How To Start a Blog That Can Become a Source of Income

How do you start a blog? And how much does it cost to set up one?

These are two questions that people I meet often ask me whenever I tell them that a part of my income today comes from blogging.

And with computers and affordable broadband internet connection now easily accessible to most Filipinos, it’s not a surprise that many are considering joining the growing number of Pinoys who make money online.

So if you think you have what it takes to become a blogger, and would like to make it a source of personal income, then below are the most basic steps.

But first, let me tell you three things…

#1 Blogging involves a lot of self-study.
Unless you personally know someone who can spoonfeed help you with blogging – you’re on your own kid! Don’t worry, there’s a lot of free resources online about blogging… just try not to overwhelm yourself and learn at your own pace.

#2 Making money online takes time.
Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Expect to earn nothing from it in your first three months (that’s assuming you can blog regularly). And good, consistent income (at least $100 every month), on average (based on the people I know) – can take almost a year to achieve.

#3 Never start a blog simply because you want to make money online.
Blogging requires focus, time dedication and as corny as it sounds… passion. So if you’re just in it for the money – you might soon find yourself losing interest and eventually quitting because of the first two items I just mentioned above.

Now that you know what’s up ahead for you, it’s time to give you a “crash course” on how to set up a blog.

There are three things you need to start blogging:

1. A domain name (the url or internet address)
2. Webhosting (the server or the company where you will put your files)
3. A blog platform (the “online software” you will use to blog)

Domain names, on the average, currently costs $10 a year – but it’s usually a little more. And it’s always better to get a dot com (.com) in my opinion.

Meanwhile, webhosting will cost you around $2 a month – but this is assuming you have low traffic (20 – 100 visitors a day). When your blog starts to get around 5,000 visitors a day, you may be required to get a webhosting service that costs around $30 a month.

Fortunately, the blog platform is free, and is available through the webhosting company. This blog uses the WordPress blogging platform.

Get it all for FREE… here’s how:

Sign up and create a blog through Blogger. Your domain name will look something like yourblogname.blogspot.com, you’ll be using Google’s servers as your webhosting and your platform will be that of Blogger’s.

There are also other websites that allow you to create and maintain a blog for free – but personally, I recommend Blogger if you don’t want to spend a single centavo.

So why pay if can create a blog for free?

1. Because you want your own domain name like www.myawesomeblog.com.
2. You want full control and ownership of your blog.

Most free blogging service websites (such as Blogger), allow you to buy a custom domain name – and still use their servers as your webhost for free.

However, your blog is “at their mercy” – which means if they think that your blog violates their service terms and conditions, then they can just shut it down and delete it without much warning.

Also, since the blog is in their servers – to which you have very limited access to, then you do not have full control on your blog’s layout and design, plus it’s harder to create a back-up of your photos, articles and other content.

Lastly, it will be difficult to get private advertisers because if you’re on an “all free” account, they’ll have an initial impression that you’re not serious about blogging.

For people who wants to see if blogging is something they can do:
Start a blog in Blogger.com and see how it feels to become a blogger. Write your content, and focus on developing a regular blogging schedule first.

Once you feel ready to “level up”, look for a webhosting company and migrate to a self-hosted WordPress blog. That’s what I did actually, my address used to be readytoberich.blogspot.com. I transferred after 3 months.

For people who are really serious about blogging:
Buy a domain name, spend on webhosting and use WordPress. If you’re looking for a Philippine-based webhosting company, I recommend SolidHosting.PH.

A friend of mine, Marlon, owns that company. And he can help you set up a WordPress blog for as low as P1,100 per year (P500 for the domain name, P600 for the webhosting).

Note: The price is low because you have limited disk space and bandwidth – but it’s nevertheless good enough for serious starters.

For people who are really, really, really serious about blogging:
Get unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth by signing up with Dreamhost. They are my current webhosting company. Your domain name is free for life if you get them as your webhost, but be ready to spend at least $8.95 a month for the webhosting service of your WordPress blog.

Of course, you can sign up wherever you want – just be sure that whichever webhosting company you choose, you actually know someone who is using them so you can get honest feedback first with regards to the quality of their service.

Moreover, you can always just stick with Blogger.com for the webhosting and blogging platform; and just buy your own domain name – I have friends who have been successful at this route. Just be sure that you read and understand their terms of use so your blog won’t get flagged as inappropriate and get deleted.

I guess that’s all you need to know about creating and setting up a blog, at least the technical side of it. So before I end, let me give you some final tips:

• Before creating a blog, choose your niche first – be sure it’s about a topic that you have unlimited enthusiasm in and can write “endlessly” about.
• Choose an easy to remember name or title for your blog. Using that as your domain name is recommended but not required. If you’re building a personal brand, buy the domain name of your name just like what I did.
• Never promote or market your blog until you have at least 20 posts and you’ve already established a regular blogging schedule. You want first time visitors to bookmark your blog because they can’t finish reading everything, and by the time they come back, you already have new posts!
• Read through my Collection of Blogging Tips I’ve Given During Events

Congratulations! You’ve just finished your crash course on how to set up and create a blog. If you have questions, just leave them in the comments section below.

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Photo credits: barnett and krisolin