How To Start A Blog To Promote Your Products and Services

So you want to learn how to start a blog…great it’s time to join the millions of blogs that are on the Internet.

Starting a blog does not have to be difficult. In fact, you can setup WordPress on your local server and learn everything you need to know about WordPress before you make it live on the server.

I will create a post later about setting up WordPress on your local server. Right now this is all about learning how to start a blog so you can join the thousands of other blogs on the Internet.

How To Start A Blog To Promote Your Products and Services

Although, I do not recommend you wait until you know everything you need to know about WordPress before you launch your first blog.

What You Will Learn From Following This Guide

If you follow these steps, then you will learn how to start a blog and hopefully will start making money sooner than later.

At the end of this post, you will have your own self-hosted WordPress blog. So let's get busy and get your site setup today!

How to Start a Blog to Promote Your Products and Services

So you have created your first product or digital product…now you want to learn how to self-promote it.

There is no better way than learning how to start a blog so you can promote your products.

Regardless of what you think, just because you created a product does not mean that people will buy it.

You have to let other people know about it.

The best way to do that is to use self-promotion.

Learn how to start a blog to promote your products and services.

Are you a new kid on the block?

Most of us are NOT like the top gurus who make millions online. But this does not mean that you cannot offer your products and services to get paid.

Don’t Have your own products or not ready to offer your services?

Even if you do not have your own products or can offer any services right now…does not mean that you will not later on down the road.

If you learn how to start a blog right now, you can start making money using affiliate marketing.

Eventually, you can use your blog to promote your own products and services.

Basically if you want to learn how to start a blog…then you have come to the right place.

Yes I know that there are tons of guides available online.

So why should you listen to me?

I have been working with WordPress for over 4 years....I have setup several blogs, now I am going to help you get your first website online.

So let’s get started so you can create your first blog post today.

How To Start A Blog: Choose Your Domain

Okay before you run off and purchase the first domain that you see, slow down and do some brainstorming. I love using this site to see if a domain name is available.

You want to find something that is easy for people to remember. I love getting .com's and avoid all the other extensions. However, some people seem to have success with a .net and a .org.

If you are offering products and services like I do with my WordPress Installation Services and Genesis Setup Services, you will most likely be creating business cards.

These business cards will have your domain name all over them.

When you hand them out to potential clients or local businesses in your area, you want people to remember your business.

Make it unique and catchy.

Once you have come up with some possible suggestions for your new domain name, head on over to this site, to see if you can register your social network username.

Type in the domain name that you are thinking about registering.

This site will show you whether or not your username is available to register with the popular social network sites.

If you find out that your domain name is available on Knowem, then rush over to Namecheap and register your domain.

You can get your domain name for less than $10 per year. If you are planning on keeping the domain name and working towards your goal of creating an online income, I suggest you register the domain name for multiple years.

Namecheap will give you a discount on the domain name if you register it for multiple years in advance.

I always register my domain names for 3 years in advance. It helps me save more money up front and I do not have to renewing them every year.

Great you are now the proud owner of a new domain.

Now it’s time to learn how to start a blog on WordPress.

I use WordPress for all my websites…because it is a popular blogging platform and extremely user-friendly.

Visit WordPress.org and download the most recent WordPress version.

Save it to your desktop because you will need it when you are setting up WordPress.

Before you can install WordPress you have to first invest in a reputable hosting account.

How To Start A Blog: Why You Need a Self-Hosted Blog

I know that most people starting out do not want to hear that they have to spend money to learn how to start a blog.

But starting a WordPress blog is one of the best ways to let the world know about your products and service. The best part is that you own the virtual real estate, so no one can tell you what you can and cannot post on your website.

But avoid going the free blog route.

Reasons to Avoid Setting up a Free Blog

Reason # 1: Avoid Setting Up A Free Blog You Don't Own It

So you wake up every day and write killer content and start to see your Google page rankings going up.

Then one day you wake up to check your stats and you realize your blog has disappeared along with all your content.

You do not own the blog, therefore you will never have full control over it.

Reason # 2 Avoid Setting Up A Free Blog Lack of Security

WordPress is great for security especially if you know how to install a WordPress site manually.

When using free blogs, you will not be able to secure your blog.

Reason # 3: Avoid Setting Up a Free Blog No Updates

WordPress releases new security updates that will make your blog safer. If you learn how to start a blog on a free platform, you can forget about the free security updates.

You are on a free platform that does not care about the security of your website.

Reason # 4 Avoid Setting Up A Free Blog If You Don't Want Headaches

If your blog takes off and as long as you keep it updated, you should start to make money.

You will have to make the choice of moving your free blog to a self-hosted website. This can be extremely challenging for someone who is a non-techie.

I don’t know about you, but I would not want to have to worry about that later on down the road once my blog takes off.

Reason # 5 Avoid Setting Up a Free Blog If You Want To Make Money

One of the main reasons you want to learn how to start a blog is to make money. If you choose to start a free blog, you will not be allowed to promote anything on their platform.

Most of the free platforms will not allow any type of promotional links of any type. You might get away with promoting affiliate products for a while, but if they find out, chances are they will shut down your website.

In fact, do not be surprised if they start selling ads on your website.

So while you may think that you are getting a free blog, the truth is that it is not really free. You are providing content for their platform…content which you give up rights to because you don’t own the blog.

They are the ones making the money because they do not allow you to promote your products and services.

So be prepared to work extra hard when using a free blog and don’t come crying to me when your site vanishes.

You might be thinking, that’s not fair.

But the truth is that it’s their house you have to live by their rules.

So do yourself a favor…

When you learn how to start a blog, I highly suggest that you start off on a self-hosted WordPress blog.

How To Start A Blog: Invest reputable hosting account.

Avoid the free hosting accounts. Remember, you are building a business and you need to let your potential clients know that you are serious about your business.

Most of the free hosting accounts will plaster your website with free ads. No one is going to take you seriously if they see ads all over your website.

The great thing is that you can get hosting at a reasonable price. I would recommend starting out with Hostgator, I have been using them for over 5 years.

Why I Love Hostgator:

Reason #1: Support: I have had nothing but great experiences with Hostgator Support. They have a 24/7 online chat system, if you ever have any questions or issues, you can contact them.

They have always gotten back with me quickly…I never wait more than 5 minutes.

Reason #2: Reliability: Hostgator is extremely reliable and they have a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This means you will not have to worry about losing money from your website from hosting issues.

Reason #3: Ease of Use: Hostgator is extremely easy to use. It comes with the one-click WordPress installation system known as Fantastico.

Reason #4: Affordability: Hostgator offers several plans that will help you on the pocketbook when you are learning how to start a blog.

I suggest that you start out with the Baby plan, when you are first starting out. You can always upgrade later when you are making money online.

Reason #5: No Limits: Hostgator offers unlimited bandwidth unlimited domains (i.e., you can host multiple blogs or sites on one account), and unlimited e-mail accounts.

Reason #6: Reputable Company: Hostgator was founded in 2002. It was founded by Brent Oxley in Florida. The pride themselves on customer service and many Internet marketers use them.

Choosing the right hosting account is a difficult decision…but it does not have to be.

Look you are your own boss and when you are learning how to start a blog, you have some choices to make.

No this isn’t life changing choice like should I send my kids to public or private school, or should I drive after drinking two glasses of wine. (Which we all know we shouldn’t)

It’s NOT that life changing.

It all comes down to whether you want to learn how to start your blog the right way. Or do you want to take the chance on a cheaper hosting account and worry about whether your blog is safe or will cost you more money and headaches in the long run?

I suggest that you pull out your credit card and invest in a reputable hosting account so you can sleep better at night.

I am an affiliate with Hostgator and will make a commission if you purchase through my link. If you pick up Hostgator through my link and need help installing WordPress then contact me and I will help you get your blog setup quickly.

Once you get Hostgator through my link, contact me, and I will let you know exactly what I need to install WordPress for you.

How To Start A Blog: Install WordPress on Your New Hosting Account

Remember earlier, I had you download the WordPress files from WordPress.org. Now it’s time to start installing WordPress.

I know that you thinking learning how to start a blog is confusing…maybe that is why you have put off starting one so long.

Don’t worry, I walk you through step by step on how to setup WordPress on this post.

You will watch everything I do to manually setup WordPress…which is what I highly recommend.

If you learn how to setup WordPress manually, you can secure your WordPress site from the start.

So head on over to start setting up WordPress manually now and get your WordPress site setup in five minutes.

How To Start A Blog: Make Your First Blog Post

Congratulations, your blog should be setup and ready for you to make your first blog post.

Remember content is king so you have to keep your blog updated with fresh content on a regular basis.

Now that you have a blog...you want to keep it updated with fresh content. This does not mean that you have to post content on a daily basis.

However, I would try to stick to a schedule that works for you for posting fresh content to your blog.

You might be thinking…my site is a plain Jane and does not have an eye appealing look.

Well that will come with time.

Don’t worry, just because you hit publish on your blog post, does not mean that the traffic will just start coming.

You are going to have to roll up your sleeves and do some promotion. (But that is another story) You can read my blog post about getting free targetted traffic to your blog.

The truth is that I don't promote my content as much as I should. I keep my blog updated with fresh content and the traffic seems to find my blog.

Consider a Premium Theme

Personally I would consider investing in the Genesis Themes.(Check out the article Best premium themes for New Bloggers) These themes are excellent and are SEO optimized to help your rankings in Google.

They come with a little bit of a learning curve, but once you get a better understanding of how Genesis works, you will fall in love with them.

Next is to start learning everything that you can about WordPress.

Why you ask?

Now that you have learned how to start a blog, there will be times when you have to fix your blog.

Imagine staring at the white screen of death. (Don’t know what that is?).

If you continue working on WordPress, chances are you will eventually face that problem.

Learn as much as you can about using WordPress and eventually you will be able to offer WordPress installation services to people.

If you got lost on any of these steps on how to start a blog, then do not hesitate to contact me.

I know you have what it takes to learn how to start a blog….give it some time and soon you will start making money.

You Now Have Your Own Blog

Now that you have a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can now start promoting your own products and services.

As I mentioned it does not matter if you don’t have any of those things.

You can then start promoting affiliate products and watch your blog make money.

It doesn’t matter what you choose to promote the point is that your own the actual blog and all the content.

Conclusion

You are now one of the other million people who have learned how to start a blog. It is going to take a lot of hard work and promotion to get people to notice your blog.

The point is that you do not want to quit…regardless of how long it takes people to notice your blog.

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