Jaysus well my vow to blog more got scuppered by me spending the first week of being 33 ill – boooo hiss! But I’m back now and as I get asked all the time about all the different software and tools that I use as a full time blogger, I’ve put together a list. I choose well designed, simple, intutive products that make my life easier and save time. I write and publish several blogs as well as ebooks, manage several Twitter accounts, Facebook, work privately with readers on Baggage Reclaim, am constantly on the lookout for cool stuff and ideas and inspiration, and in between all that I have two kids, a cleaner off sick, a childminder on holiday and an and off nightmare with vertigo, so if I find something that ticks my boxes, I love it to death. If I didn’t use these applications and tools to manage my business, I’d probably implode!

Blogging: WordPress (free) - I started out on Blogger (don’t a lot of people) back in 2004 but moved over to WordPress in 2005. At first it scared the crap out of me but it’s actually quite easy to use, has a ton of flexibility, and the plugins are fantastic. I also use it on my iPhone and iPad for editing on the fly – if you’re using it on the iPad use PhotoPad for screengrabbing images and editing them so that they can go into posts.

Also: Posterous (free) - For quick posting and easy blogging, especially if you’re scared of what blogging entails, you don’t even need to set up yourself – just email them and next thing you know you’ve got a blog and login details.

Also: Typepad (paid) – I’ve been using this for one blog for years. I think of it as the halfway house between Blogger and WordPress. Looks nicer than the former though but not as flexible as the latter.

Ecto (Mac) (paid) – I very rarely post to my WordPress blogs from the web unless I am desperate. This is a desktop app which I would call pure genius but it is prone to occasional quirkiness. Saying that though, I have been using it for three years and still highly recommend it. Don’t waste your time with the PC version which is highly unpredictable.

Also: Mars Edit (Mac) (paid) – The alternative to Ecto, this is my backup simply because I still have to go online to WordPress and edit links because it just does the basic html for the link (not the open on a new page and learning it) – very odd.

Also: Google Docs (free) – Not only great for working on documents online – it has a spreadsheet, ‘Word’ like, and presentation online based applications that can be shared with other people and collaborated on. Great for storaging simple documents and working on group projects, such as team blogging where you may want to collab on a list of ideas for posts. Before anyone asks, I am aware of the existence of the likes of Huddle but they just don’t ‘do’ it for me.

Also: Pages for iPad (paid) – One of my favourite purchases, I wrote a mini ebook on this a few weeks ago. Think of it as the Macs answer to Word and it’s a steal at £5.99. I do find it very odd that it doesn’t have a Word count. I also use it with Dropbox (see below) and open up Word documents on it. The whole working on doc’s is not as fluid as I’d like but basically I email it back to myself when I’m done, open on the laptop and when I’m done, I save it back to Dropbox.

Note taking: Evernote (free) – I cannot say enough good things about what I regard as my brain stored online, on my desktop, iPhone and iPad plus it’s also supported on other phones. Clip stuff on the web, take voice notes, put drafts of anything, email it stuff of interest, organise into notebooks, and basically never ever forget anything or run out inspiration again.

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Photo Credit - Kat Housewife Confidential

I’m very fortunate to have some really good friends on and offline in my life, some who go back a really long way. When I had my first daughter, I had a really unpleasant experience at a NCT meetup that served as a reminder of the fact that much as I loved school, I don’t miss the schoolgirl mentality and over the past year, I’ve felt like that about a lot of the friction I’ve witnessed online particularly within my own community of ‘mummy bloggers’. So I admit to feeling a bit wary and cautious about what Saturday 3rd July would bring when I attended and spoke at Cybermummy, the UK’s first conference for blogging mums.

Much like when I had an absolute blast at a Mums The Boss networking meetup in May, while I can’t claim to personally have learned anything about blogging from the day (I think I’ve been at it for too long), I’ve come away with a wonderful sense of perspective but more importantly, a reminder of the joys of sisterhood. Oh my goodness – yes it still does exist! Actually, I’ve always believed it does but it’s easy not to see too much of it online. I did a lot of giggling and dirty laughing on Saturday!

I spoke about and moderated on the panel about the tricky business of making money from your blog and judging by the amount of people who came over to me or got in touch afterwards, working with brands and/or making money from blogging is something that a lot of blogging mums want to know more about! Sadly, I only got to speak for five minutes but I will be endeavouring to share as much of my knowledge as possible because much like when I talk about dating and relationships, I think it’s so important for us to feel empowered to create our own opportunities.

What I did learn about on the day, other than sisterhood and the demand for more information on blogging as a career, was about experiences. From listening to panelists talk about good content, to wondering if I’d got something in my eye when I listened to fellow bloggers read their incredibly moving blog posts out to the audience in the keynote section, I got a wonderful window into lots of peoples lives and witnessed friendship, support, and collaboration in action. That said, I see it hasn’t taken too long for an oestrogen hangover to kick in as the friction I felt before Cybermummy seems to be starting again. Anyway!

What Cybermummy does need is more detail and practical – people are gagging for tools and tips to apply to their blogs. Actually I reckon it could be a two day event. The great thing is that it’s happened and no doubt another will follow.

A massive well done to Sian, Susanna, and Jenny for organising a great day and an even bigger thank you for having me blabber on for a few minutes!

For a quick(ish) recap of some of my key points on working with brands and making money from your blog, check out my latest post on my personal blog.

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