My book blog turns six years old this month. I began it in November 2014, and here we are six years later and I’m six years wiser. Building on my six years of experience, I wanted to create this special page with resources for blogger of all kinds—whethevr your blog about books or baking—so you have all my best tools at your disposal. I’m now happily earning a profit from my blog, and the resources here, from website themes to affiliate marketing courses, helped me get there. If I had this list of the best resources for bloggers earlier, I would have cut the time it took to turn a profit substantially, and it’s my hope that you’ll be able to run a pro blog by drawing on these best resources for bloggers.
Note: This post contains affiliate links
MY BOOK BLOGGING GUIDE
I would be remiss if I didn’t plug my book blogging guide, Book Blogging Hacks. This book has all you need to know to get up to speed with book blogging and features a list of 365 blog post ideas. This book has been substantially updated and revised with fresh new ideas and no repeats. Buy it on Amazon here and add it on Goodreads here.
I’ve also created a guidebook on how to write book reviews and book discussion guides: How to Write a Book Review.
This book walks you through writing book reviews and discussion guides step by step with an easy to use template. You can get a taster of it in this article on the blog: “How to Write a Book Review: Your Easy Book Review Format.” The book substantially expands on the content of the book post. You can pick it up on Amazon and add it on Goodreads here.
BOOK BLOGGING ARTICLES
Here are all of my articles on Broke by Books about blogging:
- How to Write a Book Review: Your Easy Book Review Format
- Strategies for Book Blogging and Depression
- An Epic List of 52 Book Blogging Ideas: From Cookbooks to Confessions
- Tips and Advice for Book Bloggers
And now onto the best blogging resources!
I. WEBSITE AND TECH
WEB HOSTING, DOMAINS & WORDPRESS THEMES
BLUEHOST
Bluehost has been my exclusive web host for this blog for over five year. I first joined Bluehost in 2015 and have been very pleased with their excellent customer service, affordable pricing, and quality of service. I’ve also registered this domain (and 6 others!) through Bluehost. They are the #1 web host I recommend for bloggers.
Sign up through my referral link and save with special introductory pricing.
I’m so impressed with Bluehost’s service that I’ve written two articles on this site endorsing Bluehost and talking about why they are great for WordPress and blogging.
THEMEFOREST
I’m kind of a visual snob, and I really appreciate good design. I judge websites—and that includes blogs—by how clunky, old, or unprofessional they look. It’s important to me to have a WordPress theme that looks slick, helps graphics pop, and is intuitive in its user experience. If you’re blogging on WordPress.org, then you get the option to upload and activate new themes. For me, it’s definitely one of the reasons to self-host on WordPress.org, as WordPress.com doesn’t let you do that.
I get all of my WordPress themes from Themeforest, a marketplace to buy WordPress and website themes and templates. Themeforest has an almost overwhelming number of amazing themes to pick from. It’s easy to search for what you’re looking for, too. Themes are in the affordable range from $19 or less to upwards of $59 or so. It’s very easy to then download the files and upload them to WordPress.
If you’re starting a blog on WordPress, definitely check out one of the slick, customizable themes on Themeforest.
GRAMMARLY
I used to think my grammar knowledge was airtight, but the truth is, I’ve slipped over the years.
Enter Grammarly, a plugin that helps you proofread your blog posts and all the writing you have to do. With Grammarly, watch your writing skills soar with tips and pointers to write better, avoid grammar pitfalls, and communicate like a pro.
Check out how Grammarly can help with this video:
Being a pro blogger starts with strong writing skills, and Grammarly can help you get there.
II. IMAGES AND GRAPHICS
Creating a cohesive, professional look to your blog graphics is so important. It's one of the top ways you can set yourself apart from the pack as a pro blogger. Here I endorse two great online graphic design alternatives to Photoshop—Canva and PicMonkey—that are affordable, intuitive, and easy to use.
CANVA
I love Canva, the online graphic design website that's great for bloggers.
PICMONKEY
I use PicMonkey for many of my blog's image needs. PicMonkey has extensive features and ways to edit images, create new designs, and draw on their vast template library. The majority of the featured images you see on this blog are PicMonkey.
Here are just two of the many examples of featured images I've made with PicMonkey's templates. What I love is that they both look similar. That means my blog has a recognizable, consistent visible brand, which is so important when you're trying to go pro and monetize your blog.
It's hard to choose between PicMonkey and Canva, so I have subscriptions for both. Each have special features and strengths and weaknesses that the other does not. I'm going to write an article comparing them soon enough.
But you should definitely take advantage of the 30-day free trial with PicMonkey to take it for a spin and see how it works. Remember, you'll get to keep whatever images you work on during the trial, as long as you download them, so it's really a win-win situation.
III. MAKE MONEY BLOGGING
Perhaps the easiest way to make money book blogging is through affiliate marketing. It happens to be my favorite way of monetizing a book blog, or any blog, for that matter.
In this section, I'm going to talk about three of the best-known and best-run affiliate marketing programs you can easily join and get started with earning affiliate income. Then I'll endorse two blogging courses that have helped me up my blogging game so I could go pro and start earning a prophet off my blog.
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
AMAZON ASSOCIATES
Amazon Associates is one of the biggest and easiest to use affiliate programs. Why? It doesn't matter what kind of blog you have. There are so many products on Amazon that you're bound to have many items to promote. Plus, speaking from personal experience, Amazon has it's sh** together: payments are reliable and on time. And I've even contacted Amazon Associates before with questions and had great customer service.
Basically, what happens is you include affiliate links on your blog posts with products that you are recommending or mentioning. Through the Amazon site, you can pull the links with your custom tracking ID in them from any product page.
Then you include your links within the post.
When people click on the links, there's a 24-hour window for you to earn a commission from anything they purchase. There are also "bounty" commissions you can earn. For instance, if someone signs up for Kindle Unlimited through your site, that's a flat $3.00 profit. In the reports section, you can see what people order (though, of course, you won't be able to see the details on the customers, with good reason).
Amazon Associates pays monthly for whatever you earn from two months ago. For example, in March, you're paid for January's commissions. However, you do have to reach a $10 threshold in order to be paid. If you're just starting out on Amazon Associates, it might take a few months until you hit the $10 threshold. Amazon Associates pays you through gift card, direct deposit, or check.
Sign up for Amazon Associates here.
SHARE-A-SALE
ShareASale is a marketplace for brands to connect with content creators like you. Once you sign up as an affiliate, you unlock potential affiliate partnerships with 15,000+ merchants. Personally, I use ShareASale for my ads with MasterClass, Grammarly, and Bookroo (check out my Bookroo review for an example of an affiliate review).
CJ AFFILIATE (COMMISSION JUNCTION)
Founded more than 20 years ago, Commission Junction (aka CJ Affiliate) has unparalleled success in affiliate marketing. It's free to sign up as a publisher. Once you create your account, you can research brands that fit with your content to partner up with. CJ Affiliate has tons of brands that book bloggers will love, like Barnes and Noble, so be sure to sign up and research what affiliate opportunities are for products, services, and brands you can personally endorse.
Between ShareASale and CJ Affiliate, if there's a brand you want to plug, I bet they have set up an affiliate partnership to work with your blog.
IV. BLOG CLASSES I ENDORSE
If you want to blog in the big leagues, the best way to get there is to take blogging courses that level up your expertise. Over the years, I've taken several blogging courses on everything from getting set up with affiliate marketing to "infopreneur" passive income classes. Taking blog courses is a big way to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. Here are a few blogging classes (and one book) I recommend taking if you want to make money blogging.
MAKING SENSE OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
Beginner blogger looking to up your earnings fast? Look no further than Michelle Schroeder-Gardner's Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Michelle is the guru of the enormously successful Making Sense of Cents blog, and in Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing she divulges all her secrets to building a six-figure blog through affiliate marketing. What I love about this course is how practical and easily accessible it is. Some blogging courses are so dense and have so much content that you feel immediately overwhelmed. Not so with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. This course is an easily doable six sections with bonus content. Since I started this class a year ago, my affiliate sales have tripled and the course has more than paid for itself.
Cost and Payment Options:
- One-time payment of $197
- Two monthly payments of $105
Sign up for Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing here!
CREATE AND GO COURSES
If you're serious about blogging and can only afford one class to take, make it Launch Your Blog Biz with the how-to blogging site Create and Go. Alex and Lauren are the dynamic duo behind Create and Go, a one-stop destination for anyone looking to monetize their blog and build passive income streams. They regularly make six figures a month from their blog and associated how-to courses. Rather than hoard their tips and tricks, Alex and Lauren have created three great blogging courses that I personally endorse.
Let's go through each course, stopping first with the beginner's course Launch Your Blog Biz.
I. LAUNCH YOUR BLOG BIZ
This massive course tackles all the topics you'd get in separate courses about blog monetization and going pro in one space. For example, you'll learn the basics of creating a blog, affiliate marketing, email marketing, ads and sponsored posts, traffic, content strategy, social media, and so much more. Launch Your Blog Biz is for absolute beginners to intermediate users.
Cost:
- One-time payment of $297
Sign up for Launch Your Blog Biz here!
II. SIX-FIGURE BLOGGER
So maybe you're an experienced blogger looking to up your earnings from your blog, but you don't know how to make it happen. There's a course for that! Six-Figure Blogger takes all the strategies and secrets that Alex and Lauren have used along the way to create a blog that generates six figures each month. Now you can benefit from their knowledge in this comprehensive blogging monetization course for intermediate to advanced bloggers.
Some of the topics covered in Six-Figure Blogger include their six-figure blog blueprint, advanced affiliate marketing, creating digital products and services, high-conversion sales page tactics, email marketing, sales funnels, and so much more. By following the tips in Six-Figure Blogger, you will upgrade your monetization strategy to the pro league.
Cost:
- One-time payment of $297
Sign up for Six-Figure Blogger here!
Unsure what class to take?
If you're unsure where you fit between these two courses, answer the questions in the Course Roadmap that Alex and Lauren have put together on their site. Answering these questions should tell you where you stand.
There's also one more special blogging Create and Go course I want to be sure to mention here: Pinterest Traffic Avalanche
III. PINTEREST TRAFFIC AVALANCHE
This one's a course that all bloggers can benefit from. If your blog is not on Pinterest, you need a Pinterest strategy. Pinterest is an outstanding place to expand your brand and bring in new content over and over again. I know personally how having a Pinterest plan is beneficial to seeing your traffic grow and fueling traffic to affiliate post. If you don't have a roadmap for harnessing all that Pinterest has to offer your blog, definitely check out Create and Go's Pinterest Traffic Avalanche.
This comprehensive course covers all you need to know to create a strategy on Pinterest, including topics like Pinterest Search Engine Optimization (SEO), creating viral content and pins, pinning strategies, increasing reach with group boards, automating your Pinterest traffic, learning from Pinterest analytics, boosting traffic by promoting pins, and so much more.
Taking Pinterest Traffic Avalanche will give you all the information you need to blog with the big leagues.
Cost:
- One-time payment of $197
Sign up for Pinterest Traffic Avalanche here!
IV. PRO BLOGGER BUNDLE
If all the Create and Go courses sound good to you, do what I did and buy the bundle of all the courses. The Pro Blogger Bundle includes:
- Launch Your Blog Biz
- Pinterest Traffic Avalanche
- Six-Figure Blogger
Cost
- For a one-time price of $647, you save $144 from the $791 list price of each individual course. Folks, it's a deal I endorse.
Sign up for the Pro Blogger Bundle here!
TRAFFIC TRANSFORMATION GUIDE
There is just one more endorsement I want to make before I close out this list of blog resources: Traffic Transformation Guide!
Although it's not a course per se, Lena Gott's Traffic Transformation Guide is a must-read for any blogger looking to up their content strategy game. Blogger Lena Gott gives you all the best strategies you need to start reeling in big-time traffic for your blog. This is the sixth year of my blogging here at Broke by Books, and I think what doesn't get talked about enough in all the blogging courses is content strategy. Meaning, how do you create ideas, plan an editorial calendar, and write great content that pulls consistent numbers. With Traffic Transformation Guide you can learn these skills as Gott divulges her secret strategies to achieving major traffic, including doing keyword research, scooping up holiday traffic trends, optimizing posts for Google, and more. The lessons are easily digestible and practical so you're ready to start applying them to your blogging.
If you want to get started with taking your blog to the next level and can't afford to try one of the more expensive courses I've featured here, give Traffic Transformation Guide a go. At $79, it's a steal that will put you on the path to blogging greatness. After all, the heart of a great blog is good content, and Traffic Transformation Guide helps you get from good to great with its unparalleled knowledge of content strategy.
Cost
- One-time payment of $79