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I get asked all the time about the tools I use to create this little blog of mine. I figured it might be helpful to pull together all my favorite blogging resources in one spot. I’ve used all these items and can vouch for their awesomeness!
Note: Many of the links below are affiliate links, meaning if you purchase a product after clicking an affiliate link, I receive a small percentage of the sale for referring you, at no extra cost to you. I trust all of these products and companies, so I can recommend them with confidence.
Jump to: Technical | Photography | Books & Downloads | Productivity & Business | Social Media | Traffic | Tips & Tricks
Technical Services & Products
BlueHost Web Hosting — When I first started blogging, I started with hosting through BlueHost. They are affordable and have great basic plans for folks just starting off (and awesome customer service—you can online chat with someone 24/7). They also make it really simple and easy to get your blog up and running. Once your blog gets a bit bigger, they get pricey, but they’re a great starting point. Learn how to set up a blog using Bluehost here.
AcceleratedWP Web Hosting — This is my hosting company now, and I love them lots! If you aren’t too keen on the technical side of blogging (DNS-PHP-HTML, what?) then this is the hosting service for you. It’s a bit pricier than going with a traditional host (like BlueHost), but the extra benefits are worth it to me. Break something? They’ll fix it for you (even if it’s at 3am). Need to update WordPress or plugins or your theme and are afraid it’ll ruin your site? They’ll do it for you. They also run frequent checks to make sure your site is running fast and isn’t having any problems. They also run one of the fasting hosting environments I’ve ever seen. My site load time went down 4000% (literally) when I switched to them! They also accommodate bloggers of all sizes (and try to keep the rate as affordable as possible). Love them!
The Genesis Framework—The Genesis Framework is one of the most popular theme systems for WordPress around—and for good reason. It’s super easy to use and highly customizable. It’s easy to make changes to your design if you’re a novice or if you’re an advanced developer. The framework does cost $60 to purchase, but you can then use the framework on every WordPress site you own (great if you run multiple blogs or websites). Then you purchase a child theme to “skin” over the framework to make it look the way you want (I’m using a modified version of the Foodie child theme). You can also contact a designer to do a custom child theme to go over your installation of Genesis.
Elegant Themes—If Genesis is a bit too rich for your blood (and maybe a bit confusing), I recommend checking out Elegant Themes. My blog has been running modified themes from ET for the past four years with great success! For $69, you get access to 87 well-designed themes that you can use on whatever website you want. They are super beautiful. All you have to do is install it, activate it, and you have a stunning website!
Vaultpress—When I was first starting out blogging, my blog was hacked into, and spammy text and links were inserted into every single post. Because I didn’t have a backup system set up on my blog, I had to go and edit every single post and delete the spam! I learned my lesson. I taught myself about blog security and set myself with Vaultpress to backup my site. It’s really easy to use and super easy to restore backups. The only reason I stopped using Vaultpress is because the same service is included in my AcceleratedWP subscription.Books & Downloads
How to Monetize Your Food Blog—It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this book changed my life. It’s a quick read (you could easily plow through it in an hour), but it’s got clear steps for how to optimize your revenue and make the most out of your blog. I had been blogging for four years when I read this, and I still learned SO much. After implementing the strategies in this book, I was able to increase my income by more than double in one month!
Tasty Food Photography—I am a self-taught photographer. And I was doing decently well (I mean, I did photograph two cookbooks), but I knew my photos could be better. And better photos=more readers. There were a lot of things in this book that I already knew, but also a ton of tips and tricks that made my photos improve. I’d recommend this book for both beginning photographers and advanced folks. I’ve definitely seen an increase in my readership thanks to higher quality photography.
Custom Media Kit Template—Having a strong, well-designed media kit is KEY to snagging partnerships with brands. This template from the girls at The Blogger Project is tops. You can edit it in InDesign, PicMonkey or Photoshop, plus pick your own custom colors. So user friendly! Highly recommended.Productivity & Business
CoSchedule Editorial Calendar—For years, I used Google Calendar as my editorial calendar, and it worked well, but I knew I could be more efficient if I started using something that was specifically made for blogging. Enter CoSchedule. Not only do I use it to plan and schedule my actual blog posts, but I also use it to schedule all my blog-related social media updates.
Dropbox—I store everything (EVERYTHING) in my Dropbox account. It’s amazing because I can access all my personal and business files from anywhere, including my iPad, my phone, and any computer connected to the internet. It’s nice to know if I ever happen to spill coffee on my computer, I don’t have to worry about losing all my precious files. For years, I just used the free account, but last year I recently upgraded to a paid account and the extra space is fantastic!
Evernote—I’m a note-taking, list-maker, and Evernote is my command center! Just like Dropbox, I love that I can access and edit the notes from all of my devices. I use Evernote for everything from storing blog post ideas to drafting blog posts to stashing lists of updates I want to do to my website.Photography
Canon T2i and Canon xSi—I go back and forth between shooting with these two camera bodies. These cameras are on the lower end of the semi-pro cameras, and do really well for what I need them for. They aren’t cheap, but you also aren’t going to need to take out a second mortgage to pay for them. These are older models, and if I had to recommend a new one, I’d say go with the Canon T5i—it’s the newest version of the camera I shoot with the most frequently.
Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens—My main lens for food photography is this fixed lens—meaning it doesn’t zoom in, but it is excellent for beautiful pictures of food. It’s a nice, affordable lens to get you started. I shoot 95% of all my food photography with this lens.
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 Lens—This lens is pricey, but it’s worth the cash because it works well in all kinds of environments. This lens is great for everyday use!
5-in-1 Reflector—You cannot beat having a simple reflector like this for food photography. I use it in almost every photo I shoot to either bounce light into the shot, add shadows or diffuse direct sunlight. Typically, I set up the diffuser with a large version and then use a small version to bounce in light for each shot I do.
Shutter Trigger—A shutter trigger is the best $10 I’ve ever spent for food photography, I use it with every single shot I take. I use this most frequently to trigger the shutter release while taking a shot while pouring on sauces and dressings. It’s also really helpful in low light situations when you don’t want to shake the camera (and cause blurry pictures). I have both a corded one, and a wireless one—I tend to use the corded one the most because I hate finding batteries!
Tripod—I didn’t shoot my food photos with a tripod for years, and then we moved. Into the middle of the woods. And even the brightest window in my house is still pretty low light (especially in the summer when the leaves are on the trees). It’s impossible for me to shoot a crisp photo without a tripod and a trigger in my house. There are much higher quality tripods out there, but this guy does the trick for me!
Adobe Lightroom—Adobe products are pricey, but if you’re serious about photography, they’re the only way to go. I use Lightroom to edit all of my photos. It is an incredibly powerful tool, and there is a lot to learn, but once you get the hang of it, you can take your photos from good to absolutely incredible. I also use Photoshop for a touch up here and there. With the Adobe Creative Cloud program, you can sign up for access to both Lightroom and Photoshop for less than $10 a month, making it really affordable!Social Media
ViralTag Pinterest Scheduling—Pinterest is consistently my top traffic source, and to harness that, I schedule pins through ViralTag. I use it promote new posts as well as bringing old posts up out of the woodwork. It’s a little pricey, but the return is definitely worth the investment.CoSchedule Editorial Calendar—Yup, CoSchedule is on this list twice! This time, it’s here because it’s what I use to schedule 90% of my blog-related social media updates. You can schedule Twitter, Facebook and Google+ all through CoSchedule (and using their plugin, right in WordPress while you’re writing the post).Traffic
The number one question I get related to blogging is how do I increase my traffic? I wish there was some magic button to suddenly give you a million visitors a month, but the truth is, traffic increases over time. Just keep slogging away and posting consistently good content, and the traffic will come. That being said, there are some resources that can help make sure your awesome content gets to more eyeballs. Here’s some of my favorites.
Food Submission Sites
These sites are kinda like Pinterest, but just for food (and they were around way before Pinterest was). Most require high-quality photography to be accepted, but having good quality content is just as important. Even if you don’t get a traffic boost from these sites directly, a lot of big name PR firms, magazines, and companies flip through these sites to find new talent—I’ve gotten numerous emails that start off with “I saw your recipe on Foodgawker, can we work together?” Here are a list of the ones that I consistently submit to, but there are way more than this out there.
Pinterest Group Boards
If you want to get your recipe to a lot of eyeballs quickly, using Pinterest group boards is a great place to start. These boards are owned and curated by one Pinterest user, who sets the theme and rules for the board (like, say, healthy recipes, and you can only pin three times per day). You then ask to be invited, and once you’re in, you can pin your own content. Some of the biggest group boards have hundreds of thousands of followers! That’s a whole lot of eyeballs checking out your content. Just make sure you follow the rules for each board, and, um, don’t be a jerk. Don’t spam people. Don’t post crappy content. This directory is a great place to start finding group boards you can join. Also ask around to your other blogging friends for recommendations of boards you can join.
Blogging Tips & Tricks
There are so many people to learn from out there about how to do this blogging thing right. Here are a few of my favorite experts. Give ’em a visit!
- Food Blogger Pro—This is an awesome website put together by the blogging team behind the powerhouse food blog, Pinch of Yum. It’s a community full of awesome tutorials, videos, and support forums to help you build your food blog both content-wise and financially.
- Pro Blog School— This is a blog written by the business manager for the mega food blog, 100 Days of Real Food. There is a ton of useful information here!
- The Beginnger’s Guide to Successful Blogging—This is a really well-written guide to almost every aspect of blogging. It’s also designed in a really fun way, making it a blast to read. Oh, and it’s free!
- Smart Passive Income—Pat from SPI is the father of how to make money blogging online. He consistently logs (wait for it) $70,000 per month or more from his online business using his techniques. There is an absolute TON of worthwhile information on his site.
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