Blogging Resources I Love & Live By

If you’re curious about starting a blog or wonder what it will take to have a successful blog, here are some of the tools and resources I have used in my blogging journey. For my Christian motherhood blog, I’ve had to learn the hard way by making mistakes, doing TONS of ultimately pointless research and lots of trial and error. I’m hoping that this post with all of the blogging resources I love can help you with your Christian blog so that you won’t have to go through the same mistakes that I made!

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission when you buy through the links on this page.

Canva Pro

I use Canva Pro for all my graphics and designs. They have thousands of excellent templates for every scenario. I use them the most for photos, Pinterest Pins, and Instagram posts. But I’ve also used them for creating my Simple 7-Day Anti-Inflammatory Diet Meal Plan ebook as well as invitations or really any kind of graphics I need for ANYTHING.

A few great aspects of the upgraded PRO version:

• You have access to A LOT of photos you can use for your designs and blog posts (instead of having to pay for a separate photo library).
• You have a ‘brand kit’ that keeps all of your brand’s fonts, colors, logos, etc. just a click away (rather than having to memorize the hex number of all of your brand colors!)
• MAGIC RESIZE – this is worth every cent. You design a Pinterest Pin and with one click it is also an Instagram post, Facebook post, blog banner, or any other size you want. Like magic. It’s incredible and a HUGE time saver.
• Publish social media content from Canva. Once you’ve designed your pin or instagram post, you can publish it or even schedule it to be published.

Here is my referral link, which I would really appreciate if you used because it gives me a small bonus at no extra cost to you! So, thank you in advance!! Click here for Canva Pro.

Tailwind for Pinterest & Instagram (& Facebook!)

Tailwind is such an incredible tool and resource. You can schedule in advance all of your Pinterest pins, Instagram posts and even cross-post to Facebook. They’ve even added a design element to Tailwind where you enter in the information for your pin and they create lots of different pin options for you to choose from.

The Tailwind Communities are also invaluable, and how I grew to the point where I am today.

I also really love all of the education the Tailwind staff does – they offer so many classes, tools and resources for people to grow in their craft.

Honestly, I’m not sure how to blog without Tailwind. I tried to go without Tailwind for one month and my stats plummeted. It’s just an easy set it and forget it solution for busy moms who want to be present with their kids and not be addicted to social media!

I usually set aside some time at the beginning of each month to plan out all of my social media content and then it’s done for the entire month! I don’t even have to think about it.

And, if you have the time/energy/content, you can plan for even longer than a month.

How awesome is that?!?

When you use this link, you’ll get a $15 credit – and so will I! Win-win. Click here for Tailwind.

ConvertKit

I use ConvertKit for keeping up my email list as well as my sales pages, pop ups and other landing pages. You can see examples of really simple ones I’ve created here and here.

When I first started blogging, I used MailChimp and after several very frustrating sessions where I tried to figure out how to create landing pages and pop ups with them, I gave up and switched the ConvertKit. I can’t tell you what a time saver this has been!

It is SO MUCH EASIER to use ConvertKit than any other email subscription service I’ve worked with.

Occasionally I’ve had to contact their customer support about my pop ups not functioning the way I want them to, and they have always been able to fix them right away.

Here is my personalized referral link for ConvertKit, which gives me a little bonus at no cost to you: ConvertKit is awesome.

Start a Mom Blog

This is one of my favorite resources on this whole list. I LOVE SUZI!!! My husband and I joke that Suzi is my blogging crush. She’s awesome. I also love that she works with her husband and they seem to have a really great partnership.

I wish I would’ve known about Start a Mom Blog from the very beginning of my blogging journey, it would’ve saved me a lot of time and energy. However, I am grateful that I know about them now because they’ve helped me grow so much!

I did a 90-day challenge with Suzi to grow my email list. My list went from 30 subscribers (AKA my family and a handful of friends) to 1,100 subscribers and growing every single day.

I’ve done her course on printables as well as her course on course creation. She is incredibly practical, showing step-by-step details without bogging you down with too much information. I highly recommend all of her products!

Start a Mom Blog Printables by Number Course and Start a Mom Blog Course by Numbers

Mom to Mompreneur

This Facebook group by Twins Mommy creator Elna Cain has been invaluable. It is a very active group with a wide range of skills and abilities. I’ve asked this group SO many questions about blogging and have gotten immediate, helpful answers. Elna also does regular Facebook lives on particular blogging topics.

Themeforest Rosemary Theme

This is the theme that I use for my blog from Themeforest. Finding a blog theme can be so overwhelming! So feel free to use this one if you like it. 😉

Kingdom Bloggers

This is another Christian blogging resource that I LOVE. I’ve taken their free SEO course and it was simple yet effective. I love finding resources that are specific to Christian blogging and this is a fantastic resource if you are trying to use your blogging platform to spread the message of Christ.

By His Grace Bloggers

This is another Facebook group that has been ultra supportive and helpful on my blogging journey. This is specifically for Christian women bloggers and it’s where I’ve found a wonderful community of like-minded women! You can join this group and ask questions/advice and get lots of support.

BibleHub & Other Bible-Based Tools

This has been an invaluable resource for me as I’ve done more intensive Bible research for my blog. When you look up a verse, it offers parallel versions of that verse, related scriptures, commentary, the breakdown of the original language and more. If you want your blog to be Bible-based, this is an excellent tool.

I also recommend using Bible Gateway, Blue Letter Bible, and YouVersion – which will often have beautiful graphics of popular verses that you can use. Just make sure you tag or link them if you use their graphics!

bVerse Convert by Crossed Code

I use this plugin on my WordPress site to convert Bible verse references so that people can hover over the verse reference and see the actual scripture. This is such a helpful feature!

Support from Family & Friends

I am so incredibly blessed to have an ultra supportive husband and family! They have encouraged my dreams and been through all of the highs and lows of my writing career alongside of me. If you also have a supportive family, please be intentional about sharing your hopes and dreams with them and let them dream with you! And praise God for that.

If you don’t feel like your family is understanding or supportive of your dreams, I encourage you to sit down and talk with them. Explain to them your vision, goals, and how you plan to accomplish them. Tell them what their support would mean to you, and then tell them specifically HOW they can support you. Perhaps you need a beta reader for some of your posts, or would love it if they re-shared your links on social media. Or maybe you just need someone to cheer you on and give you high-fives when you have a great day! Whatever you need from your family, make sure to communicate clearly and intentionally.

No matter what your support from your family is like, I hope you will hear me when I tell you that God is with you and He believes in you. He created you to be exactly the way that you are and to utilize your unique strengths and talents to shine a light to those around!

Don’t cover up your light, my friend. Let it shine bright for the whole world to see.

I hope these resources are helpful to you as you start your journey of blogging!