1. The most profitable, established blogs were built around a passion. It is absolutely essential that you choose a topic you find engaging as an individual. Choosing a field based on what others are doing or what you think will bring in the big bucks will get you nowhere fast. You will lose interest before your first paycheck. Identify your passions. What is it that you love to live, learn and share with others on a daily basis?
2. Your next step is to determine whether there is profit potential in the area that has you interested. The quickest way to do this is to ask, “what do I have to buy to make these dreams a reality?” Are there specific supplies necessary? Does your hobby require some kind of investment?
3. Blog Setup
Once you have settled on your topic and you are confident that there is money to made, you need to start creating your online space. You will need three things to get your blog online:
- A compelling domain name (This post will help you choose an awesomely memorable URL.) Buy from GoDaddy.com Around $10-$20.
- Quality Hosting – Blue host is $3.95/month (will set up your hosting for you). HostGator for web hosting is around $4/month will talk you through it. The price tag grows as you grow.
- WordPress Installation Free if you do it. $35-40 on etsy if you have someone do it for you. This step-by-step guide will help you get your new blog up, running and configured correctly.
- Etsy – WordPress theme – $35 to make it how you want. Cheapest place and most people will help you install it. Ask them to help you. Make sure it’s responsive.
4. Content Creation
Now your new blog is ready for content. You should have a bucketful of blog post ideas in the beginning. In the beginning, when my girls were younger I blogged about the activities that were fun with my girls.
5. Get Traffic
Once you have a post or two published, it is time to start gathering your following. As a beginning blogger, you may not care too much about things like Search Engine Optimization. You just want to blog! Before you start smothering your passion with technical things let your excitement be your best promoter. As this is a blog created around your interests, you know where everyone is hanging out. You are probably a member of the forums. You know the best social networks for this industry. Get out there and grow your community.
When setting up your WordPress blog, you likely installed a plugin or two that allow readers to follow your site through social networks, Facebook, IG, Twitter, Pinterest or email (use mail chimp – free until you get thousands of followers). Make sure those are configured correctly and always ask new viewers to follow you.
6. Continue Learning
Once the content is flowing and your community is growing, do not stop learning. There are always skills that can help you take things to the next level. Every blog can benefit from search engine optimization and the occasional coding tweak. Don’t let yourself fall behind with this new technology. Follow a few “blogging blogs” in addition to those experts in your niche.
Your first blog posts will…be embarrassing:
You’ll get better:
Picture and links to other sites.
Then you’ll go on your own.
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