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If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have a blog, I never would have believed you. I never would have imagined that my life would take this direction and I would be comfortable sharing my life publicly on the internet like this. I had heard about people who had made tons of money because of blogging, but they were high school and college kids. I was too old (in my late 20’s) to know how to start a blog. So when I got started with Internet Marketing, I put off starting a blog much longer than I should have. Hopefully you won’t make the same mistake that I did.
Why is it important to have a blog?
Creating a blog is the easiest way to share your knowledge, skills, and personality so that you can connect with, and begin establishing a relationship with, other people who have similar goals and interests.
There are a few reasons why you might want to start a blog.
1. You are already involved with a network marketing business and you want to maximize your time, energy, and money
2. You are interested in starting a network marketing or home-based business and you want to get started using the latest marketing techniques to maximize your time, energy, and money.
3. You are interested in affiliate marketing, which means getting paid to help drive traffic to other people’s websites or products.
4. You want to connect with other people with common interests/hobbies
Now I’m not talking about the kind of blog where you write about what you had for breakfast and how you feel about the contestants on American Idol. Not that there is anything wrong with those blogs, but that is not what you want to do to brand yourself for Online Marketing and Social Media.
So what do you need to start a blog?
Let me start by telling you that I highly recommend that you use a Wordpress.ORG blog. If you are serious about using your blog to create an internet presence then this is the best type of blog. Wordpress.ORG is a self-hosted blog. There is also a Wordpress.COM blog that is free to set up. With Wordpress.COM or Blogger.com (another free blogging service) you are hosting your blog (and all of your content) on their server. If they decide they don’t like your content, they can remove it.
Another advantage to a self-hosted blog is that you get to use your own domain and you can possible get paid for the traffic that you get on your blog. If you use a Wordpress.COM blog your domain would be www.yourblog.wordpress.com and Wordpress.COM will get all of the credit for the traffic you get on your blog. So if you are hoping to monetize your blog, you want to get a Wordpress.ORG blog.
1. A domain
The first thing that you want to do is pick your domain name. This is your website, for example the domain name for this blog is www.melissawrightjourney.com. I usually use GoDaddy.com for purchasing domains. There are many places that you can purchase domains from, and it doesn’t really matter where you get it, so use any company you are familiar with.
If you are creating a blog for internet marketing you want to get a domain name that incorporates your name. You are branding YOU not your business or product. If you are creating a blog just to connect with people that share your interests or hobbies, it is ok to use a domain that is related to your topic, but if you are working to establish yourself in your industry/business you want this domain be centered on your name.
The best case is if you can just get yourname.com. If you have a common name like I do, here are some suggestions for domain name…
meetmelissawright
createwithmelissawright
melissawrightblog
melissawrightonline
learnwithmelissawright
Be creative, but don’t stress too much.
Stay away from the .net, .biz, and other extensions. You will lose leads to the .com websites if they have already been taken.
2. A Hosting Account
The next step is to set up a hosting account.
When you set up your hosting account, you are basically renting space on someone’s server to store your website and all of your content. Setting up your hosting account does start to get a little more technical, and I am not going to get too much into the technical details in this post. One good thing is that most hosting companies have really great support if you are feeling overwhelmed.
For hosting I use HostGator, but just like purchasing domains, there are a lot of great options out there. If you go to www.wordpress.org they recommend several hosting companies. Do some research and pick the company that you feel most comfortable with.
If you have any questions about Host Gator, I will do my best to answer them.
I will continue the How to Start a Blog series, so look for more soon. I plan to share everything I have been learning about how to get start a blog and how to get a huge following using Social Media tools. If you have any questions about what I have covered so far let me know.
If you have your Domain and your Hosting Account set up. Go to How to Start a Blog (Part 2).
Jodi Lee (10)
Kellie Hosaka (9)
Venus :) (8)
Yannick van den Bos (8)
Val Wilcox (7)
Kara Grabenhorst (6)
Jean (5)
Kimberly Castleberry (5)
Nick Logan (5)
Sandy & Al Ab... (5)
Melissa,
This is such a valuable post. Blogging is an important marketing tool, but there are good ways and not so good ways to do it. The key is to have good support from the beginning so you get things put together well from the start. This type of advice is an excellent resource for new people. I had no idea there was a difference between .org and .com for wordpress and it’s a big difference! You have certainly helped me a ton in getting established in the blog community. Thanks for all you do!
Jodi
Jodi Lee´s last blog ..Action, lights, please…no camera!
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melissa Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 4:16 am
Jodi, Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! It is my pleasure to help you with your blog! I am always here if you need anything!
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Hi Melissa,
This is a GREAT article, the steps that you explained are very well written and understandable!
Also want you to know that I find you an AWESOME person!
All the best,
Yannick
Yannick van den Bos´s last blog ..Law of the Garbage Truck
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melissa Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 4:18 am
Hey Yannick! Thank you so much for the kind words! I am very glad to have crossed path with you! I really appreciate all of your help today. Please let me know if there is ever anything that I can do to help you!
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this is so inspiring Melissa. and your explanation is easy to understand.
I wish I had had this information when I was setting up my Blog. it was a nightmare for me.
great post,
looking forward to your others
Jean´s last blog ..‘How To Retweet’
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melissa Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 4:20 am
Hey Jean! Thanks for your comment, I am glad that you found my post easy to understand. I can definitely relate with struggling to get your blog set up. Before I found the Tribe Mastermind Intensive course I was feeling completely overwhelmed and lost. My goal is to help as many people avoid that frustration as possible.
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Awesome Guide Melissa!
Thanks for sharing! This is exact the kind of information a person that is new to blogging would like to know!
Keep on sharing the good stuff!
You are a great resource to a lot of people!
Dr Jon
Jon Alfredsson´s last blog ..Social Media Tribes Buzz – 10 Recent Top Blog Posts
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melissa Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 4:22 am
Thanks Jon! My goal is to continue documenting all of the great stuff that we are learning from you guys so that I can help people that are new to blogging and Social Media. I have a lot more to share and am excited to have the opportunity to do so. Thanks for all that you do and all that you have taught us. You are a great leader and a wonderful teacher.
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Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by JodiLee2010: RT @melissawright2 How to start a blog (Part 1) http://ow.ly/1ndlio…
Hey Melissa,
What a great story! I had to chuckle when you mentioned you thought you were ‘too old’ in your late 20’s
I totally relate to what you said about never imagining taking this path 5 years ago, as that’s exactly how I felt.
What’s fantastic is, 5 years ago it wasn’t so easy to get started. Now we have posts like yours and click by click trainings and all kinds of resources to help even the most technically challenged!
If your in business, it’s crucial to have a central marketing hub set up and what I love about blogging, is it’s a way to let your own unique personality shine through.
Exactly as you have done!
Michaelé
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melissa Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 3:18 am
Hey Michaele! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment. I am glad that you enjoyed my post, that really means a lot coming from you. I love reading your posts. You have such a great sense of humor.
I have heard so much talk about the importance of having a blog, but I never really fully understood the true power of branding yourself through a blog until I took this course. I am really looking forward to growing together through our blogs for the next 5 years (and hopefully well beyond)!
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Aloha Melissa,
Wow, incredible post on how to start a blog! This will save people so much time. Thank you for taking the time to post such incredible content! I am looking forward to our tribe mastermind!
Mahalo (thank you),
Kellie :0)
Kellie Hosaka´s last blog ..THE LAW OF ATTRACTION & QUANTUM PHYSICS
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melissa Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Thanks for the great comment Kellie! The best thing about being part of this Tribe is having the opportunity to get to know people like you! You have such a positive and supportive energy and I love being exposed to all of your wisdom and knowledge!
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SIVOI TOFILAU Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 12:51 am
This is a awesome video for how to start the the blog. thank you so much for sharing.It make easy to everyone.
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Hi Melissa,
Boy am I glad I found this post and i’m really looking forward to future installments! I love how the right information seems to just come to me whenever I need it. Thanks!
Hugs
Muna
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melissa Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Hey Yamuna! I am so glad you found this post useful. I will do my best to get Part 2 posted ASAP!
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Thanks for this great information Melissa! Lot’s of stuff in here that will truly benefit anyone trying to get started with a blog. You outline the steps so clearly, this is sure to be very helpful to many.
Kara Grabenhorst´s last blog ..Team… What Does It Mean?
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melissa Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Thank you Kara for the great comment. I hope that you are right that this post will be helpful to many people!
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