Working from home, having my own business and running a blog you can imagine that without certain items, I’d be pretty lost. Try blogging without a phone or a laptop or taking blog photos without a camera. You get my gist. I rely on my “stuff” to do what I have to do every day and get my work done. If my laptop broke – which it has done before – I would be completely and utterly lost and distraught. As I literally wouldn’t be able to get anything done. There’s so many perks of working from home and owning your own business but there’s also a lot of stresses too! Today I want to talk about my blogging and business essentials!
Laptop: This is obvious but I couldn’t blog or work without my laptop. It might not be the best laptop in the world but it suits me just perfectly and does what it has to do. Back in 2014, my old laptop broke and had to be restored to factory settings. I lost everything and you can imagine how distraught I was!
Camera: I’m not shy in telling you that I use stock photos (I wrote a blog post about it here) occasionally but obviously when reviewing products, I’ll take my own photos. Again, it’s not the best camera in the world (it’s some Nikon something or another) and I most certainly don’t know what is considered a “good camera” in the blogging world but it does it’s job and I couldn’t take semi-decent product photos without it!
Phone: I do all of my tweeting and promoting blog posts and replying to blog comments on my phone as Twitter on my laptop is too slow (told you my laptop isn’t the best!) so I would be completely lost without my phone as without it, I probably wouldn’t talk to anyone! All my blog socialising and connecting on Twitter is done on there – my phone is my line to the wider world!
WordPress app: Following on from my phone, I have the WordPress app which I couldn’t live without. Sometimes I draft up blog posts on there when I don’t have access to my laptop and then finalise the post on my laptop later but it’s so handy to have to quickly write down ideas or start a blog post that’s in the back of my mind. It’s also where I can keep track of my stats and followers etc.
Notebooks: Work wise, I do most of my organising on paper. All my blog tour scheduled are written in a notebook and I’m fairly old fashioned and still like the feeling of writing things down instead of typing. It’s satisfying.
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I second the diary that doubles as a planner. For a working parent too, it’s so essential! Fab post.
Reblogged this on Bret chapman cornelius.
Great post! My planner is essential!! Can’t do anything without it.
Great articles good work keep it up
Great read, I like to write on my phone then correct on a computer. A phone with a large screen is always helpful
Apps where I can jot down ideas that I come up with are crucial. I will have a great idea for some content at the most inconvenient time so will need to record it to refer back to later on.
I don’t know of any apps when I can do this – I just use the notes on my phone!
My laptop and phone is essential for me to do blogging.
http://businessmgtblog.wordpress.com
Let’s see…we use a lot of equipment. 🤔 Our Managing Director alone has a custom-built gaming PC with dual monitors as an office computer, and then a laptop when she travels. She also has 2 smartphones and used to have a tablet, but we got a Bluetooth keyboard for it and gave it to our office cat. Her final gadget would be her smart camera (runs Android OS), and the tripod.
This is awesome that you have your own business! What does your business entail if you do not mind me asking? Also what is you favorite topic to blog about?
I own an online book tour business for authors where I organise and run book tours for them. Favourite topic: probably books!
Hey Jenny! This sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing your blog ideas. I also work from home, but I have a book review blog. Would love to stay in touch 🙂 -Laura
Really useful post – a reminder that I must, must, must back up my laptop!
Pick it up!
I couldn’t live without a diary – I’m very old fashioned too, and much prefer writing things down than typing them up!
Same here! Writing is definitely something I wanna try and do more of as well.
With my laptop on the fritz, my phone and the WordPress ap have proven to be essential!
They can be a lifesaver when you don’t have access to a laptop can’t they!
I have never thought of taking my own photos, maybe I should give it a try. Good post.
Pretty useful
[…] I think since blogging, I’ve become even more of a notebook addict. I recently wrote about my blogging essentials where I specifically mention that I couldn’t survive without my various […]
I am a blogger who is starting out. I write content about personal development and things that I consider fall under that category. I do my best to read as much as possible about blogs and online businesses because it is a future dream of mine to be able to own an online coaching business ^^ I would love for you to check my blog and some tips would be much apreaciated <3 with a lot of positive energy sent your way. May your blog and business prosper :3
Really interesting info, thanks for sharing.
I love using notebooks too! I plan everything out on paper, it’s so much nicer than doing 100% online/on your laptop!
100% agree!
[ grins ] *GOOD old-fashioned…
Phone, Surface (I don’t iAnything ), and my gold old-fashioned handwritten journal keep me organized, social, and blogging when the mood strikes. Blogging goes by the wayside for a while, then I post a bunch. Hardly anyone reads, but I do it anyway. I have no idea why.
I always carry my iPad which has the WordPress app around since my startup days. Now that I’ve started blogging, the app has become so important – especially to keep notes for my upcoming articles and follow up on other bloggers material.
iPad is also pretty decent when it comes to completing a whole article and if you have an external keyboard, it makes the job much easier too. Click on my blog if you don’t believe me 😉
I need both my phone and laptop to blog. Phone to take photos, computer to post. I also need other apps but I don’t need anything else physical. Feel free to check out my blog, too, just click on my name!
I would like to start taking blog photos on my phone, I don’t think they would turn out TOO bad!
I love my laptop, mine is pretty old and goes slow from time to time, but it does what I need to do! So I don’t want to get a new one just yet. I don’t know how anyone could blog on their phone only! – I agree with you completely, I love writing things down instead of typing sometimes!xo
Me neither ugh! I can’t format anything on the app! My laptop is pretty slow. I’d love a super duper fast one but they’re so expensive and you’re right, this one does what I need it to do for the time being!
Yeah I know. Mine just doesn’t allow me to customise anything on there, and it’s slow. But for now, it’s perfect for me xo
Apart from a camera, I couldn’t live without any of the things you mentioned too. My life simply revolves around them.
Amazing how huge technology has become in our lives?! I definitely couldn’t live without my phone.
My ipad is an essential for me! I use it to read e-books, to write posts, and to connect on twitter! I don’t know what I would do without it!!
I’ve toyed with the idea of getting an iPad for my work for years but I use my phone and laptop for everything so I don’t know if it’d be worth it?! But it does seem like you can do EVERYTHING on them
I was the same, got it mainly for uni as it’s easier than taking my huge laptop around with me! But I love it, I’m always using it, but I still use my phone and laptop as well, I keep it separate, using my phone for personal things e.g. Facebook, and using my ipad for uni and my blog, it works for me!
[ Smiles ] Hi Becky, I am curious.
Have you ever used your iPad to format blog posts?
I am well aware of the fact, that a blogger can publish a blog post via their iPad; what I do not know is, whether or not, they can format their blog posts to their liking with their iPad.
By the way, Apple made a claim, stating that their new iPad Pro can replace a PC.
Hey, I’ve only recently started my blog so don’t really format it too much at the moment, but I do use it for the basics.
[ Smiles ] Thank you for letting me know, Becky.
As a matter of fact, I am going to check out your blog to see what it looks like.
My spreadsheets are my most prized possession when it comes to blogging, I’d be hopelessly lost without them!
Ps. The link doesn’t work to the blog post where you talked about using stock photos
Jess x
http://www.acornlifefitness.com
Thanks, have just altered it! Oooh yes I use one spreadsheet for my work and I’d be so lost without that!
[ Smiles ] My laptop computer is vital.
In the past, the power cord went badly. I borrowed a friend’s laptop until I was able to purchase a new power cord for my laptop computer.
Oh I hear that! My power cord broke once, I had to hold it in the right position every time I was on my laptop!
[ Smiles ] I think that all laptop users should purchase those universal power chords (the ones that work with all laptops), because they never know when the power cord is going to kick the figurative bucket.
I do believe I got one of those after my old one broke! I have a brand new laptop now thankfully but I agree, the universal leads are brilliant
I use both my pc and laptop for my blogging. My laptop is always near me when I’m reading so when I feel the urge to just start half a review already, I just do so. Or if I get an email that I’d rather check on my laptop than on my phone.
My computer is to finalize reviews or start writing them from scratch after reading them – and of course to write blog posts that aren’t reviews, haha.
Apart from that, yes, my phone. My camera. My two notebooks [One with my ARC-overview and the dates they’re published and one with things I wrote down while reading] are always near as well.
My Kindle! Especially with e-ARC’s / ebooks because I tend to highlight quotes I want to use in my reviews.
And of course my calendar. I said I would buy a “normal” one, but ended up printing one out because I desperately needed an overview of the posts I had scheduled already.
[I wish WordPress would have a calendar like that on which you can see all the posts you already scheduled. And if that already exists and I somehow completely missed it, I’m going to go crawl in a corner right now.]
On the WordPress app under “blog posts” you can go to “scheduled” and that’s where all your scheduled posts are, or is that not what you meant?
I’m similar, I use my phone to draft up blog posts but then my laptop to finalise them, add links and photos etc 🙂
I don’t even see that option on the app.. I’m going to check this out when I get home, haha. Would be a start if I could at least check my schedule in the app so I don’t have to carry all my notes with me all the time.
Thanks!
If you need help finding it, come and DM me on Twitter and I’ll send you photos of what it should look like!
[ Smiles ] I use my smartphone to compose 99% of my drafts.
A desktop computer or a laptop computer are the best devices for formatting articles.
That’s exactly what I do. I can’t edit photos or format blog posts properly on the app.