Due to COVID-19 and the resulting shelter-in-place orders around the world, many people are now working from home.

If they’re lucky, that is.

Others are left scrambling, trying to figure out how to make a living since they’ve been laid off from their jobs. Or trying to get a side hustle going to supplement their diminished income.

That’s why in today’s post, I’m going to discuss one of the best opportunities for those who want to survive in today’s freelance, work from home, social distancing, gig economy.

It’s something that anyone with a Wi-Fi connection can do. It costs very little to start up. And the potential for success is practically unlimited!

I’m talking about blogging.

(*Related article: 10 Ways to Make Money Blogging)

It’s 2020 and starting a blog has never been easier.

So, if you haven’t started a blog because you didn’t think you could do it or you thought it wasn’t “the right time”, think again.

Now is the perfect time to give it a go.

* This post contains affiliate links. I am a Bluehost, Thrive Themes, ConvertKit & Tailwind affiliate, meaning that if you click on a qualifying  link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission.  Please read the Disclaimer for more info.*

If I Can Do It, You Can Too!

Gone are the days in which one had to be some sort of technological wizard in order to build a website – if you’ve got drive, commitment, and a willingness to learn, you can do it.

I’ve been blogging for a year and a half now and boy have I learned a lot!

Related article: What You Can Learn from My First Year of Blogging

Before I started this blog, I had absolutely no prior relevant experience – in fact, I didn’t even know what a blog actually was.

I had zero coding, graphic design, or other technological skills, and no marketing or copywriting experience.

I didn’t know anyone in the blog-o-sphere. And I didn’t have any friends/family who would be willing to share my content or help me get my blog off the ground.

But in this short time, I’ve managed to go from 0 to 1.5 million monthly views on Pinterest and exponentially increase the traffic to my blog – which continues to go up each month.

So, I wanted to share my methods and tools with you in the hopes that they help you to achieve blogging success.

Here’s how I consistently get over 1 million monthly views on Pinterest – and you can too.

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(a regularly updated collection of free downloadable self-help content)

Also, you can get both your domain name and hosting through them, which I prefer because I think it’s easier to have as many services as possible through the same provider.

I save them to 10 of my relevant boards, spread out over the course of 2 weeks, along with other blogger’s pins that are relevant to my topics.

Pinterest has been the single biggest, most essential key to my blogging success. It drives the majority of my blog traffic and there really is a beautiful community of bloggers to connect with.

Pinterest not only drives free traffic to your site, but pins have a longer “shelf life” than other content like Facebook posts or Tweets.

You also have the potential for one of your pins to go viral right from the start, unlike other platforms where you must already have a significant following for any of your content to get any traction.

But the thing about Pinterest is that you have to post an average of 30 times a day for optimal results. And it’s difficult to figure out when exactly you should be posting.

Tailwind: The Most Powerful Tool for Pinterest &Blogging Success

That’s why I use Tailwind. Tailwind is an automated pin scheduler – you can save pins in a queue in advance and have them go out at their scheduled times.

It saves me from having to manually pin all day every day. I can save as many pins as I want to whatever boards I want for as far out as I want!

And the best part is that Tailwind tells you when your audience is most active -so you know exactly when you should be posting your content.

Share this & help someone else!

Starting a blog certainly seems like an attractive proposition!

Especially if you’re an introvert like me or you have social anxiety.

After all, you get to work from home (or anywhere in the world with Wifi). You get to be your own boss, set your own hours, and design your own days.

And there are also many other reasons to start a blog, including that it allows you to:

If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a while, then you’ve probably done the research.

You know that blogging is a unique opportunity that makes all these wonderful things possible!

But you may be questioning, “Should I start a blog?”, or “Am I really cut out to be a blogger?”

* This post contains affiliate links. I am a Bluehost, Thrive Themes, ConvertKit & Tailwind affiliate, meaning that if you click on a qualifying  link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission. 

3D Success, LLC. is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Please read the Disclaimer for more info.

You Don’t Need Any Special Experience, Education or Connections to Become A Successful Blogger

When I first started out, I had no idea what a blog even was. I had absolutely no prior experience and I was most definitely not tech savvy.

I also had zero social media followers and no connections in the blogosphere.

But, as with most things in life, these obstacles can be overcome with ingenuity and determination.

Don’t let lack of experience, connections or technical know-how hold you back from starting a blog if you really want to.

That would be like setting out on a road trip and then turning around the first time you hit a speed bump!

So, if you are struggling with writing or you’re feeling overwhelmed by the technical side of blogging and things like WordPress, themes, plug-ins, digital marketing, email automation, opt-ins, etc. like I was – just know that – in the words of Marie Forleo – everything is figure-out-able.

*Here are some blogging resources I use on my blog, many of which are free. *

Update: How I Get Over 1 Million Monthly Views on Pinterest

Is Your Blog Going to Be a Hobby or a Business?

If you are starting a blog as a hobby or otherwise personal endeavor, then you shouldn’t have any problems. You are free to write about what you want, how you want, when you want, as often as you want.

But, if you are planning to make money from your blog, know that there is a lot of hard work, dedication and perseverance involved.

You must treat blogging as your job and consistently keep at it for a while before you start raking in the dough.

So, is it worth it to you to invest all that time and energy? And are you ready for the challenge?

Blogging Isn’t for Everyone

Blogging certainly isn’t for everyone, including people who:

• Aren’t willing to work hard- Like almost anything worth having in life, blogging requires a lot of consistent hard work and discipline. If you think blogging is easy, think again.
• Are not self-motivated: Because you are your own boss, you must be driven and self-motivated. If you think blogging/working from home involves watching TV or being on social media all day, you probably won’t succeed.
• Don’t have the time/can’t be consistent: You’ve got to be consistent when it comes to your blog. If you are too busy to consistently create content and interact with your audience, blogging may not be for you – at least for right now.
• Expect instant success - It will most likely take some time for you to start making money from your blog. It doesn’t just happen overnight (despite what some “expert” bloggers would lead you to believe). If you are looking for to get rich quickly and without much effort, you will probably quit before making your blog a success.
• Are closed-minded - To make money blogging, you have to be open to feedback and new ideas. Successful bloggers are constantly learning and growing. If you are not open to criticism or you’re not willing to change, you will probably not reach the level of success you desire.
• Don’t like to write - If you hate writing, then you probably shouldn’t start a blog. However, there is always the possibility that you may grow to like writing as you practice and improve, so don’t give up on it right away. Vlogging is another option – have you thought about starting a YouTube channel? Video is continuing to grow in popularity – Forbes calls it “the future of content marketing”.  

On the other hand, you’d probably be a great blogger if at least a couple of the following statements describe you.

You:

Head over to the Freebie Library! 
(a regularly updated collection of free, downloadable self-help content)

Start Your Blog This Week

“You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.”- Benjamin Franklin

If you have even a few of these qualities and you’re willing to put in the work, I encourage you to start your blog today!

Just think where you could be one year from now.

I don’t know about you, but it always amazes me how quickly time seems to pass.

My first year of blogging went by so fast I can hardly believe it’s been that long!

It seems like just yesterday I was getting a domain, setting up hosting, and designing my blog. 

Pro tip: Get your domain, even if you don’t plan on writing a single blog post for the next few months.

Share this & help someone else!

Are You Ready to Start Blogging?

I hope you found this post useful and that you have more clarity on whether blogging is for you.

If it is, don’t waste any more time. Back your decision up with some action today.

Please leave a comment and let me know if you are going to start your blog – I’m here to help you and I am rooting for you all the way!

If you want to start a blog but you’re not sure what kind of blog you should start, take this short quiz to find out what type of blog best suits your personality and blogging goals.

Share this & help someone else!

Lessons from My First Year of Blogging

I can’t believe my first year of blogging has passed already!

I published this blog’s first articles on October 1, 2018 and now here we are one year later.

WOW. What a ride.

Blogging has been a fun, frustrating, challenging and rewarding experience … I certainly learned a whole lot, that’s for sure!

Which is great news for you because you get to learn from my “noob” blogging blunders (as well as my wins).

If you’re thinking about starting a blog in 2020, there are definitely some important matters to consider and some challenges you should be prepared for.

Here are some of the biggest lessons I learned during my first year blogging. May they help you on your way to blogging success!

* This post contains affiliate links. I am a Bluehost, Thrive Themes, ConvertKit & Tailwind affiliate, meaning that if you click on a qualifying  link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission. 

3D Success, LLC. is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Please read the Disclaimer for more info.

Beginner Blogger Tips

First, let me start off by saying that when I started this blog, I had absolutely no prior experience.

No coding skills, no marketing degree, no idea what a blog even was!

Everything I’ve managed to do is self-taught through research, trial and error and perseverance.

(And because of Thrive Architect - thank goodness for this indispensable tool!)

So, if you’ve been on the fence about starting a blog because you’re scared of the technical stuff just know that if I can do it, you can do it too.

It’s not easy but as they say, nothing worth having ever is.

Which brings me to my first year blogging lesson #1:

Blogging is Hard

The struggle is real, people.

Blogging is no joke.

I had done tons of research before starting this blog so I thought I had a pretty good idea of how much work it would be.

Well.

I was wrong.

It’s waaay more work than I anticipated.

Being a blogger is not just about writing blog posts and publishing them to your site.

At least not if you’re looking to make money blogging.

If you’re serious about making a side income or quitting your 9-5 to become a full time blogger, you gotta have skills!

Bloggers are Jacks of All Trades 

Some bloggers have another person – or whole teams of people even – to help them.

But, that’s just not financially feasible for most of us who are just starting out in the first year blogging.

So, if you’re a solo blogger team of one like me, you have to be a jack of all trades.

Here are some of the skills I’ve had to learn in order to create and maintain a successful blog thus far:

Managing all these roles at once, especially when starting from scratch, can be overwhelming.

And it can also be thankless – during your first year blogging, your audience is pretty small so you may not get much feedback, traffic, sales, etc.

… But, you still have to keep putting in all the work.

So, be prepared to wear many different hats and to work hard without any immediate significant gains.

That’s probably why 90% of bloggers give up before the one year mark (in fact, they usually quit after 2-3 months).

*If you've made it past this point, Congratulations, you are in the top 10%!*

Check out the Freebie Library! 
(a regularly updated collection of free, downloadable self-help content)

Blogging is Like a Roller Coaster

My first year blogging has been full of ups and downs.

There were times when I felt on top of the world – some of my blogging benchmarks include:

But, I also had a lot of struggles during this time. The biggest one has to do with something I still have to become more comfortable with –self-promotion.

Marketing is Essential During Your First Year Blogging (and beyond)

I managed to keep to my schedule of posting once a week on Mondays, but I sometimes fell behind on my marketing efforts.

Because traffic is fickle, this is definitely something I would point out to new bloggers.

It’s not enough to write your article and publish it. You must decide how you will go about marketing your post once it’s complete.

Or else, no one will even know it’s there! Do you know how many blog posts are published each day?!

I was astonished when I read that approximately 2.75 million blog posts are published per day on WordPress alone.

My marketing strategy thus far has included:

I’ve mainly focused on Pinterest because it operates as a search engine (much like Google), so you can rank for keywords and it drives free traffic.

Plus, I get to create graphics to go along with my posts which I discovered that I really love doing!

*Update: How I Get Over 1 Million Monthly Views on Pinterest

I just feel so comfortable with the platform now that I’ve been working with it for a while … but I know that I will need to branch out into what now accounts for 80% of all internet traffic –

Video.

Fast-growing and in-demand, video is the marketing medium of the future (and of the present!) After all, people watch an average of one billion hours of YouTube videos a day.

Which brings me to the next first year blogging lesson:

Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Some of the world’s most successful people have cited their ability to do what’s uncomfortable as the key to their success.

Feeling uncomfortable is a sign of opportunity.

Opportunity for triumph, for growth.

All personal development stems from a desire for change. Which is inherently uncomfortable for most people.

You’ve got to be able to step outside your comfort zone and persevere through those difficult times in order to succeed.

If you’re willing to do things that others are not, you’re at a huge advantage!

So, even though I get anxious and extremely uncomfortable at the thought of doing video, I am going to do it anyway.

Even though the thought of networking scares me, and even though I’d rather not develop a stronger presence on social media, I am going to do those things anyway.

Why? Because that’s what I need to do if I want to grow and be successful.

So, if you have been scared to start a blog, pursue your dream of becoming an entrepreneur – or really, if you’ve been scared to do anything because of:

… remember that if you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.

Here are 50 Motivational Quotes to Boost Your Confidence if you need some inspiration!

Be Open to Self-Improvement

Maybe it’s just because I’m in the personal development niche (I don’t think so), but I have grown so much as a person since I started blogging!

It’s not surprising to me because I’ve grown the most from challenging, scary experiences in my life.

Some of the most epic life lessons I learned in law school.

And while I was living abroad in The Hague getting my master’s degree, and while I was pretty much living off the grid doing seasonal work in Wyoming.

So, no wonder blogging promotes personal growth – it’s a huge undertaking, one that’s not for the faint of heart.

Your blog will become a huge part of your life. If you stick with it, it will be there through all of life’s highs and lows and it will be there as you change and grow as a person.

Be open to this growth and getting to know yourself on your blogging journey.

“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud --- the obstacles of life and its suffering. ... The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one.” - Goldie Hawn

Have a Strategy (or at least a rough game plan)

Some people just dive right in their first year blogging without a plan.

Not me. Because I had done a ton of research for months and months before I even decided to purchase a domain, I had (sort of) a strategy going in.

I knew I wanted to write long-form blog posts. They’re good for SEO, desired in the personal development niche, and just naturally my style.

I also knew I wanted to be consistent and keep my promises to my readers.

And I knew the topics I wanted to write about would revolve around stress & anxiety, personal growth and conquering fear/developing confidence.

But, I didn’t really have a solid game plan when it comes to monetization other than that I decided not to:

It’s important to note that although it’s wise to have a general strategy going in, you won’t be able to plan for/anticipate everything.

A lot of knowledge is gained through experience. Sometimes the only way to get to the right answer is to just get in there and get your hands dirty.

That’s why I accomplished my goal of creating my first e-book and getting it up for sale during this first year of blogging.

Learn by doing – see what works and what doesn’t. Change your strategy along the way.

But, whatever you do …

Start Before You’re Ready

Many high-achievers struggle with perfectionism.

When you’re focused on the details, it’s really easy to get distracted away from what’s truly important.

And as you try (in vain) to get everything “perfect”, time is passing.

Time that could be used to get the ball rolling.

In the words of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, “Done is better than perfect.”

Waiting too long may lead to it not happening at all!

You’ll probably never feel 100% ready anyway. And even if you did, it wouldn’t matter much because everything will change once you get in the trenches and can see how everything really works. 

If you’re having trouble taking that first step, try chunking your big goal down into manageable, bite-sized tasks that you can easily accomplish one at a time.

Wondering what goals to focus on during your first year blogging?

It depends on what you want to accomplish.

If you’re a hobby blogger, you don’t really need to have a strategy other than to write what you want to write.

Or if you became a blogger purely to spread your message and you’re not looking to monetize at all, then your focus may be slightly different (p.s. kudos to you, love that!)

But, if you are planning to (eventually) make money from your blog, then you may be wondering:

• How long before a blog becomes profitable?
• How much can you realistically make blogging?

Or you may have questions like:

• How do I succeed in blogging?
• How do you even earn money blogging?/How do beginner blogs make money?

Well, the short answer to all of those questions is it depends.

Niches like “finance” or “weight loss” are generally more lucrative than niches like “personal development” or “mental health”.

Depending on the size of your audience and their willingness to purchase what you’re selling, you may be able to make $10,000 a month blogging or you may not be able to make anything at all.

As for earning money from blogging, I actually had no idea that you could monetize a blog when I first started out!

But I’ve learned that blogging is unique in terms of its virtually limitless potential for financial success.

10 Ways to Make Money Blogging

Bloggers can make money in several ways. Here are some of the main ones I’ve come across:

• Ads: You can place either cost per click/pay per click (CPC/PPC) ads or cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) ads on your site. Google AdSense is a popular network for these ads. But, keep in mind that these ads can take away from the user experience and you may not make decent money until you have a really large audience.
  
• Affiliate Marketing: You can earn money by promoting others’ products. Programs like Amazon Associates allow you to get a commission whenever someone buys something you have listed on your blog. Some bloggers earn thousands of dollars a month on affiliate advertising alone.
  
• Book Deals/ Speaking Engagements: Having a successful blog means marketing and exposure. You may be approached with book deals or speaking engagements, which can be very profitable in addition to bolstering your reputation.
  
• Coaching/Consulting: If you are an expert in your niche, you may offer coaching or consulting services on your blog. Pricing varies greatly based on niche and experience; however, I’ve seen monthly coaching packages go for over $1,000.
  
• Courses: Once you have cultivated an audience and determined what their interests and needs are, you can create an online course (or many). Courses are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people turn to online learning. I’ve seen bloggers charge anywhere from $97 to $997 for courses.
  
• eBooks: Writing a book on a certain topic can allow you to grow your audience, especially if you offer it as a freebie in exchange for your audience’s email addresses. You can also sell eBooks on your website and they will help to enhance your reputation as an authority in your niche. I’ve seen eBooks go anywhere from free to $47.
  
• E-Commerce: You can sell physical products on your website as well. Depending on your niche, you can make some serious profits if you’re willing to take on the challenges of ordering, storing, packaging and mailing the physical products (or delegating those tasks to someone else).
  
• Freelance Writing: Although you can definitely land freelance writing gigs without a blog, it is way easier to land better, higher paying writing jobs with one. Be sure to put a Hire Me/Work with Me/Contact Me page on your site so recruiters know you are available and they can reach out to you.
  
• Membership sites: Once you have a loyal audience, depending on your niche, you may want to start a membership site, which allows you to collect a recurring monthly fee from each member. Monthly memberships typically range from about $30-$100. I’ve also seen lifetime memberships go for $500 and up.
• Sponsored posts: You can get paid to write reviews of products and services.  You may get contacted by advertisers or you can find and contact them yourself and make anywhere from $50 to $5,000 a post depending on your authority in your niche.

Examples of Blog Goals/ First Year Blog Goals

The cold hard truth is that you probably won’t see much of a profit during your first year blogging.

A lot of those blog posts you see about “How I Earned $100,000 in One Year Blogging” are actually written by bloggers who have been around for a long time.

They may have been only blogging for a year on that blog, but they’ve had like 10 other blogs before that and they started over a decade ago.

So, just be wary of these claims and be careful not to set your expectations too high your first year of blogging!

It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to that level of success with blogging, just like with anything else.

Remember that every expert was once a novice.

You probably won’t be able to master it all during your first year of blogging, but there are definitely some things you can do to set yourself up for success, for example:

Beware of Blogger Burnout

A lot of work goes into launching a blog.

Then, once you’ve got it launched, get ready to work even harder.

Because the more you accomplish, the more you have to do to maintain (and then surpass) your current accomplishments!

Many times, on this journey, I’ve found that as soon as I got a handle on one thing, I had to learn how to do another.

To be a successful blogger, you definitely need to be willing to learn.

Blogging is a continuous process of learning and implementation. Trial and error.

It’s a constant grind.

Because of this “never-ending” quality, bloggers can feel overwhelmed and eventually burn out.

I know I’ve been there!

Sometimes, it’s all just too much to handle. To prevent blogger burnout, be sure to take breaks when you need to – especially if you are highly sensitive like me.

Remember, your physical and mental health always come first. 

*Check out this post for self-care tips.  
23 Self-Care Tips for the Introvert/HSP/Empath

Over to you … what was the most important lesson you learned during your 1^st year blogging? Tell me in the comments!

Share this & help someone else!

When I first looked into blogging, I didn’t know anything about it.

I didn’t know:

• what a blog is
• how blogs work
• how people make money from blogs
• what it takes to get a blog up and running

I also had no technical experience with things like WordPress or coding and no marketing experience, internet or otherwise. 

Partly because there was so much to learn and partly because I was suffering from analysis paralysis, I researched and prepared for 11 months before starting my blog.

You definitely do NOT have to wait that long to start your blog! Especially since you can learn from my mistakes and capitalize on my research.  

I started my blog completely from scratch with ZERO experience and you can too (probably a lot faster).

Today, I’m going to share with you four essential tools that will lay the foundation for your blog and its success. I use all of them and highly recommend them for any newbie blogger.

* This post contains affiliate links. I am a Bluehost, Thrive Themes, ConvertKit & Tailwind affiliate, meaning that if you click on a qualifying  link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission.  Please read the Disclaimer for more info.*

 Check out the Freebie Library!
(a regularly updated collection of free, downloadable self-help content)

Domain & Hosting: Bluehost

Choosing a Domain Name

To start a blog, you will first need to come up with a domain name.

Advertising Disclosure: I am a Bluehost affiliate so if you click on the link below and make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Please see the Disclaimer for more information. 

You may want to consider naming your website after yourself, especially if you are in the personal development niche, because it’s good for branding and doesn’t pigeonhole you into one narrow topic. Consider popular personal development blogs like jamesclear.com, marieforleo.com and briantracy.com.

However, if your name is difficult to spell or pronounce (like mine!), you may not want to go that route. Instead, try to come up with something short and memorable that contains a keyword related to your niche. For example, 3dsuccess.org contains the keyword “success” and 3dsuccess is less than 10 characters.

It’s generally considered best to get a .com just because it’s the most recognizable but a .org is good too and might be worth the trade-off if the name you want on .com is taken. Just make sure there’s not already an active company with the name you want!

Web Hosting

Advertising Disclosure: I am a Bluehost affiliate so if you click on one of the links below and make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Please see the Disclaimer for more information. 

Theme: Thrive Themes

A theme determines how your blog will look (fonts, colors, content organization).

If you don’t know how to code or you don’t want to spend $2,000 + hiring a website designer, you will need to install a theme for your website.

Free vs. Paid Themes

There are both free and paid themes out there. If you are planning on making money from your blog, it is crucial to go with a premium theme. Premium themes have greater functionality and make your blog look professional. 

If you do decide to go with a free theme, choose one from the WordPress.org Themes directory. Other sources may be unreliable, so stick with WordPress themes to be safe.

But, keep in mind that free themes have limited features and support options. 

If you’re running a personal blog, a free theme would definitely be sufficient but if you are looking to run a business and make money blogging then a premium theme is definitely the way to go.

What Sets Thrive Themes Apart

I decided to go with Thrive Themes. Four things that really set them apart for me is that their themes are:

• Conversion-Focused: Their themes are designed specifically with blog marketing in mind. They are elegant, highly-customizable and most importantly – conversion-focused.
• Highly customizable: Fonts, colors, backgrounds and layouts can all be tweaked to your preferences easily so your site will look beautiful, professional and unique.
• Mobile-Responsive: All their themes are fully mobile responsive, which is super important given that approximately 65 percent of online content is consumed via smart phone.
• Lightweight and Speed-Optimized: Most people expect websites to load in two seconds or less and they won’t think twice about bouncing from your site if it takes longer than that. So, it’s absolutely essential that your blog loads quickly and is not bogged down with bloated code.

Thrive Themes Membership

When you become a Thrive Member, you get access to all their templates and their full suite of plugins. You get all the plug-ins they currently have and all the ones they will come out with in the future.

You also get constant updates, unlimited support and access to Thrive University, where they post marketing tutorials and webinars to help grow your blog. 

Thrive Themes Plug-Ins

Even if you don’t become a member, you can purchase each plugin separately. They’re all fully compatible with WordPress and will work even if you don’t have a Thrive Themes theme.

Here are some popular Thrive Themes plug-ins:

• Thrive Architect/Content Builder: Drag and drop WordPress editor and page builder (*If you can only get one thing, this is IT. As someone who has no idea how to code and absolutely no IT knowledge/experience, Thrive Architect has been a total life-saver!)
  

• Thrive Leads: Create all types of opt-in forms to increase conversions
• Thrive Ovation: Display testimonials
• Thrive Ultimatum: Display evergreen countdown timers for your product launches
• Thrive Headline Optimizer: A/B test headlines
• Thrive Quiz Builder: Make quizzes for your audience to take
• Thrive Optimize: A/B test landing pages

* A note about some other themes: I notice some bloggers are recommending the Genesis Framework by Studio Press. Be warned - if you do not know how to code, this theme will be too difficult for you to manage without hiring expensive website designers to help you.

Another commonly recommended theme is Avada. While it does have some nice features, it is a notoriously slow and bloated theme. It also has a back-end page builder which doesn’t allow you to see changes as you are making them. This can take you waaay longer to build your website than with a visual page builder like Thrive Architect.

Email Marketing: ConvertKit

Advertising Disclosure: I am a ConvertKit affiliate so if you click on the link below and make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Please see the Disclaimer for more information. 

Your Email List is Your Most Valuable Business Asset

I'm sure you've heard this before - you need to start growing your email list from the beginning.

Email marketing outperforms all other types of marketing time and time again. That means, if you are planning on selling anything on your blog, your email list will be your most valuable asset.

Google and Facebook algorithms are changing all the time and you never know how that will affect your traffic. LittleThings, a company that built a huge following on Facebook, was forced to shut down when their profits plummeted because of an algorithm change that cost them 75% of their organic traffic.

When you have an email list, you don’t have to worry about losing all your profits because of an algorithm change. You can reach your audience without relying on someone else’s platform.

Even if you are not selling anything yet, your email list will help increase traffic to your blog as you notify subscribers of your new posts.

But, personally sending an email to each person that subscribes and keeping track of your subscribers’ activity would be extremely difficult to manage, especially as your list grows.

Professional email marketing services allow you to prepare your emails in advance and have them automatically sent out to your email list on scheduled dates and times you select.

ConvertKit Was Built For Bloggers, By Bloggers

I used ConvertKit and highly recommend it to anyone serious about starting a profitable blog.

Before creating ConvertKit, founder Nathan Barry was a successful blogger. The company was built with bloggers' specific needs in mind and that's one of the reasons it's unparalleled.

Email List Segmentation

With ConvertKit, your email list can be segmented according to their interests. So, you can send different emails to those who signed up because of their interest in Topic A than those who signed up because of their interest in Topic B.

No Duplicate Emails

Let’s say someone signs up for more than one opt-in offer. You don’t have to worry about them receiving duplicate emails (for example, your welcome email) – ConvertKit takes care of all that for you automatically.

Or let’s say someone buys your product in the middle of your email sequence. You don’t have to worry about them receiving the rest of your sales pitch emails (cringe!)– ConvertKit takes care of that for you too.

A/B Testing

You can also run A/B tests to see which content or offers work best by sending one to half of your email list and one to the other half.

Analytics & Reporting

Yet another benefit of ConvertKit is that you get access to subscriber analytics and reporting tools. This allows you to see where your subscribers are located, whether they opened your emails and whether they clicked on any of your links – priceless information!

Plus, ConvertKit’s plain text emails help you to avoid spam filters so your emails actually make it to your subscribers’ inboxes. And they will automatically resend unopened emails, which means higher open rates and more sales.

*Be careful if you decide to go with a free email marketing service like MailChimp. They do not allow affiliate marketing in their emails! This is a huge downside, especially for new bloggers who make most of their income through affiliate advertising.

Like Bluehost, ConvertKit has excellent customer service and they also provide live trainings, workshops and open office hours. And right now it’s only $29 a month for your first 1,000 subscribers. 

Try it for free!

Social Media Marketing: Pinterest/Tailwind

Advertising Disclosure: I am a Tailwind affiliate so if you click on the link below and make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Please see the Disclaimer for more information. 

Now more than ever, social media marketing is SUPER important for your blog/business.

There are many social media platforms on which to promote your blog including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Pinterest is the Best Social Marketing Tool

Pinterest is the best social marketing tool because:

• It drives FREE traffic to your site
• Pins have a longer “life” than posts on other platforms such as Facebook, meaning you get consistent traffic to your posts over time
• Pins have the potential to go viral, which can drive huge amounts of traffic to your site
• Most people on Pinterest are high-income earners and use Pinterest to plan for purchases

Tailwind, an automated pin scheduler for Pinterest, helps you to post at a good frequency and at the times when your audience is most active. I love being able to schedule my pins in advance - as opposed to manually pinning 30+ times a day!

*Update April 2020: How I Get Over 1 Million Monthly Views on Pinterest

Also, Tailwind Tribes helps to get your pins in front of other people’s audiences (which is especially helpful in the beginning, when you don’t have many followers of your own). 

When you join Tailwind, you get 30 pins a month that you can add to up to 5 Tailwind Tribes.

Click here to try it for free. 

So, my top 4 Must-Have Tools for New Bloggers are:

-BlueHost
-Thrive Themes
-ConvertKit and
-Pinterest/Tailwind. 

These tools are absolutely vital to starting and growing your blog. They were extremely helpful to me and I hope they are to you as well!

Over to you – Any tools or resources that you love & recommend that I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments!

*Update 10/1/19: It's been a year since I launched this blog! Check out this post for lessons learned in my first year of blogging - What You Can Learn From My First Year Blogging.*

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