Resources

Here are some of the blog marketing and support tools of the trade that we trust and recommend here at A-List Blog Marketing.

We will continue to add to this list as we discover new and useful products and services that will help you grow your blogging business.

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. We will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. All of these are resources that we have experience with and recommend because they are useful and are companies that we trust, not because of the commissions that I may earn from you using these products.

Hosting

  • Knownhost:This is the hosting service we use here at A-List Blog Marketing.
  • Bluehost: Easy to use, 1-click automatic WordPress installation, and excellent customer service. This is a great hosting service  for your first site.

Subscription Tools

  • WPSubscriber: An all-in-one solution that boosts your opt-in list by 300% instantly without additional traffic. It works with any autoresponder service and allows you to put your opt-in forms anywhere you want.
  • Pop-Up Domination: Popup Domination is a premium WordPress plugin that allows you to create attractive looking light box popups that are proven to increase opt-in email list conversion on your blog. We have used this plugin on our personal blogs with great success.

Themes

Product Distribution and Shopping Carts

  • eJunkie: This is shopping cart we use on A-List Blog Marketing. It’s compatible with Paypal Standard, Paypal Pro, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, TrialPay, Clickbank & 2CheckOut. It works easily and is a very reasonable price to use.
  • Paypal:A necessity for an online business. An easy way to pay and get paid.
  • Clickbank:A retailer for digital products. It is probably the most popular. You can be an affiliate for Clickbank merchants or sell your product through Clickbank. (They have a great affiliate program for your products.)

Email Services

Keyword Research

  • Market Samurai:The number one, most useful tool for keyword research available, hands down.
  • SEO Book: A great training program for SEO hundreds of articles, advanced SEO tools, training videos, downloadable strategy guides, and other resources to help you market your website, build viral buzz, capture top search engine rankings, improve website monetization, and increase conversion rates.

Courses

  • A-Listing Blogger Club and Blogging Bootcamps: This is our sister site and without a doubt the very best place to learn about creating a great blog, growing your subscribers, and networking with other bloggers. We highly recommend joining the Blogger Club as a way of connecting with potential partners and mentors, as well as staying up-to-speed on the latest blogging techniques and innovations.
  • Internet Business Mastery Academy:This is an outstanding, totally comprehensive course on building an online business and lifestyle. This is the course that many of the top bloggers on the Net have taken to learn how to build an online business.
  • Empire Building Kit: Blogger, author, lifestyle entrepreneur, and world-traveler Chris Guillebeau’s signature product — an amazing, thorough, and totally valuable course to teach you how to build a lifestyle business by doing one thing a day for a year.
  • Discover Your Passion: A step-by-step course for uncovering who you were meant to be and what you were meant to do. Filled with assessments, worksheets, and action steps to help you create and live an extraordinary.

Web Video Training

  • Video Traffic Academy We’re crazy about this program here at ALBM! It’s a great way to learn how to use YouTube to grow your blog and boost your online income! We’ve got a webinar replay that Lewis Howes and James Wedmore gave. You can watch it here.
  • How To Create Great Looking Videos Without Guesswork This is a fantastic course by Dave Kaminski. It will give you a great foundation for using videos on the Web. Note from Mary: I’ve done all Dave’s courses. He is simply the best! Dave is not only very knowledgeable, and can teach really well - he’s also a super helpful guy.
  • How To Screencast Like a Pro A great course by Web video guru Dave Kaminski. The course includes training tracks for both Mac and Windows users. If you want to learn how to create marketing videos, this course is a must. Note from Mary: This fantastic home-study course costs only $99 and delivers a lot more than some video courses offered for over $1000. Forget about the other contenders! Dave Kaminski is the man :-) Quite simply – if Dave creates something, I buy it.

Membership Software

  • Wishlist Member: This is the without a doubt the top membership software! We use it on A-List Blogging Bootcamps, Goodlife ZEN, Zen Habits,  and on other sites. It’s a super flexible system and comes with a set of excellent tutorial videos. It’s easy to integrate with just about everything else that matters: Paypal or many other shopping carts, Aweber, Mailchimp, idev affiliate, etc, etc. Wishlist is simply a tool you can’t do without if you want to offer courses or other membership programs.