Inexpensive, easy-to-use, and mostly freemium

Blogging tools are something that I get a lot of questions about because most people are like me: trying to figure out how to somehow manage to do the work of an entire team every day. The truth is, blogging tools are what allow me also to have time for other aspects of my life, like:

• Spend time with my significant other, my family, and my friends
• Have occasional travel adventures to other cities and countries
• Train for running events in my city and across the province

Tools I use

So, my secret? Automation. Lots and lots of automation. In fact, these tools are my 24/7 secretary. And I depend on the quality of my tools.

No matter what – if you are running a small business, you likely know the feeling of being extremely overwhelmed. In fact, there are lots of ways to improve your productivity, and if that feeling of managing way too much is too familiar, you’re in the right place!

Here are the tools I use every day. They are easy to use, inexpensive, and most have freemium versions. And being productive will leave you time for the fun in your life.

Click to read about the types of tools I use every day.

NOTE: Some links are affiliate and referral-based, which means that I receive a sales commission or some other benefit when you sign up or purchase. However, I only select tools that I find helpful and would recommend to friends and family as well. This is at no extra cost to you. In fact, when you sign up with a referral link you directly supporting my writing. So, thanks!

Blogging Platforms

WordPress

If you want to start a blog that:

• You don’t have to be a computer genius to set up.
• Many of the most popular social media and SEO tools and email marketing apps are extremely compatible with.
• You can set up in a short period of time.

Then this is the perfect choice for your business. In fact, this platform is the platform of choice for most of my clients and for that exact reason!

WordPress.com is free, but you can upgrade to the paid plan, which gives you access to maximum security, a custom domain, and WordPress’s plugins for as low as $5 US.

And if you decide to go with WordPress…

Jetpack

Jetpack is a WordPress.com blogging tool that offers:

• Site monitoring, so that when your site is down, and when it has started working again, you’ll always know right away.
• Security and backups, so that your site doesn’t have to worry about spammy comments or hackers.
• Related post and publicize tools to encourage your readers to share your posts, and keep on reading.

This tool has saved my ass on multiple occasions.

For instance, on Christmas eve 2016, my site crashed and Jetpack instantly created a backup version of both my homepage and the rest of my blog!

If it hadn’t done that, then I would have lost seven years worth of work.

Weebly & Blogger

As someone who’s been actively blogging since 2009, I’ve had the opportunity to create blog content for a wide variety of blogging platforms.

So if you want a WordPress alternative, I can definitely offer some suggestions:

• Weebly: a click and drag website creation interface that allows you to set up a website with a custom domain for as low as $8 US per year, and the first year of your web domain is free.
  • Weebly has a wide variety of themes and click-and-drag widgets to choose from, and even the most technophobic person can figure it out (if my dad, who is terrible at technology can figure it out, you can too).
• Blogger: My first ever blog was Blogger-based, which is why, in my opinion, it’s a good choice for beginners that want an option that doesn’t require design savvy or much in the ways of a budget to set up.

Bluehost

What about hosting platforms, you ask? I personally recommend Bluehost.

Bluehost allows users to install popular platforms such as WordPress and Weebly quickly and inexpensively. In addition to that, it also offers awesome 24/7 support via chat. 

That, my friends, is also why WordPress has been recommending Bluehost to its users since 2005.

Content Marketing Automation

CoSchedule

CoSchedule is an important part of my blog content marketing strategy and by far one of my most useful blogging tools because it helps me maximize the reach of the posts I publish on a weekly basis.

Whenever I schedule a new post on WordPress, all I have to do is:

• Customize the social media messages for the scheduled times for me to tweet, share, and pin a message relating to my posts.
• Indicate that I want to publish messages on the day the content is published, the day after the content is published, and a month after the content is published, at the best possible time.
• “Requeue” posts that I want to recycle and reshare for an unlimited amount of time.
  And then the best time is determined based on an algorithm of when most of my followers log into their social media platform of choice.

This allows me to publicize my posts strategically, and schedule my latest post at times that work for my social media followers. If they miss one of the posts, they can always catch the one that shows up at a different time and day.

I also find this tool useful for promoting the services and packages that I offer on my website, via an automated social media marketing campaign.

Buffer

Buffer helps grow my social media following, by keeping a constant flow of marketing and entrepreneurial tips going in my content queue. That’s exactly why it’s one of my most important blogging tools as well.

The best part of Buffer is that whenever I read a marketing-related article that I find helpful, I can:

• Add my thoughts on the article I just read to my content queue.
• Allow Buffer to do the work of scheduling it at a time that works for my followers.
• Just like CoSchedule, Buffer has an algorithm for determining when the best time to schedule content actually is – and yes, it actually works!

All I have to do is be signed into my account, and then all I have to do is click on the Buffer chrome plugin. Then I can quickly and easily allow me to customize a message about anything I’m reading online.

Zapier

Zapier is an essential time-saving, content automation tool for every part of your biz. It’s perfect for everything from thank you emails to new subscribers and customers, to social media messages about your latest blog posts.

IFTTT

The perfect companion for Zapier, because every content automation tool that’s not available on Zapier, is often available via IFTTT.

Productivity and Project Management

Trello

Trello is my accountability partner because it allows me to compile a time-sensitive, colour-coded list to keep marketing strategy, business, and client projects going.

I love Trello. Since I started using it, I have my time planned out, and find that I actually finish all the things that I need to do, but that I might not have remembered to do.

Evernote

*Updated 2018*: Just started using this tool to keep all my blog ideas, research, meetings, and etc, in one place. Basically, it’s a note-taking online interface that keeps all your information safe, and easily accessible from your laptop and phone.

Calendly

Anyone who has ever collaborated with me on a project has started off by scheduling a call on Calendly. And the best part of it is the fact that its interface resembles what you’d see on a receptionist’s computer terminal when scheduling an appointment at a doctor’s office.

In other words, it’s super easy to use, because all you have to do is select a day and time, and type in your info. 

Email Essentials

G-Suite

(G-Mail & Google Affiliated products)

G-suite powers everything from the emails that I send and receive, through my rosemaryrichings.com email address, to Google classics such as:

• Google Hangouts
• Google Docs
• And Google Calendar

All these tools are an essential part of how I keep myself organized, run my blog and biz, and how I communicate with my clients.

Aweber

A useful email marketing tool for bloggers and content marketers.

Because it has an easy to set up RSS template, which notifies readers every time you publish a new post.

It’s a straight-forward interface overall and takes very little time to set up and master.

So…out of all the email marketing platforms, it’s one of the best blogging tools for businesses with a large following.

MailChimp

MailChimp is a cheaper alternative to Aweber that allows you to automate your entire email marketing funnel sequence.

It’s the perfect choice for businesses with a small, niche subscriber list.

MailMunch

MailMunch is a useful platform for building email marketing lists, via non-annoying, customized popups.

You decide when you want the popups to show up on screen, and customize the design, text, etc, and Mailmunch will automatically add subscribers to your email marketing platform of your choice.

Boomerang

If you do any marketing via email whatsoever, and you use Gmail this app will send follow-up reminders your way, to remind you to follow-up with prospective customers.

Or you can simply write an email, and schedule it at some other time or day.

Editing Apps

Grammarly

This app is the built-in proofreading tool of choice for my blog, all my emails, and my client projects. I use it primarily to double-check everything from typos to some of my most common errors, such as way too many commas.

Hemingway App

Simplification is part of web content writing. Hemingway helps me simplify and add power to the words I write, through checking stuff like passive voice, and the length/ how easy to read a sentence is.

Photo Editing

Canva

Out of all the blogging tools that are out there, this is the tool of choice for feature image graphics.

BeFunky

BeFunky is a collage maker, photo editor, and design tool that is definitely my tool of choice for all my social media graphics.

PicMonkey

Your photo on awesome juice. Not even kidding! One of my personal fave tools for editing photos, because it’s a user-friendly interface that takes very little practice to figure out.