Make blogging easier with the right tools. These are 5 tools I discovered in my second year of blogging. Each one has been a game changer for me!
This post contains affiliate links. All the products and services listed below are ones I actually use and highly recommend. By using these links to make a purchase, you will be supporting A Savory Feast.
Last week I celebrated my 2nd blogiversary! This year was a big one for A Savory Feast. I learned a lot and grew from around 12k pageviews per month to over 40k. I had a lot of fun opportunities to work with big companies and even travel.
This past year I learned that some expenses are well worth the investment when it comes to growing and maintaining a blog, especially when you want to make money.
CoSchedule
This service is 100% worth the investment! CoSchedule connects to WordPress to help me schedule social media posts as I’m writing a blog post. I also use the Chrome plugin to easily add social media shares from other blogs and web-sites. You can read my full review here.
Tailwind
I did a lot of experimenting with services that allow you to schedule pins this year, and Tailwind is by far my favorite! You can use it to schedule your own posts to go up on all of your group boards at a set interval of time. It’s also helpful to schedule pins to go up during peak Pinterest hours, even if you can’t be actively pinning at those times.
Lightroom
Last year I started to really focus on improving my food photography. Because Pinterest is my #1 referrer, I need beautiful images to attract attention. I started using Lightroom and it has made such a difference! I pay $9.99 a month for the Creative Cloud. It takes a bit of time to learn how to use, but it’s definitely worth it!
Skimlinks
I recently read Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers by Tasha from Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body. I learned so much from it and have been putting her ideas and tips into practice over the past couple of months.
One of the programs she talks about in the book is Skimlinks. It’s a service that helps you create affiliate links for thousands of different websites! Instead of being an affiliate for a bunch of different sites, just sign up for Skimlinks and you can create links for any of their partners.
Chrome Extensions
Google Chrome is my favorite browser for many reasons, but the biggest reason is extensions. These handy buttons make it easier to schedule social media shares, get affiliate links with Skimlinks, stumble a page and much more.
What are some of your favorite blogging tools?
Jaelan @ Making Mrs. M says
SO many great resources in here. I haven’t heard of Skimlinks, but I’m signing up right now!
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
Skimlinks is the bomb! Be sure to install the Chrome plugin. If you have any questions, let me know!
Tiffany {A Touch of Grace} says
Well Skimlinks sounds awesome. I’ll check it out! And love Tailwind. Such a great resource!
Paige Allison says
I haven’t heard of Slimlinks! Affiliate marketing is something I want to work on in the new year… Making $5/mo is getting old, you know?! And yes to pinterest schedulers! I like to use both tailwind and board booster because you can campaign with boardbooster but there’s different analytics in tailwind. Great roundup!
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
I’m hoping to grow my affiliate marketing game in the new year as well. You should totally read the book I mentioned. It gave me a lot of ideas to try.
Mandy says
This is a great list! I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Lightroom can do but I’ve loved trying to figure it out. And I’ve read Tasha’s affiliate book as well – it’s a great resource!
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
I feel you, I definitely need to figure out how to use Lightroom better. I know it’s capable of so much more! If you find any good books or tutorials let me know.
Laura Jean Gilleland says
These are great resources. I feel like it has been the year of scheduling and planning ahead for bloggers which I am all about! Happy 2 years!!
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
Thanks, Laura! I am all about scheduling. I used Tailwind to schedule pins while I was off for my wedding and honeymoon. I also used Coschedule to schedule tweets and FB posts. It really helped keep things going while I was away.
Amanda | Life With Grace says
These are great! I really want to look into skimlinks and tailwinds. I love coschedule though, its so handy! And I’m still trying to figure out lighroom. I always end up getting frustrated and going back to picmonkey haha
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
I bet you could do well with Skimlinks! I used it for my Foodie Gift Guide and my Thanksgiving Entertaining Essentials posts. Before I was just an Amazon affiliate, but Skimlinks opens up almost every website! I feel you on Lightroom, too. I have my basic couple things I do for each picture, but I feel like I could do so much more. This next year one of my goals is to take a class or something to help me use it better.
Amanda | Life With Grace says
I want to take a class as well. I was going to look into a class at the community college because I think it would be easier to learn in person with someone.
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
That’s true! Let me know if you find anything.
Emily says
I love Tailwind! It has been quite the lifesaver for me! Some of these others I need to check out 🙂
Jenna Owens (@aSavoryFeast) says
I started using Tailwind when I wanted to schedule pins during my time off for my wedding and honeymoon. It is awesome! After that I decided it was definitely worth the subscription.