Make Money Blogging in 10 Easy Steps

I’m happy to tell you that there are a large number of folks who make the decision to make a money making blog before they actually even have a blog!

I love this. I wish I’d of had the same insight and foresight before I began blogging. For many of us, blogging is just something we started to do, enjoyed, and kept on doing. Then one day, we woke up and realized, “Hey, there are people who actually make their living doing this!” From then on, it becomes a loving pursuit and a challenge. The problem is, that in order to reach the point where we are actually making money, most of us have had to stumble through a lot of mistakes, some of them expensive, some of them counter-productive, some of them just plain stupid.

In the spirit of helping those who are just starting to avoid these stumbling blocks and those who are stumbling to find their way quicker. I offer this short article on the bare basics of creating a money making blog. If you already are blogging, I hope that there will still be some useful tools here for you to use. If you have key advice that I have somehow missed, please post in the comments and share your hard earned knowledge with the rest of us.

The Basics

When I say the basics, I mean the basics. If you want to be a blogger and create a money making blog the first thing you need is A BLOG!

You have several options. If you just want a free place to write about your topic, you can set up a blog at wordpress.com. WordPress.com is non-monetized so you can’t sell ads or work with affiliates there. They maintain a fairly strict policy so since you want to make money, I will say to you, don’t build a free blog at wordpress.com.

Blogger/Blogspot (owned by Google) is slightly less restrictive and allows Adsense and some affiliate networking. None the less, I am going to discourage you from using this or any free, hosted platform. You are serious about making money with your blog, right? So act serious. Get a blog that you have 100% control over.

Now we are talking.

Here is what you do:

1) Figure out what your blog is going to be about. Think of a name that sums that up clearly. If you are going to blog about rain jackets, then you better make sure rain jackets is in the name you choose. Got your name figured out? Is it perfect? Great. Don’t get too attached to it, chances are it is taken already. But that’s okay.

2) Go to Google and search for GoDaddy Promo codes. Look for one that is current and that gives you the cheapest price for a .com domain. Usually you can find one for around $7.49 as opposed to the $10+ that Godaddy charges. Copy that code down.

3) Go to GoDaddy and search for your domain name. If it’s not taken, try to figure out why. A good domain has your keywords, isn’t very long (the shorter the better), and clearly defines your topic. If you found it great. Register it right now. Use the promo code when you are paying. See, this article already saved you $3 and money saved really is like money earned.

If your dream domain is taken spend some time and search. It might take you hours, but you will find a good domain. I recommend you stick with .com and avoid .us, .info, .de and other extensions. .com is the mainstay, don’t settle. Okay, you’ve got your domain, register it. Go ahead and register for two years and don’t buy any of GoDaddy’s other services. You don’t want or need them. Just the domain. If you’ve registered for two years, you’ve already saved $6 by reading this article.

4) Go to the GoDaddy domain manager and change the DNS You are not going to be hosting at GoDaddy. Once your DNS are set, you can leave GoDaddy.
You won’t need to go back until you want another domain or it’s time to renew.

5) Go to Bluehost.com and sign up for their services.

6) But what about the blog? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. Go to Bluehost.com All you need to do is navigate to ‘Fantastico’ on the control panel, then select ‘WordPress’, install new. There is no charge for this. In seconds you have a self-hosted WordPress blog, which means you can do whatever you want with it.

7)Set up your money making blog email. this is important so don’t use your college nickname “Meathead@xxxxx.com” instead make it something strong like webmaster@, ads@, or even yourname@xxxxx.com

Now, go to WordPress.org and start learning about the awesome and easy power of a self hosted WordPress blog. You are set up with the same platform as the pros now. Now you just have to learn to use it.

9) Don’t just start throwing trashy content on your blog though. Take the time to read about how the pros make money at other money making blogs like Problogger, JohnChow.com, and Money-Era.com

10) Set up a free Paypal account so that you can start collecting some cash.

Way to go Blogger! Welcome to the world of making money with your own blog. You just created your own future.