If you’re thinking of starting your own blog, these are some of the tools and resources I find valuable in running Dishes and Dust Bunnies. Over time, I'll be adding to this list as I find more resources worth mentioning here.
Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. This means I'll earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to purchase through them. All resources/tools listed below are recommended because they're companies and products I've found helpful and trustworthy in my own journey as a blogger. Please let me know if you have any questions about anything listed below!
My Favourite Blogging Tools
Big Scoots – Fully Managed Hosting – I've used many hosts over the years and I'm so glad I switched over to Big Scoots back in 2018. Since switching, my site never has downtime (they have uptime rate of 99.99%!) and I also have the peace of mind knowing there are knowledgeable experts fully managing my hosting behind the scenes. I used to run an entire server by myself, which was a tremendous amount of work – letting them manage my hosting has freed up more of my time for blogging! ?❤️ You can't go wrong with Big Scoots – hands down THE best hosting company!
Schedule Pins on Pinterest with Tailwind – Pinterest is a huge source of traffic for most bloggers. In fact, over half of my pageviews come from Pinterest. I use Tailwind to schedule my pins and it's been incredibly effective in helping increase my traffic. Tailwind allows you to schedule pins ahead of time and provides useful analytics. I’ve used several other Pinterest scheduling tools in the past and have found that Tailwind is by far the best.
Make Buzzfeed Style Quizzes for your Blog – Adding quizzes to your blog is a great way to bring something new, fun and interactive to your readers. Interact is a feature packed tool that will allow you to create unlimited custom designed quizzes, giveaways and polls. I use this tool on Dishes & Dust Bunnies and LOVE it!
I love it so much that I even created this tutorial post to help you get start building quizzes right away. You know what else is aweome?? It's FREE to get started! <3
Free Blogging eBooks & Resources
The Secret Blueprint For Blogging Success10 Steps To Take When A Post Goes Viral8 Bad Blogging Habits and How to Break Them120 Awesome Post IdeasThe New Bloggers Guide To Guest Posting2018 Blogging TrendsThe Blog Structure Blueprint7 Surefire Ways To Boost Your Blog Income Overnight
Recommended Photography & Graphics Tools
Tasty Food Photography The eBook – An excellent and inexpensive eBook stuffed with everything you need to know about creating amazing food photos for your blog. The tips and techniques in this book will help you create the best photos possible! Can’t recommend it enough!
Adobe Photoshop + Lightroom – I have a subscription to Adobe's Photography Pan – this gives me access to both Photoshop and Lightroom. I consider these an absolute essential in creating great photos for the blog – I use these to edit all my photos and create graphics and shareable images for my social media posts.
Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital SLR Camera – This is the camera I currently use for all my photography, including the recipe and food photos here on Dishes and Dust Bunnies. While I’m certainly not an expert photographer and still learning, this camera can pump out some pretty amazing and crisp images. It not only allows me to take awesome photos, it also shoots excellent HD video. It's a great camera to start with as a beginner!
Platinum Series Tripod/Monopod Kit – Model #: PT-TPM665-C – This is the tripod I use when taking photos for my blog. It's super quick to set up, portable, and takes up very little space when not in use. It's also super affordable – which is a win in my book! 🙂
X-Rite MSCCPP ColorChecker Passport – As I've used this tool I’ve found that it has saved me a tremendous amount of time when editing my photos. This neat little thing allows me to calibrate the digital copy of an photo to the true colors as seen by the eye – meaning I get true colors! This is especially helpful in making certain the colors of my food photos appear as accurate as possible how they look if you were there in person! This has become an essential for me and I LOVE it!
