Resources

The growing popularity of blogs have made many people to start their own blogs either just for self expression or as a means of making money. Although it’s fairly easy to start a blog, there is no shortcut in making money through blogging. Any blogger worth their salt would tell you that you have to devote time, money and a lot of passion into blogging if you want to be a successful blogger. By success I do not only mean monetary, it could be fame or whatever objective you have in starting a blog.

Fortunately for you, there are already a lot of free and premium resources that you can use. Below are helpful resources which you can use. I have personally use these products in my own blogs and the different projects I handle. I will add as I discover more helpful resources in the future.

Blogging

• WordPress - The #1 Blog Publishing Platform. Free and easily customizable with wonderful support. You don’t need to be a geek to learn how to use it. You may use it for websites with static or dynamic content.
• WordPress Plugins – There are a lot free plugins you can download to customize your blog. With plugins, you’d be able to do a lot of things with your blog.

Hosting

JustHost – All my websites are hosted on JustHost. It’s easy to use, has a 1-click automatic WordPress installation, and excellent customer service. Highly recommended for your first site. They offer free domain name with your hosting plan. Host with them using our link and we will set-up your website for FREE.

Themes

• Thesis – Probably one of the most powerful themes out there, Thesis is WordPress on steroids. It’s SEO optimized and can easily be customized using the admin panel without touching any code. If you like tweaking the codes, you can do a lot more. It’s also quite easy to learn because of the available tutorials and a great Thesis community.
• StudioPress - Founded by Brian Gardner, StudioPress  is one of the most popular premium WordPress theme providers. It offers a wide selection of premium WordPress child themes based on the Genesis Theme Framework. Studio Press also offers hosting exclusively for Genesis Theme users through Synthesis.
• WooThemes - WooThemes is best known for their high quality and visually attractive designs. They have a wide variety of themes which focuses on business , portfolio, multimedia, or magazine. WooThemes is easy to customize through the theme admin panel.