How to Start A Blog and Start Making Money Today!

I will be the first one to tell you, blogging is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be. Its HARD work and super personal! However, starting a blog is easy and you can make some serious money doing it. This article will give you the exact steps to take the plunge and start a blog today.

First, Let’s get this out of the way… Why on earth would you want to add yet another item to your to-do list?

I’m going to be brutally honest! When I first started my blog, I just wanted to start making money right away, I was desperate to help out my husband with the finances and I’ll tell you I failed miserably. Never start something for the sole purpose of money! ( I’ve had to learn that lesson a few times, I’m talking to you MLM)

After a long conversation with my husband, I realised I was being exactly what I hated, unauthentic! I was trying to put out the information I thought people wanted, but I wasn’t passionate about it. And that’s not me, so I started blogging as a Hobie and it took a ton of pressure off. It’s now my outlet and I love it! This is the main reason I say go for it if you want to start a blog.

Having an outlet to go to to help others and be creative is just what I was looking for. It’s mine and I get to do whatever I want to do with it.

I love blogging so much, I have encouraged one of my closest friends and even mother to start their blogs.

What I realised is, we have unique voices and hidden knowledge of our experiences that will help others become better and feel better. Seeing their excitement about their blogs and hearing how others are sharing their content, and can’t wait for more.  THAT IS WHY I BLOG! It brings me joy to see others experience joy as well!

Do you have that urge to create something that is yours, to show others an easier way to do what you do every day, or have your own outlet away from kids, work and housework?

Starting a blog is the best way to make money on your own time, talk about what you know, have your own business and still be available for the family and kids.

So let’s get started. It’s actually really easy but I am going to hold your hand and help you anyway because something new always seems harder than it really is.

First, you need a hosting company! Here is why…

If you go with the free WordPress site they can take it down at any time. Since it is free, you do not own it! Also, If you want to make money you can not use the free site. I know what your thinking, “oh my goodness I have to buy something” That’s what I thought at first but as time has gone by and I have progressed with my blog, I am so happy I did not go with the free site!

1. My hosting company ROCKS! They help me with everything! I can call them any time and someone answers. It’s awesome!
2. I want to make money with my site
3. PRIVACY When you open free accounts you are always open to cyber freaks. Just saying.

The company I use…

Bluehost baby! I will only go with Bluehost due to their amazing customer service. Here is a little secret, when I actually started my blog I did not have step by step help setting it up. I could not figure it out for the life of me. I was so pissed off I called Bluehost and told them to refund me. Totally not their fault and they had no idea why I was mad. But they were kind, did not try to sell me anything or pressure me to stay. They simply refunded me my money. A week later, I read something from Rosemarie Groner’s site and I decided not to give up. This time, I called them and they helped me through the entire process.

These employees are genuine people who know their business and know how hard it can be for new bloggers to understand. They take all the tech stuff off the table for you so you can focus on your new journey.

Oh, Ya in case you were wondering Bluehost will connect your domain to WordPress for you with a simple click of a button. Easy peasy! And you don’t have to pay extra.

Bluehost has given me a special price for my readers cuz they rock and so I am passing it on to you. I actually got a special price too because I went through another person’s referral but if you go directly to Bluehost it will cost you more.

Just click the sign-up box below and get started.  You will have to pay for the whole year. Just a heads up. I think that’s better so you do not have a continued payment every month.

Once you sign up they are going to ask you for upgrades. At first, I did not do any because finances were tight at the time and I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy blogging. When I had enough money, I added privacy. This helps keep your personal information private and is totally worth it!

On the sign-up page, you will be offered 3 packages. Just pick the one that’s right for you and your budget. However, the prime and plus do have more features so again, do what’s best for you.

Your next step is to pick your domain name. For example, my domain name is livesimplystrong.com. Before you sign up you can check if your domain is available by using the box below. This way you are more prepared in case you have to keep trying. If you already own a domain no worries you can skip this part and move on.

The trick to picking a name

My suggestion is to write down what you want to blog about. ( That would be your nitch)  Think of it as a huge idea sheet. Just start writing, look for common words and themes. Once you pick a theme for your nitch. For example, I am in the health and fitness nitch but I have narrowed it down to Pilates and ultimate health for moms.  When I was choosing my name, I had pages full of words that described what I wanted to write about. Finally, I grouped the main topics into my title and found one that works using the box above.

Once you have your domain name, you will be asked to put in your personal information. The package you picked along with the choice for additions will be on this page. Please note if you do not want the additions, uncheck the boxes. You can always add them later. Also, note in the example below the account plan says 36-month price $2.95/mo Bluehost offers deeper discounts if you purchase more upfront. You can change this again totally up to you!

These are all little items that I was surprised at when I first purchased. So I wanted to make sure you knew you have options and do not have to go with the suggestions. However, the suggestions will save you frustration and money in the long run as long as you know for sure you want to be a blogger.

Pick what works for you and uncheck what doesn’t.

The next page is a list of more upgrades. Simply skip them and move on. Of course, unless you want them. You do not need them at first and Bluehost is super helpful when you do end up needing them.

Once you have completed this page your last step is to pick your password. Yeah your done!

So now you have successfully signed up. Do not stop there!

Go ahead and instal WordPress right now! Once you have signed into the new account scroll down on the dashboard and look for the WordPress icon. Once you click on it, follow the prompts and tada it’s installed. Remember, Bluehost will do this for you if you need help. They are awesome like that.

Once you are set up with WordPress, Bluehost will email you a temporary login password for your new WordPress account. This is where all the magic is. This is where you will be writing your blogs and building your site. 

Remember, when logging into your admin site for your WordPress blog you will want to go to www. (your domain).com/wp-admin I had a hard time finding this at first.

Your last step, for now, is to pick a theme.

There are many free themes out there to choose from just make sure that it is simple and clean! Keep in mind, a free theme does not give you much design control so if that is your thing and you want to be able to design and customize the theme you will eventually want to upgrade to a paid theme. I ended up purchasing Divi from Elegant Themes and love all the features. I am terrible with computers and this theme allowed me to be a designer without having to design and code!

Please don’t waste your money if you are just getting your feet wet. Use a free theme until you have 25 to 30 posts written. Then, if you are hooked like I was on blogging, go ahead and invest in your blog because it is now your business.

I say this because you can get your money back from Bluehost but you can not get your money back from some themes designers. If you can, it is much harder. I bought a theme from WordPress that I wasn’t in love with and could not get my money back. However, with Elegant Themes, they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

OK there you go you are up and running and now have a blog! Congratulations blogger! I can’t wait for you to get up in the morning and be excited about your blog.

You’re probably wondering, ok now what? How on earth am I going to make money blogging? And here is my answer, write about what you know, be as detailed as you can and give the most value as you can to each post.  Once you have 25 to 30 posts written, I want you to go back and look at each post. Did you mention any products you use? Do you write tutorials? As long as you are giving valuable information you can make money with your blog. Remember, this is not Facebook, if you want to make money, you can not talk about you. The topics must talk about how you can help them.

There you have it! Even though this post was super long, starting a blog should only take you about 15 mins. I know it seems overwhelming but all things in life that are amazing seem challenging at first. I wish you luck with your new venture, you got this!

Stephanie

How to Start a Mom Blog!

They say being a stay at home mom is super rewarding, and don’t get me wrong, it is. But there is something that happens to your confidence when you start bringing in money while raising your children.  You may want to start a mom blog as a creative outlet or to help with finances. Whatever the reason, you may have realised it’s not as easy as you thought it would be.

After hours of spinning my wheels on the internet searching for ways to peace my blog together, detouring off to Facebook or staring at other super successful blogs to see how they made it work. I realised this was going to be a long journey if I chose to do it alone.

In my search, I stumbled upon this website and everything began to change. I truly believe my blog journey would have ended if it weren’t for this woman!

Let’s face it, as moms, we have no spare time on our hands to be searching for help on how to set things up! No matter what age your child is, you are busy and lucky if you get two solid hours to yourself.

If you are anything like me, you probably started this blog because you knew it would be the creative outlet you needed. Not to mention, being able to help pay off debt and add to the family finances is huge when it comes to creating and building emotional strength.

The overwhelm of trying to figuring it all out!

In the beginning, starting a blog seemed like an answer to all our problems. It was a dream come true and so far it has been great.  However, it hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be. There have been many challenges to overcome.

The biggest obstacle I faced was wasting my time trying to figure it out on my own. I would get tips here and tips there but putting it all together was difficult. Hours were wasted researching to find people giving advice on the same topics. After months of going nowhere, I started getting frustrated with my lack of progress.

I was determined and dead set on doing it on my own, then reality set in. I really only had small pockets of time to commit to the blog and every time I went to work on it, I was bogged down with having to call my hosting company to help me with something technical. Simply put, I was frustrated and ultimately ready to quit when I had just started.

The depression set in when I  looked at other peoples blogs and saw their beautiful layout and images. I became crippled with a perfectionist mindset and really wanted it to look amazing from the get go! I convinced myself no one would read my blog if it appeared amateur.

I thought, if the blog didn’t look professional in layout and style, people would question whether or not I actually was a professional. This amateur thinking paralysed me! Frustrated and defeated, I started looking for help.

Your first actionable step, Set yourself up for success!

After rummaging through the internet I worked through some of the free 5-day start-up courses. Sure they worked for little nuggets of information. But left me unorganised and with no real direction on what really needed to be accomplished.

I read all of Rosemarie Groner’s posts (she is amazing by the way.) I found some really helpful information but was so unorganized, putting it all together was difficult. I had so many questions and no answers.

Then, I found Susie Whitford with start a mom blog. Immediately I knew, this is what I needed. I actually researched her course intensely, I did not have much money at the time so I couldn’t wast any money on a course that gave little value.

This course has a ton of value!

This course was thorough, well thought out, easy to follow and fit my busy life. Best of all, It gave me confidence that I could actually follow through with this new adventure. Phew, finally an opportunity to finish something I started.

I got back my joy and momentum

In Susie’s course Blog By Number, she kept me inspired and moved me forward on this journey. If I had not taken her course I would either still be looking at youtube clips on each piece of the process, (that TOOK FOREVER) or would have quit.  As a mom, my time to commit to this is blocked in segments of 30 mins here 30 mins there.

Her detailed teachings helped me to have focus, whereas before, I would get lost in research, or busy reading how well others were doing and not getting any momentum of my own.

Best of all, it gave me an action plan! Something I was desperately missing.

I connected with Susie right away, she has 3 beautiful children and teaches how to manage a business and a family. She also came from an engineering background so I knew she would be able to navigate through the difficulties of WordPress (another issue I was struggling with) and the many individual themes.

So what exactly is in the Course?

Her strategic teaching strategy helps you get set up step by step! She practically holds your hand!

It is full of mini video segments starting with how to set up your hosting company and theme. She literally walks you through it step by step. I paused the video until I completed each item.

Once your set up, she helps you come up with a name and nitch for your blog. This may seem like something you can do on your own, but believe me, this is helpful because most of your names will be taken and it’s really nice to have backups you’re happy with.

From there it gets super fun. You start to create your brand and get to know yourself again. I found purpose in my blog and stopped caring what others thought. The possibilities for my blog were becoming endless.

The next module is designing your content layout, she helps you get noticed and followed. All things other bloggers sell in separate courses.

She even helps you get started with making money with your blog so you don’t lose money or waste your time. This is not in-depth so If this is the stage you are in, Making Sence of Affiliate Marketing is truly your best option.

Pictured above are all the bonuses she includes in her course as well as the detailed teachings. These bonuses include free stock images, the course ebook, yearly planner of what to do and many others.

There are so many aspects of having a blog that I didn’t think about that she covers. For example, how to create pins for Pinterest, how to size your images so that your blog is not slow, where to get free images, what plug-ins to use, how to write your content, Susie has seriously thought of everything and beyond what a beginning blogger needs to nail down. Pretty amazing right?

Is it really worth it to invest in a mini-course in the beginning?

Absolutely it was! My investment was just under $100 and she included 2 other mini-courses along the way because I was signed up for the Blog By Number course. So… yes hands down the best way to spend my money. I would say it was definitely worth the $97.00 I invested, a no-brainer.

When you’re a stay at home mom it’s extremely hard to come up with $97.00 and telling hubby may seem like anxiety overload. Especially when finances are tight.

But if you truly are serious about blogging and working from home, then the time wasted trying to figure it out on your own is a far greater expense in the long run.

Susie’s course is broken up into detail from the very first step to the last.

It’s all in the details!

Blog by Number not only helps you figure out your nitch, helps you find the perfect blog name, and gives a step by step tutorial on how to set up the blog to look professional; She also teaches how to set up a beautiful theme, and keys to writing a great post.

The course teaches optimization and how to customize your blog. How to create amazing images and get massive traffic without begging your friends to share your posts.

Lastly, included in this course are keys to making money and building an email list for longterm growth.

Susie literally holds your hand. And sadly that is exactly what I needed. I knew what task I was accomplishing each day.

She got me out of the frustrated stage and into the action stage. And best of all she did not leave me hanging. She delivered exactly what I was ready for.

The longest video was almost 30 minutes. Super manageable with my little guy. I absolutely can’t stand when you watch a webinar and the first 25 minutes is about them and how they started. She gets straight to the point! Great for a mom who has little time.

Words of advice when you do decide to take the course!

Do not skip ahead! I thought well I already have my hosting and WordPress set up, I don’t need to watch these I’ll just go straight to the monetization strategy.

As tempting as that seems, do not do this! I repeat do not do this! I had to go back to the beginning because there were important pieces missing to my blog due to skipping ahead. I had missed major steps like how to make the headline look professional and how to add a favicon.

Just do every step in order! Trust me and do not move on until you have completed everything in the video. You’ll thank me later because you’ll be successful quicker!

Ready to get started?

Check out the Start a mom blog site. She offers other courses as well but I started with this one and loved it.

Maybe you are just getting your feet wet and want to do it yourself. If that is the case, I recommend you purchase web hosting and opt out of the free site that WordPress gives you.

If you eventually get serious you will need a hosted site for one and if you ever do need help WordPress doesn’t have the best help. I personally use Bluehost and they have walked me through all my set up struggles over the phone! Someone always answers and no annoying messaging system.

Even though they were super helpful, I was actually so frustrated that I had to keep calling them, I  decided to purchase “Blog by Number” course.

However, If you want to figure it out on your own Bluehost will walk you through it. They are extremely friendly and helpful.

Again, If your frustrated and don’t have time to dedicate to researching on your own and want to start off in the right direction, Blog by Number is your best bet.

Blogging is hard work but super rewarding. I wish you luck with your blog and new adventure. Remember, I am just a mom who wanted to be with her kiddo and still work. Many say that you have to choose, mother or businesswoman, well I say you can be both!

Stephanie