thehollypeck

Blogging is simple….until suddenly it isn’t. Buying a domain isn’t rocket science. Getting WordPress installed can be a little complicated, but there are resources to get you through. Your theme? It can be installed fairly simply. Let’s assume you’ve made it to this point, and you’re ready to blog, and make millions of dollars. Easy peasy, right? Well, close – you want to take advantage of tools available for bloggers to work smarter, rather than harder. Plugins are some of my favorite resources: here are 5 plugins every blogger should have.

Oh wait. FIRST: what is a plugin?

A plugin is a software component that enhances capacity. That means some savvy programmer saw a need or a capability and said, “I can tweak this and make it better.” Voila. A plugin was born. Bloggers simply install that snippet of software into their blog, activate it (if required), and take advantage of the capability that the plugin offers.

Plugin: Maintenance Mode

What Does it Do?

When you activate Maintenance mode, it’s like your blog is changing clothes, and you’ve shut the door of the dressing room so that no one can see it. This is helpful if you JUST started out with your blog, and you don’t have enough posts to fill all the spots on your theme. It’s also great if you’re rebranding and want to hide that from the world as you make changes. This plugin is helpful if you’re just starting out and feeling insecure about you blog and you don’t want to show the world.

How Do I Get It?

Simply download the plugin here! Oh, and it’s free. This is a win!

Plugin: Yoast SEO

What Does it Do?

Yoast is one of my favorite plugins, because it helps me with SEO optimization as I write. Using Yoast enables me to select a keyword, and write for that keyword. It also allows me to add Facebook and twitter optimized images. The red, yellow, and green lights as I write help me to know that my posts are both readable and findable

How Do I Get Yoast?

Yoast has two versions: free and paid. If you cannot swing the money for the paid version, at least get the free one to get started.  The main difference is that the paid version will suggest posts to link in your post, suggest additional keywords based off your text, and most of all, let you write for up to 5 keywords per post.

Plugin: MiloTree

What Does it Do?

When you’re on my site, and begin scrolling, have you seen the popup that suggests you follow me on Pinterest? That magical event was powered by MiloTree. Pinterest is one of my targeted growth areas, so having a pop up on my site that directs people to follow me on Pinterest feels like a no-brainer. However, the cool thing about MiloTree is that you can grow whatever social media platform you want: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or your email list! I opted for Pinterest, and am LOVING the upward trajectory that the included analytics helps me know that I made the right choice by choosing MiloTree!

How Do I Get It?

Click HERE to purchase MiloTree. MiloTree costs $99 per year, and includes a FREE one-month trial. If you start with the $9 a month plan, you miss out on that trial – make sure to take advantage of it for the best value.

Plugin: Tasty Pins

What Does it Do?

Ok, so one of the best ways to get traffic on your blog is through Pinterest. In order for your posts to be shareable on Pinterest, you’ll need to have images optimized. However, optimized pins don’t fit the typical featured sizes for a blog post. Picmonkey published a handy blog post with the optimized sizes, but let’s be realistic: you don’t want an image taking that much of your blog space real estate. Tasty Pins also allows you to disable pinning on images that are not Pinterest optimized.

How Do I Get It?

You can get Tasty Pins here. Tasty Pins is a $29 yearly purchase.

Plugin: Akismet

What Does it Do?

Spam happens. Akismet helps filter it out so that you can delete it from your blog. You don’t need to have “nice site, very helpful, please check out my site for how to get more followers” comments on your blog. Links to online poker games are unnecessary as well. Nope. Install Akismet and easily filter out those comments.

How Do I Get It?

Go here and get a free Akismet account (connected with your WordPress login), and stop the spam.

So tell me: what are your favorite plugins that you have installed on your blog?

Also, if you haven’t checked out my free blogger’s toolkit, what are you waiting for? Find it here.

Blogging can be intimidating for a beginner, but there are resources to make the process easier for a beginner. The three that I am about to share with you are ones that I use on a daily basis, that are a game-changer in my blogging journey. Here are three of my favorite resources to use while blogging.

PicMonkey Helps a New Blogger Create Amazing Graphics

Graphics can be incredibly intimidating to new bloggers. That’s why that cheeky little monkey is a new blogger’s best friend. PicMonkey is a powerful tool to help bloggers create graphics as featured images, Facebook graphics, and twitter images.

This web-based tool provides customizable templates. “The Hub” stores templates you create. See the images that I use on my blog? Most of these are templates that remain in the hub. I do not spend hours creating graphics for blog posts; I simply edit the templates, replace some photos in the templates, export them to my computer, and then add them to my posts.

Graphics no longer intimidate me, and I have PicMonkey to thank for that.

TailWind Allows New Bloggers to Promote their Content Effectively on Pinterest

No successful blogger hits the “publish” button and sits back, hoping for the best. Bloggers must promote their content effectively and efficiently. Pinterest is one of the top resources for sharing blog posts, and Tailwind helps schedule content so that it does not flood the feed of followers all at once.

Additionally, “tribe,” or groups that mutually share content help your posts reach further and further. When used effectively these repins can help your content reach further audiences, exploding your reach and helping you become a more valued authority.

Creative Market Provides Resource Templates Perfect for a New Blogger

Scared of creating resources on your own? Need to try out templates created just for your needs? Look no further than Creative Market. You can find hundreds of downloadable templates and resources, many of which you can customize to fit your own branding and colors. Many of the templates are made for Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, but most are editable in Canva (another free online graphics editor).

You can purchase almost anything you need to create amazing graphics on Creative Market. Fonts, digital papers, infographics, pre-designed templates – you name it, you can find it. Additionally, Creative Market offers bonuses with purchases – that means you can build an incredible digital library of resources quickly.

Bonus Resource: An Excellent Hosting Provider

Oh yeahhhhh friends. New bloggers, you gotta find a good hosting provider. I’m a huge fan of SiteGround – which is why I wrote an entire blog post all about SiteGround. Make sure you check it out and see if SiteGround might be a good fit for you as well.

So now you’ve heard of my favorite resources – what are some of yours? Share some of your favorite blogging resources in the comments.

Was this helpful? Sharing is caring. Pin it here:

If you use Facebook or Instagram in any capacity, you’ve probably heard of the FabFitFun box. Celebrities and influencers post “unboxing” videos promoting the boxes, raving about the items contained inside. They give codes to get the first box for only $39.99 (I’ve got a code for you: use code NEW10 for $10 off!) – but is FabFitFun worth the cost?

I’m a subscription box junkie – I’ve subscribed to several make-up boxes, but they weren’t the right fit for me. I’ve become incredibly picky about the makeup that I use, as I have found the right stuff for me, so I didn’t want to waste any products included in the boxes. Let’s talk about what makes the FabFitFun box different.

What is the FabFitFun Box?

The FabFitFun box is a seasonal subscription box that comes 4 times a year, with assorted special boxes (called Editor’s Boxes) offered in between the seasonal boxes. If you join between seasons, you will have the option to start with the current Editor’s Box. The boxes contain a hand-picked assortment of items focusing on health, beauty, fitness, and home. The box is a subscription service, but if you get one box and don’t care for it, you can cancel your subscription (for my first purchase, I opted to pay for one box at a time, rather than paying a year in advance – I didn’t know for sure if it was going to be a continued purchase).

When purchasing the boxes as a single box, it is $49.99 each, or you can purchase a year’s subscription (4 boxes) for $179.99. One additional perk of purchasing a full year’s subscription is the opportunity to customize several items in your box and earlier shipping than the box-by-box subscribers.

Honest Review of the FabFitFun Summer 2018 Box

My 2018 Summer box arrived the first week of June. I received 9 items in my box, with a declared value of $353.99 – all for the price of $39.99 – the cost with a first time user code. And yes, I have a code for $10 off your first box – use code NEW10 to get your first box at a discount.

Check out what I got in my box (straight from the FabFitFun website):

I’ll be honest: I signed up for this box solely for the value of the Foreo. I’ve always wanted to try one, and I’ve always wanted to try the FabFitFun box, so the fact that it was included in the Summer 2018 box made signing up for a no brainer. I did not customize any items in my box: this was precisely what was included. The highlighter palette is amazing. The ring absolutely perfect, and the makeup train case lives on my counter, holding my every day essentials. I’ve used the Pier 1 ring dish in my bathroom to store the Foreo.

Is the FabFitFun Box Worth It?

Every thing in the box was amazing and high quality. At least half of the items included in my box were items that I would have either chosen for myself. I especially LOVE the pearl ring – I mean, have you seen my branding? HEYO. Several items have made it to my daily usage; none have gone to waste.

Before each box ships, you have the option to add other items to your order. The add-ons options are extensive, and incredibly appealing.

Need some FabFitFun in your life? Click here to subscribe, and enter code NEW10 to get $10 off your first box. I’m so excited for you to have some FabFitFun in your life!

Was this helpful? Sharing is caring. Pin it here: