I have a review of backupbuddy and why i like it here:

http://www.moneywithablog.com/.....igrations/

Other paid plugins I use and love include BackupBuddy, WP eStore (and WP Affiliate that goes with it), MBP Bring My Blog Visitors Back, Riva Slider Pro, SliderShock (I actually won this one in a giveaway), and a number of plugins from WPMUdev. Wow, looking at this I feel like I need plugin rehab or something! But in my defense, almost all of them were purchased for work. It's a little scary how much I spend on themes, fonts, plugins, graphics, etc.

I have OptinSkin but I actually haven't used it yet. Would be interested to know what kind of results you guys have seen since you started using it.

The College Investor said:

I'm a huge fan of Opt-In Skin.  I love that it has social media sharing and email list opt-in.

Anyone have any idea which e-mail list providers this (Opt-In Skin) works with? Feedblitz, perchance?

Right now Aweber, Mailchimp, iContact

I'm a huge fan of Opt-In Skin.  I love that it has social media sharing and email list opt-in.

Anyone have any idea which e-mail list providers this (Opt-In Skin) works with? Feedblitz, perchance?

I've started using Backup Buddy to backup my databases and sites.  It's been a bit buggy for FFB but it does do a great job of backing up the entire site and restoring it when you need it.  I've used the plugin to build development sites quite easily.

 

And you can get email, server, and offline (Amazon, Dropbox, etc...) copies of your backups.

This is the only plugin I've specifically paid for so far unless you count the Aweber pop-up I use.

I used this for a while but it was buggy.  At the recommendation of my host, I moved to BackWPup, which is a free backup plugin that works just like Backup Buddy.  I back mine up to dropbox and AWS, and it works great.

For my food blog, I upgraded to the premium version of the Easy Recipe Plus plugin. Every blog that posts recipes should seriously have this plugin, even if just the free version. It adds microfromatting tags to your recipes so they are indexed for Google Recipe View. The premium version allows you to include an image in the recipe view (free version still supports adding an image to the recipe on your site), and access to support.

Great find!  I was doing some research for my wife's blog and I think I stumbled on this plugin.  Didn't realize there was a premium version.  Will definitely check it out.

I was so close to paying for Backup Buddy, but went with Dropbox for weekly website backups. I don't know how easy it would be to get back up and running if I were to actually lose my site, though, so I'd be interested in hearing the benefits of a paid backup plan. I spend too much time on my website to lose it all!  I use Carbonite for my personal backup needs and love how easy it makes restoring your files look.  I'd love the Carbonite caliber backup option for websites.  

And you can get email, server, and offline (Amazon, Dropbox, etc...) copies of your backups.

This is the only plugin I've specifically paid for so far unless you count the Aweber pop-up I use.

I'm a huge fan of Opt-In Skin.  I love that it has social media sharing and email list opt-in.  So many options to choose from and you can customize to match your site.  Totally worth the price.

Same here!   My only issue with it is that on my wife's site it's been really buggy yet on my site its works great. 

Nonetheless, it is one of my favorite plugins.

I'm working on a post for our Dollars and Roses blog about blogging tools that we pay for that help with our online business.

Curious to hear what you would consider essential tools especially any premium plugins that you've purchased that you feel was worth every penny.

Love to see what's working for you.