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If you want people to take you and your blog seriously, you are going to have to make a few key investments. I know, I know it’s difficult to spend money if you’re not making much money but it’s essential to do so. I wholeheartedly believe in the saying if you don’t spend money you can’t make money to an extent. Of course, you shouldn’t go broke trying to start your business but there are some things that you will have to invest in when first starting out whether you like it or not. Continue reading for some of the best investments for business bloggers.
Best Investments for Business Bloggers
Domain + Hosting + Professional Website Design
The very first investment you’re going to have to make as a business blogger who is looking to get serious is purchasing your domain, hosting, and a professional website design. Having your own domain is necessary from the get-go because people will instantly take you more seriously if you don’t have .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com tied to your URL. You can use a website like NameCheap to easily purchase your desired domain.
The second investment to make as a blogger is deciding on what host you’re going to choose. If you want to be professional from the start, I recommend skipping over Blogger and WordPress.com and going straight for being self-hosted with WordPress.org. I recommend going with Siteground for your hosting because they have amazing customer service and in my 6 months of hosting with them I’ve experienced little to no downtime.
The third investment that you’re going to need to make right off the bat is selecting a theme. Self-hosted WordPress is a little different in that you can’t just buy a theme and call it a day. First, you have to purchase a framework like Genesis or Divi and then you can go about purchasing a child theme, which will give your website more customization.
RELATED: How to Start a Blog
Social Media Scheduler
One of my first blogging investments besides hosting + my website design was a social media scheduler. I currently use four different social media schedulers because each one serves a different purpose. I currently use Tailwind and Boardbooster for Pinterest, Plann for Instagram, and SmarterQueue for Twitter and Facebook.
There are free options out there but I’ve found these tools to be some of the best so I don’t mind paying for them each month.
Accounting Software
I’m definitely no accountant so having a software that makes my accounting process easy peasy is a total necessity. I currently use Freshbooks for my accounting needs and it does all I need it to and more. Last week I wrote an in-depth post about Freshbooks so if you’re looking for a great accounting software, look no further.
Email Marketing Software
I’m sure you have heard this one thousand times but the money is in the list. Although you don’t HAVE to have an email list, I highly recommend it because your email list consists of your most loyal fans. Sure there is a free email software out there like Mailchimp and MailerLite but I’ve found ConvertKit to be one of the most comprehensive so I don’t mind paying for it each month.
Custom Email Domain
First, I must stress that whatever you do you need to have a custom email domain. There are ways to set up a custom email domain through your hosting provider for free but personally, I pay for G Suite so I can have an email domain attached to my Gmail account since I love Gmail’s interface. Whatever you choose just make sure you have your own email domain.
Stock Photos
This may not be an essential for everyone but it sure is for me. I am certainly not a photographer so having pretty styled stock photos on hand is necessary. I use them for social media and marketing purposes to make my graphics look prettier and more professional. My two favorite places to get girly styled stock images are Haute Chocolate and Styled Stock Society.
Appointment Scheduler
If you’re a service-based business blogger, then you’re going to need an appointment scheduler. There are plenty of options out there to choose from but my favorite is Acuity.
Your Turn:
I hope you enjoyed reading about the best investments for business bloggers. Are you currently investing in any of the above? Please feel free to let me know down in the comments.
