All the extra tools bloggers need–WordCamp Victoria talk

It’s not hard to get blogging, regardless of what blog engine you use (though WordPress is the best IMHO), but there are tricks and tools that make life easier for you. At WordCamp Victoria I decided to distill and talk about the blogging toolkit that I’ve built up over the years. Tools like blog editors, image editors, RSS readers, note gathering tools, even Twitter clients.

Usually bloggers start out like this …
Domain: check
Web host: check
WordPress installed: check
What’s next? The tools. The goodies. The tools that make the job a little easier. Here are the tools that I like (or know are pretty good):

• Image tools:
  • Picnik – Photo editing the easy way, online in your browser (freemium, web)
  • Welcome to Aviary (free, web)
  • Paint.NET – Download (Free, PC)
  • Seashore – About (Free, Mac)
• Blog editors:
  • Writer – Windows Live (Free PC)
  • illumineX :: ecto – blog editor for Mac OS X ($$ Mac)
  • Blogo: The blog editor for your Mac ($$ Mac)
  • Scribefire: Fire up your blogging (Free, Firefox plugin)
• Screenshots and screencasts
  • Techsmith:
    • Jing (Free, Mac, PC)
    • Camtasia ($$ Mac, PC)
    • Snagit ($$, PC)
  • Skitch.com (Free, Mac)
• RSS Readers
• • FeedDemon (free/pay PC) – NetNewsWire (free/pay Mac)
  • Google Reader
  • Feedly
• Notetaking apps:
  • Evernote (Free/Paid, Mac, PC)
  • Yojimbo ($$, Mac)

If you’d like to try DropBox, now is a great time to check it out. If you tell them I sent you, then I’ll get an extra 250MB storage on my account. Not a bad deal I think