This is a long overdue post. Sometime early this year I promised to teach several friends interested in blogging and the happine$$ in blogging HOW TO START A BLOG and HOW TO EARN FROM BLOGGING.
I owe everything I know from dear friends in the blogosphere, Betchai of
The Joys of Simple Life and my other
The Salitype Society Sisters and Blogger Forum buddies and so many other friends across the globe who selflessly shared their secret to blogging success.
HOW TO START A BLOG
1. Choose A Platform.
~It could be blogger, wordpress or tumblr or any other platform you feel you are most comfortable with. This blog is hosted by blogger. I have inactive ones at both wordpress and tumblr. I personally would suggest blogger because it is user friendly. Customizations of theme and other social networking schemes are better at wordpress but my brain has been accustomed to blogger so this is where I stayed and here is where I could be at my best to guide you. So head over to
www.blogger.com and start thinking of a title for your awesome site!
2. Choose A Niche.
~So what will you blog about? You can choose to write just about anything you are interested in but if monetizing your blog is a plan, you better conceptualize your site to one which will focus on one general category. If you are a mom like me, a HOME blog would be great to start with! Home improvement and other home related stuff imbibe a lot of advertisers. A Travel blog would be great for those of you who LOVE spending time outdoors and seeing new places. You'd have twice the fun exploring while earning extra income for your adventures. If you are a SPORTS lover you could start a blog about your favorite game and stick to sports related stuff. For fashion and beauty fanatics a FASHION blog is the way to start! As for me, The Letters In November was originally an INSPIRATIONAL blog. Later, I shifted it into a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE, HOME, INSPIRATIONAL BLOG which also features TRAVEL and fashion and other LIFESTYLE stuff. I have been meaning to update my MOMMY and MEDICAL blog more often but I am always running out of time. For those of you who have all the time in the world to write you could have as many blogs as you can manage. It takes time for a site to gain readership and page rank so the best time to start is NOW.
3. Give Your Blog A Title and Purchase a Domain Name
~Sounds simple yet if you want your site to be one which would become viral and generate as much clicks as possible it has got to be something that will make search engine queries land on your page. Am not really an expert on this particular topic but my researches all tell me it is BEST TO BE SPECIFIC.
~Purchasing a domain name is quite complicated for beginners. You may opt to do this at a later part and just start writing posts first. At any rate when you do choose a domain name your present web add will be re-directed.
4. Spice Up Your Blog
~Blogger has templates readily available to use for your site which you can also customize but if you want better looking templates you could head on to sites that offer clean crisp professional looking themes akin to this site's template FOR FREE from sites like
http://newbloggerthemes.com/
~Later on you could hire a designer to tailor a theme to your liking. My twinzy Cher of
www.sweetmemoirs.com had her site totally revamped by an expert and I must agree it was all worth the fee she paid. Oh have I mentioned she is one of my blogging super inspirations?
~You could also add needed gadgets to your blog like blog archive, about me section, pages etc. Navigating through the blogger platform is relatively easy.
5. Write Quality Posts
~It is that one greatest technique in making it BIG in blogosphere! Write with your heart and make sure to have your work well scrutinized by you before you hit PUBLISH. You won't attract advertisers and readers in the first place with poor grammar and plagiarized content. BE ORIGINAL and remember to give credit to your sources. As much as possible use photos which are not copyrighted and when the need arises to use the property of others be sure to acquire the necessary permission, otherwise do not use the image. Getting yourself into the world of photography is A PLUS! Using your own images for your posts would be great! The joy in capturing images is one thing that lured me into blogging in the first place! You do not have to have a great cam! You just have to know the basics in taking eye-catching images.
6. Share Your Site And Interact With Other Writers
~The worldwideweb is truly WIDE! Pun intended. Your site wouldn't get known without you advertising it! No matter how great your content is you will have to DO HARD WORK in spreading word about your page. You have to join forums and BLOG WALK- visit other blogger's sites and leave comments. When commenting be at your best, be sincere and remember to leave a mark by using the name and url option whenever possible in a site so your site could be linked to the site you are visiting and it gives the other blogger an easier way of visiting you back.
~Go SOCIAL! You could make a twitter account, a facebook page, a pinterest and Instagram account exclusive for your site and make them accessible on your site. For facebook page LIKE BOX you could grab it at https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/like-box-for-pages
It is also best to install a sharing button on your site like the one you could easily install from
http://www.addthis.com
7. Remember to simply Enjoy Writing and the Happine$$ will come flowing later (Paying Sites)
~These are the paying sites you could visit when your site finally gets at least a PAGE RANK of 2. To check your page rank from time to time you could visit this page-
http://www.prchecker.info/
~These are the sites I personally have experienced working with and where you also could apply for your site to be approved later.
~It would be best to open a paypal account because payment is mostly done through paypal. Head on over to
www.paypal.com to do that.
8. Do Your On-line Tasks On Time and Always Be Professional
~respond
to e-mails on time and never fail to write accepted tasks before the deadline, developing
good working relationship with everyone is a great key to success in every endeavor...
9. Remember to Always Share Your Blessings
~When
you reach that stage when blessings are already pouring non-stop,
remember to LOOK BACK and thank the One Above and everyone you met along
the way who helped you get to where you are! Pass on the knowledge and
spread LOVE!
~Our group,
the Salitype Society sponsors kids' education through our blog earnings from the site. It is one of my greatest motivation in writing- "Knowing simply sharing my thoughts in the site helps make a difference in a kid's life." If you could head on over
there for awhile, me and my TSS sisters would appreciate it so much.
10. Go Write, Write Write!
~Your site needs to be regularly updated with fresh content and not be loaded with sponsored posts. Otherwise it would be labeled as SPAMMY and all your hard work will vanish in thin air. When "writer's block" and "fried brain" attacks just relax and give yourself a break, your writing mojo will be back in no time, because ONCE YOU ARE A BLOGGER, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ONE AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO TURNING BACK :)
I will try to discuss purchasing a domain and renewal thingy when I get the time. For Any Other Inquiry Feel Free To Contact me! I will be more than willing to assist you as patiently as my blogging mentors were generous to me.
Sincerely,
~Special thanks to my Salitype Society Sisters and Filipino Bloggers Forum Buddies! My gift to them is prayers for good health and the essential things that money can not buy.
