Here you can find the most helpful tools I have used successfully for my website and Youtube channel, check them out!
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The Best Web Hosting for Beginners
BLUEHOST
Bluehost has the best deals for self-hosted websites. Trust me, I love me some research before clicking “buy” on anything... and this was the winner by far!
For just $2.95 a month they offer everything a beginning blogger needs. You can also get a free domain name for the first year (worth around $17.99) plus a free SSL certificate which makes the communications on your site secure.
One thing to note: Bluehost doesn’t offer monthly payment plans. You have to choose a 12, 24, or 36-month plan. But honestly, knowing I had 3 years already paid at such a low price gave me peace of mind and allowed me to focus on growing my site.
Snag the BEST web hosting for beginners here.
Check out an easy step by step tutorial for how to set up Bluehost in this article: The best checklist for starting a blog.
Pretty WordPress Themes
17TH AVENUE DESIGNS
When I started my WordPress journey, I didn’t have a huge budget to hire a web designer, but I knew I wanted to create a gorgeous website and find a way to make the most of my money.
I’m so thankful I found 17th Ave. Designs because I freaking LOVE my theme! It has all the features needed to get a blog or even an online shop started while looking so damn pretty and professional.
Their beauties are worth every penny! I'm using “Mia” but “Charlotte” and “Amelia” are my other two favorites. Click on the image below to check them out!
Making WordPress Posts Easier
THRIVE ARCHITECT
As a visual person and someone obsessed with making things look pretty and organized (#guiltyascharged 
) the WordPress editor can be challenging and confusing.
It shows your work in an abstract way and not how it will actually look when its published, so you will find yourself switching (more times than I can count) between the editor and the “preview in a new tab” page to see if everything is going the way you want it.
But here’s where Thrive Architect’s magic comes in: It turns your basic WordPress editor into a powerful and VISUAL drag and drop editor!
With Thrive Architect you can see exactly how each page looks like while you make edits. It gives you so much freedom to design each post, play with colors, fonts, and add more features with ease! I regret not getting it sooner! Because, I would have saved sooo much time and headaches lol.
It truly makes it easier for beginning bloggers and non-techies to create beautiful posts. Check out the videos of what you can do with it on their site, it’s amazing.
Premium Stock Photos
STYLED STOCK MEMBERSHIP
Taking the pictures myself for every post on my site would take a TON of time and effort I could be using on more important things (like this guide!
).
Stock photos are your besties to create visual content with ease, but so many of them out there are corporate, and boring, especially the free ones!
So, I started looking at paid sites for beautiful and stylish stock photos, and Styled Stock won me over because their membership gives you wayyy more than just photos and videos!
You get access to: Canva templates, Instagram captions, and even guides to step up your online business game! Bye bye to spending hours trying to fish for nice pics on the free sites and hello higher quality, more exclusivity and zero copyright concerns.
The best thing? You can grab 25 stunning pictures for free here to see if they match your style before getting the membership where they add fresh content each month!
Dazzling Graphic Design
If you want to create dope-looking graphics without spending tons of money hiring a graphic designer or investing hours, (maybe months!) trying to learn sophisticated editing software then Canva is the way to go!
This is the online editing tool I use pretty much every single day, and not only to make graphics and PDFs but to create videos and animations I use for Pinterest and Youtube!
The free version is pretty great, but If you are a content creator, unlocking all the premium features in the PRO version is a game-changer. (And you can try it free for 30 days here!)
You get a ton more options and it also gives you the ability to create a new stream of income by making templates you can sell! So, yes! Canva has a very special place in my heart for how easily you can design pretty things and also start a new business with all it’s amazing features.
Check out the Canva templates I sell here.
Enhance Your Pics and Strengthen Your Brand
LIGHTROOM PRESETS AT CRELLA
If you want to create a great first impression, be easily differentiated from your competitors, and build trust with your audience, you need to develop strong and cohesive branding.
And one easy hack to making your branding cohesive (and stunning) is with Lightroom presets. They’re basically sophisticated filters for your photos to make them have the same “vibe.”
You can use them to make your Instagram feed look pretty and consistent, and if you decide to use stock photos, presets will make them look more unique and feel more like you!
The Lightroom app is free for mobile!! And you just need to add whatever preset you want to use on your pictures.
I snagged some pretty cool presets at Crella for just $1 usd! Crazyyy, Right!!? This site also has fonts and many other things to make content creation easier and gorgeous.
Go check them out here.
Crisp Image and Clear Audio
I got a Rebel t2i model a bunch of years ago (and it’s still working!). This camera helped me produce multiple high-quality videos and make my Youtube channel stand out from the beginning.
You can get the latest model of this series: Canon Rebel T8i here.
If you are on a budget, the canon g7x is another great and more affordable option. I got it recently and I love it’s size and portability while getting pretty amazing quality videos.
You can buy just the camera or get the creator kit that comes with a tripod and memory card ready to get you started!
Sound is as important (and sometimes even more!) as video. People can forgive less quality videos, but if they can’t hear you they’ll leave your page faster than light!
You can even get started filming on your phone, and adding a small mic like this one will make a huge difference. I use it to record the voiceover of all my new videos and love the sweet quality boost it brings, check it out here.
