Written on July 29th, 2010 at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
5 Tools I Am Willing to Pay for [And Recommend] to Improve My Blogs
One of the great things about blogging is that it is very accessible to anyone with internet access. There are some fantastic tools around that are completely free that mean you can have a blog up and running within minutes of deciding to start a blog.
Free tools range from hosted blog platforms like WordPress.com and Blogger through to a myriad of plugins and themes around the web that can make blogging a breeze.
Of course while there are many many free options out there, sometimes to take your blog to the next level there can come a time when you need to spend a few dollars. I bit the bullet early in my blogging and did this first by paying for my own hosting and moving from Blogger to Movable Type (and later to WordPress.org). I also paid fairly early on for a custom design.
These days I continue to have a variety of expenses including hosting, design, paying a small team of writers (on dPS), paying for some admin support and some development costs.
There are also a number of paid tools that have become indispensable for me which I’d like to feature today. While there are free alternatives to some of them, I’ve found them to be of a standard that I’m more than happy to pay for.
1. Aweber
Perhaps the single most important decision that I’ve made in the last few years of blogging was to add newsletters to my blogs (particularly my photography blog).
I’ve outlined how I use newsletters to drive significant traffic and make money and have written previously Why I use Aweber so won’t rehash it all again – but this is a tool I’m more than happy to have invested in as it easily pays for itself and has been a key part of growing my blogs over the last 4 years many times over.
2. Ustream Producer Pro
This is the latest tool that I’ve invested in. It wasn’t particularly cheap at $199 but enables me to take my video streaming sessions up a notch and do things like have more than one camera angle, do live screen capturing, add a logo to my ustream sessions, import movies and audio into them, have extra transitions, do picture in picture etc.
Some of this is in the free version and you might find you don’t need to upgrade unless you want a few more bells and whistles.
3. MindNode Pro
I’m a big fan of mind mapping. I used to do it without having a name for it on whiteboards and note pads but when I saw online tools that could help me with it I was in heaven. I’ve tried a lot of the Mac based tools (both free and paid) and the one that suits my workflow best is MindNode.
Their free version is brilliant and you might not even need to upgrade but I’m willing to pay for the Pro version simply because it adds the ability to fold down sections of your mind map and do things like add images to it.
4. Market Samurai
I’ve not ever really paid money for SEO before until I came across the Market Samurai tool but it’s excellent. I may not use it quite to its fullest potential (yet) but have touched on how I find it useful for choosing a niche to blog about as well as optimizing a single post on your blog for search engines.
The cool thing is that they have a free trial of the tool which will give you access to its great features to try before you buy – you might find that that’s all you need to do some research and get your blog optimised pretty well.
5. Screenflow
This is a mac only tool which allows users to do great screencasting. I’ve used it more for private resources that I’ve developed for a couple of companies in consulting but it is a very cool way to show what’s on your screen in video as well as insert a view from a camera. A few videos I’ve made with it include -
- How Leaving Comments on Blogs Can Drive Traffic to Yours
- How I Use Social Media to Promote my blogs
- How to Use Google’s Wonder Wheel to find topics to Write about
Note: I am an affiliate for Market Samurai and Aweber but am both a user and a fan of both.
76 Responses to “5 Tools I Am Willing to Pay for [And Recommend] to Improve My Blogs” - Add Yours
john
July 29th, 2010 12:59 am
These are great! I use Aweber and just started using Market Samurai. It is fantastic and couldn’t imagine life without it now
Thanks for the post!
Andrew @ Blogging Guide
July 29th, 2010 12:59 am
Got to say, Market Samurai is one the my best blogging investments…great value for money.
Andrew
Nabeel | Create Your First Website
July 29th, 2010 1:01 am
Hi Darenn,
Thanks for sharing your 5 tools.
I also use Aweber, and I think it is the best auto responder in the market.
I have not used Market Samurai yet, but have heard great reviews about it.
First time I ever heard about MindNode Pro.
Kindest,
Nabeel
Josh Garcia
July 29th, 2010 1:03 am
Hey Darren,
You mentioned some great tools here. Now, I’m going to look into Market Samurai. I’ve seen others and I wasn’t impress with the results.
Chat with you later…
Josh
Arvind Devalia
July 29th, 2010 1:04 am
Thanks Darren for a timely post, as I continue to improve my blog and my web presence.
I have just switched from ShoppingCart to Aweber after your earlier recommendation – and I am so glad I did.
Now just off to check out the other 4 resources you mention.
I am using MyScribeSeo for optimising my blogs for seo but maybe Market Samurai is just as good or even better.
I wonder how others have found MyScribeSeo versus Market Samurai?,
Jean Sarauer
July 29th, 2010 1:07 am
I love Aweber. The training that’s available (for free!) is astounding to me. I’ve barely scratched the surface of their educational offerings, but I’ve really impressed with the quality. I thought I was just signing up for something that would make it easier for me to build and manage an email list, so all of this information and user support is a delightful bonus!
Steve @Erraticblog
July 29th, 2010 1:10 am
MindNode looks really cool, but I’m not on a Mac :-(
Andy Fogarty
July 29th, 2010 1:11 am
I don’t know how I ever got along before finding mind mapping. Definitely a “must have” for me.
I use Camtasia for mac. I was just about to get Screenflow when Camtasia released it’s mac version. I believe they cost about the same.
I’d love to see more posts like this around the interwebs. It’s always interesting to see which tools most folks couldn’t live without.
Ana
July 29th, 2010 1:12 am
Thanks for the tips Darren! I’m still relatively new to blogging, but I think it’s really important to know what lies in the road ahead of me.
I really want to take my blog to the next level, but for now I guess I better concentrate in developing my skills.
Baby Wholesale
July 29th, 2010 1:25 am
I currently use Market Samurai. I have a free trial for almost 70 more days because I am doing “The Challenge”. Great tool! I didn’t know a lot about SEO, but I do now. It has helped me a lot.
Dev - Technshare.com
July 29th, 2010 1:33 am
Hey Darren,
Great tools. You’ve mentioned some great tools.
Market Samurai is one of the awesome tool.
Thanks for sharing this great Post.
~Dev
James
July 29th, 2010 1:43 am
I don’t think there is any way to get around paying for a mailing list like Aweber. It’s one of those cases where free just doesn’t work.
For your other suggestions, they make sense. I’ve used free tools for most of those uses and some simply don’t match up to the paid tools. For those on a budget, free tools can be effective but there is usually a trade off in time or quality.
Corey Heller
July 29th, 2010 1:50 am
Thank you for this list! I appreciate that you kept it short, tight and focused. Easy to assess whether the tools are even something I am interested in and if so, then I know they are worth the time to investigate further.
I’m excited that Upstream Producer has a free version that I can play with to see if it is something for me (and good to know that the Pro version is worth it). I like the idea of the additional camera angle with pro!
And Market Samurai looks good – I’m definitely going to try out the free trial (gotta love those free trials!).
Trying to figure out which tools are worth purchasing (or even just downloading for free!) is tough and so very time consuming. Thank you a bunch for helping us out!
axel g
July 29th, 2010 2:05 am
Thanks for the list Darren!
The Market Samurai looks great…
I downloaded an amazing add-on to Firefox about a week ago.
It’s called LinkChecker and it’s absolutely wonderful!
Tess@e-EdgeMarketing
July 29th, 2010 2:22 am
Hey Darren,
Love your posts!! ;)
I use Market Samurai all the time and love it! as well as Aweber…love the other suggestions! that mind node is the BEST mind map software I have ever seen! COOL!!!
thanks much!!
Tess@e-Edge
Keith Lutz
July 29th, 2010 2:24 am
Wow, I really appreciate the list. I was thinking of going with a different newsletter/e-mail distributor, but it looks like I need to check out Aweber.
Arijit Das
July 29th, 2010 2:36 am
Darren,
Awesome Lists of Helpful tools….
According to me, Screenflow is best for creating video tutorial channel & Market Samurai is best for blogging investments…
Arijit Das
ExtraIncomeDaily.com
July 29th, 2010 2:50 am
I really like Market Samurai. It has so many features and the developers keep adding more all the time.
Despite owning Market Samurai, I also highly recommend Micro Niche Finder. I think that this is the easiest keyword tool on the market. And, it complements Market Samurai really nicely.
Fred @ ExtraIncomeDaily.com
Darren Lunn
July 29th, 2010 2:54 am
Darren, my question is: When should I make a decision to go with AWeber, right at the start or after I already have a smallish audience?
Your man ChrisG got me interested in AWeber when I moved my subscription to a new email, he emailed me within 2 minutes and I noticed the AWeber email to him.
That got me interested in the product immediately.
Any advice from you or the other people here will be greatly appreciated.
Garrett
July 29th, 2010 2:56 am
Darren,
I work for Mindjet the leader in mind-mapping software and want to thank you for calling out mind-mapping software and the value that it can bring to everyday life not just to bloggers. Although we do notice that lots of authors use our software for planning out blog posts/books. It has the great ability to help you visualize what you are trying to say before you get mid-way through your post and somehow have lost the focus you originally planned.
Have you ever tried out our software, MindManager? I would be curious as to your thoughts and how it compares to MindNode.
If you are running a PC give MindManager a try.
Garrett
Greg Hauenstein
July 29th, 2010 4:09 am
UStream Producer, even the basic version, is great. I used it for a convention and couldn’t have been happier. As soon as I can put together the scratch, I’m upgrading to Pro.
wilson usman
July 29th, 2010 4:23 am
The coolest thing about Market Samurai is how much time it saves you doing SEO research and how you can figure out how to get on the top page of Google in no time.
I also recommend this tool to everyone its a great investment…Worth every dime!
John
July 29th, 2010 4:35 am
Thanks for sharing this list! I really like the looks of MindNode, I will definitely have to give that a whirl.
Camden Hughes
July 29th, 2010 5:04 am
Wow! Great list. I am excited to give some of these I try! Darren, as always, great work!
Robert @ Techinfo-4u.com
July 29th, 2010 7:11 am
The only things I pay for my blog are
Web domain,
Web Host
and my themes
I’ve yet to recover these costs yet, but once I do I will have another look at possible investing further
Ryan Yu
July 29th, 2010 7:16 am
Thanks Darren!
They are the great tools.
Personally I’m using Getresponse for the autoresponder and Mindmeister for the mindmapping :)
Kapil Apshankar
July 29th, 2010 7:17 am
Love MindNode Pro, Darren. Didn’t know about it earlier – discovered it from one of your tweets. And it’s been working wonders for my creativity and productivity. Couldn’t be more satisfied – and worth every penny!
I haven’t been able to get past a few technical snags with Ustream Producer in terms of resolution and clarity. Will be taking a second look at it over the next few weeks.
Aweber is a slam dunk.
I’m going to explore Market Samurai – never used it before.
Heather Allard
July 29th, 2010 8:08 am
Thanks for sharing, Darren – I love this type of post.
I use and pay for:
MailChimp (they have SWEET new social integrations and autoresponders!)
MindNode Pro – for the reasons you mentioned. :D
ScreenFlow – for the reasons you mentioned. :D
Gravity Forms – awesome web forms you can create in Wordpress.
Heather
Kristi Hines | Kikolani
July 29th, 2010 8:14 am
I just had a guest post on my site recently on using Market Samurai for keyword research. I must say that program gives you a lot of great information about top keywords, competition, difficulty, etc.
I would add PostRank analytics to this list. It gives you a comprehensive view of your site’s social media engagement, which can be extremely useful. It’s $9/month, and you can get a free trial for 3 months using a coupon code “kikolani” that PR created after reading my review of their service.
I’d highly recommend at least doing the trial – I’m sure that people will at least learn in that time which social networks are really working for them.
Lynn Elliott
July 29th, 2010 8:18 am
Thanks for the great post, Darren. And thank you for the props for ScreenFlow. We’re also fans of Market Samurai here.
This is a great topic– I’m going to point my blog readers to your post, and pose the same question to them. Thanks!
Sudeep
July 29th, 2010 8:42 am
I like the MindNode mindmapper would definately give it a thought. What is your recommendation on you tube videos. All those who read this comment are welcome to speak too.
Caleb Pike
July 29th, 2010 9:31 am
Thesis Theme for wordpress… First I add to a blog.
Nick Norris
July 29th, 2010 9:37 am
I use Market Samurai daily, and it’s probably the best (minus the latest update fail) software I own for discovery. I definitely will check out Mind Node, it looks pretty nice.
Justin Parks
July 29th, 2010 9:43 am
I really have to mention Gravity Forms.(http://www.gravityforms.com/ -> not an affiliate link -> I wish!) This Wordpress plugin is a paid for one and I think its absolutely brilliant when it comes to creating a contact form.
Its also very flexible in that it can also be used as a guest post submission form on a page of your site, automatically inserting the post into the wordpress admin and lots more… here. some of the features are listed: http://www.gravityforms.com/category/features/
Definitely a good purchase (at least for me).
Paul K
July 29th, 2010 9:56 am
Nice collection of tools but $149 one time fee may be a bit much for some of the bloggers out there.
I’d like to suggest Arkayne as an option, there are a few big name bloggers from the top 50 list using it. Jay Bear and Danny Brown have both praised the tool.
http://www.arkayne.com
Disclaimer: I’m one of the founders but also a long time newsletter subscriber to ProBlogger.
Sean Kaye
July 29th, 2010 10:50 am
If you like Ustream Producer Pro, you should check out Wirecast. Its again, a bit more pricey, but it is as close as your going to get to a live production studio in software. It is seriously top notch.
Thanks for the recommendation on Market Samurai.
Blog Tyrant
July 29th, 2010 10:55 am
Market Samurai is a very good tool. I’m glad you gave them a plug.
I would actually recommend paying for Facebook Ads. Its not a tool per say but it gives you a lot of cheap information about what your demographic respond to.
The Tyrant
Edwin
July 29th, 2010 11:53 am
Unfortunately Aweber is not available for my country. So I use feedblitz instead. I think it’s not available for some countries.
I don’t do screencasting, but I do need to capture a lot of pictures and screen animation. My blog is focused on tutorial. I use Jing, available as free and pro version. Nice and simple capturing tool.
I also figure that blogging client is one of the most important tool for me. I use Live Writer, but they other desktop apps is just fine.
Michael Mindes
July 29th, 2010 12:32 pm
I must say that I already have Aweber and mind mapping solutions, which are awesome.
Camtasia and Market Samurai will be coming soon.
Christopher Masiello
July 29th, 2010 1:04 pm
Darren,
I use Screenflow on my Mac and it’s great. If you’re looking for the best tool on a PC, go with Camtasia by Techsmith.
Thanks,
Chris
Nick (Macheesmo)
July 29th, 2010 1:17 pm
Just downloaded the free version of Market Samurai. This is a seriously incredible program. I was skeptical to try it (and I wouldn’t have tried it without the free offer) just because I was very disappointed with “Scribe”.
Market Samurai however seems like a really great tool. I think I learned more about SEO in the last few hours messing around with it than I have in 2 years of blogging.
I’m almost positive that i’m buying the full version sometime this week.
Ultimate Blogger
July 29th, 2010 1:57 pm
Hey! darren
I really do agree with all those great products. But instead of screenflow, i would prefer Camtasia studio. It’s a great screencasting product for windows based platform and i am quite using it from last 6 months.
AWeber Provides a great email marketing platform at a very reasonable rate.
I think market samurai, should be more strict in giving their trail version. I mean they should have a time limit kind of thing to their trial version, this could increase their paid costumers.
I am too a big fan of mindmaping, and do use mindnode.
Thanks for sharing
Regards
Braly
July 29th, 2010 2:26 pm
Darren
Thanks for all the information you provide on a daily basis. Being a new blogger, your site has really helped me tremendously. I have a LONG way to go, but after about a month, I am finally happy with the structure and ready to add more content.
Thanks again.
Braly
Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot
July 29th, 2010 2:58 pm
I use MailChimp. DoesThesis the wordpress theme count?!
J.D. Meier
July 29th, 2010 6:09 pm
I like the way you keep it a simple, but effective set.
There’s a saying — “The more adapted you are, the less adaptable you tend to be.”
Jun on Blogmaster
July 29th, 2010 7:40 pm
Thank you for sharing those wonderful tools. I would love to try them out. Hey don’t you know that there’s a new autoresponder program? It’s called “Listwire”. It’s still new and fresh but it’s definitely worth a try. The good thing about this brand new program is that it’s FREE!
@Ultimate Blogger: That’s what made Market Samurai famous because of its unlimited trial version. Don’t you love that?
Shacky Sklep
July 29th, 2010 10:07 pm
Hi,
I think screen casting is very important on technical blogs like mine. On windows I use Camtasia Studio – pretty simple and powerfull. Unfortunatly I don’t know anything nice on linux…
Alison
July 29th, 2010 10:20 pm
LOL
So pleased to see mindnode given the thumbs up – I love it! I’m finding I can’t do anything strategic these days unless I do it as a mind map first!
Joe
July 29th, 2010 10:46 pm
I use tip cam for making videos on my computer screen.
http://thewordpress-goldmine.com/
Simon Bunker
July 29th, 2010 11:17 pm
+1 for Market Samurai – awesome tool. Just left Aweber in favour of Mailchimp, I just find it a whole lot more functional. Will check out the other tools.
Thanks for sharing !
amy
July 30th, 2010 12:01 am
Darren! Can u (or someone reading this…) please tell me the difference between aweber and feedburner. i have feedburner and i am afraid to make the switch because, obviously, i don’t want to lose followers. i made an email switch very early on…and even though it would only be a small number of people making the switch twice, i have reservations. any thoughts?
thanks in advance.
amy
Avil Beckford
July 30th, 2010 12:23 am
Darren,
Thanks for this post. Besides Aweber and the mind mapping tool, I wasn’t aware of the other tools. I have a subscription to Scribe, is it similar to Market Samurai?
Avil Beckford
Stuart McMinigal
July 30th, 2010 12:32 am
MindNode is a very good service but I find it much easier and quicker, and also get more out of my head by just doing it simply using a pen and big piece of paper.
Stuart
Jasmine Henry
July 30th, 2010 12:48 am
I keep hearing that buying Aweber is one of the best things that a blogger can do for their blog but I think it’s a tad bit expensive. I’m sure it’s worth it but an entire year of Aweber costs me the same as buying hosting for over 3 years so unfortunately, it’s way out of my budget.
Joi
July 30th, 2010 1:00 am
Aweber is, indeed, a necessity. I hadn’t even heard of a few of these – thanks so much for the info.
In addition to premium themes, I highly recommend the Scribe SEO plugin. The link goes to my review of this plugin because it’s easier to point that reiterate everything!
Thanks for another informative post. It caused me to realize that if Problogger were something I had to pay for, I’d gladly do so.
Kok Siong
July 30th, 2010 2:14 am
I think i will consider to use Aweber now since so many bloggers recommend this tool. I can see the great features of Aweber. I’m using Feedburner now.
deeba
July 30th, 2010 3:50 am
I’d love to try Market Samurai…
Lisa@Practically Intuitive
July 30th, 2010 4:08 am
Darren,
Thanks for these suggestions. As a semi-new blogger, the amount of information is astounding. I am so thankful people take the time to write it and then others to comment on it.
I have heard that the importance of an email list and how you run it cannot be underestimated. That’s why I chose aweber right from the get-go. I wanted something that would grow with me.
Mind-mapping has shown up in three different places for me today so I’m getting a feeling (like I do!) that this is something that will be beneficial for my work. Thanks for your suggestions on that.
Dean Saliba
July 30th, 2010 4:27 am
I find that free programs and plugins do the job just as well for me. :)
Moki's Fanfiction Blog
July 30th, 2010 6:10 am
Great post. While I haven’t used any of the other products, I will agree that Market Samurai is a great investment. I use it all the time.
Cindy Lavoie
July 30th, 2010 6:46 am
Thanks for the helpful list. I’m also a big Market Samurai fan…I’ve used many other keyword tools, but none of them give me a repository like MS, where I can keep the list of keywords for a particular client, do the analysis, and keep working on it, expanding & refining it over time. It’s awesome!
Now I’ll check out your other suggestions.
JasonL
July 30th, 2010 7:05 pm
Great post! Thanks for the list!
I have a question though. For someone who just started blogging not too long ago, which tool would you recommend first?
Thanks!
Nina
July 30th, 2010 10:52 pm
I would like to point out Seavus DropMind™. It is an excellent web and desktop mind mapping software with flexible installation across different operating systems – Windows, Mac or Linux.
mk akan
July 30th, 2010 11:44 pm
market samurai is a tool i should buy,the trial version is great but limited .it will help it building niche sites for profits…
Free Stuff
July 31st, 2010 4:56 am
Im not sure if i would be willing to pat for stuff for mine, as i am trying to do it all for free :/
make money
July 31st, 2010 5:00 pm
I would love to try them out. Hey don’t you know that there’s a new autoresponder program? It’s called “Listwire”. It’s still new & fresh but it’s definitely worth a try. The advantage of this new program is that it’s FREE!
make money
July 31st, 2010 5:05 pm
Aweber is one of the best things that a blogger can do for their weblog but I think it’s a tad bit pricey. I’m positive it’s worth it but a whole year of Aweber costs me the same as purchasing hosting for over 3 years so regrettably, it’s way out of my budget.
Johnathan Buhr
August 1st, 2010 1:19 am
As a new website, of course I’ m looking for different ways to spread the word about my blog. One of the obvious (and free) ways to do this is through a traffic exchange program. I’ ve signed up for several, but do they really work?
Kamal Hasa
August 1st, 2010 2:09 am
Market Samurai looks like a killer product. Let me go find more details about it :D
Aaron
August 2nd, 2010 7:25 pm
Market samurai is one of the best pieces of software I’ve ever had.i love it
Alex
August 2nd, 2010 7:41 pm
Is market samurai the tool to go for or are there other tools that are worth looking into before buying?
StreetShadows
August 4th, 2010 10:26 am
Market Samurai is certainly one of the best tools I have ever paid for. I would encourage everyone to try out the free trial and you are sure to purchase the full version as it has so much to offer, and takes a lot of the hard work out of the SEO side of things.
Syed-AsiaPixel.com
August 4th, 2010 12:09 pm
Using Market Samurai & Screenflow too… both have so many features… but only use 1/3 of it. Aweber is a must have :)
Reza Winandar
August 10th, 2010 12:07 pm
I’m using Market Samurai and it’s a very AH-MA-ZING tool I’ve ever try!
Julius
August 11th, 2010 4:47 pm
Market Samurai is the best tool today for keyword research and I’m using it as well. I’m surprised you did not include SEnuke and Bookmarking Demon? Very helpful as well to get some good ranks in search engines.
nick
August 24th, 2010 9:43 pm
I continue to improve my blog and my web presence. All the 5 Tools I Am Willing to Pay for [And Recommend] to Improve My Blogs are absolutely right….the most important tool is market samurai for keyword research …very nice information for the new bloggers…thanks for sharing….
Rocio Rowbottom
August 28th, 2010 12:22 pm
Hello can I use some of the material here in this entry if I link back to you?
Esther Scentsy
September 5th, 2010 9:31 am
Thanks for the tools. We are hoping Aweber can help us drive more traffic thru specific marketing of our newsletter.
Erin
September 6th, 2010 8:42 pm
I’m pretty new to the blogging community, and there is such an insane amount of information out there for all of us trying to jump on the band wagon.
Until I read your article, I had no idea these services existed. I haven’t done too much with my blog yet, still very much in the figuring out how everything works phase.
Thank you for the review and explanation of these services, I just learned what SEO stood for today and I was able to follow your article.
I found another blog that offers blog creation services that I wanted to share. I know some people, like myself, might benefit from having a little help getting all the details taken care of for them.
Thanks again for spreading the knowledge.
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