Resources

Below are a list of resources that will help you on your blogging or startup journey. I’ll refer to these items throughout my blog posts – all are tried and tested by moi.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. Everything listed below I have used, recommend & trust.

Blogging

  • WordPress: Only the world’s most awesome blogging platform. Yes this blog is built on WordPress. Yes you should build your blog on WordPress. Stop thinking about it and go do it! (here’s a guide how to get started)
  • Woothemes: My premium theme provider of choice. This blog is built on Wootheme Fresh Theme and I’ve also used Woothemes for many more sites.
  • Thesis theme: A framework for designing your own theme. Bit more advanced than a straight forward theme (like Woothemes) – this is what I’ll upgrade to when I have the time. Haven’t used it myself yet but heard only good things

Hosting and Domains

  • Dreamhost: What I’ve used from day 1 & have never experienced any downtime – unlimited domains & space. One click WordPress installs make it almost too easy to launch a blog. I buy my .com domains here too.

 SEO Stuff

Email Subscriptions/Marketing

  • Aweber: What I use – tailor made for blogging and content marketing. Seriously straight forward to embedding into your blog (see mine on the right of this post)
  • Mailchimp: A top quality email service for bloggers
  • Appsumo: Seriously – I can’t stop buying stuff from these guys. It’s all just too frickin good!! They’ve some great free resources too – check them out
  • Udemy: Tons of great online courses to learn how to do cool stuff.
  • Affiliate marketing for beginners: The very first online course I bought/.took (I’ve done many since then) – very basic but everything a beginner needs to know about how to get started with a blog and earn your first $$ (note: the setting up bit is easy, the $$ is harder)

Outsourcing and Productivity

  • 99designs: A great company for your blog logo design as well as web design in general
  • odesk: Comprehensive and kick-ass! For me this is number 1 in outsourcing