Hey, everyone! I have been blogging for almost three years now and I thought it would be handy to put together a little post with resources that I use or have used on my food blog. This is great information on how to start a blog quickly and get you ready to make an income!
Buy Your Domain
It’s time to head over to Bluehost (Click the photo below to go to Bluehost) and set up your new domain
Enter your choose domain name or you can also transfer a domain if you had one previously set up.
Finish filling out your account info.
Find Hosting
{Click Photo Below to Go to Hosting Options)
Choose the hosting package you want from Bluehost with pricing starting at just $4.95/month! Purchasing of Domain Who is Privacy is highly recommended to keep your blog safe, but the others can be unchecked at this time. 
Next you will be asked to fill out your billing information and hit NEXT.
You should receive an email with your login information. You can log into your account now. Click “Control Panel Login” and enter your user id and password.
Install WordPress
Once you have your domain purchased and your account set up, you can install wordpress.
Click the WordPress icon under “Website Builders”.
Click the Green Start Button.
Click Check Domain.
Check “Show advanced options”.
Enter your “Site Name or Title”
Enter an “Admin Username”, “Admin Password” and “Admin Email Address”.
Automatically create a new database for this installation. ??
Check “I have read the terms and conditions of the GPLv2″ Click “Install Now” button.
You should then see the screen below indicating that everything is being installed.
Choose a Theme
Tons of FREE Themes as well as premium themes (paid).
Right now I use the Foodie Theme and love it! It has so many different ways to customize it to make it look unique and find the perfect look!
Thesis is a very popular theme for many bloggers. You can also get tons of FREE Themes from WordPress.
You can then log into your new site using the original user id/password.
http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin
Other Tools
Don’t loose your blog! Sign up with some kind of Automatic Online Backup company and get covered.
- VaultPlus to backup your WordPress Site
Email Marketing is a great way to get your daily or weekly posts out to your readers. Below are some of the more well used email marketing sites available.
Photography is so important for most bloggers, but especially for Food Bloggers. Check out this list of some of my “must have tools” for photography.
- PicMonkey is a very inexpensive editing tool that i use for my photos. It allows you to edit photos as well as add text if you like to include the name of your recipes on the photo.
- A MUST – pick a great camera that takes amazing photos like the Canon DSLR T5i 18 MP
- My favorite lens to use on food photos is the Canon 50 mm F/1.8, it’s a great intro lens that will really kick your photography up a notch!
Social Media is an important part of blogging. You need to get your name and ideas out there. Here is a list of the most popular social media sites for bloggers.
