I started this blog in 2014. It’s been a truly life-changing journey.
Below you will find the blogging, content creation, and digital marketing resources I recommend.
These will help your blog run smoothly, look pretty, and grow your audience.
AD: Affiliate links are used, meaning I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
How I Run This Blog
☞ My Email Provider
I use ConvertKit to manage my email list.
They’re an excellent provider for creatives and content creators, providing tools for growth such as landing pages and the ability to sell products through their platform.
ConvertKit has a free plan for up to 1000 subscribers.
☞ My Website Host
I’ve been with Lyrical Host since 2020, a WordPress hosting service designed for bloggers. Their tech support and pricing are incredible. I’ve had zero issues, and strongly recommend them.
Use the code EMILYUNDERWORLD for 10% off your first plan payment with Lyrical Host, starting at £9.99 a month.
Useful Blogging Tools and Tech
Find my tech tools and setup for blogging, photography, and working from home on my Amazon list.
Below are the other tools and services I use for maintaining my blog and social media.
☞ WordPress Plugins
- RankMath. Optimizing blog posts for SEO brings in organic traffic from Google. RankMath’s free plan is great, and the Pro comes with more features. I recommend it over any other SEO plugin.
- Smush helps compress your images to make them load faster. I use the free version.
- PrettyLinks does a simple job: making your affiliate links look pretty. No more ugly affiliate links with a million numbers! It also helps you track clicks and detect broken affiliate links.
☞ Digital Assets
Creative Market is a brilliant place for digital assets. It’s where I bought my WordPress Theme Jellybean by Ltsdesigns (and my previous theme by Hearten Made).
☞ Selling Digital Products
SendOwl and Gumroad are great platforms for selling digital products. I’m currently using Gumroad and Etsy, but I make a lot more sales on Gumroad, and their fees are better.
Pinterest Tools
Tailwind
It’s not essential, but I do find it convenient for bulk scheduling pins. The Communities feature is great for finding other bloggers in your niche and growing together.
Pin Generator
This brilliant tool helps me create and schedule pins way more efficiently than Canva. I definitely recommend it for bloggers using Pinterest.
TastyPins
TastyPins is a genius WordPress plugin for Pinterest SEO. You can set Pinterest descriptions for your images, and hide your pins from the front-end of your site.
Stock Photos
Ivory Mix
A great membership for content creators in the lifestyle space. Stock photos, caption ideas, masterclasses, Canva templates for stories, reels, and more. This one has it all.
Katie Harp Creative
Over 2,310 stock photos in a colourful feminine style for $97, with no recurring fees. Plus, get 800 Canva templates for social media and branding.
KaboomPics
My favourite free stock photo site. KaboomPics features categories like home decor, interiors, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle.
Blogging Ebooks and Courses
Big Pin Energy
I have purchased several Pinterest Courses and ebooks over the years. Big Pin Energy is my favourite. I recommend it if you want to learn how to use Pinterest effectively to drive blog traffic.
I am now reaching 1 million monthly impressions on Pinterest. I even had a viral pin that brought me 12,000 blog views in one day.
StrayCurls Blogging Bundle
This bundle is a collection of useful ebooks by StrayCurls, about blogging, SEO, building traffic, and marketing.
There’s a lot of value in here for just $38. Plus, it comes with a cute 50-page blog planner!
Skillshare
I’ve learned so much from Skillshare. The classes I’ve taken vary from blogging, SEO, and affiliate marketing, to crafts, DIY and personal development.
At the moment I’m learning all about digital illustration on Procreate with Skillshare’s art classes. As someone who hasn’t had any formal art training, it’s a brilliant way to improve in my free time.
Blogging and Social Media Tips
I’ve written a bunch of blog posts about blogging and social media. Here are some you may find helpful:
- How To Improve Your Blog Photography.
- How I Promote My Blog Online and Offline.
- How To Create Clickable Pins.
- What are Logo Mockups and Why Are They Useful?
- Where To Find Cute Stickers for Instagram Stories.
Making Money as a Blogger
How to Find Sponsored Blogging Work
These days, most sponsored blog post inquiries land in my email inbox. Make sure to put your email address on your blog and social media profiles! That way PRs and Influencer Marketing Managers can contact you easily.
I don’t tend to pitch brands, but I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and get out there more!
Recently I’ve been using Get Blogged, Blogger Outreach, and Intellifluence to find paid blogging work.
I also sometimes find suitable sponsored blog post opportunities through Facebook Groups and on Twitter.
I tend to ignore Instagram DM’s because 9 times out of 10 it’s a scam or an MLM. No thanks. Remember that your work is valuable, and brands often take advantage of small content creators.
Blogger Ad Networks
For many bloggers, Mediavine is the holy grail of advertising. I am yet to apply for Mediavine, because you need 50,000 monthly sessions to be considered. My highest so far is around 47,000, so hopefully, I’ll be able to apply soon.
Google Adsense was quite a hit-and-miss for me, so I switched to Ezoic. They work with Google Adsense as a Publishing Partner, enabling you to earn more money from advertising.
I’ve only been with them for a few months, but my earnings have literally tripled compared to Adsense.
Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers
Affiliate marketing is a way for bloggers and social media influencers to earn some extra money from the products/services they recommend.
These are my top-performing affiliate programs/platforms:
- ShareASale. Many of your favourite brands are on there, including Etsy! ShareASale is owned by AWIN (more info on that below), but I find the platform easier to navigate than AWIN. Either way, I’m using both.
- AWIN and Amazon Associates. I mainly use these for linking to specific products like books, makeup, or skincare. AWIN generally pays more than Amazon Associates, and you can find many premade ad graphics on there for your blog, email marketing, or social media. Commission rates vary per brand, but pretty much all the household name companies you might like to work with are on AWIN.
- Tip: If you’re interested in Amazon Associates, the best-performing commission for me comes from promoting their free trials of Prime, Prime Student, and Audible with the Bounty Program.
- Your website hosting provider likely has an affiliate program! Lyrical Host and BlueHost do.
Free Downloads
Visit my Free Downloads page for social media templates, stock photos, fonts, phone wallpapers, and more!
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All the best,
