Blogging Tools that I Bought for 2021
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At the end of year, I splurge a little bit on my business and purchase a few things that have been on my blogging wishlist for quite some time.
This year, I treated my blog very well 😉 and picked up quite a few things to help take it to the next level in 2021.
Here are some of the things that I ACTUALLY purchased – I’ll give you the quick list here but you can keep reading to learn more about each one:
- VIP Legal Bundle for Bloggers
- LeadPages
- Convertkit
- ThriveCart
- Teachable
- Journey to the Center of Amazon
- Activate Business Coaching Program
VIP Legal Bundle for Bloggers
The VIP bundle from Amira (who is a lawyer) at A Self Guru has been on my list for a long time.
As an entrepreneur and a blogger – I want to make sure that my blog and my business has all the proper disclosures and policies that are required in this ever changing landscape.
Although I already have many of these on my site, I wanted something that was drafted by a lawyer who is familiar with the blogging industry and the challenges that bloggers face.
So I took the plunge and purchased the big VIP Legal Bundle and am looking forward to incorporating many of the templates into blog and and my day to day business transactions.
If the VIP bundle is more than you need, Amira offers a smaller Starter Bundle, a Premium Bundle, and sells her templates a la carte as well.
You can check out the entire selection here.
LeadPages
A few weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and signed up for LeadPages.
One thing I am learning is one of the most important things in business is conversion.
So, when it comes to landing pages – you need ones that convert.
LeadPages has beautiful landing page templates and you can also use the service to create pop up boxes, buttons, and links that you can sprinkle around your website to encourage people to sign up to your list.
In the past, I tried to cobble things together with cheaper alternatives to LeadPages.
And instead of getting conversions, I ended up wasting precious time.
So, I got an annual subscription to LeadPages and am now ready to crush my goals in 2021.
Convertkit
Another change that I made in December had to do with my email service provider.
I decided to switch to Convertkit.
Now, I previously used Convertkit many years ago but moved away because of their very basic and frustrating email builder.
However, they have a brand new VISUAL email builder that I really like.
In addition, it is so easy to use their tagging feature to segment your email lists.
The visual automation, sequences, and rules functions also are a breeze to learn (compared to other email marketing providers that are so complicated).
I am really happy to be back at Convertkit where I plan to stay for a long time.
Learn more about Convertkit here.
ThriveCart
ThriveCart is a service that you can use to create a shopping cart for your own digital products and services.
One of my goals for 2021 is to create courses and products.
To be able to sell those products you need a way for your customers to check out.
ThriveCart is your checkout and payment page.
It has a simple look to it and the clean design gives confidence to your customers in their purchasing decision.
ThriveCart also integrates with a large variety of other platforms (like Teachable below) so you can have a uniform checkout experience for your clients.
Learn more about ThriveCart here.
Teachable
I am adding Teachable to this list even though I haven’t officially purchased it yet.
The platform that I love using the most for elearning is Teachable.
As a creator, I have been researching different platforms and Teachable seems to offer lots features that will make it easy for me to create.
The business owner side of me likes the reports and the attention they give to state taxes and the VAT in particular.
Anything that makes my paperwork easier is a good thing!
So when my course launches later this year – you can expect to see it on the Teachable platform.
Learn more about Teachable here.
Journey To The Center of Amazon Course
Over the years I have collected quite a few blogging courses.
In fact, I have so many that I have become very selective when it comes to buying new ones.
So, I thought hard before I bought Journey to the Center of Amazon by Debbie Gartner.
Debbie Gartner is a hard working blogger that I highly respect.
She started her blog – the Flooring Girl when she had nothing and has grown it into a great resource that is quite profitable.
I have been blogging longer than she has and my level of success as an Amazon Associate is no where near what she has achieved.
My hesitation in buying this course had to do with blog traffic. Debbie has a LOT of it.
And if you have more traffic, it is logical that you will do more in affiliate sales.
But I felt like there was more to Debbie’s success story than just traffic.
And I was right.
I have started diving into Journey to the Center of Amazon and there are some really good nuggets of information that I can definitely implement on my own blog.
She does start the course with the basics but even though I am not a beginner with Amazon Associates, I feel like I am learning some new and valuable information.
Activate Business Coaching Program
You probably know that I am a big fan of Elite Blog Academy by Ruth Soukup.
I joined many years ago and have grown my blog with the information in this course.
Recently, Ruth launched her signature coaching program – ACTIVATE.
This program begins on January 4, 2021 and I am so excited to learn how to network with other bloggers and get the motivation and knowledge that I need to take my business to the next level.
Enrollment for this program opens quarterly – so I will let you know when the next opportunity to sign up rolls around.
Blogging is Not Cheap
As you can see – running a blogging business can get expensive.
If you are a beginner blogger, start here to learn about what you need to get up and running.
This year I am choosing to focus on product creation – so most of the blogging tools I purchased revolved around that.
- Teachable for courses,
- ThriveCart for my shopping cart,
- LeadPages to create my sales and landing pages,
- Convertkit to communicate with my customers,
- Activate Business Coaching to learn how to do it.
In addition, I bought the VIP Legal Bundle to get my back office in order and the Journey to the Center of Amazon course to up my affiliate marketing game.
What gifts did you buy for your blog this year?
You can find more blog tools that I actually do use on this site day in and day out over here.
