10 Tools to Get Blogging Done

Last week, I posted an article about increasing your SEO - that's search engine optimization - in which, I mentioned how great a marketing tool blogging can be.

However, blogging isn't something that just comes naturally for all of us - we're all very busy, lacking in the idea department, we aren't the most gifted writers, etc.

I'm sure you all have already deducted this, but I'm a huge fan of the blog! I read tons and tons of blogs (and if you do, too, I STRONGLY, STRONGLY recommend trying Google Reader to keep track of them all, it's A-MAZING) and am always on the lookout for helpful tips and tricks for making websites, designing, getting the most out of the Web, and just life in general, too. :) And whenever I find something really good, I like to share.

Today, one of my all-time favorite blogs Lifehacker posted 10 Tools to Get Blogging Done.

Here are a couple highlights that I think would be the most helpful for you Fox bloggers out there. Or, you may click here to read whole article.

7. Live-blog from your phone with Jott

Free voicemail-to-text service Jott can help you nail down post material while you're on the go with a phone call, but you can also use the service directly with a number of blogging platforms, including Blogger, Typepad, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and WordPress. If you're hosting your own blog, you can still use Jott's voice-to-email service in conjunction with your platform's email-to-post function to indirectly get your thoughts up online, even while you're miles from your keyboard.

5. Get topic-based post ideas sent to your inbox every day with Google Alerts

Whether you write about a team, a certain topic, or a broad trend, Google Alerts brings your post material to you. Use the same kind of advanced search operators you use on Google's main search site to laser-focus on a particular kind of web site, blog post, news story, or group post you're looking for. Decide if it gets sent as fast as Google's servers find it, or in a daily or weekly email digest. Using Alerts exposes you to a wider array of information than you'd get from a defined list of RSS feeds, and it's an easy way to keep your eyes on the web without really being at the search box all day.

4. Spend less time resizing images

Few blogs can get by with just words alone, but finding the perfect image to illustrate a post—and then making it fit right—can take more time than the post itself. If you're not committed to Photoshop or its open-source alternative, GIMP, free online image editing site Picnik is a good bet, both for its right-click Firefox extension and its integration with Flickr. If you've got a whole set of pictures you're ready to post up, you can try the Windows-only ImageResizer, or for an elegant solution, use the export-and-resize functionality of . (For more on finding reusable images, see our six ways to find reusable media.

Click here for the other seven ideas from Lifehacker's "10 Tools to Get Blogging Done".