A Personal Blog....How?

16 years ago

Hi Rob,

Congrats on your life changes, great stuff

As for blogging Rule 1 - provide valuable, helpful content. Get this down and readers will be interested in what you have to say.

I use hostmonster and don't do the ad thing.

Network with people in your niche. Write insightful comments on other blog. When relationships are built your friends will cross promote your blog on sites like twitter and Facebook.

Also use pinging services like pingomatic.com.

I use wordpress and many other experienced bloggers do too. Great themes., easy to use, many plug-ins.

Keep Rule #1 in mind before everything else. The money will come when you provide powerful value on a consistent basis.

Ryan Biddulph

Thanks

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Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise

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BethHewitt

16 years ago

Hey Rob-T,

A lot of questions and I will try to answer as best I can. But you might also like some posts I did recently on why you need a blog I will leave the links below.

Where is the best place to by a domain name?

There are tons of places I would recommend go-daddy I use them for most of my domains and I have never had any issues.

I wouldn't how ever use them for hosting. I use hostgator as my main hosting site. I have multiple wordpress blog with them and I believe you can have an unlimited number.
The reason why I recommend them is because they are super simple to install wordpress blogs through their cpanel back office and fantastico quick installation...Wont get too technical here.

I would highly recommend wordpress and there are hundreds of themes to choose from although if you are serious about personally branding yourself I would seriously consider getting a fully customised theme unique to you. I can recommend a reasonable priced service if you are interested, I wont add the affiliate link here as that's not what I am about, but please feel free to contact me.

I use a variety of ways to promote my blog...if you check out my primary blog below you will see that I have a lot of traffic and comments on my blog. I use the following methods, forum marketing, article marketing, commenting on other blogs, tribe syndication, video marketing, offering good content and helping others, I also spend time commenting on other blogs in the same or different niche. I also regular use facebook and twitter marketing as well as using onlywire and ping fm to syndicate my content.

You can make money from affiliate marketing, creating your own e-books, courses, doing a review of a product, adwords, adding a good link at the end of a post.

My main piece of advice would be to constantly offer value to your readers, build your list and never give up lol...it takes time to build a good brand and become a leader in your niche.

I hope this helps.

Beth

Reasons Why You Need a Blog (Part 1)|bethhewittonline.com

Reasons Why You Need a Blog (Part 2)|bethhewittonline.com

Reasons Why You Need a Blog (Part 3)|bethhewittonline.com

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ivanadee

16 years ago

hi..
for domain, I am using GoDaddy...good service
for hosting, I am using Lunarpages...also good service
you can build a site by simply installing wordpress.the theme can be picked later.
You can promote it by writing article and submit it to article directories or you can try freetrafficsystem.com
you can get money from Google Adsense,CPA or Clickbank.
The product or ad can be chosen based on your post in ur personal blog.
hope it helps

Thanks

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greyhatmaster

16 years ago

Domain from name.com, 1 cent hosting from hostgator, wordpress is more than sufficient.

You can sell 1.quit drinking guides.

2. Sell one on one consulting to people trying to quit drinking.

3. Make deals with local fitness centres and offer coupons to your readers.

Thanks
1 reply

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Rob-T

16 years ago

Wow, thanks Greyhatmaster, ivanadee, BethHewitt and ryanbiddulph. Your information is just what I'm looking for, I really appreciate your time. Can't wait to get started.

Beth, could you possibly PM me the link for a customised theme? I can't PM you at the moment as I don't have enough posts. Thanks so much.

Thanks
1 reply

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Jill Carpenter

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Rob-T

I've tried article marketing and trying to promote affiliate products but it's really not for me as I've no passion for it.

I'm thinking about setting up a personal blog as I'm going through a few transitions in my life. I've given up drinking, and embarked on an extremely healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally.

I'd like to set up a personal blog and make money from it, as this will be my passion and my life. I have a few questions though if anyone could help.

While you can discuss all these things on your blog, you will want to decide how quickly you want success. Discuss them all, but highlight or focus on just one aspect for quicker results. You can then expand laterally into the others once you have conquered one topic.

I understand how these things are related - but at the same time you have different more focused niches within.

Where's the best place to buy a domain name?

I use godaddy - but others here on the forum use namecheap, etc.

I think you should take some time to review some domain companies and decide which will be best for you.

I just have an easy time navigating in godaddy, easy to transfer stuff to others accounts, and I appreciate 24/7 phone support. But that's not to say others might have features and prices more suitable to your taste.

Where's the best place to host my domain name?

I use hostmonster - but again you should do research and not take just one persons word for anything.

Is a wordpress theme the way to go to build the site?

I personally like the ease of it - but I've been using it for some time. You can go get a free wordpress.com blog to start and experiment on to see if you like the way the platform runs.

There are other solutions too - so don't freak if you decide you don't like it. You are the one who will be living with your choices.

What are good ways to promote it?

If you narrow down the initial focus of the blog, this will determine how and where to promote. For example, if I was focusing on the "quitting drinking" part I might begin to target that audience. Finding forums that are for AA types, starting a facebook group of people who think they drink too much and want to get a hold on it, etc.

What are ways to make money from it? (without cluttering it with ads)

You can do affiliate programs, and just promote one or two within a specific focus to start. For instance, if you were to focus on "healthy lifestyle mentally" you can choose to promote books and courses that help one clear their head.

It will be very helpful to you though to know in advance how you are going to monetize the site as this can help you establish your own set of key buzz words you'll want to add and use to rank for long term.

I like the look of this blog and I'd like to do something similar

tynan dot net (I can't post links at the moment)

Any help would be amazing

That is a magazine style theme. it appears to be his own or was customized for him as it has his name as the name of the theme.

We have some great WSO's with wordpress themes you can browse through - or there are even free themes available on the web with magazine style.

Anyway, I would go over and get a free account on wordpress.com and go blog something today to go test the waters. You won't be allowed to market on that blog (as it is not your own hosting) but you can play a bit and see quickly if that is the platform you'd like to work with - and how much is involved in making a blog post.

Thanks
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webwriter 16 years ago

I think that a personal blog with a "theme" would not only give you a lot to write about, but would offer value to your readers as well.

I should know.

A little over two years ago, I began a personal blog called "Dealing With It" on blogstream.com. It focused on situations in my life that ranged from pretty small to fairly major. I wrote about a given situation and how I dealt with it. There always seemed to be something to write about conveniently nearby. I wrote about things like handling bills, cleaning cat poop, getting contractors to show up when you needed them, managing depression, going on a diet ..... the possibilities were endless.

That blog was self-motivating and a short time later, attracted comments. The key was writing something in it everyday and not letting up for any whim or reason. The day you stop writing leads to another where you don't feel like writing and pretty soon, you stop writing at all.

That's what happened to me and "Dealing With It." I want to return and start posting again, but it's been such a long time. When I did post, I posted daily for two years in a row, which was quite a record for me.

So having a theme and letting your readers what's in it for them should help you to create a personal blog that you can be proud of and profit from.
- Thanks
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sbucciarel

Banned 16 years ago

I buy my domains at Namecheap. They are great. I get my hosting at hostgator and at hostmonster. Love both of them.

As for traffic and monetizing, you can go with Adsense, but unless you have high volume traffic, that's likely to be peanuts. It's best to use some ads that are highly relevant to your content. There are many ad networks you can join, but you mentioned healthy lifestyle, so Market Health has herbal supplements that may go nicely with your niche.

Social bookmarking, article marketing ... there are many ways to begin to get traffic to the site.

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Victoralexon

16 years ago

I highly recommend www.viperchill.com and www.smartpassiveincome.com

Thanks
1 reply

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ExRat 16 years ago

Hi Rob-T,

Sorry for drifting off topic, but are you a reader of the blog that you mentioned as a blog design that you like?

Just wondering as I'm hooked already after reading about how he enjoys his freedom living in his quite small RV. I'm envious and inspired!

It looks like you've got plenty of advice about your actual question, so I just popped in to say thanks for alerting me to another great read -

Here's the post - life outside the box - and a bit of link-love for Tynan.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
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Roger Davis
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JonMills

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Rob-T

I've tried article marketing and trying to promote affiliate products but it's really not for me as I've no passion for it.

I'm thinking about setting up a personal blog as I'm going through a few transitions in my life. I've given up drinking, and embarked on an extremely healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally.

I'd like to set up a personal blog and make money from it, as this will be my passion and my life. I have a few questions though if anyone could help.

Where's the best place to buy a domain name?
Where's the best place to host my domain name?
Is a wordpress theme the way to go to build the site?
What are good ways to promote it?
What are ways to make money from it? (without cluttering it with ads)

I like the look of this blog and I'd like to do something similar

tynan dot net (I can't post links at the moment)

Any help would be amazing

Where's the best place to buy a domain name? Namecheap.com
Where's the best place to host my domain name? Hostgator.com
Is a wordpress theme the way to go to build the site? its one way
What are good ways to promote it? online and offline marketing, paid and non paid
What are ways to make money from it? (without cluttering it with ads) affiliate marketing links

Thanks
1 reply

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Rob-T 16 years ago

Wow, thanks everyone for all your help it really is appreciated. I've spent a lot of time looking into different internet marketing strategies which although they never appealed to me I tried because I needed to make a living. Now I feel I've found something that I'm really passionate about and I enjoy doing and if I make any money from it then that's a bonus.

Ex-Rat

Glad you liked the Blog. I stumbled across it while searching for something unrealted and happened to click on it and now I'm also hooked. And it's inspiration and motivation to do something I enjoy.
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AylaPress

16 years ago

do you really need to pay for hosting if you aren't doing a commercial blog? How about a free wordpress account? Good Luck

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