The following is a list of all the tools and resources that I have found helpful in creating my blog and accompanying YouTube Channel.
Some of the following links are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission. This is of no extra cost to you and you can rest assured that I only ever recommend something which has been useful to me.
This is an organic list which I continually add to and expand on. To stay up to date with my recommendations, there is also a free Newsletter which you can subscribe to here. You can also stay up to date with all my recommended products and tools by following my Amazon page here.
Blogging and Vlogging tools
Writing and Website tools
Bluehost: I moved to a self hosted site last year and it’s the best decision I ever made. My blog is now truly mine, and I can do much more with it in terms of customisation and plugins. Moving my WordPress blog over to Bluehost was fairly simple and when I did get stuck, the patient web-chat advisers guided me in the right direction. Its really well priced, with plans for every budget.
Grammarly ; this is by far the best investment I’ve made since starting freelance writing. My spelling can be a little off at times and with Grammarly I don’t have to worry. The free version is amazing but the paid gives some great extras to fine tune your writing style. I love it!
PicMonkey: I absolutely love everything about Picmonkey. Its intuitive and versitile and I make all my video thumbnails and blog graphics with it. There are always new things added. The free version offers a fair amount of tools but for the price, its worth the upgrade for awesome editing and graphic making tools
Vlogging tools
I have used many tools for filming my vlogs over the years. The following is my current set up.
Panasonic Lumix G Camera : after a few years of using a very basic camcorder, I ungraded to a high spec camera. This one was recommended and it hasn’t let me down. I am not a tech wizard by any means so I needed something which gave great results without much technical know-how. This is a beautiful camera to use and it takes crisp clear video and stunning pictures. Its easy to use and to teach yourself the more complicated stuff.
Samsung Galaxy s8 smartphone: this is the first time I have owned a top end smart phone and I have not regretted paying out more to own one. I take a lot of pictures and video with my phone for my bogs and vlogs and so I needed something that was of very high quality. The video quality on this is outstanding! Even using just the front facing lens for filming produces amazingly good quality videos and footage for my vlogs. Love the phone in general too as its battery life is great and has a ton of memory.
Rode Videomicro Camera Microphone: I had a lot of issues with sound in my early vlogs. I researched lots of microphones and this had great reviews, for good reason! It has really increased the quality of my sound and I can film in the noisiest of environments and it filters all that out and gives beautiful crisp clear sound. Bargain price too for its genius abilities!
Camera Tripod: this budget tripod has been with me since the beginning and I have no complaints!
3 in 1 tripod for smartphone: this is my newest piece of kit. I bought this when I started filming the Friday Finnstalments. As I film these daily vlogs on my smart phone, I needed something that I could use as a selfie stick. This 3 in 1 is great as it can be used as a telescopic selfie stick style pole which is adjustable in length, as a short tripod and as a long omnipod. Its brilliant!
DJI Osmo Mobile 2 : This gimbal stabilizer for filming with your smartphone is a complete game changer. Using it has greatly improved the quality of my videos.
Editing Tools
Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11: this is my current editing software and has been now for the last 7 years. I am self taught, Ive learned as I’ve gone along and this editing software has made it easy to learn the basics and then build my skills over the years.
PicMonkey: I absolutely love everything about Picmonkey. Its intuitive and versitile and I make all my video thumbnails and blog graphics with it. There are always new things added. The free version offers a fair amount of tools but for the price, its worth the upgrade for awesome editing and graphic making tools
Tubebuddy: this addition to my vlogging kit has been such a gift! Tubebuddy makes it easy to find keywords and tags, to help your videos to rank, to reply to comments. Its like having my own personal assistant to help manage my channel. Love it!
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Finlay Games is the founder of The Recovery Writer and the host of Finntheinfinncible. He is a freelance writer and speaker for hire, who advocates, informs and inspires on topics of mental health, recovery, gender transition, and sexuality.