Why start a blog? Reason number 17. Financial Security. Brief story-time.
In Fall 2015,’ I suffered from a work-related incident that left me unable to perform my full-time duties. While out of work, I actively pursued other forms of employment. I interviewed a bunch and was finally hired in November 15.’ Excited and looking forward to the new position in the new year, I was content. I stopped actively looking for a new job.
January 2016′ came around, and I was to start my new position at the end of the month. Yay! Right? Wrong! Less than one week before my start date. I got a call from my future (EX) boss to be, that the higher-ups decided to go in a different direction.
Feeling helpless, deflated and perplexed by the realization that, my future income was taking away from me. In that moment when she called, I made the decision to never give someone full access and control over my financiallife. I began doing some research (kinda of) on how to make that happen. I fell upon blogging and has changed mylife. Blogging has allowed me the luxury to stay-at-home with our daughter without being a financial burden to our household budget.
Money isn’t everything. However, the extra income from my blog is allowing my family to completely design our days. That’s HUGE for us.
Today, we want to walk you through how to set up your first blog and get you on your way to designing your own life!
The following will be astep-by-step guideto creating the blog of your dreams and actuallymakemoney from it!
Click here to start a blog with Bluehost, then use the tutorial below for easy step-by-step directions.
If you have any questions about starting a blog, please email me at trueandpretty@gmail.com
What AreThe Benefits Of Starting A Blog?
“There’s no time like the present.”We’ve all heard that saying before. It rings true for starting a blog. One of the fantastic things about blogging is that you can write about absolutely anything; hobbies, lifestyle, children, school or work. Sharingyour experiences and viewpoints on life.
Starting a blog will help you become a better writer, join an online community of other bloggers alike while inspiringothers. Connect with brands that you love and promote forFREE and might get paid for it. Best part you’ll design days that you love while earning an income.
The benefits of blogging are endless.
Starting a blog was one of the best decisions of my life.Our Daughter is 10 months, she’s turning 1 in March. I started my blog to earn an income from home so I can better take care of our family while not causing a financial burden to our household budget. I am blessed to be able to do. With a lot of long nights and hard work, I am able to do so.
Who Should Start A Blog?
Anyone can launch a successful, profitable lifestyle blog. The business of blogging is like no other. Low startup cost. And very low overhead. No educational or technical experience required. All you need is the dedication and the willingness to put in the work. When I started blogging I knew nothing abouthosting, WordPress, orthemes.Driven by excitement, and the support of my Husband. My blog was born.
If I can do it, you can too!Seriously!
If you’re interested in starting your own blog, I created afree 7-day email courseto help you start a blog and learn how to make it successful. You can join below!
Step 1: Choose the Right Platform
In my honest opinion to run a profitable and successful blog, it needs to be on a self-hosted platform. While the option of starting a blog on a FREE hosted platform sounds maygood. But, it isn’t. Reason 7,001 – It isn’t profitable. I’ll tell you why 99.9% of profitable blogs don’t run on FREE host sites and why you should not use them.
Reasons to avoid using a free platform:
- It’s ugly.The customizations are limited.
- It’s almost impossible to make money from a free blog
- The. Website. Is. Slow. (Need I say more)
- Youdo notown your blog or the content on your website (this means your free website could shut down overnight for no reason. That’s just a risk I’m not willing to take)
If you’re interested in making money from your blog, freelancing or turning your blog into a business, then paying for your hosting (such as throughBluehost) is a MUST. It’s extremely affordable, has outstanding customer service and you can run any of your own advertisem*nts, affiliate links, product sales, etc. with a blog using Bluehost.
[clickToTweet tweet=”If you want to make money from blogging, then paying for your web hosting is a must.” quote=”If you want to make money from blogging, then paying for your web hosting is a must.”]
Because of these grossly noticeable flaws, this is why I always recommend Bluehost to anyone who wants to start their own lifestyle blog.
Reasons Why You Should Use Bluehost:
- They areavailable by phone, live chat or email 24/7
- Bluehost is the best affordable paid hosting for beginners
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- You get aFREE domain name
Bluehost offers so many benefits when you host with them there’s no reason not to start a blog.
Thanks to their 30-day money-back guarantee, there is a very little risk of starting a blog through Bluehost, and a lot of potentials to make money blogging.
If you are currently using a free blogging platform, you can easily transfer your blog to a self-hosted site.
The process of starting a blog can be a bit daunting and overwhelming. But, start anyway!The one thing that all successful bloggers have in common, is that they started a blog. Today, not tomorrow. But, right now. that’s the difference between everyone else. Success starts when you start.
[clickToTweet tweet=”The key to SUCCESS is to START ” quote=”The key to SUCCESS is to START “]
By starting your blog.You’ll be ahead of anyone else who is still thinking about launching their blog yesterday.Do it scared.
Step 2: Choose Your Hosting Package
You can click the greenGet Started Nowbutton at Bluehost to get started.
I recommend choosing theBasicstarter package as that’s really all you need and it’s a great deal at 50% off the regular price!
Step 3: Register Your Domain Name
The next step in the process of how to start a profitable blog is registering your domain name. A few questions I had as a beginner were:
What is a domain name?
A domain name is simply the address of the blog (aka URL). Example, the domain of our website is Trueandpretty.com ©
How do I select a good domain name?
I had a hard time coming up with my blog name. I overthink the entire process. Don’t be like me, relaxremember not to overcomplicate it. In the long run, the value of your blog is in the content that you put into it. Not the name.
PRO TIP:I recommend registering your name through Bluehost since it keeps everything streamlined, and you get a FREE domain name if you purchase a 12 month (or longer) blog hosting plan (a $15.99 value).
How do I get a domain name?
You can get yourdomain directly through Bluehost for FREE when you sign up for at least 12 monthsworth of Bluehost web hosting. This is one of the many benefits of hosting with Bluehost and why we recommend it.
Once you’ve chosen your free domain name, the next step is simply tofill out your contact details and payment information.
Some of the boxes on this page may already be checked, but theonlyoption that we recommend is the “Domain Privacy Protection.” Adding this feature ensures that your personal information as the website owner remains private.
Hit submit, and congrats! You now own your very own website!!!!!
WeSURVIVED!Not to bad, right?
Note: If you’re registering a free domain name, you can skip the next part and head straight toStep 4 to install WordPress.
Already have a paid domain name?
If you already have a domain name that you bought from a website like GoDaddy, you will need to connect it to your web hosting account.It’s easy to connect your domain name to Bluehost, just choose the second option on the page instead of registering a new domain name.
Follow these instructions to connect your GoDaddy domain to Bluehost.
How to modify, add or delete name servers (DNS) for your domain(s):
- Log into the GoDaddy.com Account Manager.
- From theDomain Namedrop-down menu or theManage Your Accountlist, selectManage Domains.
- Using the checkboxes, select the domain name you wish to modify and then clickSet Name Servers.
- Enter your updated name server information in the spaces provided under the blue Name Servers heading on the right side of your page and clickSave Changesat the bottom. Your entries should look like this:ns1.bluehost.com; ns2.bluehost.com
You will then need to select the domain name you bought (such as through GoDaddy) as anAdd On Domainthrough your Bluehost cpanel. Click on Domain Manager, then select “Assign a Domain to Your cPanel Account”. Follow these steps and it is very easy!
Step 4: Install WordPress
Since you have now purchased your Bluehost hosting package and chosen your domain name, the final step is to Install WordPress.
Bluehost just made it even easier to create a WordPress blog. If you get stuck on any step, you can always send me an email attrueandpretty.comor open Live Chat on Bluehost.
After setting up your password, you should be directed to select a theme for your WordPress site. Your screen should look like this:
You will be asked topick a theme. You can choose any theme here, just pick one that inspires you. You can always change it later so it’s not a big deal. There are lots of free options too, so if you prefer to skip this step, just scroll to the bottom of the page and click “skip this step”.
After you select a theme, click on“Start Building”.
The next screen will askwhat kind of site you would like to set up: “Business” or “Personal”.
Click on Business option.(it doesn’t matter if you don’t have an actual business started yet – this is the first step in that process!). You will then be taken to a dashboard that looks like this:
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU DID IT!
Now you can log into your WordPress dashboard and start blogging — this is the part I know you’ve been waiting for! The URL for your dashboard should be:yourblogname.com/wp-admin/
If you want to upload a different WordPress theme, you’ll need to click “Appearance” on the left-hand side of your WordPress dashboard, then select “Themes”.
There are also a ton of free themes, and here’s a great list of them thatyou can try:https://colorlib.com/wp/free-wordpress-themes/
You can also head to premium theme websites, such asStudioPressorFoodie Pro(I love Foodie!) among others and buy your favorite theme. With time, if you get bored with your blog’s appearance, you can simply change themes without affecting your images or content, thanks to the excellent feature by WordPress that allows users to switch themes with a few clicks.
For more information about all the blogging tools, I use for? True&Pretty, feel free tocheck out my Resource Page.
Here are some helpful posts to help kick-start your blogging journey:
Growing Your Blog Traffic:
Making Money From Blogging:
- First Income And Traffic Report
- How To Use Affiliate Marketing To Monetize Your Blog
- How To Make Money Blogging
Blogging Resources & Tools:
If you have any questions about starting a self-hosted WordPress blog, please leave me a comment or send me an email attrueandpretty.com. I’m more than happy to help you, that’s what I’m here for!
If you know someone that wants to start a blog or website, please share this tutorial with them!
Blogging 101How To Start A Blog
