Let me share the honest truth with you about starting a Business.

If you want to use your Business as a journal, then share updates with your family and friends. Or just need an outlet for your words (I totally get that). You can start a Business for free with WordPress.com, Wix, Weebly or Business.  However, if you want control over how your Business looks, more options for functionality. If your goal is to make some extra cash from your Business, then you need hosting.  

You can purchase hosting from Bluehost for as little as $3.95 a month. It already includes a free domain and head to your WordPress Dashboard to get started all in less than ten minutes.  However, what do you think happens then?
I will tell you what happened to me. Minor panic. What do I do now? Do I really want to do this?  Where do I start? I know nothing!

Yes, monetizing is possible for new Businesses.  But, I am willing to place a bet on how many Businesses actually made money on day one.  Very few. Monetizing takes time. You will need to establish a plan and a strategy. This does not happen in one day, or even overnight. 

Here are some words of wisdom from a new-ish Business to you.

Take it one step at a time.

Keep moving forward & Have fun!

Based on experience, I have been through tools and resources, free and paid.  

I have devoured course after course, ebook after ebook, and nowadays, podcasts (I might be addicted).  There is a colossal amount of information out there for new Business. Admittedly, I bought it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.  And I ate it up. Often feeling fulfilled, but sometimes, I thought, “darn it, I want those hours of my life back.”  

Let’s Get Started. 

30 Essential Tools To Grow Your Business and Blog: Site Hosting

First You Will Need:

Bluehost – If you plan on monetizing your Business at any point in time, then you need to be self-hosted.  With hosting, your content is yours and you have control over customization and individualization of your Business.  I use Bluehost because it is inexpensive, simple and user-friendly. Plus, it is true, you can install WordPress with one click.

Themes Divi is one of the best themes for wordpress, very intuitive and easy to build. It does have some formatting issues I battle with on a regular basis.
I enjoy their blogs immensely and the free layouts they provide regularly.

Keyword Research Tools

We have a post on SEO basic for your blog and small business here

You must learn keyword research in order to be a successful Business.

Keyword research involves finding keywords or keyword phrases for your Business post or website that will generate organic traffic, give value to your site, and help you rank in Google and other search engines. 

Here are several free options, plus a tool that has a monthly fee.

Keywords Everywhere – Type your keyword into the search bar on Keywords Everywhere.  You will be provided the monthly search volume of that word. Plus, you can find what “people also search for” and “related” keywords, and the volume of these searches as well.  

Pinterest (my personal favorite) – Pinterest has become one of my favorite tools for keyword research.  Simply type in your search in the Pinterest search bar. It will autofill with multiple ideas for what people are searching for on Pinterest.  We all know that Pinterest is crucial to success as a Businessger, so why not find out what people are looking for there?

SEMrush – SEMrush is what the pros use for keyword research.  I have even heard Business go as far as calling SEMrush a “miracle” tool.  It is a paid tool for keyword research, but you can try it out for a free 7-day trial and do some major keyword research in those seven days to fill up your editorial calendar for weeks or months.  SEMrush will help you find the most profitable keywords for your Business or website, starting at $99.95 per month

These tools to grow your business will help you create content for your business and blogs.

Editorial Calendar WordPress Plugin (FREE) – Once you have completed your keyword research and created headlines for future posts, plan them out with the WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin.  The beauty of this calendar is that it is free, you can see all of your posts and when they will be posted, and you can drag and drop to change the dates.  Test out the plugin before you install it and commit. 

The premium version finds and fixes more mistakes than the free version.  If you pay monthly, the subscription will cost $29.95/month. However, you can save if you pay three months at a time ($19.98/month), or for the entire year ($11.66/month). 

This is something you need to have, even if it is the free version.

A real turnoff for me is to begin reading a Business post and find all sorts of grammatical and spelling errors.  Not professional, at all.

My Favorite Part of Content Creation…Graphics.

Most of us are visual people.  We love to look at pretty things.  It is no different when reading a post or looking at a website.  Graphics are an integral part of creating a visually appealing Business post.

Most people aren’t happy reading paragraph after paragraph without looking at something pretty.

There are many websites that provide quality stock images that you can use for your website; some are free, some charge a small fee.

We have a post featuring the top 8 best sites for images that doesn’t suck Here

Pixistock – Pixistock provides the most beautiful stock images for many niches.  At first, I signed up for the free version where Alicia would send ten stock photos per month.  I fell head over heels in love with these free images and needed more, so I bought the paid version.  Now I have access to the entire library.

Canva – If you wish to look like a pro, Canva is a must.  There are many graphic design tools to grow your business online.  Find the one you love and learn it.

Creative graphic images are incredibly important for the look of your Business.  Canva provides you with millions of images to choose from, filters, icons, fonts, and vectors. Canva can make a pro out of you, or at least help you look like one.

Boutique Showcase your work through these stunning and elegant Canva templates.

AN ENTREPRENEUR WORKBOOK MUST HAVE!

Chic Modern Canva templates for all your graphic design needs. These designs are perfect for your next workbook, social media posts, media kit, sponsorship offer, or checklist.

The Canva Templates give you the tools you need to reflect your Brand. Editable Canva templates that include social media post templates, checklists, pin, and ebook templates.  This will change the look of your Business from amateur to professional

Improve the functionality of your Business or website with these plugins. Let us know in the comment section below, which tool in the 30 Essential Tools To Grow Your Business and Blog you will be using?

There are many plugins that are tempting. Be careful, as you can slow your site down with too many.  Here are five plugins that you need. But, there are so many more.

Plugins inc

Yoast SEO – Yoast SEO is the first plugin you need to install and it is FREE.  Yoast SEO provides insight on how to improve each Business post in order to optimize for search engines and therefore rank on Google. 

Yoast SEO provides reminders of where and when to use keywords. It is basically a fill in the blank for SEO. This plugin is perfect for new Business to begin to understand and implement SEO strategies.

Monster Insights – How many times have you heard that you need to know your audience?  Monster Insights will help you by providing not only the number of page views, but also where they originated from, plus how long they stayed on your website.  

Akismet examines all of your comments and contact forms for potential spam.  

WP Smush – Images are necessary to break up your content and make your site look visually appealing. 

However, images can take up space. WP Smush will compress and optimize your images so they don’t slow down your website. 

Facebook and Pinterest are essential for new and experienced Business and bloggers. These social media accounts not only for generate traffic to your website but for networking and learning.

Tailwind ~ Tailwind is a pin scheduler that will save you tons of time.  Plus, by joining Tailwind Tribes, your content will be seen even more, thus more traffic. 

You can schedule your pins out for months at a time and keep Pinterest on autopilot. Tailwind is a time saver and massive traffic generator.  

Facebook Groups ~ Join them, interact, and learn.  You can join Facebook Groups specific for your niche, or Facebook Groups that teach you how to create and maintain a successful Business. 

Hurry and join them both and be active. Facebook Groups are second place in generating traffic to my Business, plus I have learned a ton from them.  

 You need to know How to use these tools in ways where they put money back into your bank accounts.

We have 10 more tools that will help you eliminate the non-essentials, for you to grow and scale your business faster. Once you’ve implemented your structured content using these tools, you’ll want to use it as your roadmap to driving your most relevant buyer-traffic to your offers.

Use Freshbook Small Business Accounting Software To Make Billing Painless.

30 Essential Tools, Websites, Online Apps To Grow Your Business and Blog.

These tools are essential to kickstarting a successful Business.  Try them out and let us know what you think. Plus, if you find a tool that you cannot live without, share it with us so we can check it out, too. 

Remember, take it one step at a time, keep moving forward, and have fun.  

Happy Business!

Want to learn:

Proven Pinterest strategies?

Do you wish to put the traffic boosting power of Pinterest to work for you in your business?

Are you a serial pinner, pinning images daily on your boards and nothing really to show for it?

You’re not getting any traffic for your time and efforts.

I invite you to simply add your name and email address below to automatically access our FREE Pinterest Check

* This post contain affiliate links. Please see my disclaimer policy for more details. 

Did we feature your favorite tool and app in the list of 30 Essential Tools To Grow Your Business and Blog?

I was honored that she loved my business enough to consider me. Thank you, Maggie, for instilling your confidence in me.

However, lately, she has discovered her voice in sharing strategies to improve your blog. From creating and maintaining a successful blog to learning proper etiquette on social media, she teaches you the small, yet essential tasks that will make you a better blogger.  Her recent post, 33 Practical Ways to Crush the Summer Blogging Slump, is full of practical and actionable tasks that will keep the momentum going strong throughout the summer, and truly year-round.