Setting Up a Blog is Easy When You Know How
By
Have you been put off setting up a blog because you think it is too difficult? Well about 18 months ago when I first thought about blogging, I thought it was difficult too until I got a step by step video that took me through the process.
And voila! – Look at my blog today. I have tons of readers, I have lots of activity and I generate leads and income from my blog. (I also love it, because it is an expression of me, my business and my journey online!)
So I am here to tell you that setting up a blog is easy……
Well it is when you can follow some short well explained and detailed videos to ensure you are doing everything to maximise your blog for the search engines. I mean you want your content to get found and indexed by Google don’t you?
Setting up a blog and driving traffic to it, is central to your business – it is somewhere where you can drive people to and is your own piece of prime real estate online. Provided you are not breaking any laws, your blog can stay there for as long as YOU want it to. No-one can tell you what to do or say.
So before I go into the details of setting up a blog and blogging tips, we first need to look at the main two types of website that are available to you and why picking the right one is so important.
If you are setting up a blog, then I would wholeheartedly recommend that you use WordPress. Why? – Because it is SO simple to use because you don’t need to have any html or coding knowledge. With this in mind, your two options are self hosted (wordpress.org) or hosted by wordpress (wordpress.com).
In my opinion (and all professional bloggers) you need to have your own self hosted blog – this means that you pay someone like Hostgator (who I can wholeheartedly recommend – their customer service is awesome!) to host your blog. This means you need to buy your own domain name (shop around as prices do vary) and then set up an account with Hostgator where you will be shown what to do. You pay a monthly fee for the hosting (like about $6 a month!). I personally use 123-Reg but there are many domain companies to choose from.
The reason I would go for a self hosted blog rather than a blogger.com or wordpress.com blog is you have full control over what happens – If you are using blogger or wordpress.com and you do something they don’t like (like promote certain affiliate products!) then they can close you down and you could lose everything. For the sake of $6 or $7 a month isn’t it worth it to have your own blog – it looks SO much more professional.
Setting up a Blog – Choosing your domain name
Choosing your domain name (the name for your website) is important. Search for a domain name that includes your own name, so if you are called Jane Smith, then see if JaneSmith.com is available. If you have a popular name then think about what your business is about for example JaneSmithCoaching.com or JaneSmithLeadership.com, or JaneSmithMarketing.com. (Take my advice ‘though – if you are with a Network Marketing Company – DON’T use anything related to that business in your name – brand YOU and not your business, this way if you decide to change businesses you will not have to start again!!) By branding yourself as a coach or a leader, you are already building credibility in the eyes of your prospect and by building yourself a simple one page website with a picture of you, your story and training tips and pictures of your team, then this will automatically move you up in the eyes of your prospects.
Setting up a Blog – Take Action!
For a full step by step video course on setting up a blog, what to write about, how to optimize it for the search engines, how to get traffic to it and how to have highly converting offers ready made to just give away – take the $10 trial of MLSP here (and watch the video first!)
When you register, give me a call and I will show you exactly where this specific training is and we can talk through a strategy on how to get you up and running and generating leads for your primary business as soon as possible.
Setting up a blog is easy! – Seriously!
Email: Nicky@NickyPriceMarketing.comSkype: NickyVitality
Tel: (+44) (0)7587 176155
Facebook: http://facebook.com/DiamondMLMTribe
P.S - Sick of Tiny MLM Pay Cheques? It's Not Your Fault - Click Here for a Much Faster Way to Earn Upwards of $3.5k Per Month Online Click Here For Instant Access
P.P.S - A Nifty Way To Increase Your Cashflow
Hey Nicky,
I remember a few years ago I had a lady contact me through one of my videos and she was so frustrated because she had hired someone to set up her blog and it had been over a month and he hadn’t done it yet. Now this was not creating some custom theme or anything, just setting up a blog for her.
He was already charging her for hosting at $25 a month oh and he charged her $450 to set up her blog. I was appalled and pissed to say the least. We both know that he ripped her off, my heart went out to her.
After having been online for some time now I often forget all the things I know that others still don’t and you are right, creating your first blog is so easy it’s ridiculous. Having a video walk you through exactly what to do is a must and others will see just how easy it really is.
I’m sure this post and the video will be extremely helpful for those still in search of the “how to” part of this.
Have a great week Nicky.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..2012 Is The Year Of No Excuses
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 3rd, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Well you could have been talking about me there Adrienne – I paid over $3,000 about 3 years ago to learn how to market with an additional $25 for hosting of a website that I couldn’t edit (oh and the website would have costed me $500 too, but they would have to edit any changes for me for which there was of course and ongoing charge!!. I had researched the company as much as I could before getting involved and it had a reputable marketer giving a testimony so I figured, that was the best I could have done, but it just shows doesn’t it. Sadly there is always someone out there that is looking to rip you off. About a month in to my 10 week course, I realised they had no clue what they were doing and the scam and fraud reports started appearing on the internet about them.
Thankfully the owner of the company ended up being taken to court and everyone got their money back, so there is some justice in the world, although I hear he was only banned from one particular state, so all he has to do is move and start all over again ;-(
It became my mission to learn this stuff myself and then coach people in my team for free or charge very reasonable rates to people who just wanted to learn – and that’s how I have built my business. Thanks for your comments Adrienne, I love your blog as it is also a mine of information for people who want to learn.
As ever, thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment,
Nicky
[Reply]
Nicky,
Yes setting up your blog IS easy WHEN you know how. Funny story…
I put off blogging for 3 years because I thought it was way to techy or to much of a full time job to blog. When I started to see these personal branded more simpler looking blogs is when I finally took the plunge. Here’s the cool thing. Someone set mine up for a mere testimonial! You never know what you get until you ask.
Oh another quick story…
We all know that getting you name dot com is a good thing, but I was in a room with Mike Dillard and he mentioned “Why would new people ever do this?” It stopped me in my tracks. New people are not credible yet as a leader or someone who is looking for them. It seems that a catchy phrase is better to gather a following quicker.
I got lucky on this with my domain. It was actually a mistake. Ken Pickard dot com was already taken.Then I also looked around and noticed that 75% of the top blogs in my niche have catchy domains instead of their main name. Just something to consider.
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
Ken Pickard recently posted..Pinterest Traffic – Blog Roll Style
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 3rd, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Well that’s really interesting you say that Ken as I was kicking myself for months for not having picked my own name – I guess I must have come through the same Mike Dillard training as you and had this in the back of my mind! (Traffic Formula 1 and 2 !!)
How fortunate to have your blog set up for a testimonial – just shows that there are some great people out there whose personal and long term branding and reputation is much more important than making a quick buck!
Thanks for your insight and it’s a great point about using your own name!
Nicky
[Reply]
Nicky
Thanks for sharing this….it’s amazing how much people are actually paying to have their blogs set up when they can easily learn the simple steps it takes to actually set up a blog.
I am very sure a number of people will find this post very useful!
Remi
Remi Badozi recently posted..How to Effectively Use Traffic Exchange Sites for Network Marketing
[Reply]
That was an interesting take – when you said to brand “you” in the event you decide to change your business later. I like that idea, especially if you’re experimenting or trying out different business ideas in that entrepreneurial spirit.
Nicky, you can still buy your name as a domain and protect it (assuming it’s available) and also you can just route both domains to the same site.
I’m in total agreement on WordPress. It’s become easy for just about anyone to get set up pretty quickly. And if you know a little CSS you can do magic!
Now if you’re talking about WRITING… well that’s a whole other story
Sometimes setting up a blog is the least of the challenges!
Carol Lynn recently posted..Mobile Matters: The Stunning Statistics That Should Convince You To Make Your Website Mobile Friendly (With Tips For How To Do It)
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 4th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Thanks Carol – I love the way you just drop that in “…. if you know a little CSS you can do magic”!! – CSS TERRIFIES me haha! – I once messed up my whole blog by trying to change something in the code when I really shouldn’t have been meddling!
Writing on the other hand – I love!
I did buy my own name domain, and I will get round to forwarding it to my blog, but at the moment it has a whole other funnel attached to it!
Thanks for stopping by Carol – your blog is an absolute goldmine of information – you have certainly worked your “magic” on yours!
Nicky
[Reply]
Priceless lesson here Nicky: choose a mentor! Shorten your leaning curve by years. So easy to set up a prospering blog if you know what to do. Getting instruction and having someone around to walk you through the process makes your job 1000 times easier.
The big issues with marketing these days is lack of mentoring. I intended a few months ago to bump up my mentoring and accessibility game: lo and behold, I received more prospects, and my team grow at a faster pace than ever. Take care of your team, you have a bigger team to take care of.
Blogging really is 1 stop shopping for visitors. Videos, reviews, articles, ads, viewers can digest all that good stuff, and see how you can benefit them.
Thanks for sharing Nicky.
Ryan Biddulph recently posted..Making your Online Business Blog Irresistible to Voracious Prospects – 7 Simple Steps
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Indeed it is Ryan – I would have loved to have had a mentor I could trust in the early days – instead I found a scammer who took my money and gave a very sub-standard service (thankfully I got it all back, I was one of the lucky ones!). This scared me off and I vowed to do it alone which was a huge struggle and certainly not the way I would recommend.
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
[Reply]
Great post Nicky: Setting up your own blog is easy and self hosting is important. Besides that anyone serious about network marketing has to have a blog to create their brand.
It’s easier than most think to get content for their blogs. I think thats what holds most people back form getting started.
Nice article!
Dennis recently posted..Maximize Your MLM Success Rate…
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Thanks Dennis – I love my blog, but it does take some time and effort but it is a central place to refer people back to and generates me a nice few leads each day. I love this so much more than standing out in the street handing out fliers for my business which is what my upline used to tell me to do!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
[Reply]
Hi Nicky,
Well, WordPress is really the blogger’s dream platform. Is there any one messing up with anything else than WordPress these days?
I am fortunate enough to have a very “non-common” name, so even after having been online 6 years my first and last name domain was still available and I switch domain name earlier this year. I should have done that much earlier, but, hey! I think I wasn’t ready then.
Thanks for those tips, great for people starting to blog and wondering what they should be doing.
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..Five Simple Steps To Overcome The Challenges Of Blogging In English As A Second Language
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
I agree with you completely Sylviane – I cannot understand why anyone would go for a traditional website these days when wordpress is so simple to use – even for a non-techie like me!
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
[Reply]
Hi Nicky, I started blogging on free WordPress and Blogger blogs and I agree with you that there’s nothing like having a self-hosted WordPress blog! When I migrated to self-hosted I started off with Blue Host and I quickly learned that all hosts are not created equal. It didn’t take me long to move over to Host Gator and I didn’t have to move any files. Host Gator did all the work and I love them for that! Thanks for spreading the word about how easy it is to get started with a blog. Great post!
Ileane recently posted..My Routine for Blog Maintenance on Basic Blog Tips
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 6th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
I think I was with Blue Host (briefly) and also with Vodahost and you are so right that Hostgator is the best by miles!
Thanks for stopping by Ileane I appreciate you,
Nicky
[Reply]
Nicely done, Nicky. I think that choosing a domain name for your blog is so important and needs some serious thought. Why do you want to start your blog? What purpose will it serve?
WIll it be to brand yourself?
WIll it be a place for others to find you?
Or are you trying to rank for some industry keywords?
If you are trying to brand yourself, I strongly recommend using your name in the URL, as you said. It’s so important to be all over the first page of Google for your own name, and Google loves blogs with their fresh content. My blog always ranks first when you Google my name.
Thanks, Nicky!
Dr. Bob Clarke recently posted..The Fallacy of “Free”
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
April 7th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
Thanks Bob.
I agree that your domain name needs some serious thought particularly if you are targeting a niche in affiliate marketing, but otherwise using your own name certainly helps with personal branding.
Thanks for stopping by Bob!
Nicky
[Reply]