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Welcome back to this 6 part mini series “Blogging – everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask”.
In Part One we looked at Why People Blog and explored specifically why YOU should start your own blog today…without delay!
As I said – I am the guy in the middle. I was searching for a creative outlet (this is my need for competency), I really do want to help (It’s how I feel significant in life) and I could use the extra income (join the club).
Many people today are blogging as a means to an end. They want the extra money or they want to replace their 9-5. If that’s your thing then – No judgment here but, I would advise everyone to be passionate about what they are going to write about.
There are many, many blog sites already whose main motivation is to just sell and their pages are just filled with pop ups, ads and click bait. My personal opinion – I find it distasteful.
Before you start blogging be real with yourself. What are your main motivations for doing this? What are your expectations? Are your expectations realistic?
If you are clear in these three things then your blogging life will a fun and happy place.
Fail to Plan…Plan to Fail then!
I love to read the income reports from some of the established bloggers to figure out the nuts and bolts of “How I made $100,000 in one month, simply by blogging”. Believe me – I am not there…yet. In my first month of serious blogging I made a little under $100 but it gave me just the encouragement I need to keep going.
If your main motivation is money then I’m guessing you may not have a great deal to throw around. Blogging is not FREE but it doesn’t have to be expensive either.
You all know I LOVE Budgets (that’s the Bean counter side rearing its head). BEFORE you start blogging make sure you have budgeted for your hosting, any graphics you may need, online courses, How to Books, etc. Don’t be blindsided at the end of the month when you budgeted to spend $3.95 a month on your hosting through Bluehost and then realise that you actually spent a couple of hundred because – who doesn’t love a pretty bespoke theme (Remember –Etsy for wordpress themes: Gorgeous and Cheap!) and you really needed a branded package from some super neat stock photo company (I know I do).
Research ALL of the free resources first (I will list them in the next blog-Tips n Tricks).
I recommend that everyone start on WordPress.
It’s not expensive, and it can really help you out in the long run. Even if you are not starting
your blog for profit, having a blog on WordPress means that it is YOURS. You own it (and any email address that you collect through sign up. This is not the case with other blogging platforms!
If you decide to start your blog on anything besides Blogger, then your costs will typically include:
- Hosting –You can buy hosting through Bluehost (yes, that’s my affiliate link) for less than $5 a month. My link offers it at $3.95 if you sign up for 36 months, which is the cheapest in the long run and the most “Centsible” thing to do.
- Domain – These are usually around $10 to $15 each year. Mine was $14.99.
- Design – The amount of money that you spend on your blog design can vary greatly. You can do it yourself (it would then be FREE!), or you
could hire someone. There are cheap blog designers out there who will work for $100, and then there are others where it will cost thousands. Many wordpress themes are free and I would recommend you start with these ones. All of my initial themes were free but my newest theme “Hello Gorgeous” by HelloYouDesigns and cost $80. (Sadly- this is no longer available on Etsy).
How are your writing skills?
Do you even like to write? This might be an issue in a couple of months when the initial euphoric honeymoon period is over and there are days when you sit and stare at the keyboard not knowing what your audience wants or where to find inspiration (more on that in Tips n Tricks).
How are your Social skills – and I don’t mean “pass the salt”.. Social media integration is a must so IF you HATE Social Media then, blogging may still be for you, but you may be talking to yourself for a little while until you grow your traffic organically (more on that in Part 6 – Traffic). Social Media integration is a MUST if you are blogging for profit.
Be careful what you say.
Have you heard that the internet is forever? You better believe it baby. What you publish today (or yesterday or last month) is out there in the ether FOREVER. You can delete the post on your site but its still out there.
When I was working in the Hospitality industry I had a very angry person call up and demand compensation for not being able to attend an advertised Brunch in our restaurant. He showed up with his family expecting a gourmet extravaganza only to find that there was nothing actually planned that day (or for the rest of the week for that matter). Of course, I took this very seriously. I took down all the details and assured him I would get back to him that day and then I went to work trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Eventually I found the offending advertisement on the internet and it looked familiar..then I realized it was an advert that went out online for 2014 (this was 2016 at the time). I called the guy up and explained to him that his “searching” had thrown up a host of possibilities but that he had clicked on one from over two years ago. Still livid – he screamed at me “Why don’t you just take it bloody down then?”
Right, yeah…. erm, because I can’t. It wasn’t on our site anymore but the internet knew about it and there you go.
My advice – be kind. Be factual. Be honest. It can still be fun!
Blogging as a solo sport?
If you believe that this is the “job” for you because you get to sit in your own private space not interacting with the general populace then, think again. After five years in Hospitality, if I never had to deal with a “Guest” again I would have been just A-OK. That is NOT what happened. For a blog to survive there has to be interaction. Google will not rank you if people are not commenting on your posts, which means you have to reply.
Some of those comments can be troll like, snide remarks. Either the person disagrees with your opinion (about whatever you were writing about) or (deep breath)..there are some people out there that like to hide behind a keyboard and start shiz!
Understand that you have the power to keep that stuff from being seen on your site (we approve each comment before it is shown) but YOU will still see it and it causes a sinking feeling in your stomach and sometimes, downright nausea.
Shake it off Bud. You can’t please all of the people all of the time.
XO
Anna
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