Tools For Blogging Survival: My Essential Applications For Pro Blogging
Blogging: Wordpress (free) - I started out on Blogger (don't a lot of people) back in 2004 but moved over to Wordpress in 2005. At first it scared the crap out of me but it's actually quite easy to use, has a ton of flexibility, and the plugins are fantastic. I also use it on my iPhone and iPad for editing on the fly - if you're using it on the iPad use PhotoPad for screengrabbing images and editing them so that they can go into posts.
Also: Posterous (free) - For quick posting and easy blogging, especially if you're scared of what blogging entails, you don't even need to set up yourself - just email them and next thing you know you've got a blog and login details.
Also: Typepad (paid) - I've been using this for one blog for years. I think of it as the halfway house between Blogger and Wordpress. Looks nicer than the former though but not as flexible as the latter.
Ecto (Mac) (paid) - I very rarely post to my Wordpress blogs from the web unless I am desperate. This is a desktop app which I would call pure genius but it is prone to occasional quirkiness. Saying that though, I have been using it for three years and still highly recommend it. Don't waste your time with the PC version which is highly unpredictable.
Also: Mars Edit (Mac) (paid) - The alternative to Ecto, this is my backup simply because I still have to go online to Wordpress and edit links because it just does the basic html for the link (not the open on a new page and learning it) - very odd.
Also: Google Docs (free) - Not only great for working on documents online - it has a spreadsheet, 'Word' like, and presentation online based applications that can be shared with other people and collaborated on. Great for storaging simple documents and working on group projects, such as team blogging where you may want to collab on a list of ideas for posts. Before anyone asks, I am aware of the existence of the likes of Huddle but they just don't 'do' it for me.
Also: Pages for iPad (paid) - One of my favourite purchases, I wrote a mini ebook on this a few weeks ago. Think of it as the Macs answer to Word and it's a steal at £5.99. I do find it very odd that it doesn't have a Word count. I also use it with Dropbox (see below) and open up Word documents on it. The whole working on doc's is not as fluid as I'd like but basically I email it back to myself when I'm done, open on the laptop and when I'm done, I save it back to Dropbox.
Note taking: Evernote (free) - I cannot say enough good things about what I regard as my brain stored online, on my desktop, iPhone and iPad plus it's also supported on other phones. Clip stuff on the web, take voice notes, put drafts of anything, email it stuff of interest, organise into notebooks, and basically never ever forget anything or run out inspiration again.
Invoicing and expenses management: Freshbooks (paid) - So simple and yet so good, basically do your invoicing online and email over a PDF of it. They can also login, pay via Paypal etc plus you can send estimates to clients (or receive them) and I also put expenses in on the fly when I'm out and about via the iPhone app.
Email Marketing: Mad Mimi (paid) - I've tried out several email marketing services and most of them make me want to scream and are ugly, causing me to shy away from doing any email. This has changed with using online based Mad Mimi. Intuitive, it has drag and drop with images and the email sections, easy to use, I can do autoresponder campaigns (like dripfeeding a series of emails), it's got great tracking, and all sorts, with the major draw being that it's based on the number of people in your list, not how many emails you send. Very good value and customer service when I balls up stuff is excellent. If they had better blog to RSS, I'd call them perfect.
Also: Feedblitz (from free) - For automated emails that go out to people who subscribe to be notified of when you update your blog, this is great although it has it's quirk and it's not the greatest looking thing. Stuff like cracking the time (I've had to set my timezone to somewhere obscure to make emails go out at the time I want) is a pain in the bum. Basically it's good but lacks finesses. If you're on Feedburner, your Feedblitz readers show up in your reader numbers.
RSS Reader: Google Reader: Jaysus I love this RSS reader although I had to bite the bullet and mark as read over 3000 feeds last weekend as I got behind. I love reading shared items from @that_kat @violetposy and @chrisbrogan. Brilliant for keeping track of trends and staying on top of what's happening in marketing and blogging.
Also: MobileRSS (free) for the iPhone - hooks up to Google Reader account. Great for sharing on Twitter, Facebook etc on the fly.
Also: Newsrack (paid) for the iPad - This does seem to be the most popular reader but until this week I cursed it for being crap with shared items but it's fixed that now.
Also: Reeder (paid) for the iPad - Can you tell I've slinked around trying to find an RSS reader for the iPad? This readers is simple and quite lovely looking but does seem to crash out when you flick through feeds.
To Do List: Teuxdeux (free) - Really simple, fresh, well designed online to-do list management that looks just how I'd write mine out. I'd love it more if it hurried up and had an iPhone and iPad app because I'm a bit high and dry at the moment as I haven't found anything I like that works across all three fluidly.
Also: Sorted for iPad (paid) - This is cheap as chips at 59p and has a simple interface like Teuxdeux and I use it for keeping very detailed lists - my own version of project management...
Mindmapping: Mindnode (paid) - I use the paid for app on my iPad and it's simple and well executed and great for organising my ideas, especially when working out all the different elements of a site, ebook etc.
Digital Download Processing and Management: E-junkie (paid) - I've been selling ebooks for 2.5 years and they are a major source of revenue. E-junkie makes it very easy to do and it costs me less than $5 a month. It hosts your digital goods, has an affiliate management scheme, bookshop, is hooked up to Paypal, Google checkout etc and I rarely have any issue with it.
Online Backup: Dropbox (free) - I LOVE Dropbox which has given me an unbelievable amount of flexbility especially now that I have an iPad. Aside from backing up lots of stuff, I save stuff I'm working on so that I can pick it up on my iPad but it's greatest use is storing my sh*tload of ebooks that I'm reading!
File Reading App: Goodreader for iPad (paid) - This baby works in tandem with Dropbox and makes all of my files/ebooks a dream to read.
Social Networking Management: Hootsuite (free) - I manage all of my Twitter accounts and Facebook pages out of this and particularly love it for letting me schedule up tweets and the option of inviting team members. The only thing I won't recommend it for is team members for Facebook Pages as it has quirks there that haven't been ironed out.
Also: Twuffer (free) - Another online based scheduler for Tweets - this is pretty much all it does.
Also: Manage Flitter (free) - Clean looking, well designed tool that let's you manage your Twitter account by telling you who you follow that doesn't follow you back, inactive followers, and letting you clean up your account. It also lets you search your stream, something that's a nightmare to do otherwise.
Also: Echofon Pro for iPhone and iPad (paid) - Even though this doesn't let me schedule tweets, this is by far the best I've tried so far, particularly for the iPad where decent Twitter (and Facebook) apps are thin on the ground.
Image Editing: Skitch (Mac) (free) - Even though it doesn't have stuff like layers, I am heavily reliant on this app, using it for quick editing of images and taking screengrabs (you can also use it for making video demos)
Ebook cover software: Boxshot (paid) - If you're publishing digital content, this makes for a snazzy 'box shot' or book shot - basically totally lifts your, for example, ebook cover out of the doldrums giving it a 3D effect and having it look like a book. Well worth the money if you're selling digital content.
iMovie (Mac) - I use this probably because I have not go the energy to try to find something simpler - it's been a steep learning curve bloody making and editing videos for Baggage Reclaim's video channel. There's exporting from my Flip video, importing it, adding in titles which is why I have 17 videos awaiting my attention. But with a bit of practice, it does get easier to use. Obviously I welcome any recommendations!
FTP Client: Transmit (paid) - Been using it for a few years and it's simple and intutive to use, making the whole putting files on the server, setting up new sites a doddle. They do a free trial as well.
Skype: I mostly use this for doing consultations and it probably saves me a fortune on my phonebill as well. I pay for extras like a voicemail and generally use it for international calls as well as Skype to Skype. Also great for conference calls.
Stats: Statcounter - I've been using this since the day I started. I also use Google analytics although note that external software tends to be inaccurate because users have stuff that may block cookies from being recorded. If like me, you're self-hosted, you'll start to see some big discrepencies the bigger you get. They are great for trends though.


