My 7 Favorite Blogging Resources

 

I’ve been blogging for a few years now and for some reason I never thought to do a post like this.  You guys see the end result, but I wanted to share a few of the tools I use behind the scenes to keep things running.

 

PicMonkey & Canva – Both of these are web-based photo editing tools, kind of similar to Photoshop but easier to use in my opinion.  They have their pros and cons (mostly pros) but I wanted to share my uses for them with y’all.  I use Canva mainly for graphic designs and layouts.  It has tons for free and low-cost blog graphic designs, and often times the low cost ones become free if you swap out the paid elements (usually a stock photo).  You can go back and re-edit things on Canva, something you can’t do on PicMonkey, but their font choices are limited.  PicMonkey’s great when I want to start something from the ground up or if I want to use my own fonts.  Both of these are great tools and they offer so many great things for free.

 

Dropbox – I need to be able to access my files any and everywhere, both blog and personal.  I have everything organized in folders and I’m able to access them whether I’m on a computer, my phone or my iPad.  I can send out my resume and company profile at networking events or I can download a blog graphic I created on my computer and share it on various social media sites.  I pay for 1 TB of cloud storage and it’s more than enough for me…for now.

 

Adobe Color CC – I’m not sure if y’all were able to tell, but this blog’s gotten a bit of a face lift.  I’d been eyeing this theme for a while and when it went on sale on Etsy I scooped it up…at 80% off!!  I then went to Adobe Color CC, plugged in the HTML color codes for my blog and found complimentary colors that I’ll be using in blog graphics.  It’s not much to the site, but it’s quite helpful.

 

Hootsuite – I feel like I can’t give Hootsuite enough praise.  I can’t remember which blogger it was who told me about it, but a million thanks!  I love that I can schedule social media posts on three accounts for free and I can pay if I want to manage more accounts.  The three accounts are honestly enough for me; I have my personal Facebook account, my blog’s Facebook page and my Twitter account.  I’m able to compose a message on one screen and share it on all three accounts at the same time.  Talk about efficient.

 

OneNote – I know I’ve talked about OneNote before, but I feel like this is another program that you absolutely need!  I’ve heard bloggers mention Evernote, and that’s all well and good but I feel like it has nothing on OneNote and full integration into the Microsoft Office Suite.  Oh, and the best part is that it’s completely free!  No matter if you’ve paid for MS Office or not, you can download OneNote’s desktop, mobile or tablet version and use it on all of your devices completely free!

 

Stocksnap.io – Remember when I said that there are ways to get around paying for graphics on Canva?  Well this is how.  There are many sites and avenues to get free stock photos (it’s 2016 people, there’s no need to steal anyone’s photos if you’re not using your own).  What I love about Stocksnap.io is that you’re able to search keywords (ie: coffee or keyboard) and it’ll comb numerous stock photo sites for you.  Super convenient!

 

These blogging resources have seriously changed the game for me this past year and I was always taught to share the wealth.  I hope they help y’all like they’ve helped me.  Comment below or send me an email and let me know if I’m missing any of your favorites.