You've Got a Blog... Now What? Blogging for Profit Monetize Your Website

So You Want to Blog? Well, Here's How to Get it Going!
Blogging is big. Really big. It's so big that there seems to be many small business owners and work-at-home moms left scratching their head, wondering how to start a blog. For many that are not internet savvy, this can be an extremely daunting and intimidating task. But don't worry if you are one of the ones sitting there biting your nails or sweating this out. The learning curve isn't that big and once you get started, you will get the hang of it in no time... and you might even find yourself addicted to blogging!

What is a Blog?
A blog (a shortened version of "weblog") is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. However, a newer turn in the blogging industry is to blog for profit. Whether it be profit through product sales, pay-per-click advertising or individual advertising sales, blogging can actually turn a profit for those skilled enough to harness the power of the blog. Blogs can combine text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog) and audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media.

Where do I start?
I am going to make this as easy as possible! To do so, we are going to focus on one free blog service, Blogger.com. The reason I suggest this is because it is already integrated with Google and even if you don't have a Google AdSense account, you will still want to get one and integrate it into your Blog. More on Google Later.

Before you visit Blogger.com, you need to get a cheap spiral-bound notebook (for use now and then again later in the tutorial). Nothing fancy - just functional. Begin your blogging journey by writing down things that really interest you. If you want to use your blog for promoting your business or many businesses, include topics that relate to your business. Really brainstorm and write down anything you think you know enough about to write about and share with potential site visitors.

Now, take a step back and try to find a common ground. Use this commonality between your topics to help name your blog. Use something catchy if you can, but try to use words that are specific to your interests. Think "keywords" when deciding your title. If you are an environmentalist, you might want to use the keyword "green" in the title of your blog so that people know what your blog is about before they even have a chance to view the rest of your blog.

Now that you have a name, it is time to visit Blogger.com. If you already have a Google AdSense account, use your login for that account to sign up for your blog. If you aren't already a Google AdSense advertiser, then you will need to create a new account.

You will be taken to a page to name your blog and to select a blogger.com address for your personal blog. I would suggest trying to make the title and the web address the same if possible. For example, if your blog name is "The Green Team," you will want to have your blogger address as "thegreenteam" or "the-green-team"

Next, you will need to choose a template. As explained on the site, you will be able to change the template later - so try to go with something that is workable for now, but please don't waste time thinking about how you might want to change it later. Let's keep it simple for now. I would like to suggest you keep to a page with a lighter colored background (white or off-white). This will look better to most viewers than a site with a dark background.

Guess what!? That's it! You have now created your page and are now ready to start blogging!

Go Ahead and Make a Blog Post!
When you click to continue and start blogging, you are going to be taken to your back office where you can enter blog posts, edit your template, format your blog and so on. In fact, the first page you are going to see will be exactly where you need to put your first blog post. Go ahead and enter something into the title and text field. Use a title like "Welcome to my Blog!" and enter text that explains a little about you and what you want to do with your blog. By going ahead and getting your blog going, you will have something to work with when you edit your settings and layout of your blog. So, be creative, use proper grammar and use the kind of relative keywords you'll need to pull traffic to your blog.

Use those same keywords for labels for your post. You will see a box for exactly that, right below the text box where your blog post is composed. This will help you keep the important keywords that are necessary for traffic! If you are blogging about going green, use keywords like "going green" or "green living." However, make sure those labels actually apply to your post!

Also, use a spell checker before you post to your blog. I HIGHLY suggest installing the Google Toolbar because not only can you Google terms from any page through the toolbar, but it has a spell checker, automatic form filler and a page-rank indicator all in one toolbar. ALL of these things are useful and important to people like you and me!

So, once you've composed your new blog post, reviewed it for errors and have checked the spelling, post it! After the blog has been successfully updated, you will be taken to a page where you can decide to view the blog. Go ahead and preview your blog at this point. You will need to see your blog and how your new post looks!

If you want to go into your back office from there, click on the "customize" link at the top right of the page.

Adding Banners and Links to Your Blog
Some of the first things you will want to do is ad links for your business and websites to your blog. This monetizes your website and allows for the space you need to exchange banners and links with other sites, and to display those very important Google Ads!

Once you are in your back office of the blog, click on the "Layout" tab. The first thing you are going to see is the section where you can "Add and Arrange Page Elements." This is your basic layout of the page. Say you want to go ahead and add some Google ads. You will then need to click on the "Add a Page Element" link in the formatted box. This will open a new window with all of your choices. Find the AdSense choice, and click on the "Add to Blog" link.

If you don't already have a Google AdSense account, you can sign up for one right there. It is FREE and you can earn money by people clicking on your ads. Now, there are some very, very important rules for Google AdSense and you need to make sure you understand and follow them completely. First and foremost, don't call your friends and family and ask them to visit your blog and click the Google Ads. Don't talk about it, don't discuss it. Just put the ads on your site and let people click them at their own will. Also, don't click your own ads. These are things that if you do, will not only count against you and will be deducted from your earnings, but could very well get you expelled from the Google AdSense program and believe me - you do NOT want that to happen! Google AdSense has a little bit of a learning curve in and of itself - but it is pretty user friendly and because Blogger.com is already integrated with Google AdSense, you will be able to start adding AdSense ads to your site almost immediately after you start your blog. Just be sure to give you actual blog address to Google AdSense for approval, and not your back office or dashboard link. They will need to see your blog before you can be approved for a new account.

If you already have a Google AdSense account, you will have to enter your Google AdSense info to access the formatting page for the ads.

If you plan on adding Google Ads to columns on your site (left or right), you will want to choose a vertical banner or square banner. Remember, when choosing a banner size (example 468x60), the first number is how many pixels wide the image will be, and the second number is how tall the image will be. So, for 468x60, you know the banner will be wide and not so tall. Many of the standard web banners you see are 468x60, but for a vertical page element, you will want to go with something that is square or tall. If you don't want the ad to take up too much space, choose a 125x125 ad size. If you want to show as many ads as possible in a tall column, choose something like the 160x600 Vertical Wide Banner.

If you don't have a lot of know-how to match the colors of the ad to the colors of your blog, simply choose the "Blend Template" choice for the color option. Then, simply scroll and click on the "Save Changes" link.

Now would be a good time to preview your blog to see how it looks. It would work best if you have one window open to your blog and another to your back office. That way you can simply refresh the blog page rather than going in and out of your back office.

If you aren't happy with the layout, go back and move the blocks around by simply clicking and dragging to the spot you'd rather see the particular block appear.

This is the same kind of process you are going to take to add banners and links to your site. If you've got banners to add, then go back and select the "Add a Page Element" option and select "Text" as the option you want to add. Although you are actually adding banners, you will be entering HTML code for banners.

For this element, you can use a title like "Advertisements" or "Sites I Love" - something like that. If you have the HTML code for a banner you want to display, simply copy and paste into the text box and save. The next time you visit this element, you may see the image rather than the HTML code. That's okay! You can select the "Edit HTML" link from editing page and it will take you to the HTML code. Or you can switch back to the "Rich Text" format for a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) format.

At this point, you should continue to browse the back office to see all the different things you can do with the look, design and feel of your blog. If you are proficient with HTML and/or CSS, you can edit the HTML template for your site and give it your own unique look. Don't feel like you have change the look of your site. You can efficiently blog using a standard template. However, it would benefit you to learn a little more about designing your look when you have time. Otherwise, feel free to browse your options (making sure you view them ALL) and fill in additional information as you go along.

If you want to further monetize your blog, you will want to learn about Blogging for Profit.

What Should I Blog About?
Don't find yourself in the same conundrum many other new bloggers are faced with... the need for a new blog post consisting of original content. Please, don't use free reprints for content on your blog. That isn't the purpose of a blog! Create the content by yourself and for your readers! Yes, you might be faced with writer's block at times, but you can overcome that!

Remember that cheap spiral notebook I told you to purchase? Whip it out - it's time to use it for its real purpose! This is where you are going to start jotting down ideas for blog posts. Even if the ideas are half-hearted, write them down! Most importantly, don't lose this notebook! Think of this as the heart of your blog, the life-line. If you don't have a topic to write about each week, then get out your handy-dandy-notebook (remember, like Blues Clues?) and get inspired!

Try to stay on-topic. Try to stay focused. In all the readings I've done on researching blogs and blogging for profit, I've learned that the best and most successful blogs focus on a specific topic and stay honed-in on that topic. This creates the keyword rich content you need for search engines to pick up and "like" your blog. The more often you blog on topic, the better chances you have at being seen. Plain and simple.

Now this doesn't mean that you can't have a random musing blog. It just means that you will have a better chance at having a successful blog (i.e., highly visible blog with lots of traffic) if you stick to one topic. If you have a lot of topics you want to blog about - start a lot of blogs! Just make sure you keep up with them. Don't let them go stale, and post to them at LEAST once a week. Starting off, you may even want to post more often. Just be consistent and you will find more success.

Another way to create blog posts are through affiliates. For example's sake, let's say I blog about going green. I am going to find a few free to join affiliate programs that are relative to my topic. So, if I find an all natural soy candle company that I believe in and can be an affiliate for, I could start a blog post specifically on the benefits of choosing a soy candle as opposed to the other available candles on the market. I would focus my post on the benefits of using soy, why it is greener than using another kind of candle, and then at the end of the blog post, I would mention the company name and would include my affiliate link to the site. I would also make sure my affiliate link and/or affiliate banner are located on the main page of my blog!

Others are using blogs as a means of selling product. Their blogs function as their business website. I honestly can't say whether or not this is an efficient way to sell product, but in my own mind, I would imagine it would be better to have a website dedicated to sales and then a blog to help promote that website. Not only does this allow for cross linking (and better page ranks), but it would also serve the individual better in separating blogs from business. Yes, you can intertwine the two, but I still believe it is better to have your own dedicated site for selling your product.

How Can I Generate Traffic to My Blog?
The first thing I am going to tell you to do is to visit our sister site WAHMs That Blog, and get listed in the blogging directory. It is totally free and by adding your information to the site and our banner to your blog, you are instantly connecting yourself to potential traffic.

Don't stop there! Start a blogroll on your blog. That's a list you create using the "Add a Page Element" with a "Link List." You simply find other blogs that you like and are appealing to the same readers you have, and list them in the blogroll, making sure you ask the other blog owner to link back to you. If you've got a good looking blog with good content you should have no problem getting a link back!

While you are on other people's blogs, look at elements they have on their sites. Look at the banners for directories where they are listed and then go and get listed there too! Remember to always reciprocate links! It is just as kind as it is helpful and useful to you, so you are gaining traffic for your site and vice versa.

If you like the way others have designed their blogs, or you like their elements, try to incorporate them into your blog, too (or something similar - don't just blatantly copy someone). Be inspired by others and aspire to inspire them, too!

In Closing...
At this point, you should have a basic blog and should be ready to start promoting your blog. Like I said before, keep up the work (GOOD work) and you will go far! As long as you believe in yourself (and you should!), then you will be a success. It is called the "Self Fulfilling Prophecy" - you will only do as well as you believe you can. Set your goals HIGH and work to reach them. If you fall short, that's okay too! Pat yourself on the back and be happy for what you HAVE accomplished.

Also, don't be discouraged if you don't understand everything that has been discussed here. Sometimes you may have to read something a few times before it sinks in. Remember, there is always a learning curve that has to be tackled when you do something new. The things I've presented here are the basics and once you play around you will get the hang of it in NO TIME FLAT!

Also, be sure you read more on our site about Monetizing Your Website and Blogging for Profit, and don't forget to visit our other websites that might help you, too. WAHJunction offers listings of free business opportunities and others that are worth their required sign-up investment. The site is set up in a way for you to browse and assess the information before committing to a businesses. You can use these businesses for making money on your blog, too!

Wishing you the BEST of Luck,
Rachael Towle

Please note! The information on this page was written exclusively for WAHStation. It is not to be used for reprint on any other site. Copyright© 2008, Rachael Towle