Ok, so I think we all agree one can’t really earn a livable wage blogging for a network. As mentioned here before, there Are perks, but it’s best to start out with a network and take that experience and use it to start your own successful blog.
First things first though…
Blogs don’t happen over night. It can take years for a blog to become successful and turn a profit. When it hits however, there’s no better feeling. So enter into blogging with the mindset that you will not be an overnight sensation. It’s happened, but it’s rare. Look at it as an investment that will pay off if you’re dedicated enough.
How to Start a Blog
You can start your blog one of several ways. You can use a free platform such as Blogger or WordPress.com or you can host a WordPress.org blog on your own domain. The blog platform is still free, but you’ll need to pay for hosting.
Here’s what I did, and it worked out well:
I started a blog with Google Blogger because it was so user friendly. You can use Blogger on your own domain too, if you’re so inclined. After I built up a readership and traffic, I switched over to WordPress on my own domain. I recommend a Blogger hosted blog because if you’re not serious about blogging or if it doesn’t work out, you didn’t spend money on your own domain. When it DOES work out, you can move your blog.
Another reason I didn’t use a WordPress.com blog starting out is because a WordPress hosted blog doesn’t allow you to use ads or widgets containing javascript. Blogger does. That’s WordPress.com – which is hosted by WordPress. If you host a WordPress.org blog on your own domain, you can do anything you want with it.
Research
Before you begin blogging, research the various platforms. In addition to WordPress and Blogger, there’s TypePad, Moveable Type,Drupal and others. Some allow ads, others don’t. Some are user friendly, others aren’t. Read the reviews and figure out which one works best for you. I love WordPress, but I’m glad I started out using Blogger as it allowed me to learn the ropes and earn a bit of money without commiting to my own domain. After two years, I knew I was in it to win it and moved to my own domain and switched to WordPress.
Google Blogger isn’t user friendly. It may appear new-blogger-friendly, but if you follow their advice, it’s reader-hostile and discriminates against disabled commentators.
Can you move Blogger blogs away now? I’ve seen a few people just junk their old ones because they couldn’t move them to their own WordPress, and many more say “yes, I know Blogger has problems, but I can’t fix them and there’s no way to move away” so I’m glad if they’ve fixed that one now.
Another question to ask yourself about a blogging platform is whether you are the writer, the designer or the owner; all have different needs. For instance, WordPress (either hosted or self-hosted) is the hands-down winner if writing is your chief goal. If you are a designer (not a writer that dabbles in designing), Drupal could be your choice. If you are the owner, you want an easy-to-use platform for your writers, but also a platform that can be easily monetized beyond Adsense.
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Thanks for sharing this. I started a blog a while back and use blogger. I do like it’s user friendly ways and have been able to teach myself quite a bit. Now I also have a blog on WP but every time I get the courage to go back over there to play with it so to speak, I just get frustrated. I need to spend more time with it to be able to learn more. Or maybe it’s their free domain/hosting that is not quite as user friendly. I sure know a ton of bloggers who use WP and are more than satisfied. So hopefully I will get the courage to make the transfer soon and get my own domain name and hosted elsewhere using WP interface and themes or what not. Right now I’m quite happy with blogger except for the comment form. It really is outdated and a lot of visitors won’t even comment on it because they are spoiled.. lol.. Really though I wish they’d update to a more user friendly comment system that supports comment luv without using Intense Debate form and what have ya.
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