When we put together Blog Wise, I thought I would be the only blogger who didn’t use many (okay—any!) of the productivity apps I downloaded. As it turned out, very few of the pro bloggers we spoke to relied on any apps or tools other than Gmail, Google Calendar, and Evernote.
So I decided to ask some of my connections on social media what kinds of tools they use, and I got a great response. Here I’ve compiled the list so that, if you’re interested, you can try some of these tools for yourself. Of course, if you have other time-savers you’d like to add, let us know in the comments.
Software
WordPress plugins
- WordPress SEO by Yoast WordPress SEO plugin, recommended by The Emotion Machine
- Bulletproof WordPress security plugin, Itzik Atia
- Drafts Scheduler WordPress plugin for post scheduling, recommended by Itzik Atia
Blogging software
- MarsEdit for editing blog posts offline, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- Skitch for capturing screenshots, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- Pixelmator for fast image editing, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- BlogStomp, for managing image layouts, recommended by
Natalie Link Norton - Sticky notes Mac note reminder software, recommended by Morgan Barnhart
- Springpad mobile note-taking software, recommended by Morgan Barnhart
- Akismet for spam management, recommended by Itzik Atia
- Zemanta blog publishing “assistant”, recommended by Michele Neylon
- InboundWriter for keyword optimization of content, recommended by Michael Roberts
- Any.DO” mobile note taking software, recommended by Servando So Yong Silva
- Blog desk for writing blog posts, recommended by Hitesh Bhasin
- Scribfire post management tool, recommended by
Jazili M. Idris
Other services
- Pomodoro Pro iOS app for using the Pomodoro productivity technique, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- Bluehost web hosting, recommended by Brittany Baughman
- Stumbleupon for bookmarking sites to write about later, recommended by Leah Quinn
- Rainymood.com for getting in the writing zone, recommended by Daun Gardiner Jacobsen
Hardware
- An ideas notepad, recommended by Sean Keats
- A Mac, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- Big monitor(s) , recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- Classical music, recommended by Liew Cheon Fong
- A cheap kitchen timer for getting started on tasks, and managing social media time, recommended by Sonia Simone
- A coffee machine, recommended by Brittany Baughman
- An iPad, recommended for mobile blogging by Apple Lim.
Don’t forget to give us your recommendations for productivity-boosting tools and tips in the comments!
