The Best Investments I’ve Made For My Blog and Business

Last Updated on 9th July 2023

This post about the best investments I’ve made for my blog and business contains affiliate links and previously collaborative work. Please see my disclaimer for more.

Over the last 3 years (almost to the day, in fact!), I’ve been working incredibly hard on this little corner of the internet to create a space that not only I adore and cherish, but hopefully that you guys love too. What started out as a hobby, soon blossomed into a platform where I shared my favourite beauty picks, top blogging tips, restaurant reviews and eventually migrating to a travel blog documenting all my travels around the world.

I’m so unbelievably lucky to call this my “job”; I say it like that because to me, it truly never feels like work and I wholeheartedly realise how amazing it is to be able to say that.

Alongside my blog, I also run my own freelance writing business, primarily specialising in travel content, but I also do a bit of content in almost any niche you can think of.

I’m nowhere near where I want to be in terms of my blog and business but I’m slowly getting there and with a lot of hard work, determination, perseverance and most importantly, passion, I really think I can make something of this little online space.

With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the best investments I’ve made for my blog and business to show (and hopefully encourage and persuade!) you guys how to develop your own online space too!

P.S. If you’d like more of these kinds of posts, please let me know in the comments or send me an email or DM with some ideas that you’d like to see!

My own domain name

Purchasing my own domain name (and a self-hosted blog – see below) was one of the first and most important steps I took when I started my blog.

My domain name and self-hosting is currently hosted through Lyrical Host who I migrated to earlier this year after having some issues with my previous host.

It’s imperative to undertake plenty of research before you commit to a hosting provider as they’ll be the ones in charge of sorting out any issues or problems with your blog.

I choose Lyrical Host after my last hosting providers went sour (you may know them for their themes and the drama surrounding that a few months ago…) so it was remarkably important for me to choose a provider who I knew I could trust.

I could sing praises about Lyrical Host all day; their customer service is second to none, they’re straight on the ball whenever I have an issue with my blog and they’re incredibly reasonably priced, especially compared to some of their competitors.

It’s so important to have your own domain and self-hosted plan when starting a blog as even if you don’t want to use it as a means of making money, it’ll just make you look a whole lot more professional and will encourage more visitors to your site. If you do want to start making money from your blog, having a self-hosted platform and your own domain name will show potential brand collaborations that you’re professional and taking it seriously.

Get 10% off your hosting with Lyrical Host with the code ‘imjustagirl10’.

Self-hosting – best investments I’ve made for my blog and business

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of self-hosting in the point above but I really just want to reiterate how important it is when setting up your own blog or business.

My freelance writing business website also has its own domain name and is self-hosted so that whenever potential clients check it out, they can rest assured that I mean business.

Self-hosting also gives you so much more freedom than a WordPress.com blog for example as it means that you’re free to edit your themes, plugins and everything in between exactly how you want; basically, there’s very few limitations on what you can do with a self-hosted blog.

Get 10% off your hosting with Lyrical Host with the code ‘imjustagirl10’.

Tailwind Pro subscription

Tailwind is arguably one of my favourite tools for blogging and without a doubt one of the best investments I’ve made for my blog.

Once I’ve created my social media mockup for Pinterest (I usually create between 3 and 10 for each blog post – see at the bottom of this post for examples!), I then add all my pins to my queue in Tailwind and let it do the rest in terms of scheduling to Pinterest.

I’ve written more about how I used Tailwind to increase my page views by 200% in this post but essentially it’s been an integral part of my strategy to increase my blog traffic this year and I really wouldn’t be without it now.

I’m on the Tailwind Plus package which is just $9.99 a month and is billed annually. It’s not the cheapest investment as you can pin things to Pinterest manually but having a Tailwind subscription means that I can pin as many times a day as I want and get access to Tailwind Tribes and so many analytics!

Get a free month of Tailwind here!

Nikon D3500 Camera – best investments I’ve made for my blog and business

For a long time (at least a year’s worth of blogging!), I was a firm believer that you didn’t need a fancy camera to make your blog successful.

And while I do standby that sentiment somewhat, as my blog and business have grown and developed over the years, I started to realise that my iPhone wasn’t quite good enough to take the kind of pictures I had in mind, especially when it came to travel blogging.

I initially purchased the Olympus Pen E-PL8 camera which I loved for taking flat lays, pictures of makeup and for more fashion-style posts but when it came to travelling, it just didn’t quite cut it anymore.

Just before we started travelling in April, I purchased the Nikon D3500 camera and I can safely say that it’s been one of the best investments for my blog so far.

My pictures look so much better, more professional and the quality is just so much higher. It was an investment that I was willing to make because I knew it would allow me to create more photographic content that I was proud of. You can take a look at some of my previous blog posts for examples, or check out my Instagram where I’ve been documenting our travels daily (and I mean every.single.day!) since April 2019!

Take a look and buy the Nikon D3500 Camera here!

My blog’s theme

While I don’t think you necessarily need to invest in a “proper” blog theme (there are plenty of free ones to take advantage of), I definitely think it’s been one of my best investments for my blog.

I’m currently using the Blossom Travel Pro theme and I absolutely adore it (head to my blog’s homepage to have a proper scroll through to see what it looks like on a live website).

It also wasn’t crazy expensive but I feel that I’ve reaped the rewards of this investment 10 times over and I’m so glad I decided to just go for it and get myself a theme that I love and that truly reflects my brand and blog.

Buffer Pro subscription

I use Buffer to schedule various posts across numerous social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Again, this subscription isn’t entirely necessary and I am actually considering cancelling my Pro subscription and going back to the free version but it is insanely helpful for cross-promoting all my content.

It was also incredibly useful when I had clients for who I did social media management for as you can have up to 8 social media accounts linked and you can schedule up to 100 posts at a time. This meant I could post to my Twitter, one client’s Facebook account and another client’s LinkedIn all through one account.

The starting package costs $15 a month so again, not the cheapest, but if you are looking to take your online presence seriously and if you’re looking to work as a social media manager, then this is a great investment for your blog and business.

MacBook Pro laptop

While I do think that having a laptop, computer or tablet of some kind is essential to working and developing a blog and online business, there’s no rules saying how flash it has to be.

I only opted for a MacBook Pro because my dad initially gave me his old one and I found it so easy to use as it synced with my iPhone and allowed me to have all my iCloud pictures across both devices.

Once the old one eventually gave in and didn’t work effectively anymore, I then invested in a new MacBook Pro which has served its purpose excellently, just like its predecessor.

I do want to reiterate the fact that you definitely don’t need a fancy laptop in order to work effectively online; just something that allows you to open a browser, can hold your blog pictures and easily connects to Wi-Fi is more than good enough!

Take a look and buy the MacBook Pro laptop here!

My flight to New Zealand…

This “investment” is pretty broad and quite generic but I still stand by the fact that it’s technically one of the best investments I’ve made for my blog and business.

Booking that flight to New Zealand back in April 2019 allowed me to start my full time travels around the world, which in turn gives me ample opportunity to create incredible content for my blog.

It’s also allowed me to work with various travel brands and businesses since we left our home in the UK almost 5 months ago. During that time I’ve collaborated with Escape Rentals, Mad Campers, RatPack Travel, Glamping Hub and Trinity Gardens just to name a few. I wholeheartedly realise just how lucky I am to be able to do that and the fact that my travel blog, combined with a one-way ticket to New Zealand, allows me to fulfil my travel dreams and work with brands I could only ever dream of.

Free “investments” I’ve made for my blog and business

• Canva (one of my absolute favourite tools for blogging)
• Free Lightroom app
• My time 😉
• Free MailChimp subscription
• Google Analytics

Pin for later – the best investments I’ve made for my blog and business

• 

• 

• 

What are the best investments you’ve made for your blog if you have one? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @imjustagirl_16.

This is a sponsored post. It also contains affiliate links throughout. Please see my disclaimer for more.