Resources

Recommended Resources

Here I will pull together my recommended items and resources for you. This page will grow over time as I continue to add to it.

Disclosure: Some links on this page and throughout the site are affiliate links. This means that I will earn a commission if you decide to purchase through these links. This is at NO cost to you. Items that I link to are products and services and I would recommend to a friend (you) and are items that I use or have used and stand by.


Blog

Domain

Namecheap

Google Domains – In addition to Namecheap, I run my primary domains on Google. I do this on the premise of separating my hosting from my domain. In ancient times, I was bitten by having my domain name and hosting service from the same provider. I now keep them separate.

Hosting

Namecheap – I’ve used Namecheap for many years now for their hosting. Thus far I have been happy with their service. Getting setup is a breeze and with a couple clicks of a button, you can get WordPress installed and running.

Namecheap

Platform

WordPress.org – Free hosting, blogging platform. Great for those wanting to get started, but not worry about finding hosting.

WordPress.com – WordPress blog platform to host on your hosting service of choice. This is what I have used since my early days of blogging and will continue to use in the foreseeable future.

Photography & Video

I purchased a Nikon D3300 for my entry camera after some research. It fit my budget and got great recommendations.  I’ve used this camera for some pictures posted on this blog and for YouTube videos.

Podcasting

Software

For podcast editing, I currently use Adobe Audition. This does require a yearly subscription, but I use all of Adobes suite.

Microphone / Recording

akg

I currently use the AKG P420. This is an upgrade from the Snowball Mic I started out with.

I also picked up a Zoom H1 hand-held recorder. The purpose of this is to record any thoughts or notes. I use this to record my Toastmasters speeches for podcasts.

 

Audio Interface

When upgrading my Mic, I also upgraded to the Scarlett 2i2 audio interface. Doing so improves the audio of your recordings and allows you to have more inputs and configuration options. It’s no mixer, but it gets the job done.

Monetization

The following links are for services I am experimenting with to monetize the blog. I may cease to use a particular affiliate or ad service. Those changes will be reflected here. As of now, please view the below as my current monetization resources.

Adsense – Googles Ad network. I’ve recently just started to use this as a manner to monetize the blog and bring in some side income.

Amazon Affiliate – I live on Amazon and pretty much shop there for all of my needs. Along with gift cards, cashback on credit cards and discounts prime member shipping. Why would I pass this up?

Recommended Reading

Productivity

Inspiration

Copyblogger – With getting back into blogging with attempts to take a more professional approach in an effort to build my own media publishing company, Copyblogger has been inspirational in how to build and organize my content. I am constantly reading and re-reading their content and finding ways to apply their advice and recommendations.

SmartPassiveIncome – Another fantastic resource. I somehow have always found myself on SPI and I’ve continued to go back. It wasn’t until I stumbled across SPI that I realized how I could make blogging work for me as a passive income. I hope to apply all the things I’ve learned from my inspirations to build my business and position myself to do what I love.