Blogging has taken off in a big manner only in the last decade or so. Before that most people blogged for mostly personal reasons only. However, blogs started to become far more than just personal web logs around the time commercialization hit the internet. People no longer blogged just about themselves. You had blogs about possibly every conceivable topic. Companies and organizations paid the authors of highly read blogs to carry their advertisements and blogging was no longer just a tool to pass time. It was capable of bringing in the big bucks.
The best thing about blogging is that even you can get onto the bandwagon. Heck, you can even earn some valuable bucks while doing so. However, most people with very good ideas and thoughts do not get into the actual writing part because they simply do not know how to start a blog. To help with the same, given below is a guide on how to start a blog. There are also further tips and ideas on how to monetize this newly set-up blog.
Starting a Blog
Decide the Topic: The Blogosphere, as the world of blogging is known right now, has a lot of content already for internet users to read. Remember this fact before you think of starting your blog. Ask yourself as to which topic you are most comfortable talking about. Or rather, talking about which topic comes most naturally to you. You are also going to talk about this topic on a regular basis so consider this aspect as well. Whatever you choose, the focus that comes with a topic is absolutely necessary. You just cannot expect an increase in readership if you are dishing out stale content. Here is a lowdown on some of the ideas people most often choose to start their blogs with.
- Food – People love to read about all things related to food. So you can start sharing some of your favorite recipes or even type down reviews about your favorite restaurants and their cuisines. Having a distinctive style of writing here definitely helps in grabbing the eyeballs.
- Politics – No other topic generates as many opinions as politics. However, if you have a unique point of view then the world will surely like to hear of it.
- Movies – There is no dearth of movie buffs on the internet that are on the lookout for some good movie reviews, old and new. You can cater to this segment by including detailed reviews along with goodies like video clips and wallpapers.
- Cars– Another happening topic across many age groups, cars are a segment with limitless possibilities. There are important developments and events taking place every day in the world of cars, which means only more opportunities for you to write on.
- Your Interests – At times, simply writing about what you like might interest many readers as well. People with a similar passion will definitely respond in a favorable manner.
Create a Name: When thinking of a name for your blog, visualize the single thing that symbolizes everything about it. This one thing should be prominently featured in your blog’s name. However, do not be bull-headed about the choice of a name. Remember that if you are starting out now, there are close to 200 million people who have started blogging before you. So if the name you chose is not unique, be ready to change it to something that is.
Find a Blogging Service Provider: Next up you will need to find a service provider that helps to put up your blog. Some of the more popular alternatives include WordPress and Blogger. Both these sites are pre-made. This means they contain a number of templates already and you can publish blogs on them through a few clicks of the mouse. In short, they are ideal for people with little technical know-how.
Getting Started: The signing up step for each blogging service provider is slightly different but the central theme remains the same. You first need to sign up on their site following which they allow you to create your own blog. As an example, we can start with WordPress. Note that most of the features across these providers are near identical.
- Upon clicking on the ‘Get started here’ option, you will be directed to a ‘Blog address field’ tab. Here you need to enter the name of your choice. As soon as you do the same, the system searches its database to make sure your name is not a duplicate. If it is, the system suggests you alternatives although you can choose to go with another newly coined name as well.
- The rest of the form is pretty straightforward as far as the content that goes into it is concerned. Now check all the options and click on the ‘Create your blog’ button. An email message confirming the same would be sent to the email account you mentioned during the signing up procedure. Refer that email to verify your blogging account after which it goes live.
Designing the Blog and Selecting a Theme: The WordPress website presents you with a number of theme options. Take your time and look through all of them before picking one you like. You can also change this theme later on if you find another more attractive option.
Fill the Information: By this point, your site’s name has already been decided as has been the choice of theme. Next up fill the details of your profile as this allows readers to know more about you. You can add your full name, images and little bit about your interests.
Write a Post: Now that everything has been set up, it is time to turn to the main matter. Try writing a single post about your preferred topic. You can also write more than just one post. At this point, you can also choose to make some changes to the layout of your site. Blogging might seem a little tough in the beginning but you will get the hang of it with time.
Publish and Spread the News: Once you are happy with what you’ve written, publish the same. This will be accessible by a unique web address known as the URL. Publicize this URL as much as you can through different mediums. You could take the help of social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook or even MySpace for the same.
Making Money from Your Blog
There are many people today who blog regularly to earn money and you can do the same with your newly started blog as well. Blogging as an activity can be quite lucrative provided you can come up with regular and interesting content. Apart from that, there are some well-established methods that you can use to generate income from your blog.
Pay Per Click (PPC): To define it in simple terms, PPC is what an advertiser will pay the search engines or other internet publishers for every single click on its advertisements. This advert will direct a clicking visitor to the advertiser’s main website.
Google’s very own AdSense is the most dominant player in this segment. You need to sign up with them for an account following which you can use their various tools to build an ad code. This code can then be pasted anywhere on your blog. Every time a person clicks on those ads, Google is obliged to pay you a certain amount for the same. This is how the name Pay Per Click originated.
Google here plays the role a third party agent that brings together the needs of the publisher (i.e. you) and the advertiser. They charge some amount (usually 33% of the total income generated) for this and the rest is forwarded to the publisher. The ads are selected as per the content of your blog. They are in the forms of graphics and texts and come in different sizes too.
This method of PPC is ideal for you till the time a big advertiser approaches you directly with a proposition.
Paid Product Reviews: Whenever people decide to buy something new, they usually search the web to get hold of user reviews before making their call. Simply put, they search for hearsay on that product or service. Companies recognize this and tend to pay blog owners to review their products. Some might think of this as being ethically wrong but it is perfectly fine to do so. All you need to do is have a disclaimer in your blog regarding the same.
If you write realistic and useful reviews, not only will companies pay you well but the readership base will also increase. This will have a positive impact on the advertisement revenue generated by your blog.
Text & Banner Ads: Banner ads are one of the most lucrative options but can be difficult to get started with. Such banners can be in the form of simple logos to even fully fledged ads. For example, Hershey’s wants your blog to carry its logo for a certain amount of dollars. A text ad is also of similar nature but the difference here is that the ad is made up of texts only.
There are two things here to be cautious about. First is to not rush things. Concentrate on building a readership base first and then focus on getting the advertisers. The latter is not possible without the former. Furthermore, there are plenty of ad networks out there but many require your blog count to run into hundreds of thousands every month.
Secondly, steer clear of putting up paid links on your blog. There is always the lure of easy bucks with someone offering money in exchange for a link placement but a heavy penalty is in the offing if ever Google finds out about it.
Amazon Affiliate Program: Although affiliate programs are dime a dozen now, Amazon was the original granddaddy of the concept. A simple way to explain this concept would be to consider a reader visiting your blog. He or she sees a little widget on the blog that says ‘Josh recommends this book for men’. That person now clicks on that widget and goes on to buy that book. You, as the owner of the blog where the widget was placed, get some money for this sale.
Amazon today is about a lot more than just books. The site is home to just about any product you can imagine. As such, it is a fantastic way to start earning money from your blog. And thanks to the large collection of items on its site, finding an item pertaining to your blog’s niche will be pretty easy. Once you get the hang of it, you can move on to other more lucrative affiliate programs.
Sell Stuff on Your Blog: This method of making money is solely owned by you. Consequently, the payouts from the same can be pretty attractive as well. Let’s say that you have a very good blog on fashion trends. Let’s also assume that your blog gets plenty of attention and readership. Now you can simply compile all your posts on fashion trends into a single copy and sell the same on your blog as an eBook. You can even choose to create content on your blog that is exclusive to only readers who are ready to pay a premium for the same.
The income generated from these two options can be substantial if you offer quality and unique content to your readers. This can also lead to other offline money making opportunities like conducting workshops or even coaching sessions.
As you must know very well by now, there are myriad opportunities to make money through your blog. Newer avenues of earning money will reveal themselves as you start to fill your blog with quality and unique content. Starting a blog is a lot easier than keeping it updated with the latest content. So before you start thinking of monetizing your newly started blog, focus on building content that will ensure readers get hooked for the foreseeable future.
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