Steps to Start A Blog Learn What It Takes to Get Your Blog Started

If you’re just getting started to make money with your blog, you’re going to struggle. Most people who make real money with their blog offer some type of service or sell their own products.

Now I am not saying that you can’t make money with affiliate marketing. In fact, this is one of the easiest ways to get started monetizing your blog.

I personally wouldn’t base my whole business on affiliate marketing. However, many people have had success with this blog business model, so it can work.

I’ve just been burnt in the past by relying completely on this monetization method.

My Past Experiences

I had a niche blog in the “junk cars for cash blog.” Yes I know what was I doing trying to build a blog about junk cars? Well the truth is that I only got into that niche for the money.

At that point I was desperate to build an online income, I grew the blog to over 100 plus posts. The blog was making around $1500.00 per month on a consistent basis.

Life was great, I had grown the blog and it was making money. The best part was that I did it in a niche I didn’t even like.

Several Months Later…

The affiliate program closed and I was left with a blog that I really didn’t like and I couldn’t find another affiliate program to replace it.

So I let the blog die in the blogosphere and ended up taking a hiatus from the Internet lifestyle.

My Point Is

First and foremost, make sure that you don’t start a blog in a niche solely for the money. Otherwise you’re going to find it very difficult to write content on a consistent basis.

Don’t make the same mistake I made by basing your content around one affiliate program. You have no control over the affiliate program. It could close it’s doors tomorrow and then your income will dry up.

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, I recommend Michelle’s Making Sense With Affiliate Marketing course. She’ll teach you everything she’s done to create over $50,000 per month just using affiliate marketing.

Sit down and think about why do you really want to start a blog? If you’re seriously ready to work harder than you ever have, before. And be willing to be patient and keep working without seeing a profit right away, here are the steps to start a blog.

5 Steps to Start A Blog

There are only 5 steps that you need to take to start a blog. I am going to walk you through all these steps, that way when you get done, you’ll have a blog setup.

1. What Do You Want To Blog About?

Choose a niche you know something about. It’ll be much easier to write content if you’re familiar with your niche. You don’t have to be an expert, but you should know something about it.

Plus if you’re writing about something you know about, you’re less likely to feel like a fraud. Most people who start a new blog let their fears hold them back.

We’ve all felt this way at one point or another. I still struggle with these thoughts every now and then. I blog about the techie side of blogging and have over 8 years of experience working with WordPress.

And I still have these feelings that try to hold me back from blogging.

What you need to remember is that we all have our unique stories to share. So share your experiences, struggles or life happenings. That’s actually what I’ve started doing.

Not everyone is going to follow you, but that’s okay. You’re not writing for everyone. People who resonate with you will eventually find your blog and will follow you.

So don’t be afraid to be authentic and vulnerable on your blog. Your readers want to know that you’re human and will love that you’re sharing everything with them.

2. Get Your Own Domain

What the heck is a domain name? A domain name is nothing more than the address your blog will reside on. For instance, my domain name is SusanVelez.com.

The main thing you need to consider when you’re choosing a domain name is to make sure that you can register that name on all the social accounts.

Head on over to Knowem to see if your domain name is available for use on the social networks. One of the mistakes I made when I registered my domain is that my name was already taken.

I’ve had my SusanVelez.com domain longer than I’ve had my blog. What I should’ve done was register my social media accounts when I registered my domain name. However, at that point I wasn’t even using social media and I didn’t think I would start this blog.

Hindsight is 20/20. So register your account for all the social media accounts you can get your hands on. Even if you don’t think you’re going to use it.

3. Find A Reliable Hosting Account

I know what you’re thinking, why can I just get started on a free platform? While you can and many people have built successful blogs using free platforms. The truth is that you don’t actually own the blog or content.

Imagine writing an epic blog post and Google doesn’t like it for one reason or another. You wake up one morning only to realize that your blog has been deleted, it happens read this.

So basically, all that content that you wrote on a free blogging platform has disappeared. You might be lucky enough to recover it, but why would you want to risk your hard work just to save a few bucks?

If you’re serious about creating a real business and want to create a profitable blog, you need to invest in hosting. It’s not like you’re having to spend thousands.

I use and recommend SiteGround, they are awesome. If you’re just getting started, sign up for the GrowBig account. This plan is suitable for 10,000 monthly visits. You won’t have to worry about upgrading for awhile.

Related: How to Start A Blog On SiteGround

4. Installing WordPress And Setting Up The Software

This is where most new bloggers get hung up. They let the techie side of blogging stop them from starting their own blog. You don’t have to do this. First of all, I offer my limited WordPress services that will help you get your blog setup.

I also have a free course that will teach you everything you need to know about WordPress to get started.

If you’d rather do it yourself, here is a step-by-step tutorial that will help you install WordPress. Don’t forget to check out the most important things to do after installing WordPress.

I know what you’re thinking, which plugins should I use? Should I use paid plugins? What are plugins? I had these same questions when I first started blogging. That’s actually why I created this blog post.

Don’t overwhelm yourself, it’s easy to do, especially if you’re NOT a technical person. Just slow down and take it one step at a time.

You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish just by working through my WordPress tutorials. I’ve made them as user-friendly as possible so they’re easy to follow along with.

5. Select Your Blog Design And Layout

One thing that I’ve noticed is that new bloggers will sit there and continually tweak their design. They spend so much time on colors and header designs before they even publish their first blog post.

They spend days, weeks or even months before publishing their first post. I’m speaking to you if you still haven’t pressed publish yet.

The truth is that you don’t have to get everything perfect from the beginning. You can always work on improving your blog’s layout and design.

If you’ll notice my home page, it still needs some work done to it. I’ve changed it at least 3 times since starting my blog. I still need to take better photos of myself so I can add it to my blog.

However, I don’t let that stop me from blogging 2x per week. I know that people will forgive my home page as long as I am providing content that helps them.

If you’ve been hesitating to publish your first blog post because your header isn’t correct. Maybe your logo looks weird or whatever excuse you’re using.

Now is the time to stop. You’re not going to get everything perfect the first go round. Your blog is a work in progress and will go through many changes as it grows.

I can personally tell you that just because my blog looks like it does right now, does not necessarily mean it will look the same a year from now. I don’t know how it’ll look.

That’s the great thing about a blog. You can change things up as you it starts to grow. If you really want to know what people think about your blog, get a peek review here.

Coming Next Week

I’ll be offering a free WordPress blog setup. So stay tuned if you need help setting up your blog.

Final Take Away

You don’t have to be perfect to start a blog. If you can follow these 5 steps then you’ll have your blog set up in a 30 minutes. So stop complicating things and just do it.

The world is waiting to hear your stories and experiences with whatever it is you have to share. Don’t forget to sign up for my Free WordPress course.

Hand Picked Articles For You

• How to Motivate Yourself For Blogging When No One Knows You
• How to Deal With WordPress Problems As A Beginner
• 11 Myths About Making Money With A Blog and What to Do

Hopefully, this post helped you realize the steps to start a blog you need to take. Most people make it more difficult than it should be. They let those little voices stop them from hitting publish.

Stop overthinking things and trying to make it perfect. Go ahead and hit publish, you’re NOT going to die of embarrassment. People won’t come out of the woodworks and tell you that your header sucks or your logo is imperfect.

Focus on providing great content, networking with others and growing your blog.

So have you published your new blog? Let me know, I’d love to see your blog on and what you’re sharing with the world.