Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you use the link and sign-up for a product or service, I may receive something in return. I only recommend products/services that I personally use and love.
If you are just starting out or planning to start your blog soon, you might be wondering what tools are really necessary and how much they cost. If this is you, you are in the right place, this post will break it down for you! There is a plethora of information out there outlining how to make a wildly successful blog. Many of these are targeting aspiring entrepreneurs that involve low to no upfront costs or expense. Although it is possible to start a blog for literally nothing, if you want it to be successful or make money blogging, it is not very good advice. Like any business, you need to take some risks and make some investments when you are first getting started. The dark side of getting started is it is not easy, there are a lot of technical aspects to building a website, marketing skills that need to be learned, and all the specifics about how to get traffic, be seen on the internet, and produce content that serves your target audience. There are many times when I got super frustrated and nearly quit when trying to build my blog without good training and lots of wonderful tools, I probably would’ve! Finding the tools I needed didn’t come easy either. I searched high and low for information, I signed up for every free trial I could get, and then I finally arrived at all the tools the masters use to build their blogging empires. I am going to save you countless hours and share those secrets with my wonderful readers in this post.
Training
Start here. I don’t recommend trying to start a blog without some training. It is difficult, technical, and ever changing. Get some help from a quality mentor or training program. You will not regret it! When I say quality, I mean that. There are a lot of options out there, some are amazing, and others are totally worthless. I really recommend The Business Lounge. It has been a god send for me. This is a membership site for online businesses that pretty much covers all the topics you can dream up. All the training is on-demand and there are Q&A sessions and private groups where help is at your fingertips pretty much 24/7. Many a successful online entrepreneur has blossomed while being a member of The Business Lounge. It is also a reasonable expense. For all the content, community, and access to the admins the cost is a steal. You can get a 7 day trial for $1 if you use my link here. A typical membership costs $99/month at the time of this post. I got a membership during a promo period and only pay $49/month it is an insane value. You can also get the deal at $49/month if you use this link.
Email Marketing
Everyone is saying this and it is true, you NEED an email list. It is your best business asset. Start from day one. Start before you even have a website!! You can do this easily with ConvertKit. They offer a free 14 day trial, so check it out. At the time of this post, the cost for a monthly plan is $29. With all the extras you get and now the addition of landing pages, that is really a good price. Once special feature of ConvertKit is it only counts a subscriber once regardless of how many of your lists they subscribe to. Though other email marketing platforms are slightly cheaper, you end up paying more if your subscribers are engaged and are on multiple lists. You pay for every list they are on as if they were a completely different person, not cool. It is the most highly recommended email marketing platform for bloggers and built with them in mind. They also added an AMAZING feature that helps you get started before you build your website. So don’t let WordPress slow you down! You can get started by using Landing Pages that ConvertKit has built in. Essentially, it is a free website you can send traffic to capture leads. This is great for those who are starting, but haven’t perfected their website or need a bit more time. Landing pages are typically used as a way to focus a reader’s attention, and get them to take action on the content they are reading. Take advantage of this great feature here.
Self-Hosted Website
Obviously you need a place to publish your content, so a website is a must. The best decision you can ever make is to be self-hosted from the start. Your options are extremely limited if you blog on free platforms and you don’t own your website! When considering your options for hosting, also consider that WordPress is king. If you are a newbie and not sure how all this works it is important to choose a user friendly service with great support and intuitive platform. I have used several other hosts, and I finally found one I love. That company is Bluehost. You can get your blog online for just a few dollars a month. At the time of this post, the lowest price is $3.95/month. You get a secure website, with a one-click WordPress install and a FREE domain name which is a great deal. I also have a premium WordPress theme that saved my life and made it possible for me to build my website. I use Elegant Themes and specifically the Divi theme. At the time of this post, the cost is $89/year or a one-time purchase of $250. This theme allows me to build the web pages visually so you can build exactly what your visitors will be seeing. This is so much better than coding and putting information in on the back end and hoping it shows up correctly when you are all done.
Social Media Management Tools
In this category, I have a few recommendations and for different reasons. First off, I use CoSchedule to house all my information about blog posts. I create my content calendar and social campaigns in CoSchedule and get the job done! I manage my Facebook and Instagram from CoSchedule as well. There are endless ways to use it, and it is pretty easy for new beginners too. The monthly cost is $40 but if you join their referral program, you can get a 50% discount. Sign up here if you are interested. You can easily see gaps in your posts and social plans, and get them filled in. I love it and think you will too. If you are interested read my in-depth post on CoSchedule here.
Secondly, I use Tailwind because Pinterest is king for blog traffic and Tailwind saves me HOURS of time and really makes filling up my Pinterest boards a snap. Tailwind also has some built in traffic generators called Tribes. You can share your content and others in the tribe pin it to their boards. This is free marketing and exposure! Basically, the golden rule is share more than you submit your own content to the tribe. Pretty simple, huh? I’m a relatively new blogger, and most of my traffic comes from Pinterest, so don’t overlook this awesome platform and start streamlining your posts today. Tailwind costs $14.99 per month per social account you are managing. Currently, they support Pinterest and Instagram. I only use it for Pinterest and definitely get a great return on investment.
Legal Protections
This is something that is so very important and so often overlooked. Get legal with your website! You need a good Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and if you are an Affiliate a Earnings Disclosure among other things. These statements are legal jargon, it is easy to make a hot mess of it or toil over it for hours getting no where. Jade and Oak is where it is at because you can buy legal templates you need at a pretty affordable cost. It is one-time investment that you will be glad you made. Prices at the time of this post vary, but the average is about $99/per template. Check out the templates available for purchase here.
Productivity Tools
In order to stay organized, I use Trello which is a pretty cool electronic productivity platform. It is FREE to use and really is a life saver. I plan all my ideas, and keep all kinds of details and checklists in Trello both business related and personal! There is a paid version of Trello, but I don’t currently use it. If you use the paid version you get a few extra features, but I haven’t found that necessary yet. You can also get free months of the “plus” plan if you refer others to Trello.
Canva is also a free tool that allows me to design all my graphics, Pinterest pins, website banners, freebies, you name it. Also FREE to use!! There is a paid version, which I do use. It is just under $10/month. It allows me to create my own brand kit (the colors, fonts, etc.) that I use to distinguish my brand. You can customize these brand features and create time saving templates. Start with free and if you feel the need to upgrade, do it once you have learned the ropes.
Those are my very basic must haves. You can do the math and add up what your blog costs per month based on which tools you ultimately decide to use. However, my blog costs me just under $100/month which for business overhead is insanely low! I hope this post was helpful, leave a comment and let me know if you are using or plan to use any of these awesome tools. There are other considerations when starting a business, so be sure to grab my freebie below for more helpful tips.
This is a nice list. I like that you added up the monthly total at the end of the post. $100 a month really is a low overhead
Thanks Roshanda! It has been awesome getting to know you and what you do on your blog. Keep in touch 🙂