50+ Personal Branding Tools for Beginners
Surely, you will need many personal branding tools to support your journey, from project planning, blog creation, and article optimization to multi-channel brand promotion to reach more audiences.
To perfect The Introvert Writer today, it's not simply that I just put in the effort to write. I also use help from many different tools. If you are also starting to build a personal brand, I think an article summarizing the necessary tools will help you. You can bookmark this article to reread it whenever you need it!
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Planning and project tools
TAKE NOTES, COME UP WITH IDEAS
Every time an idea suddenly pops up, you might forget it if you don't write it down. Using the following tools to brainstorm ideas, organize and plan along the way will help you work more efficiently.
- Dot notebook and Muji gel pen:I use a notebook and pen whenever I sit at my desk.
- Evernote: Take notes on every issue that happens every day, from shopping lists, supermarkets, expenses that have not yet been recorded in the book, and even ideas that suddenly appear.
- Mindmup: Draw mind maps whenever needed
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Building a personal brand involves many different steps, not just a simple task. Set goals and divide them into smaller daily tasks, managing them in one place, making it easy to track or make adjustments whenever needed. You can refer to the following tools.
- Trello. I use Trello to make to-do lists for the month, week and day. My favorite thing is that I move it to the completed tab every time I complete a task. This gives me motivation to work.
- Airtable. I used Airtable to plan content production when I started The Introvert Writer.
- Note. Recently, I started learning about Notion to integrate everything into a single place. The all-in-one feature is the most attractive thing about Notion.
- Google Calendar. I use Google Calendar to make appointments with customers and readers.
DATA AND ARTICLES
You can write and store on:
- Microsoft Office. I used Office before, but have now completely switched to services from Google.
- I use Google Drive to store everything. I also use most of Google's services (Google Docs, Sheets, Templates) to write articles, manage income and expenses, create surveys, and more.
- Grammarly. I use Grammarly to check spelling and consider advanced suggestions to optimize my writing every time I write in English. For Vietnamese, I use the built-in support tool in Docs.
Personal blog creation tool
DOMAIN
An impressive domain name will help people remember your blog. When choosing a domain name, you should check whether the one you want to buy is available by visiting the domain name provider's website. I am using AZDIGI's service.
- Namecheap. For foreign services, the advantage is that the domain name is reasonably priced.
- iNet. Vietnamese service, domain name is quite reasonable price, convenient payment.
- AZDIGI. For Vietnamese service, the price of a domain name is slightly higher than iNet, convenient payment. I bought it with AZDIGI's hosting to skip the step of pointing the hosting to the domain name and pay once for convenience.
HOSTING SERVICE
For websites built towards Vietnamese readers, I think using hosting services from Vietnam will bring better quality. In addition, issues related to payment and customer care services are also much more convenient than using hosting services from abroad.
I use AZDIGI's services and am very satisfied with the quality of service here. Recently, I also learned about another hosting provider with a slightly more reasonable price, and also has features that are friendly to Vietnamese users. It's Hostinger. You can consider your options.
- Hostinger
- Hawk Host
BLOGGING PLATFORM
In the free blogging course on The Introvert Writer, I introduced many blogging platforms. However, I chose WordPress.org because I wanted full control over the website. You can also choose WordPress.com or Wix.com to get started completely free.
- WordPress.org
- WordPress.com
- Wix.com
If you have difficulty building a website, you can use The Introvert Writer's full personal blog creation service!
INTERFACE FOR BLOG (THEME)
Users see and interact with the theme (or interface) on your blog. You should choose a mobile-friendly theme (responsive - because most users access it on mobile devices) that has a good page loading speed and is easy to customize.
Currently, I am using the Olsen Light theme for CSS Igniter. CSS Igniter's theme is easy to customize and reasonably priced for those who want to use a copyrighted theme. Mythemeshop is also a reputable name for bloggers around the world.
- Mythemeshop
- Studiopress
PAGE CREATION TOOL, LANDING PAGE
Elementor is the most popular plugin for page building with millions of installations. With just simple drag-and-drop operations, you can customize each page of your website (including the landing page) to your liking using available widget blocks.
In addition, in Vietnam, you can use the service on Ladipage to create a simple and effective landing page. I personally do not have the conditions to use the paid tools. Instead, I use CoBlocks - a free plugin developed by GoDaddy to create pages. I am satisfied with the features that CoBlocks provides at present.
- Elementor
- Coblocks
- Ladipage
PLUGINS REQUIRED
Website security
- Akismet Anti Spam – Automatically filter and block spam comments on blogs.
- iThemes Security Pro: Enhance website security
- Updraft Plus: Make backups for your website to prevent data loss
Speed up your website
- Jetpack Boost
- WP Rocket
Monitor traffic analytics
- Jetpack
- Site Kit by Google
Optimize images
- Smush
- Jetpack
Optimize articles
You can still write standard SEO articles even if you know nothing about SEO. That's the great thing about using SEO plugins for posts. Currently, I have uninstalled Yoast SEO when I discovered the new "true love" that is Rank Math SEO. What's great is that the free version of Rank Math has all the paid features from Yoast.
- Yoast SEO
- Rank Math SEO
EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS
Create professional emails with your own domain name
By accessing your hosting account, you can quickly create an email with your domain name, like I'm using (email contact@theintrovertwriter.com). Or you can create an email with a domain name through Google services.
- Directly on your hosting service
- Google Workspace
Create a signature under email
If you want to create a professional signature, try Hubspot's completely free signature creation service.
- Hubspot Signature Generator
Create an email collection form
To collect emails, you need to integrate pop-up or slide-in forms for users to leave email information. You can consult:
- WP Subscribe Pro
- OptinMonster
- Or create a form using the marketing services below
Email Marketing Service
If you write a blog without paying attention to email marketing, you are ignoring a potential option to attract readers back to the blog, further promoting potential products and services to readers and creating revenue.
Currently, I use ConvertKit's email marketing service. Here, you can create an email collection form, create a landing page, and send newsletters to readers. A special feature of ConvertKit is that emails sent do not fall into the spam box, increasing the ability to reach customers.
- ConvertKit
- MailChimp
- GetResponse
Podcast making tools
You can still host podcast episodes on WordPress. But the large capacity of podcasts can slow down the website's page loading speed. Additionally, these podcasts cannot be submitted to services like Apple Podcast or Google Postcast.
Therefore, the solution for you is to choose a podcast hosting service. Currently I am using anchor.fm to host podcasts for free. You can also use RSS to embed your blog like how I display the podcast page on The Introvert Writer.
PODCAST HOSTING SERVICE
- Anchor.fm
- Buzzsprout
- Podbean
RECORD AND EDIT RECORDINGS
I use Audacity software to record and edit recordings.
RECORDING MICROPHONE
I use Boya. If you have the means, you can invest in a Blue Yeti microphone.
SOUND FILTER
- Shopee
Youtube making tools
I plan to launch a Youtube channel in the near future. Therefore, I also learned about some tools to help develop Youtube channels.
If you plan to make an animation video (Web5ngay video or video adapted by Spiderum from your article), you can refer to:
- Doodly (The software I plan to use)
- Toonly
- Videoscribe ( Software web5ngay is using)
- FlexClip
If you plan to make normal videos where you appear and chat with people, you can start right away with your smartphone or invest in a professional camera.
In addition, you also need to be equipped with video editing software such as:
Social network management tool
Your potential customers may also be active on Facebook. LinkedIn and Instagram, how do you effectively bring content to everyone without taking too much time? Currently, I'm using Buffer (a free version that can manage up to 3 accounts) to plan posts, so it's very convenient.
Image making tool
All images on The Introvert Writer were designed by me through Canva. Canva is easy to use, with an extensive image library. Even with the free version, you can design a lot of beautiful and impressive images, especially if you have a good eye for aesthetics.
Additionally, you can also use images from websites that provide copyright-free images. However, remember to read the terms of use carefully to avoid violating image copyright.
Keyword research tool, SEO
Keyword research is an essential step if you want to optimize your writing. Currently, I am still using a few tools for reference. In the near future, I plan to choose to use Neil Patel's Ubersuggest because it is affordable (lifetime fee) and has many useful uses.
In addition, if you are interested in tools that integrate many features for better website SEO such as competitor analysis, backlink research, traffic analysis, (and can afford to pay), you can consider Usage prompt:
Idea finder
I'm using Answer the Public to find ideas and plan articles from big topics. Additionally, you can also research further:
Course creation tool
If you want to create a course, you can use a third-party service or build it right on your website using supporting plugins.
The course on The Introvert Writer is built with the free Learnpress plugin. If you want to use the theme with more options, you can buy it for $49 (lifetime price), which is quite reasonable for newbies. In addition to Learnpress, Learndash is also an excellent plugin for building courses but at a higher cost and charged per year ($159/year).
Additionally, you can build your course through third-party services like Teachable or Kajabi or submit the course to Udemy and link it to your blog.
Skills development course
Several supplementary courses help you develop your skills in the process of building your personal brand.
- Writing Online Jumpstart writing course for beginners from The Introvert Writer.
- Free blogging course from The Introvert Writer
- Free ebook "Write to Done – Commit to Writing" from The Introvert Writer
- Free personal development courses from Ms. Nguyen Phi Van. (Visit the course page and register as a member to learn for free).
- Content Marketing course – Hubspot
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course – Google
I will continue to update this article by adding more effective tools and removing tools that are no longer suitable. Initially, my idea was just to synthesize the tools I used. But I think adding a few options will make it easier for you to find the right tool for yourself. Therefore, I have added some tools that I have consulted and trusted.
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