a posting schedule within SmarterQueue, and then sitting back and letting it works its magic. Absolutely genius.

Here’s a post where I talk about SmarterQueue in a bit more detail.

Instagram Feed Planning: Planoly

Planoly allows you to schedule up to 30 posts per month on a free account, and you can even preview all of your scheduled posts together to see how everything will work once the images are in your Insta-grid.

Motivational Book: You Are A Badass At Making Money By Jen Sincero

Master the mindset of wealth with the help of the hilarious Jen Sincero. You will be surprised how many money breakthroughs you will experience while reading this.

I’ve read my copy 4 times over now, and I STILL discover a new ‘a ha!’ moment each time. Find out more here.

Organization, Files & Sheets: Google Drive

Google Drive is a free tool and a MUST! I store all my blog post drafts and stock photos in my Drive, I use it to organize videos for my ecourses, and I ask all of my guest posters to submit their posts to me as a Google Doc. Google Drive is a must, in my opinion. 

funnel hacking webinar - best blogging tools

“The Weird (Almost Backwards) Funnel Secret That Is Currently Being Used By An Underground Group Of Entrepreneurs To Sell Almost Anything You Can Dream Of!”

Education: CreativeLive

This is an amazing online resource packed with hundreds of free and premium courses on everything from photography, design, music, money, business and more. You can tune in to watch live classes for free, or sign up for on-demand workshops. Check out the classes here.

Bookkeeping: FreshBooks

The badass entrepreneur’s bible! It makes invoicing clients and keeping track of my accounting documents super easy. Every small business owner should use this, even if you are just starting out. Get a free trial here: FreshBooks Cloud Accounting

ECom: Shopify

Most eCommerce sites will take a cut off of each of your sales, which can become quite expensive, but Shopify doesn’t, you just pay a small set monthly subscription rate and then you can sell as much as you want and keep all of your money.

Affiliate Networks For Bloggers

Affiliate Programs Directory

Check out this list of high-paying affiliate programs for bloggers, organized by niche and updated regularly.

AWIN

Awin.com is a high paying affiliate marketing network. It costs just $5 to sign up (which you get back once approved), then you join affiliate programs, work with brands, and get paid. Big brands host their affiliate programs here.

ShareASale

ShareaSale – Once you are a member, you can join the affiliate programs of thousands of brands. They have a handy tool to build collections of products that you can then add to your website as well. > Read my guide on top high-paying affiliate programs here

What tools, courses, and resources are you loving in your business?

Any awesome tools I haven’t tried yet that I need to look into? Leave a comment and fill me in!

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6 Comments

  1. Sarah Muoio says:

    This is a great resource for all us bloggers who get overwhelmed with what we need to make our blog profitable. Definitely bookmarking this article! Thanks for the info!

    1. Thank you Sarah! I know it can get overwhelming… I was talking to some bloggers about ‘blogger burnout’ and it seems every blogger experiences it at some time. There really is so much to learn and do, its impossible to take it all on at once.

      If you are interested, we discuss blogger burnout, and what to do to avoid/solve it here: https://blogtips.com/blogger-burnout/

  2. jenna | the urben life says:

    Awesome list! SEMrush is definitely on my list. I’ll have to look more into HerPaperRoute Entrepreneur Resource Library 🙂 I just started using Tailwind and I LOVE IT!

  3. These are all fantastic resources! Very comprehensive post! Shared on Pinterest! Keep up the good work 🙂

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