Welcome to my blogging resources section. This is a curated list of the products, tools and companies that I’m using for this blog. You can quickly find great tools to grow a successful blog all in one place.

 

All the tools on this list have been verified or used by me personally and I strongly recommend them to others.

 

If I come across incredible resources that have helped me in managing and optimizing my blog, I will be adding to this list. Be sure to check back in often to see any latest addition that will benefit you.

 

Note: Some links are affiliate links which means that I earn if you sign-up using my link at no additional cost to you.

If you’re serious about blogging, eventually make money with your blog, you’ll need to get a self-hosted blog.

What does it mean to host a blog?

Instead of having your blogs on free domains like “.blogspot” or “.wordpress”, you should get your own domain name and hosting.

To have a better understanding, you can read this article on why you should be blogging with self-hosted wordpress.

Hostinger

MY #1 HOSTING COMPANY

Hostinger is not some new kid in the block. They have been in the hosting space since 2004 and expanded internationally from Kaunas, Lithuania. You can get extremely affordable hosting + free domain starts as low as $0.99/month.

Bluehost

Bluehost is another popular web hosting company. You can get a free domain and special discount by signing up under my link. Here’s a step-by-step guide on How to Start a Blog with Bluehost.

HostGator

ThinkMaverick is hosted on HostGator and I’m really satisfied with their services. I’ve been using HostGator since the very beginning of launching this website in 2011. Just recently, we’ve upgraded to Cloud hosting plan (faster speed) to cope with the growing audience.

For more information on how to Start a Blog, visit this article with all my tips.

Namecheap 

A domain name should be a reflection of your business name or what you’re doing. It’s your gateway to the online world. If you want to keep your domain and hosting separate, I would recommend using Namecheap.

Namecheap offers reasonably priced domains and 1 year’s free WHOIS protection. I got most of my domains with them.

BrandCrowd

Create your free logo AI with Brandcrowd’s logo maker.

Brandcrowd is a great tool for making professional logos online. Choose from a variety of templates and customize them with your own text, colors, and images. With Brandcrowd, you can create a custom logo that reflects your brand and stands out from the competition.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create your own unique logo with BrandCrowd AI.

Apphi

MY #1 INSTAGRAM SCHEDULING APP

Apphi is the most easy and efficient tool in scheduling my Instagram posts. I didn’t get to over 8,000 followers today on Instagram without any help. Automation is key. Apphi allows you plan your feed, create and bulk edit your posts, collaborate with your team, track your analytics, schedule and auto-publish directly to Instagram.

Sharpen your IG arsenal. Take Apphi for a Test Drive. It’s free and you can add unlimited Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to manage. If you want to have advanced features, it starts at $9/month. (Get 10% OFF here for a limited time)

Tailwind

MY#1 PINTEREST SCHEDULING TOOL

Tailwind is the best Pinterest marketing tool that allows you to bulk schedule pins for days, weeks, and even months in advance. It’ll help you pinning on Pinterest automatically. What you’ll need to do is set your pins once and they will take care of the rest. You can save your time focus on your core business. If you’re new, click here to claim your free 100 scheduled pins

Convertkit

#1 FOR BUILDING EMAIL LIST

ConvertKit is a simple and robust email marketing tool for authors, marketers and professional bloggers. I use ConvertKit for all my email marketing. It supports landing pages, email automation, content upgrades and more. For more details on building your email list, read this article. And, as a reader of this site, you can get a 100%  free forever plan with Convertkit too.

Constant Contact

#1 EMAIL MARKETING TOOL FOR NEW BLOGGERS

Constant Contact is the most easy-to-use, beginner-friendly and affordable email marketing service for new bloggers and small businesses. It allows you to easily manage your email lists, contacts, customizable email templates, marketing calendar, performance of your email campaigns and more, from one convenient dashboard. Sign-up using this special link to enjoy TWO Free months of Constant Contact. Learn how to use Constant Contact email marketing to grow your blog here.

SendinBlue

#1 FOR EMAIL MARKETING AND SMS MARKETING

Email, SMS, Facebook, Chat, CRM, and more, all-in-one platform to help you grow your business through building stronger customer relationships. SendinBlue makes it easy to connect with your customers via email marketing & SMS. Sign up for free and take a test drive.

Renting Things Out

Pick a thing you own, Get Paid To Rent It out…

FriendWithA is a peer to peer rental marketplace. Kind of like AirBnB, but for stuff. You can rent out pretty much everything for money, such as cameras, chairs, designer clothes, shoes, ladders, drones, tents, bikes, speakers, surfboards, books and many other things you can think of.

Try Listing your toaster for FREE today on FWA and tell me how it goes! Get Instant Property Coverage for stuff you love! Confirm bookings with a single click. Earn $10 after your 1st successful transaction.

Shareasale Affiliate program

Shareasale is definitely a great place to start while you figure out blogging and blog monetization. You can use it find products to promote and earn commission for each referral.

Everyone can join for free. Whether you’re a blogger, YouTuber or content creator, this is the right platform for you. For more information on how to make money with Shareasale, visit this article with all my tips.

Take Surveys for Cash

Survey Junkie is my favorite site for taking paid surveys. They pay you for each survey you complete. Surveys are among the easiest tasks you can find on the web that can simply offer you a chance to earn some pocket cash simply by answering questions. Survey junkie has a minimum payout of $10, and is primarily paid via Paypal but you can decide to earn Amazon Gift Cards from it as well.

3dcart

3dcart Shopping Cart has been in business since 1997. They pioneered as a hosted ecommerce solution and today continue as the top hosted Shopping Cart in the market. 3dcart is the all-in-one, #1 rated ecommerce service for selling products online with over 12,000 clients.

 

Anyone can quickly and easily create an online store to sell products online, process and ship orders, track inventory and completely customize the look and layout of their store in just a few minutes.

MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics Ecommerce tool. 

Its enhanced eCommerce addon gives you the stats that matter and the ability to understand your customers’ shopping behavior, so you can optimize your store and maximize your conversions. For more information on how to track your ecommerce sale, visit this article with all my tips.

Grammarly

Grammarly is my favorite writing tool. So far it’s the best online grammar and spell checker. It helps find & fix errors that even Microsoft Word can’t detect and improve the flow of your writing.

Currently, I’m using the FREE version and it works like a charm. I have it on my Chrome extension to actively proofread social media posts, blog posts, emails and more.

Free Stock Photos

 

Depositphotos

#1 FOR ROYALTY-FREE IMAGES

Depositphotos is my #1 site where I get most of my free stock photos for social media content and blog images.

There are over 1.2million free photos, vector graphic, illustration and videos to choose from. It’s FREE for both personal and commercial use, without any attribution.