So much of blogging is about the content. But that's not to say the right tools won't help your blog grow a heck of a lot faster.
The links below are for the tools I swear by. They're my affiliate links, and I'd never recommend something if I didn't use it myself and think it was worth every penny.
Bluehost Web Hosting – The host I use for all of my sites. Easy, one-click WordPress installs and plugin upgrades. And anytime I've had to call them, the service has been second-to-none. See the self-hosting page for help signing up.
WordPress SEO Secrets – The search-engine optimization manual I've used for almost as long as I've been blogging. As a result, my main blog, No Meat Athlete, now gets over 1,000 daily search visitors.
31 Days to Build a Better Blog – Problogger Darren Rowse's 31-day course designed to take your blog to the next level. A single post I wrote as part of one of the assignments has paid for the ebook many times over.
Headway Themes – The fully-customizable theme (with an awesome drag-and-drop visual editor!) that I use for both of my blogs. Created to help code-illiterate non-designers (like me) customize their own sites without paying hefty designer fees. Includes built-in search engine optimization features.
The Third Tribe – The first tribe is the sleazy internet marketers. The second tribe is the bloggers who work their butts off and never make a dime. The Third Tribe is for people who want to earn money online by providing REAL VALUE to their readers, without taking advantage of anyone. It's headed by Problogger's Darren Rowse, Copyblogger's Brian Clark and Sonia Simone, and bestselling social media author Chris Brogan.
E-junkie – If you have something to sell online, E-junkie is the way to do it. Period. Works for electronic and physical products.
Aweber – You know that "7 Mistakes New Health Bloggers Make" email series of mine? Aweber is what I used to create and deliver it. Manages your email lists and makes it simple to design an autoresponder sequence like mine.