Making Of A Blog #1 - The Beginnings
Creating a blog out of scratch can be frustrating. Especially if you're not the brightest kid when it comes to technology and computers. It's not because you're uninterested in the subject, it's because you didn't practice it. You had other things to do with your life. The good thing is - it is never too late to learn something. In fact - learning something new every day will keep your body and mind fit so you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Today we will go through what we know about making a blog. Firstly - it's an experience you can learn from and grow. Secondly - it's your way to become your own boss and be independent.
Soaking Up The Knowledge
At first, you read. A lot. You read about earning money online. You watch videos about it. You explore many ways and wander around the internet for days if not months or even years searching for the right way that fits just for you.
It isn’t easy to decide the way to go. But it isn’t hard either. It’s your perception that matters. How do you see the obstacle along the way? As an opportunity or as a problem? Are you ready to learn, practice and grow in order to overcome it? Or will you stop right there and stay in your comfort zone for a few more laps around the sun?
That, of course, is entirely up to you but BOI right here is ready for an adventure! We’re creating something that is truly ours and we are super excited to share our experience with all of you - our lovely readers!
Knowledge Without Practice Is Useless
We read a lot of materials and watched plenty of tutorials on how to make a blog but if we’re looking back right now – it wasn’t worth the time because we weren’t doing anything practical. Once we started creating the blog – we needed to go through the same material all over again.
Not saying you shouldn't educate yourself. You should. But the way you do it must be changed. If you really want to master something you're learning, you must try it out in real life.
Crafting And Learning At The Same Time
What is the best way to learn something? It’s practice.
Did you learn how to ride a bike by watching someone else do it or getting on an actual bike and falling a few times before things went smoothly?
Everything you're able to do in this phase of your life is because you've had enough practice with it. You just ''know'' how to do it.
The same goes for blogging. If you want to ''know'' how to blog and earn your income, you will have to start doing it. We're not saying that you have to build furniture without instructions. On the contrary, you need to do things harmoniously - read the instructions and build your furniture step by step.
If you're only reading about earning money online and not trying it out on your own it's just like reading many instructions on how to build furniture without actually building one.
You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
Richard Branson
HOW TO START? WHERE TO START?
The most important thing to accomplish anything is to start. You can read thousands of books without advancing forward but you're only making excuses if you're not doing anything.
Start now, practice, fail and grow! It's the cycle of life!
Step By Step
Below we listed a few steps you should definitely follow in order to get your blog up and running.
- Choose a Niche
- Think of a domain name and buy one
- Choose a Blogging Platform
- Choose a Hosting provider
- Design Your Blog
- Create Content
- Promote Posts
Sounds easy, right? That's exactly how it is if you don't put yourself under too much pressure. Do it step by step. Be consistent and make sure you put in the hours by having a healthy routine.
OUR TIPS AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
It's easy to get frustrated when you don't have a plan to go with. That's why we'll go through it together. You and me (BOI).
Choose a Niche
There are basically two choices here – either you know a lot about the niche you’re choosing or you’re excited and willing to learn about it.
For example, you’ve worked for years in the music-making industry and because of that now you know a lot about it. You can make your own blog sharing your tips and insights helping your readers achieve their goals in the industry. Once you’ve gathered a following, you can start selling things – starting from eBooks, online courses and tutorials to samples and tools that can help your readers.
If you choose a niche that you’re not familiar with, you have to be willing to learn. That is exactly what we did with BOI. We chose one of the most saturated niches on the web – the money-making niche as ours and we’re excited what lies ahead.
As we’re not some millionaire gurus yet who can change your life with one click, we’re taking a different approach. We’re sharing our journey with you hoping that some of it will inspire you to start making money online yourself.
Choose And Buy a Domain Name
Your domain name needs to be descriptive of what you do. Do a brainstorm, write down many ideas and let it sit for a while. Come back and look from a new perspective. Which one do you like best? Which is easy to remember?
Head to Namecheap and make sure the domain name you chose is available.
You can also create a survey and ask your friends what they think about your choices. Make them vote for your ideas or let them suggest a name they would like.
Look at how it LOOKS. For example - therapistinabox.com (Therapist In A Box) and whorepresents.com (Who Represents) are perfect examples of unintentionally (who knows?) inappropriate domain names.
Choose a Blogging Platform
According to W3Techs, 35% of webpages use Wordpress as their content management system. BOI is one of those pages and so far we're happy about the way Wordpress works and all the options it has. We're not surprised that so many people have decided in favor of Wordpress.
- It's free
- It's easy to learn and there are tons of tutorials online
- You can do all sorts of crazy things with it
Sites like Microsoft, Techcrunch, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, and many others are all running on Wordpress.
Host Your Domain Name
Now that you have a domain name, you need somewhere to host it. For BOI, we decided to use Hostinger.com and it costs us about 70 euros for 4 years of hosting which seemed pretty cheap when comparing to other hosting providers.
You can also take a look at this In-Depth-Guide to Hosting Providers written by WPBeginner.com which is also one of BOI's sources of inspiration (but don't say that to anyone).
Design Your Blog
For us, it was and still is one of the hardest things to do. As you can see, we have made a logo and set colors for our blog but it is still a work in progress. We'll keep experimenting with looks and the next time you come here, this blog may look different.
If you're not skilled enough to make a logo yourself, you can hire a freelancer to do it for you. The best place to do that is Fiverr. We also know the best way to get a good price - don't search for freelancers that will make your logo but put a request with a description for the logo that you need and wait. Offers will come and you will get a much better price than the one in the marketplace.
As for themes. Right now we're using an OceanWP free theme with Elementor Pro version that costs 49$ per site.
You can go with any free theme that suits your needs. Most of them are easily customized with an option to get a pro version of their theme when your site has grown. Here is one of the many lists of free Wordpress themes. A simple google search can help you find your theme easily.
Create Content
Start writing or hire guest writers for your blog. Writing on your own can be time-consuming at first but it definitely pays off. People hear your real voice. They see that you're passionate about the subject and want to read more of you. Or they hate you. Either way - you are authentic and that is to love.
According to Orbit Media, it takes about 4 hours to make a blog post so you gotta have time if you're doing it on your own. Be sure to have a writing routine. Not only will it make you naturally produce more posts, but it will also make your body and mind get used to working at the same time of the day.
Be sure to not edit your posts while writing. It can only make you frustrated. When you switch on your writing mode - just write. Start by writing for half an hour and increase the time gradually until one day you will write as naturally as you breathe.
Promote Your Blog
This is really important. Nobody will read your blog if they don’t know it exists. Choose a social media platform or a few and make your accounts there. Start promoting your posts and your blog. Engage with others and gain readers.
As for BOI, we're not actively promoting our posts on other social media than Steemit using Steempress plugin for Wordpress.
BUT after a few posts, we'll start promoting them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Maybe less, maybe more. Time will tell.
Future of BOI
They say the future is now and with BOI we agree. It's the present moment that creates everything else. Here are our plans at the moment:
- Create enough content and start promoting through social media
- Finish designing BOI
- Create a beautiful landing page
- Create guides and walkthroughs about earning money online
- Enjoy the beautiful process of growth
Thank you for visiting BOI! Enjoy the world until the next time we meet!
*This post includes affiliate links, for more information - read our Disclosure.
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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://www.bagofincome.com/making-of-a-blog-1-the-beginnings/
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