Thread: School Me on Blogging

I spend a minimum of around 10 hours in front of a computer and i can be a very opinionated person at times so im thinking, why not start writing a blog?

I need a bit of schooling on how to set up shop? ways to get traffic? ways to monetize without annoying readers? Is it better to use a domain or use a blogging service (like blogger) - if so, what is the best service?

^ These are what i can think of off the top of my head, i will have more questions...

Thanks in advance

I'm a professional blogger.. If you want to PM me, I'll be happy to help you get started.

But to answer your questions quickly - Wordpress (self-hosted) is the platform you want to use if you're serious about blogging. You should go with a real domain name, it'll help you in the long run. And while you can test the waters with Google Adsense, I personally think it's better to first build a following before you start bombarding them with ads and the likes.

As far as traffic, if you have a topic that's interesting to others, you shouldn't have much trouble getting readers to your site. Social media is a good way to get started.. Facebook, Twitter, forums, word of mouth, etc.

BTW, you should realize that 95% of the bloggers out there make little to no money, so hopefully your motivation isn't financial.

Originally Posted by Officer Cartman

I'm a professional blogger.. If you want to PM me, I'll be happy to help you get started.

But to answer your questions quickly - Wordpress (self-hosted) is the platform you want to use if you're serious about blogging. You should go with a real domain name, it'll help you in the long run. And while you can test the waters with Google Adsense, I personally think it's better to first build a following before you start bombarding them with ads and the likes.

As far as traffic, if you have a topic that's interesting to others, you shouldn't have much trouble getting readers to your site. Social media is a good way to get started.. Facebook, Twitter, forums, word of mouth, etc.

BTW, you should realize that 95% of the bloggers out there make little to no money, so hopefully your motivation isn't financial.

Spot on. Fully agree.

Thanks for the reply Officer Cartman! much appreciated, i'll send you a PM regarding starting up soon.

Here is round 2 of questions

- If i don't start with my own domain, lets say i go with blahblah.wordpress.com, can i move my blog to a different domain later (www. blahblah .com) without losing its content?

- I've been checking out Wordpress blogs this whole day and most of them look stunning, do i have to choose a pre-defined theme or can i make my own? is it hard to make your own theme? (keeping in mind i possess no knowledge of HTML or any of those coding stuff)

- This is one is for you Cartman; You say 95% of bloggers don't make much money, but on the other hand you're a professional blogger? how does that work?

^ that being said my motivation isn't financial, if im being honest ideally i'd want my blog to generate enough money over the year to cover the domain charges (if i choose to go with my own domain name)

Originally Posted by BG

Thanks for the reply Officer Cartman! much appreciated, i'll send you a PM regarding starting up soon.

Here is round 2 of questions

- If i don't start with my own domain, lets say i go with blahblah.wordpress.com, can i move my blog to a different domain later (www. blahblah .com) without losing its content?

- I've been checking out Wordpress blogs this whole day and most of them look stunning, do i have to choose a pre-defined theme or can i make my own? is it hard to make your own theme? (keeping in mind i possess no knowledge of HTML or any of those coding stuff)

- This is one is for you Cartman; You say 95% of bloggers don't make much money, but on the other hand you're a professional blogger? how does that work?

^ that being said my motivation isn't financial, if im being honest ideally i'd want my blog to generate enough money over the year to cover the domain charges (if i choose to go with my own domain name)

With a wordpress.com blog I don't think you can upload your own theme,I maybe wrong but they have a deep inventory of free themes you can choose from. The advantage of getting your own domain is the cool plugins you get to install as well.

That 95% know very little about marketing and monetizing content.

You'll find the 5% to be very savvy in social media marketing and seo, which enables them to build huge e-mail lists, sell info products, sell ad space and promote other blogs for fee.


The cost of purchasing a domain is no more than $10 for a com and depending on your host it will be $2.99-9.99 for a small and simple blog.

And what about the first question? about moving a blog from .wordpress to .com?

Originally Posted by BG

And what about the first question? about moving a blog from .wordpress to .com?

There we go

^ Thanks!

Okay when i was talking about making my own theme, let me rephrase that, i have some themes already but can i change elements in these themes? like background color, fonts, etc?

Originally Posted by BG

^ Thanks!

Okay when i was talking about making my own theme, let me rephrase that, i have some themes already but can i change elements in these themes? like background color, fonts, etc?

Depends really, read the themes terms and conditions on the parent webpage. There could be a few legal issues about changing themes' code to tailor your own site.

I don't blog, know nothing about blogging, but my advice is in reference to another question that you asked, that erks me a little bit about people wanting to start up their own business.

The whole point of starting a business is to invest in YOURSELF! Otherwise, go to school, get a degree, and get in with a good company and earn solid figures doing the work that someone else is instructing you to do. You can make bank without having to create something yourself, get some nice vacation hours, health benefits, perks for you and your family, etc.

HOWEVER, if you want to start up something like a blog, and you are obviously looking to make a little spare change, spend the extra couple of bucks, pick up your own domain name and host the site yourself. It bothers me when people want to do something, but aren't willing to invest the time, energy, and little bit of cash into doing it right. Buying a domain name, securing hosting, and paying someone a few hundred bucks to setup a nice wordpress page on your domain isn't really a big investment. If you believe in yourself, spend the doe and doit right. Doing the whole xxxx.wordpress.com thing is cheap and amateurish.

It sounds like you were contemplating doing it the cheap way, and as a freelancer who has been doing web programming/design for about 10 years, it always bothers me when people want to cheap-out, and wonder why their business didn't take off. People will only take you serious, if you take yourself serious.

I'm not trying to sound overly harsh, I'm just trying to show you the importance of really believing in your own ideas and taking them seriously so other people will, as well.