9 Must Have Blogging Tools [VIDEO]

I love blogging. Seriously, it’s an addiction! I’ve been writing on a blog in one form or another since 2003 and haven’t slowed down one bit in all those years.

Writing is something I truly enjoy and over the years I have assembled a list of must have tools to help me blog every single week. Here is my list of tools you can use right now to increase your content for all your readers…

1. RocketResponder
– You need an autoresponder to help communicate with your readers and the first must have tool is a solid auto responder service. A huge part of building a readership that keeps coming back is to stay in communication with them, an autoresponder allows you to do this with ease.

2. WordPress – The most powerful blogging platform on the planet is my choice for the back end of all my blogs. Nothing is more functional or as customizable than a WordPress blog. Make sure it is self hosted though, that’s the most powerful way to use WordPress.

3. A Smartphone – Yeah I’m biased, I’m an Apple fan boy but even Android *sigh* can be used. You need something portable and that allows you to stream in a heart beat if you plan to use video and live streaming on your blog. Phones these days have everything you need. Easy to use camera, and even easier ways to upload your video and stream live. It’s a must!

4. A Good USB Microphone – Again, this is just my recommended tools and I know some folks aren’t comfortable behind a microphone or camera but I love it. So I have a Yeti Blue mic for my podcasts (when I do them) but also for my streaming and live video recordings. I do not spend an arm and a leg on a professional set up, but a decent Yeti does the trick for me.

5. A Tripod – I need something to hold my camera when I’m capturing video and sure there are decent cameras on most desktop monitors these days but I prefer doing video on my phone. So for that I spend a few dollars on a tripod so I can put my camera right in front of my screen. It doesn’t have to be an expensive tool, just 30-50 dollars on a tripod is perfect and allows you to capture your videos and streams hands free.

6. Whiteboard Capture / Bamboo Spark – I love whiteboards. I love not only writing on them to capture my ideas but also taking pictures of my thoughts and adding them to my blog posts. I came across the Bamboo Spark which is a brilliant tool that captures your own writing and uploads it to the net. This adds such a cool dimension to your blog posts…Your own hand writing, drawings, & diagrams!

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7. Social Media Accounts
– This goes without saying, but obviously you need to share and have the ability to share your blog posts to the world…I use social media (and my mailing list) for this. Accounts in Twitter, Facebook, Periscope and YouTube are a must but you can try your hand in more…I also recommend StumbleUpon and Instagram.

8. My Personal Library – Writing a blog every week can be a rough gig at times, mostly because you have to come up with fresh content all the time. I’m not that smart to come up with new topics each blog post so I use my personal library for inspiration and to get ideas on what to write about. Nothing and I mean nothing is more a more valuable asset than your personal library.

9. A Growing Vibrant Community
– While not a tool per se, all these tools help build your most powerful and valuable aspect to your blog…Your community! The readers! The people! This is what will give you the fuel to build a solid and growing readership. Give them great content, over time and your blogging adventure will have your blog being read for years to come.



6 thoughts to “9 Must Have Blogging Tools [VIDEO]”

    1. Yeah I use video a lot so while I guess it could be considered ‘vlogging’ it’s part of my blogging experience…Using both written word and video.

  1. Hey Jon, Good post, love the tools you mention. I’d at a couple of sites for finding good images or producing good social media ready images. I use this https://pablo.buffer.com/ tool all the time. It’s easy and simple to use and sizes for most top social media. And pixabay.com for a huge assortment of free to use images. I’m going to check out Bamboo Spark. Which is my only quibble with your post…you didn’t hyper link me. (Talk about lazy huh?) But all is forgiven cause the post is excellent.

    Nick

    1. Thank you sir, that’s awesome. I’m going to bookmark that and check it out. Yeah I love my Spark. It’s been so cool to doodle and get my ideas (and hand writing lol) out on my blogs….Loving it, and still thinking of cool ways I can use it.

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