• RECIPES
    • – RECIPE INDEX –
    • APPETIZERS
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  • MOTHERHOOD
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    • STYLE
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  • HOME + DECOR
  • BLOGGING RESOURCES
    • HOW TO START A PROFITABLE BLOG
    • MAKE MONEY FROM HOME
    • TOOLS & RESOURCES FOR BLOGGERS & ENTREPRENEURS
  • SHOP
    • 7-DAY KETO MEAL PLAN
    • SHOP MY LTK
    • MY AMAZON STOREFRONT
    • GIFT GUIDES
    • LIGHTROOM PRESETS
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North South Blonde

A food and lifestyle blog

Tools and Resources for Bloggers and Entrepreneurs

Resources and recommendations for business owners, bloggers and entrepreneurs. Here you will find the strategic tools and services that will help you grow your brand, your business, and most importantly–your income.

The following links are affiliate links in which I earn a commission if you make a purchase through those links at no extra cost to you. The products and companies mentioned below are ones that I personally use and trust.

Resources and recommendations for business owners, bloggers and entrepreneurs. Here you will find the strategic tools and services that will help you grow your brand, your business, and most importantly your income. Work from home | Start a blog | Blogging Tips | Tips for bloggers | Tools | Products | Services | Programs | Boost Traffic | Make money | Monetize | SEO | WordPress.org | Earn a living | Mom Blog | WAHM | Resources for bloggers |

 

Make Money Blogging

These tools and resources are what have helped me grow my blog, which now has over one hundred thousand monthly views. It also allows me to stay home with my children while receiving a steady income–a dream come true.

Every business owner wants to save time and money and effectively grow their business. That’s why I’ve decided to share valuable information to help skyrocket your business so that you can make money too.

The following list of resources will constantly evolve as I learn and grow as a blogger. I will continue to update this page with the best advice I can give in terms of online marketing and business.

Posts About Blogging You’ll Want to Read:

  • How to Start a Profitable Blog (A Step-By-Step Guide for Beginners, Earn Money in Minutes)
  • How to Start a Food Blog in Four Easy Steps
  • 50 Ways to Make Extra Money From Home
  • Everything You Need to Know About Lightroom Presets
  • Working From Home – Home Office Tips and Essentials

Tools and Resources for Bloggers and Entrepreneurs


WordPress.org

The easiest way to turn your hobby into a full-time business is switching to a self hosted site, essential for monetizing your blog. When I began my website in 2016, switching from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is when my business took off and I was able to generate income right away. Here is a beginners step-by-step guide on how to start a blog of your own here. Customize your blog with coding, choose from thousands of themes and plugins (see below), and generate revenue from ads, affiliate links, sponsored posts, and more.

BlueHost

If you want to jump right in, you can use my link to purchase a self hosted website with Bluehost for as low as only $3.95 a month, including a free website domain that’s $15 in value! Amazing for beginners and voted the number one host for WordPress.


WP Engine

This web hosting company is specifically designed for WordPress with top-of-the-line features for experienced users. You also get two months of hosting for free. WP Engine is great if you have decent traffic to your blog, you can pick the plan that best suits your needs and they are well known for killer site loading speeds.


Flywheel

A dedicated WordPress host recommended by advanced bloggers due to their exceptional features like site back ups, fast loading times, and expert support. Flywheel will also migrate your current site for free, meaning they will transfer your website from your previous host to theirs at no cost. Other hosts charge for this!


Genesis Framework

A genesis framework allows you to easily build your blog exactly how you had dreamed. It’s a solid foundation with unlimited customizing capabilities and it’s what I use for North South Blonde. Just like many of the top earning bloggers, you will be able to take advantage of it’s many features including search engine optimization (SEO) so that people will find your website online.

You can find thousands of child themes with genesis built in from StudioPress. They also offer website hosting that includes a pre-installed Genesis Framework in the price in their Synthesis Plan, dedicated to advanced bloggers.

I am currently using the Elle theme by Eclair Design that has a built in genesis child theme, purchased from Etsy.


Grammarly

The main composition of blogging is writing and therefore it is essential to have proper grammar and structure for improved readability. Grammarly is a major help when it comes to scanning your work and correcting common and complex grammatical mistakes. No matter how good of a writer you are, there’s always room for improvement.


VaultPress

You can sleep at night knowing that the VaultPress plugin secures your site. It protects your blog from hackers, viruses, malware, and more. It also backs up your site so you don’t lose all of your hard work.

 

 Google Analytics

Part of building a successful business is knowing specifically who your audience is. Google analytics is an excellent resource for telling you exactly who is reading your blog. Find out your readers’ demographics, geo, interests, and more. Track your views, unique and returning users, bounce rate, page view time, and website loading time. You can pinpoint who you are speaking to when you go to write a blog post or sell a product. Install the plugin to see a summary of stats on your WordPress dashboard.


 Google Spreadsheets

I use these Google sheets to track and record all of my yearly expenses and earnings. See how you are progressing in earnings, learn how to budget accordingly and stay organized. It’s important to record everything.

 


 Yoast (Seo)

Another great plugin that’s essential for successful search-engine-optimization. If you are not familiar, it is basically for optimizing your blog, posts, pages, urls, images, keywords, etc. so that people are able to find your work when searching online. The plugin provides tips and checklists for improving the readability and SEO of each blog post you create.


MiloTree

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your site is spreading the word on social media. And for that to be successful, you need followers. MiloTree is a plugin that lets you customize a pop-up on your blog to get people to follow one of your channels. This is great if you are lacking followers on a certain platform and want to draw attention to it!


 MailChimp

Building an email list is one of the most important things to do when blogging. Building readership. The people that subscribe to your blog will be your potential customers when you launch a product. They are the one’s who want to read what you’ve created and buy what you are going to sell. I use MailChimp for designing and sending via email North South Blonde’s newsletter including the newest blog posts, product launches, promotions and giveaways. Bonus –  they have a free account option!


SumoMe

With the SumoMe plugin, you can create landing pages, pop-ups or welcome mats to get visitors to convert into potential customers and lifetime readers. They have many other great innovative tools to gain email subscribers as well.

 


ConvertKit

If you you are interested in sending a series of emails to your readers like an email course, Convertkit is great for that. You can also create landing pages to grow your email list. Their services start at $29/month.

 

 Canon

As far as my photography goes, I have used the same DSLR from March of 2016 when North South Blonde first launched. My Canon EOS Rebel Sl1. It’s a great starter camera however I do wish it had bluetooth to make transferring files easier. It’s small in size, easy to hold, and I love the touch screen. I plan to upgrade to the big and bad Canon 5D Mark iii, a full framed camera.

As for my lens, I use a Canon 50mm 1.4 prime lens and I absolutely love it! It works amazingly well for achieving that blurred background, making it a great option for portrait and food photography. Keep in mind that it’s a lens that doesn’t zoom in or out. If you live in a small space, you’ll want a lens with a wider range like the 35mm. The lenses mentioned can be expensive especially when first starting out, a 50mm 1.8 lens is really all you’ll need at a fraction of the cost.

If you’d like to know more about photography, shoot me a message on my contact page and let me know if you are interested in learning more.


Adobe Lightroom

All of my images are shot in RAW format, then transferred to my MacBook where I edit them in Lightroom. Editing can be a daunting task, but this program makes it so easy to create your own style of photography and apply it to all of your photos for consistency. I recommend trying the month-to-month subscription or free trial before purchasing.

For more experienced users, try creative cloud to store and sync photos and presets to the Lightroom app.


Canva

To create Pinterest worthy images, I use Canva. It’s a free, easy-to-use online editor to design graphics, logos, invitations, posters, cards, and so much more. I use Canva to create virtual products like my eCookbook – the customization options are endless.

 


PicMonkey

Another great online editing tool that bloggers swear by. It’s like an online photoshop software for editing and designing! You can try PicMonkey for a free 7-day trial before buying a membership.

 


Tailwind

It’s all about Pinterest. The majority of North South Blonde’s traffic comes from this social platform and it can take up a lot of a blogger’s time and energy pinning their blog posts every day. That’s where Tailwind comes into play. It automates the pinning for you so you can actually increase traffic to your blog, make more money, all while having more time to create more awesome content.


BoardBooster

Boardbooster is another Pinterest scheduling tool that helps you save time and increase traffic to your website. Instead of sitting and pinning, have this program do it for you and grow your blog exponentially.


SendOwl

SendOwl is a highly recommended e-commerce platform for selling digital products to your audience via your blog, social media, or simply by sharing your link to shop. Try it free for 30 days!

 


Amazon Affiliates

Signing up to become an Amazon Affiliate is a lucrative way to earn an income online. Simply find the products you will be recommending and use their SiteStripe browser bar or Amazon shopping app to generate your affiliate links. Then, you can share these links with family, friends, followers, in social media captions, integrated in Pinterest Pins, blog posts, and images to be clicked on. The possibilities are endless with this high earning program.

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Michelle is a Canadian food and lifestyle blogger, writer and creator sharing easy and healthy recipes, all things home, motherhood, style, wellness, and more. With a little humour thrown in. Welcome!

SHOP THE FEED

RECIPE E-BOOK
Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet bumblebee! 🤍🥹 You are our beautiful ray of sunshine. So smart, kind, funny, and adventurous. I’m so prould of the little lady you are becoming! You are so deeply loved my angel, may all of your dreams and wishes come true! 🎂🎉

#4thbirthday #thisis4 #4yearsold #birthdaygirl #raisinggirls #junebaby #junebirthday #girlmom
Patio is officially open!! ☀️ Linking our lit Patio is officially open!! ☀️

Linking our little outdoor setup over on my LTK! Comment SHOP below to get the link via DM. This boho umbrella is a must buy and goes with everything 🤍 

https://liketk.it/5eROx

#deckliving #backyard #patio #outdoorfurniture #outdoorlivingspace #Canadianmom #Canadianliving #Ontariomom
Fresh and flavourful, straight from Italia (kiddin Fresh and flavourful, straight from Italia (kidding), but how can you resist this staple of an appetizer for patio season?! ☀️

Bruschetta Recipe 👇🏼 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic (I use @greatnorthern.garlic)
7-8 Roma tomatoes 🍅 
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil 🌿 
Salt & pepper to taste
Half a loaf of artisan bread, sourdough, or baguette (or low carb/gf bread or tortillas)
Balsamic glaze for drizzling

1. Finely chop ingredients and add to a bowl to mix together well.
2. Broil to toast sliced bread on a lined baking sheet on high for 1 minute per side, keeping a close eye.
3. Top the toasted bread with the mixture, drizzle on balsamic glaze and enjoy xo 

#recipereel #bruschetta #appetizer #patioseason #recipeshare
The loves of my life, my 3 beautiful girls! They a The loves of my life, my 3 beautiful girls! They are my purpose, my heart and soul, the joy of my whole life 🤍 My heaven on earth. I love you more than you will ever know.

Happy Mother’s Day to all 🌷 

#mothersday #motherhood #motherslove #momof3girls
Which look from the @deuxpardeuxkids spring collec Which look from the @deuxpardeuxkids spring collection is your fave?!🌷☀️

Spring & summer styles that are so easy to mix and match 💕 
Use code SS25-northsouthblonde15 for a discount valid until June 30th!

Everything Gemma is wearing is linked on my LTK, be sure to follow me on there! https://liketk.it/5daYe

#Ad #DeuxParDeux #girlsfashion #canadianfashion #canadianfashionbloggger #canadianstyle #tryonhaul
Every day I’m amazed by my kids’ drive and det Every day I’m amazed by my kids’ drive and determination. It makes me so proud, and I’m so lucky to watch them, through wins and losses, failures and successes. Doing what they love, and being there every step of the way 💗

#sportsmom #hockeymom #ontariomom #canadianmom #mommydaughter
A sweet surprise to unbox and make your own! ✨ T A sweet surprise to unbox and make your own! ✨ These @lolsurprise fairies are a cute and fun activity that’s easy to follow for all ages, just add water! 💖 

Follow me on the @shop.ltk app for the link to shop!
https://liketk.it/5c56c

#lolsurprise #lolsurprisedoll #girlthings #activitiesforkids #girlmom
@NORTHSOUTHBLONDE

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