The Tools You Need To Make Money Blogging

I wish I would have had someone tell me EXACTLY what I needed to get started out with my blog. I went through a lot of trial and error, a lot!

And now you don’t have to go through the same trial and error I did because I’m telling you everything I use to earn money from my blog each month!

Some of these are my affiliate links.

The tools you need to make money blogging –the only ones I pay for:

• ConvertKit--I pay $29 a month for this email service that allows me to build my email list and email subscribers like you. I started out with MailChimp but I recommend switching to ConvertKit as soon as you can afford it.
• Crowdfire— This is about $10 per month and I use the app and the online service. I use Crowdfire to schedule my Twitter posts and set up tons of tweets that link to my Amazon affiliate links, making me money every single month. Most months, I use my Amazon affiliate income to pay for my ConvertKit. Crowdfire also allows you to grow your followers in a rather quick manner, I went from 200 followers on Twitter to over 10K currently.
• Boardbooster— You can start out with as little as $5 per month. Boardbooster pins all of your pins to Pinterest and to group boards. I grew faster on Pinterest with this service and I pay for the $10 per month plan.

Don’t freak out, ok? You don’t NEED these right now. These programs are SO worth it but are most useful after you’ve established your blog, written content and landed some paying jobs.

What you should focus on in your first month

• Writing content. Write posts that are 500+ words in length (good for SEO) and that are helpful to your readers. No one wants to read all about your day at Target or how you hate cleaning. But they do want to know “How to get the best deals at Target when you’re broke” or “How to keep your house clean and stop yourself from hating cleaning.” See, in the second titles you solved a problem for your readers. You’re valuable and they’ll keep on coming back!
• Learning. Ebooks like: How I Went From 17K to 350K+ Monthly Page Views in 9 Months and How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul
• Googling: I googled EVERYTHING and figured out how to set up my categories, my menu, make my own logo. Trust me, you CAN do this!

The extras…good to have but can wait for now

• Camera: I use the Sony A5100 and I absolutely recommend and love it. It has an app that uses wifi to send pictures directly from my camera to my phone, making it super easy to post on social media. I have no experience with cameras or photography and I get compliments all the time with the photos I take with my Sony A5100.
• Fotograf App: This is a free app on Itunes and has in-app purchases. I think I paid $5 for the in-app filters. I use this app to edit my photos quickly. And If I can make my Instagram pics look good (with no photography experience) you can too!

How to start making money–exactly how I’m making $$ each month

Sponsored posts

1. Social Fabric — I personally would not apply for this one until AFTER I was accepted into Linqia AND have done at least 1 sponsored posts with good, original photography (event if the photos are from your phone).
2. Linqia you need 2,500 followers to qualify for this one, don’t fret–read my Twitter post and see how you can get those followers fast!

Ad networks

I use Media.net for my ads. I reached the threshold of $100 during the holiday season and was paid about a month or so later. So yes, media.net really works and I earned money way faster than my google adsense account (which I no longer use).

Amazon Associates

This is the way I make money on Twitter! I link to several products I find on Amazon, when someone clicks on my link they are taken to the Amazon webpage and if they shop for ANYTHING within the next 24 hours I get the credit!

I also link to products within my blog and on facebook but Twitter is my favorite way to send out links because once they are scheduled with Crowdfire (see above) I don’t have to worry about them–passive income! And best of all with just a click I can reschedule the same link without having to type out the wording again or adding another picture.

Social Media Management

I work with a local company and do their social media posting. I felt confident taking on this role because I learned so much about social media during my first year of blogging! 

There you have it…everything I use to make money online. It’s possible and I make money every single month.

Blogging is not just about the money though..I love the connections. I’ve met very good friends, have had dinner and drinks at the fancy-shmancy places I would have never gone (for free!) and best of all went out of my comfort zone!

I’ve gotten emails from subscribers telling me how one of the posts in my positivity series helped them or a reader encouraging me when I wrote how I was going back to working full-time OUTSIDE of my home.

Blogging is a GAME-CHANGER for my budget, for my social life and for my mental well-being.

I honestly hopes this tool list helps you or motivates you to start a blog,  I promise it will be worth it if you stick to it.

Got questions? Leave ’em in the comments! 🙂

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