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13 Tools and Services I Use Every Day to Build a Profitable Blogging Business

Yesterday, during our Q&A webinar, we received a lot of questions about the tools and services we recommend for different aspects of blogging. While we touched on a few, there are quite a few more that I wanted to touch on.

Not all are strictly ‘blogging tools’ but all are things we regularly use as a team.

Note: I am an affiliate for some of the following tools and services but am also a daily user of all of them and have been for a minimum of 12 months.

Note 2: I’ve updated this list with 6 more tools that I use!

Of course there’s plenty more but they are the main things that come to mind!

What tools and services would you add to the list that make up part of your core online business toolbox?

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. I guess you missed some tools for keyword research and analysis of your business.

    Please update it.

    • afraid not Raj – I don’t do any keyword research or analysis these days. I’m not big on SEO.

      I do check Google Analytics though to see why people arrive on my site – which I’m going to add now.

  2. Nice list but only a person who is having a big business and earning a lot of profit is going to use these tools as most of the tools are paid or you have to invest some money to use them in full version.

    • It is true that some of the above are paid but most are relatively affordable or have entry level pricing/plans. Mailchimp for example has free plans and Aweber increases in price as you grow. There are of course free alternatives out there for some of them too but this is what I use :-)

  3. Nice article

    I prefer Drupal not word press. check our site, Drupal platporm:

    Signals Trading

  4. Most of these tools match my preferences as well except Social media management and Project management tools.

  5. I use a lot of things above, but my question is:
    What to use for blogging editors for a Windows or Linux machine?

    I currently use a combination of Word and LiveWriter

    • I’ve not used a Windows machine for over 10 years so am not the guy to answer – although I know some people said that they love LiveWriter last time I asked the question.

      • I like LiveWriter. Simple and to the point. Let’s me look at and play with the code and if I want -import directly to the blog(s).

  6. 1. WordPress
    2. Godaddy
    3. Aweber
    4. Google Drive
    5. Hootsuite

    They make my day!

  7. You have forgotten Google :-)

    • I do use it – but it’s not really a core tool for my business like some of the others mentioned here (although there are a couple of Google owned tools here already I guess).

  8. Thanks for sharing.

  9. I find a good note taking app crucial to blogging. I can personally recommend Evernote, but there are many out there. They make it very easy to write down and organize topics, initiatives, and posts. You never know when inspiration will strike.

    Some of our best thoughts are when “life is happening”. A good note taking app will make sure your inspiration isn’t wasted!

    • Very true – i’ve tried many but find good old fashion paper and pen my favorite (although I do use the built in ‘notes’ app on my iphone when I’m caught short).

  10. Thanks for sharing! I haven’t heard of some of these before–really digging Zendesk!

  11. during Webinars you get ideal questions from your juniors and seniors :) i customize first my product then appear on my web then get profits i love wordpress features

  12. Great points on your tools used. Does themes make much of a difference in regards to SEO with blogging? For instance, your Genesis tool versus other premium themes?

    • Bill – I think a good theme (or plugins added to a theme) can help with onsite SEO factors. Many have good SEO built into them these days.

  13. Thank you for sharing this amazing list! I am definitely going to check out the affiliate programs for the websites that I have not heard about!

  14. James B says: 07/25/2013 at 12:43 pm

    Thanks for sharing.
    I use Springpad and Evernote for note taking and writing up posts, and hangout for communication. For posting I use wordpress for android,
    Jason, for a Linux machine there are several blogging editors to choose from – blogtk is one I have used, but I tend to write up in Libreoffice or google docs and post through the wordpress editor now when using Linux.

  15. Blogging Platform – WordPress.org

    Hosting Service – Hostgator

    Forum Software – Vanila Forum and MyBB

    File Sharing etc – Dropbox and Google Drive

    Email – Gmail and Yahoo

    I use these tools for my blogging business and I am going to use clickbank as well as Aweber and Mailchimp.

  16. Thanks for sharing, I’m using the minority, I’ll implement these tools when I become a problogger

  17. I know you run on Genesis and support it greatly, I’m just not certain that’s the best way. Also the Synthesis hosting is quite expensive, and most people don’t need managed WordPress hosting. There is one service that you might want to consider that I use a lot for email is http://www.zoho.com The lite version you can have one domain hosted email account. I cancelled Google Apps and started using them.

  18. I am using all of these tools except E Junkie, but I will use this tool, when I will launch my first Ebook

  19. Nice collection of blogging tools. Thank you for sharing. For blogging editor, I usually use Sublime Text because I prefer HTML than using visual editor.

  20. This is definitely a great resource. Thanks Darren!

  21. NIce list! Gmail, Dropbox, and Analytics are my must use everyday. I am behind as I should have started an newsletter or sign up already and didn’t. Do you have any preference for Aweber or MailChimp? And why use both?

  22. I guess my own tool is MS WORD. A lot of the tools you made mention here, I haven’t heard of them before. I love Mailchimp though. It’s only the email autoresponder that I use..

  23. I would have thought you would be something to focus more heavily on SEO? These days though Google is pretty good but I always imagined a bigger SEO component for you ;)

  24. Nice article Darren.
    From those list, I only use WordPress for my blogging platform and Gmail for email. A lot of things I still need to catch up.

  25. Thanks for the list update. Great resource for future use.

  26. I started using Premises for my site, Green Sisterhood; however, we found that it wasn’t mobile responsive. What ever you do, make sure your themes, forums, etc are mobile responsive since this is the present and the future.

  27. Nice list Darren. Few that I use myself in there but a couple I have never used and will look in to.

  28. Hi,

    I made an article like this with 40 tools I couldn’t stop using, here is the list (in french sorry)

    1 – My Smartphone
    2 – laptop pc
    3 – an helmpet phone
    4 – Evernote & post it
    5 – Facebook
    6 – L’hébergement de fichiers (vidéos & PDF) sur Amazon S3
    7 – Google Analytics
    8 – Google Docs
    9 – Mediafire et DropBox / Google Drive
    10- Google Hangout ou Webex ou GoToMeeting
    11 – SurveyMonkey.com
    12 – Do.com & BaseCamp
    13 – SlideShare.net
    14 – Word
    15 – homail
    16 – Sage accountancy software
    17 – aweber
    18 – Sprout Social
    19 – SageCRM.com ou ACT
    20 – Les outils de MindMapping comme MindMeister.com
    21 – Excel
    22 – PhotoFiltre
    23 – Editor HTML : Kompozer
    24 – Winamp
    25 – Youtube, Dailymotion et Vimeo
    26 – Camtasia
    27 – https://bitly.com
    28 – : Filezilla
    29 – CMS : WordPress
    30 – Antivirus : BitDefende
    31 – TwitterFeed
    32 – Paypal
    33 – NotePad ++
    34 – Skype.
    35 – Google Adwords Editor
    36 –Fotolia et DreamStime
    37 – Leconjugueur.com
    38 – Winrar
    39 – WmWare Workstation
    40 – Clickbank é 1Tpe.com

    Full list there http://www.conseilsmarketing.com/autres-conseils-marketing/les-outils-marketing-dont-je-ne-pourrais-plus-me-passer-partie-1

  29. Wow, Most of the tools in this article are ones I have never known before. The only ones I am familiar with are, WordPress, gmail, and Google Analytics. This is a great post. I have bookmarked it, and will refer back to it over and over again. Thank you.

  30. Thanks for your continued sharing. Fran

  31. Two sites which I think were not mentioned and which I use on a daily basis.

    Plagiarism Checker – copyscape.com
    KW Research – ubersuggest.org

  32. What do you use for your keyword search?

    I use
    1 wordpress platform
    2 about to migrate to Genesis framework (leaving Thesis)
    3 ejunkie for ebooks, although checking out other options too
    4 processing payments with Paypal
    5 anymeeting.com for webinars, although also shopping around, but at the place where I am not I cannot 6 yet justify gotowebinar
    7 have private hosting, but have been checking into synthesis. Probably will go that way as I grow bigger.
    8 mad mimi for newsletters. I used to have mail chimp, but they not allow for affiliate linking, and I find that aweber, although it has better and greater options is still on my “I will grow into it” list, as they are more expensive
    9 use hootsuite occasionally, but I find that my readers hang out mostly on Facebook (and now Pinterest), so I concentrate my energy there.

  33. You mention all the tools but forgot to mention money making tools which you used for making money from your website….:)

    • Hi Nikhil,

      He mentioned e-junkie.com for money making tool.

      Sell the ebooks and affiliate marketing and receive amount through paypal.

      Regards,
      Veera

  34. Use many of the same ones or don’t have a need (yet!) for some categories. Ones that are different or additional:

    Genesis/Prose (love that it’s responsive),

    Microsoft SkyDrive for file sharing between devices,

    PostPlanner for scheduling items on Facebook (JetPack Publicize autoposts the new posts),

    Pinterest Automatic (paid plugin that autoposts new posts to Pinterest with my own description, etc.) — would love to use PinGraphy to schedule pins of old posts but just can’t justify the expense yet

    ShortStack for Facebook contests

    Outright — free simple cloud bookkeeping (it does cash based, which most small businesses use; most free cloud based accounting is accrual based)

    Torbit — keeping an eye on page load speeds (free version)

    PhotoShop Express — I use my own photos to illustrate posts

    How about a similar one with favorite WP plugins?

  35. A lot of tools and services that you use, this can be a reference for us
    Oiya, I want to ask, for eJunkie, if payment is received later directly into our paypal?
    thank you

  36. GalinAZ says: 07/29/2013 at 3:33 am

    WOW. As I soon to retire tech writer I’m probably old enough to be your Mom. Your list brings into sharp relief the gap between the tools I’ve used in my career and those being used by your generation. It provides a brief peak into how different writing and publishing is today. Thank you for sharing your list, I’m going to look into each application if for no other reason then to not feel like a dinosaur!

  37. i personally prefer thesis over genesis as my framework, also once essential tool is copyscape or any other tool to check copied content

  38. Thanks, Darren, I use only 2 of this list…I’ll try something new to build my business.

  39. Thanks for sharing your daily tools. Next can you share what apps you are using in your iphone 5?

  40. Darren, what are your thought about Sprout Social vs Hootsuite?

  41. There are very few tools that I am familiar with.
    Thanks author and also like to thank some of comment section guys.

    Well done.

  42. Hi thanks for sharing these tools. I am some of them and getting good results.

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