A super essential blogging lesson that I’ve learned in 2015 is that I need to work smarter, not harder. It’s pretty difficult managing a full-time job and a full time blog, but somehow I haven’t managed to lose my mind yet. The two biggest thing that help me be productive as a blogger is one, having apps that allow me to blog from any computer at anytime and two, being able to schedule out what messages I want to send ahead of time. Here are some apps that have seriously been lifesavers these past few months!
- Boomerang
Email is a beast, ain’t it? As much as I try to stay on top of it during the day, it feels like sometimes I have an influx of messages coming in at all times. Boomerang is the holy grail of email scheduling apps. First thing you can do with it is use it to schedule out emails to send out at a certain time. I’ve found that it’s easier to reply to emails only a few times a day. If you’re constantly sending out emails all day long, your inbox is going to become unmanageable. Send them out in small spurts to get a hold of your inbox/life/edges/etc (as long as they’re not time sensitive!)Another glorious thing that Boomerang can do is send emails you’ve read back to your inbox. Say if someone doesn’t get back to you, you can set it up so that if you don’t receive a reply, the email will hit your inbox for a week or two later. Following up is essential, and just in case I forget to do so, Boomerang will send a friendly reminder for you to get on it!
- Ahalogy
One of my blogging resolutions is to step up my Pinterest game. I’ve read several articles saying that 8-10pm is the best time to post. Well, that is not the best time for me to post because I’m either A. out at happy hour or B. lying in my bed exhausted by that point. Seriously, there are so many times when I’m passed out by 9 or 10pm at night.Let me introduce you to Ahology. Not only can you schedule out pins, but Ahalogy will determine what is the ideal time for you to post your pins and automatically schedule them out at peak times.Another cool thing you can do in Ahalogy is edit your photos before pinning. I usually crop my photos before pinning them to make them super long and vertical, more cropped than they would normally appear on my blog. This is another fantastic way to make your pins go viral!
Ahalogy also alerts you to what keywords are hot and what people are searching for. Be a smarter Pinterest marketer and go download this immediately.
- Klout
I use a ton of apps to schedule out social media ahead of time, but Klout is one of my favorites. The difference between Klout and all of the other apps I’ve tried is that Klout can determine what peak times of day for your specific channels are. That’s right, it’s tailored specifically to you and your Facebook/Twitter followers. Every day the peak time changes, which I had no idea about.Boom. Productivity. - Slice
So, who else gets a gazillion packages a week? This is a “problem” that I feel like a total jerk complaining about here, but sometimes I have so many packages coming in and out that I start to lose track of when I’m supposed to get items delivered. Slice is great because it automatically scans your email for tracking numbers and you can view all of the packages that are en route to you at a glance. It will also send you a notification whenever your packages are delivered.And P.S., for all of you online shopaholics out there, Slice also tracks the price of your online purchases and if the price of the item you bought drops within a week, it will send you a notification. #blessed
- Canned Responses
This is an app I’ve been using for years and I’m kind of obsessed with it. I get a lot of similar emails and well, I send out a lot of similar responses. Canned Responses allows you to draft up pre-written responses for emails that you get, therefore making it easier and faster to answer emails. No, please don’t send a canned response for every single email you get, but know what situations when it is acceptable!When do I send out canned responses? Whenever a “community manager” asks me to create a collage for no compensation (let’s be real, we all get bombarded with those emails), whenever anyone asks me if I want a guest post on my website (I don’t accept guest posts), and when I flat out want to politely decline an offer that I don’t think is a good fit for me and my brand. I still customize these emails a bit and tailor it toward each brand/person, but it’s a great way to pre populate a message and get through my massive pile of emails faster.
What are some apps that help you blog more efficiently?
Pocket is a must-have for every blogger! It makes you so much more efficient.
I’ve not heard of most of these…can’t wait to try!
Laura
http://www.24-7style.com
AH! These sound great, I’m definitely going to try them! I love buffer for scheduling social media, it’s super easy!
xoxo
Thanks for all of these recommendations. Blogging definitely can be something to keep up with so I’m excited to hear about some of these sites to make it easier đ
These are awesome! Thanks for sharing, Alicia. Definitely looking further into all of these!
Dude. You hit the nail on the head with all of these! Definitely going to have to look into Canned Responses and Slice!
Josh | The Kentucky Gent
http://thekentuckygent.com
These are awesome tips! I’m definitely going to look into some of these apps. Thanks for sharing!
XO, Jaime | RegallySoled.com
Great list – I use most of the ones you listed and they are great for saving time! I also like google docs – so great for accessing on different devices.
What great resources! I can’t wait to check them all out! Thanks girl!
Ahalogy has truly changed by blogging life! Thank you for sharing these though, I’ll have to try out the others!
Xx Taylor
http://lightscameracatwalk.com
Ok yassss to this. I read these lists all the time and I see the same apps over and over but I’d honestly not heard of like 90% of these and I’m going to try them all! Thanks for this!
Yay! Thank you soo soo much for sharing your favorite programs/apps. I’ve totally needed a guide like this. I’m looking forward to checking out Ahalogy. Pinning this post now!!
This is so helpful! Thank you! I recently rebranded my site and I have been struggling to get everything back on track. I have also been trying to optimize my social media engagement in order to be more effective! This will be super helpful!!
Thank you again for sharing!
Morgan
timelesstasteblog.com
I have never heard of some of these but I really love them. I think my favorite is Analogy and I cannot wait to start using it đ
Annie // Annie N Belle
Downloaded like 3 of these right now.
Thanks for sharing your favorites đ
xoxo, Jenny || Breakfast at Lillys
I have not heard of any of these apps, so I’m off to go download them now! Thanks for sharing!
Okay, downloading all of these. You’re awesome, thanks for sharing!
I LOVE this- I mean I haven’t heard about 80% of these! So excited to try these out!
XO Corbin Tate
Classy South Blog
Omg thank you for these! I’ve used Klout, but honestly that’s it. I need to use slice and (especially) Boomerang!
x Sarah
http://www.bohochiccafe.com
I had no clue some of these existed! Such a great post!
http://www.kayleighskloset.com
Already on the Ahalogy website, lol, thanks for the tips, love love love them
Thank you soo much for sharing your favorite apps. I’m downloading all of these!!
Thank you for this! def gonna check these out đ
XO Ellen from Ask Away
http://www.askawayblog.com
Downloading Ahology now! Thanks for these! Honestly I do everything manually now so these will all help greatly!
-Morgan
How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com
These are all great! Slice is my favorite!
Lauren
The Fashionista’s Diary
Thanks for sharing these. I am definitely going to check some of these out. They seem like they will help me out tremendously.
xoxo Dani
http://www.glamrme.com
So excited to try some of these! I need to go download Ahalogy and Klout ASAP! I do everything manually and to learn peak times would be awesome.
Thanks for this!
emily
http://www.deltachic.com
Love, love, LOVE this post! So much great info. I’m for sure going to try Ahalogy. I like that you can edit inages. For Pinterest I use Tailwind. You can schedule pins and it tells you the peak times for you to post. So far so good but I love try different tools. Thanks so much for sharing girl!
Xo Miriam
http://scriptsofflair.com
These are AMAZING tips! I’ve never used a single one of them… I feel so behind! Excited to check out these programs this evening!
XX, SS || A Little Seersucker Sass
These are such good picks! I’m downloading Ahalogy now!
Courtney//As We Stumble Along
I want to start using Ahalogy! That’s a great pick that I had never heard of.
Definitely think I’m going to jump on the Ahalogy and Klout train! I’m so bad at pinning and scheduling my social media ahead of time!
Lauren
http://oliverstwistblog.com
stepping up the blog game!! These are fantastic
Nicole // Chronicling Home
wow these are great apps! I gotta check them out
This is exactly what I’ve been needing! Thank you!!
Laci – http://www.solacilike.com
Great list can’t wait to try a few out!
xx,
Claudia Di Capua
http://www.claudiadicapua.com
Bookmarking this, checking it twice, saving it and sending it everywhere. This is great!
Coming Up Roses
These are great options! I hadn’t heard of any, but I need them all!
xx Daniela / Fashion Shower Blog
You are brilliant. Thank you for rounding up these links! Going to check them all out ASAP.
Hannah | The Outfit Repeater
Checking out Ahology right after this comment and bookmarking this! Such a great list, I’m so excited to try out all of them!