Thinking about starting a blog? I definitely think you should! In this post I will tell you WHY you should and exactly HOW to start a blog (it’s super easy, pinky swear!) so you can get on with changing your life for the better!
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WHY YOU SHOULD START A BLOG
Personally I think everyone should start a blog. I’m not kidding! There can never be enough people out there sharing their stories, knowledge, skills and encouragement with the world! The internet needs more uplifting content and the only way that can happen is if amazing, talented, good intentioned people like YOU decide to contribute to it.
So, I have THREE REASONS (although I’m sure there are a million!) why I think YOU should start a blog… ready? Here we go.
REASON #1: You Have Something of Value to Share.
Everyone has a story to tell. Or a particular skill set they could teach. Or a passion about a certain topic. You have something that you love to talk about any chance you get…. aaaaand there’s your blog topic. Don’t keep it all to yourself! Put it out there and find others who you connect with! You will be amazed at the number of people who share your passion or have a similar story. But you won’t ever find them (or they won’t find YOU) unless you are writing about it!
REASON #2: Blogging Can Be An Amazing Source of Income
True, this may not have been the case 5-10 years ago, but times have changed! There are literally unlimited ways to make money as a blogger now. At first it might need to just be a “side hustle” but with hard work and perseverance it can become an amazing full-time gig.
Here is a short list of ways to make money blogging:
- Traffic to your site: Ad Networks put ads on your site and you are paid according to how many page views your site gets.
- Affiliate Income: When people click on your affiliate links to products and services you recommend, you receive a small percentage of their purchase at no extra cost to the purchaser.
- Sponsored Posts/Working with Brands: Companies are getting the hint that bloggers have a lot of influence over their audiences! If a particular food blogger says to use a certain brand of tomato sauce, his/her audience is going to buy that kind of tomato sauce! So, companies are very willing to pay bloggers for their endorsements. This can be incredibly lucrative.
- Sell Products: Many bloggers have come up with a physical product that they can sell. Some have Etsy shops where they can direct their readers. The sky is the limit on this one!
- eBooks and Courses: This is similar to “products” but these aren’t actual physical products. Digital goods and services like eBooks and courses are a natural byproduct of a blogger becoming known as an expert in a certain field. Readers love to have all of your knowledge and expertise in one nice downloadable package and are willing to pay you for it.
- … and about 2000 other ways! Seriously!
REASON #3: Blogging Opens the Door to So Many Amazing Opportunities
I have been amazed at the many opportunities that have been opened to blogger friends of mine and myself. Everything from meeting new people/making new friends to TV appearances to book deals to getting their own shows! There is no lack of opportunities for a blogger! Not to mention the opportunity to bring in enough money for spouses to quit stressful 9-5p jobs. Their families can then have the freedom to travel, spend more time together and live the life they’ve always wanted!
So, are you ready to do this?? I know that blogging has done all of the above for ME and I know it can do the same for you! The internet needs you!
Now, here are the technical aspects of how to start a blog. Don’t be scared… it’s easy!
HOW TO START A BLOG IN 4 EASY STEPS
The actual technical aspect of how to start a blog is the easy part yet that seems to be what people fear the most. Bluehost has made it incredibly easy to get your domain registered and self-hosted site up and running in about 15 minutes… you can’t beat that!
Here are the 4 basic steps, and then I will talk about them in more detail.
- Purchase Hosting
- Choose Your Domain Name
- Install WordPress
- Pick A Theme
HOW TO START A BLOG STEP ONE: PURCHASE HOSTING
Go to BLUEHOST.com and click on the green GET STARTED NOW box to, well, get started! 🙂
Choose your plan… if you sign up via any of my links in this post you can get the special pricing at as low as $2.95 a month! You guys, that is an amazing price! Such a small investment toward growing your own business and creating the life you want to live! You get a free domain for a year as long as you select at least 12 months of Bluehost webhosting too! Yay!
HOW TO START A BLOG STEP TWO: CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME
I’m guessing you have already thought about this part (it’s like choosing a name for your baby!) before you even wondered how to start a blog, but if not, here are some bits of advice you might want to consider. Keep it as short as possible and easy to spell. I say this from experience! landeeseelandeedo.com is my original URL but it is so stinkin’ long! I have since purchased landeelu.com and will redirect my site to that here in the next year or so but LEARN FROM ME. Keep it short and easy to remember. Making it something that is descriptive of what your site will be about is a bonus but don’t make it too specific in case your blog changes direction at some point and you want to branch out!
Enter in your shiny new domain!
Enter in all of your account and billing information and away you go!
Signing up for 36 months gets you the best pricing, however, if you’re not wanting to commit to 36 months just yet I would at least do the 12 months which is still a great price at $4.95 per month. I wouldn’t advise that you choose month-to-month because you’ll be dealing with “re-upping” every month and I know you’d rather just focus on creating amazing content for your blog!
Also, there are certain upgrades you can add on…. I would only suggest the “domain privacy protection” (which keeps your personal information private and protected) and nothing else. You can always add things on later if you need to!
After you get your password all set and your confirmation email from Bluehost you’re ready to move on!
HOW TO START A BLOG STEP THREE: INSTALL WORDPRESS
Again, Bluehost guides you through this entire process!
Log back into your Bluehost account by clicking the LOGIN button in the upper right hand corner.
Enter your cpanel login info from the welcome email you just received. (Make sure you are logging into hosting and not webmail)
Then click INSTALL WORDPRESS.
Choose your domain from the drop down menu to show where you want to install WordPress, then click the green CHECK DOMAIN button.
Enter in all of the necessary information and click INSTALL NOW.
Once it’s done installing take note of your INSTALLATION CREDENTIALS for future use and then you are officially a self-hosted website owner. Congrats!
HOW TO START A BLOG STEP FOUR: CHOOSE A THEME
The theme is what gives your blog its overall appearance. They can all be modified and even your theme can be switched out later so don’t fret too much about this to begin with. There are many free themes and some themes that will cost you some money so be sure to look around at all of your options.
The Genesis framework is by far the most popular and I feel like you can’t go wrong with Genesis. Restored 316 has some beautiful pre-made themes you can purchase for the Genesis framework.
Now that you know why you need to start a blog and exactly how to start a blog, what are you waiting for? Put yourself out there. Take the chance. See where it takes you!
Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them the best I can! I want this for you so I’m happy to help in any way that I can.
Good luck and I’ll see you on the internet!
**PIN THE IMAGE BELOW SO YOU CAN SOME BACK AND SEE HOW TO START A BLOG LATER!**
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