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The Business of Blogging

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The Business of Blogging

In the 21st century, traditional forms of publishing have been brought to their knees by blogging. The wonderful thing about blogging is that anyone can do it, but not everyone can do it successfully.

Before you start putting your thoughts into the blogosphere, however, there is a method to blogging that will help you organize your posts, attract and maintain advertisers and track your site’s financial progress.

While the cost of starting a blog is mostly very nominal, some financial investment can help you see larger monetary gains later.

Register a Domain and Host your site

How it works: First you need a domain name. This works by selecting a domain registrar and essentially paying a fee for the name of your site and the space you will be occupying online. Think of it like paying a parking meter.

What you need to do: You may have a perfect name for your blog. Chances are that if it’s too perfect, it could be taken. Even if the name of your blog does not appear in a search, it’s possibly someone could be squatting (paying to keep the name off the market) just waiting for someone who wants that space to pay a premium. This is especially risky if the domain name you selected is straightforward, i.e. AtlantaBusinessBlogger or MomSays.

What you can do: Try different extensions. The most typical extension is “.com.” Check to see if “.net,” “.info” and “.org” are available before brainstorming a new domain name.

Once you’ve got your domain name, you will need a web hosting. Finding a good web hosting is not an easy job, maybe take a look to this article about the top 25 web hosting companies.

Design your Website

How it works:

Unless you’re a professional website designer, it’s best to use an open source blogging platform like WordPress. This content management system (CMS) has more than 1,500 themes plus scores of plugins and widgets that can help you increase readership, improve your site’s search engine performance and simplify interaction with readers.

What you need to do: Sign up. WordPress is mostly free. Certain premium tools and upgrades are fee-based.

Benefits: There is a theme for almost any kind of blog and WordPress is easy for even the most novice blogger to operate. If you have a question, you can typically find an answer in their online knowledgebase or by contacting the helpdesk.

Sell Ads

You will have a blast updating your blog for the first two or three months. Then it will become work – like anything else. One way to keep yourself motivated to constantly post useful content that attracts new and dedicated readers is by earning money for your labor.

What to do: Be sure the right businesses are seeing your blog by emailing a link to anyone who could possibly want to advertise. Put an “Advertise here” link on your website.

WP152 is a WordPress plug-in that show advertisers you are interested in working with them while also helping to manage your ads so you can spend more time populating your site with useful content.

Content is King

One thing you will notice about top read blogs is that they update frequently and have a stable of knowledgeable writers. Unless the purpose of your blog is primarily to showcase your art or publicize a project like a novel, you will want to assign stories to reporters who are experts in your field.

What to do: Once you have a staff of writers, you’ll want to streamline your incoming and outgoing invoices. Failure to keep your financials organized will make tax time more difficult.

Not sure where to get started? Check out this small business guide to invoicing by Xero Accounting Software for a great resource for those just getting their finances started.

The software can also help you keep track of advertising dollars and operating costs, from materials and supplies to conference fees, all of which can help you stay up to date on running a small online business and informed of changes in your field. And the more your blog grows, Xero has add-ons that can help you stay on top of your rapidly expanding enterprise.

Image © Sergej Khackimullin – Fotolia.com

About

Rob Toledo resides in the great Pacific Northwest -- A lover of all things dog, sarcasm and the great outdoors, he shops almost exclusively at Thrift Stores. He currently runs Chess Club as well as thebestofnetflix.com and streamingfruit.com

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{ 8 Responses }

  1. Shorya Bist says:
    Hi Rob , Thanks for sharing the overview of blogging, I like the way you said that "Anybody can do blogging but not many can do blogging successfully " Competition is really tough and intially the bloggers find it difficult to survive as they are not able to get traffic , they are not able to earn money, diffuclities in managing blog up to date and making back link , reputation etc. and these things makes them frustrated and finally many quits, this is the truth and we have to accept it ,the competion is tuff and we want to be successful we should have patience and dedication towards our work. Thank You Shorya Bist From Youthofest
    • Rob Toledo says:
      Definitely -- competition is brutal. Almost every niche already has an expert blogger. The real skill is being able to pursue through the first months (and sometimes years!) of little to no readership, slowly building it up over time. Most people quit before that point though.
  2. Alex says:
    The business of blogging is a benficial business to people who write good content that generates traffic. One can easily set up a blog with the help of the steps you have stated above in your post. Bloggers can work from home as per their convenience and availability of time. The profits are higher than other businesses.
  3. Dean Saliba says:
    Blogging needs to be treated as a business if you wish to make money with it, I learnt that the heard way.
  4. Ayan says:
    Thankful for the post, its easy to get on blogging business but not so for some peoples because its need a reflex that everyone can write at different subjects simultaneously,.:) Thanks for the post..keep posting..
  5. Lakotai Williamchi says:
    Your post is helpful, before any blogger can consider placing ads on their blog they should create remarkable content first. Then the money can follow
  6. Joe Boyle says:
    The biggest thing is to enjoy it. Using blogging as an extension of your business is meant to be enjoyable and profitable - if it wasn't enjoyable, then you may as well just be working a 9-5 job, right? If you're passionate about your niche, then you will create great content that will bring you everything you need - a community, clients, advertisers, the whole nine yards. Great post!
    • Rob Toledo says:
      Exactly -- I think it needs to be a passion to be successful, great point.