Top 5 Tools for Bloggers

Writer and podcaster Mur Lafferty recently posted a vidcast about essential tools for writers. Bloggers write but are their needs the same? Below are my top 5 pics for tools bloggers need to get the job done. Let me know if you agree or have a different set of tools that top your list.

1. Computer or mobile phone with internet access - bloggers need access to a computer or smartphone to use for creating notes and posting text, video, or audio.
   
2. Stickies, notecards, or napkins to scribble down sudden ideas for those times you forget to bring along your phone/camera/web enabled device
3. Social Networking accounts - Technorati, Twitter, Squidoo, Facebook - whatever your social tools of choice are, you'll need them to make new friends, find inspiration, and share what you are up to
4. USB/thumb drive or other portable storage device (Mur suggests using an iPod as well as a USB drive) to save all your choice posts - you are going to compile them into an ebook or other format someday, right?
5. Statistics tools such as Feedburner and/or Google Analytics to measure the reach and performance of your blog
   

Are there other tools that are essential for bloggers? I'm assuming that the blogging platform and internet connection is a given - is there anything I overlooked?

Readers Rule

I have a confession. I love the Head First book series. I love it because when I read the books, they make me feel like it is all about me, the reader. I Rule!

Guess what? That is totally the goal of Bates and Sierra. They take conversational writing to a whole new level. They never forget that it is always about you, the reader. Not them, not a sacred principle of programming, the person reading the book.

It's easy to get caught in writing mode, to forget the book is a two way conversation. My role as a writer is to be your guide, to make suggestions, give hints, to say, "Hey look at that rockin' widget! Let's make it even better!". That's what it's really all about.

My goal for the Blogger book is to give you the tools and know how you need to make your blog a success. You can take or leave whole sections of the book. That's OK. I'm trying really hard to fill the book with stuff you'll want to try. It's not really a book about beefing up Blogger. It's about making your Blogger blog kick ass.