When economy took dive 2008, my cushy job was no longer provided safety for me. I wanted to find a way to make decent living without constant worry of bringing income for me and my family. I came across many money making ideas, many of them seemed scams or asking hefty fees to join. Since then I have discovered and learn how to make money from blogging. I must confess, I do not yet make enough income to quit my job yet but I am making a good money since I started. I wanted to share tips I have learned, so you can start making money from blogging. I will also share my pitfalls and money waster so you can avoid those mistakes.
These steps looks overwhelming and time consuming. I want to blog but I want someone to set it up for me at affordable price, can you help?
If you’re in rush and do not want to go through whole process of setting up blog by yourself, fear not. We recommend 3PR Web Design for doing all below steps and plus setting up a blog, layout, plugins, themes (free and customized) and installing wordpress, CMS, and more.
We have worked with them in past and current with some clients and it is always 100% customer satisfaction and much affordable and customer friendly.
Click here to find out about 3PR Web Design’s Packages
Important Note:
1. Making money from internet is NOT a get rich quick scheme. Its takes time. If you need instant money,please see: What to do if you need money NOW.
2. Do not let anyone tell you,you need to spend lot of money on tools to get started blogging. All one need is a good domain name ($10 per year) and hosting ($7 month) to get you started.
Step by Step Guide on How to Start a Blog:
1. Decide subject of your blog/website:
Before you go ahead, decide on subject you want your blog to be. It could be something you already know and passionate about. It can be gardening, parenting, books and movies. Some questions to ask;
- What do I already know, studied, enjoy doing in my free time?
- What do I want to learn more about?
- Is to possible to make money from that subject? Are there products,books,services to sell?
Cost:Zero
Time:30 minutes to days (depends on you)
Read : How to start a blog series
2. Keyword Search
Once you have found a subject do a keyword search to make sure,if there are other people interested in it as well. There are many tools out there,I recommend free tool called Google Keyword Tool. There is paid tool called Market Samurai, which can do much more and gives you more control.
Once you are on that site,just type in your phrase from step 1 there. There will be two columns,one global monthly and another local monthly numbers. I focus on local monthly numbers,any numbers will 1600 local monthly number should be a good keyword. Pick 5-7 keywords in same niche.
Cost:Zero or price of paid tool
Time:30 minutes- 4 hours
3. Get domain
I recommend get your own domain name if you want to make money and be taken seriously,and keep your branding and better seo or search engine optimization.
You can buy domain name from various companies,but I prefer NameCheap for buying domains. Generally “.com”domain are preferred and you can choose http://www.yourkeyword.com for your site.
If that domains taken try, dashes between keyword or choose from .org,.net or .info domain. For more domain tips,click:how to choose a domain. We get domains through Namecheap or Godaddy as they’re the cheapest.
It is always best to get domain name as your keyword for example; if you have gardening blog, try getting: www.(keyword).com ->www.gardening.com or www.gardening-tips.com
Click below to get Domains at discounted price:
Namecheap Domains
Cost:$5-$15 (depending on type of domain you will choose)
Time:10-40 minutes
4. Get Hosting
There are free webhosting available on blogger and wordpress.com,getting your own hosting as many advantages. I have personally done it all,free blogs, and my own hosting. If you want to leave website setting up to professional you can use a web designer company.
If you have bit time and technical ability go for self hosting. For hosting,I recommend Bluehost (see Bluehost review) shared hosting. I would choose shared hosting,as it is cheapest option when you are starting out.
My this site is hosted on bluehost and thing I like about bluehost is customer service. Once I lost all my content data somehow and they had a back up so my site was up and running in 25 minutes,otherwise it would have been a disaster. Another benefit is that if you decide to add more than one domain on your online business,hosting price remains the same for unlimited domains and transfers. There might be cheaper hosting,but some do not provide enough space if you add more domains or your sites gets huge traffic.
If you have one website or many, bluehost can host all domains for one low price under $7 a month. We use bluehost for our website and we strongly recommend it for your first blog or website. (see our Bluehost review)
Click below to get best price on bluehost hosting:
Get Bluehost Hosting
Cost:$4-$10 per month
Time:10-30 minutes.
5. Set up Blog
If you went with web designer, skip to next step. If you have gone with hosting,set up your site with wordpress,as it is free blogging platform and you do not need to know html or coding to get started. These all can be set up by web designer, depending services in the package.
You can set up with Theme: Choose colors, headers, logo, and setting up menu, privacy policy, terms of use, disclaimer, blog, main home pages, contact pages.
You can set up your blog with Plugins: SEO Plugins, affiliate cloaking, commenting on and off, rss feeder, spam blocker plugins, analytic plugins
Cost: Varies
Time: Varies (depending on your expertise if you’re doing it own or web designer)
Note:If you feel overwhelm or need help setting up word press or transferring your blogger blog to self hosted account I recommend 3PR Web Design as I have personally used them,they are affordable and has great customer services.
Can you recommend further resources?
You can check out my blogging tips and how to set up blog series from home business ideas blog .
31 days to build a better blog : This ebook is written by expert and pro-blogger who is making 6 figure income form his blog, so he knows what he is talking about. I really like this ebook and it is cheap enough for new blogger to afford and it has tons of valuable tips for blogging so you get started with right information without wasting time, effort and money. See our review of 31 DBB Review
6. Start Writing and Market Your Blog
You can start writing content for your blog, add pictures,make videos or use one from youtube. You can add audio podcasts as well.
Market your blog so people and search engine can find your site and you can add an affiliate for related products to make money. Good affiliates I recommend to join are; Amazon, Commision Junction, Clickbank, LinkShare, Shareasale to start off with and they are FREE to join.
Cost:Zero
Time:Generally 30 minutes-2 hours daily ( It is up to you)
See: 10 Simple and Doable Traffic Tips For Your Blog
7. Incorporate LLC or Corporation
This is the most important thing you can do is to form a business. To protect your investment for income and time, I would strongly recommend incorporating your business when you start to make a little money. You can do partnership agreement, LLC or file for Corporation in your local state. I have used Legal Zoom for incorporating my business and they are fast and sets up everything legally without worries.
Cost:Varies based on type of incorporating,see here for current pricing.
Time:30 minutes to start a process,(Local state Government approval time varies)
Good luck. If you like this information,please social bookmark this post.