What Does It Take To Start A WordPress Blog?
There are two types of people when it comes to blogging…
Those who try to make a go at it for free and those who go for an independently hosted WordPress blog.
Going The Freebie Route
Let’s hit those who want to blog using a free blog service like Blogger.com. You may want to consider using a different free platform that works like a much like blog called Squidoo.
The reason I say that is simple…
1. Blogger blogs don’t have the operational plugins you need to generate traffic like you do with a WordPress blog.
2. Squidoo pages have a shared monetization model built in.
3. Squidoo pages have considerable search engine juice built in because of the community as a whole.
4. Squidoo pages can be used as traffic generation resource for your existing webiste or blog.
5. There is no good resource for getting the most out a Blogger blog. I don’t know about you, but I value my time and want to go with that which will give me results.
If you do decide to look into Squidoo and move forward, I would recommend that you get your hands on a resource like Real Squidoo Secrets and FOCUS on your Squidoo page activities for 90 days. That is about the lowest risk you can take when it comes to generating income online.
It’s a great way to “stick your toe in the water” when it comes to making money online.
Now, for the folks who want a grown up blog… 
Starting An Independently Hosted WordPress Blog
Baseline Expenses & Skill Level Required
Expenses
Here are the expenses you will incur and the skills that you will need to get your WordPress blog up and running:
Domain name: about $10/year (this can be included for free for the first year if you get the domain name through the webhosting company)
Webhosting: about $120/year. I use Bluehost for my blogs and I have been very happy with them.
List Management Service: $240 per year. Like most online professionals, I use Aweber in order to manage my newletters. NOTE: You NEVER want to manage your blog email list locally — your email delivery rate will be a fraction of what it could be using a service like Aweber.
If you are NOT managing an email subscriber list, you missing out on a HUGE amount of income potential from your blog. So, I consider a list management service critical to my overall blog business and income strategy.
The remainder of your blogging expense will be focused around education or software to complete a specific task or function.
Skill Level
In order to set-up and operate your WordPress blog, you need to have the ability to:
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NOTE: Virtually all the skills needed for the skill set above can be found in free videos on YouTube.
If you want a real professional to instally your blog for you, I highly recommend that you have Mike Paetzold do it.
Beyond these basics…
You need to have a genuine passion or interest in what you are going to blog about because…
You are are going to need some time to build your business before the blogging income happens. That’s not what the so-called “gurus” tell you. Well, I’m being realistic. I have done enough blogging to know the truth.
Any blog is like a long train–very heavy and slow to gain momentum. But once the train is moving along, it is difficult to stop.
Are you ready to start your WordPress blog? I would appreciate your comments in the comment box below.
Cheers,
Steve Roye
Online Business Consultant
About the Author/Founder of the IMS Blog
This former Navy Senior Chief (ret.) and professional entertainer didn't stop when he retired from the military...Steve Roye is also an author who has also been an online business owner and consultant for almost a decade.
Now Steve focuses on helping others start or expand their online businesses.
Please check out the Featured Articles page for direct links to articles on this blog.
Last 5 posts by Steve Roye
- Entertainers Have The Edge When Building An Online Fan Club - March 11th, 2010
- 7 Secrets For Getting More Hits And More Traffic To Your WordPress Blog Now - March 8th, 2010
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- The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Wealth Strategies - March 2nd, 2010
- If You Don’t Understand Keyword Research, You’re Kinda Screwed - February 28th, 2010
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Hey Steve! Do you recommend Aweber over another service like constant contacts? If so, why?
Also, starting from scratch: what is the very first thing that I need to do/research in order to start a blog(with minimal knowledge)? Any feedback you could give would be awesome!
Aweber is one of the oldest and most established autoresponse services out there. It is the only one I have used, so I can’t really comment on other comparable services.
As far as staring a WordPress blog, most everything you need to know is already on this blog at: http://www.realfirststeps.com/featured
Thanks for your questions!
The Prof
Steve this is great advice for gaining part time income talking about topics that most people have a lot of interest in.
Randy