Here at thethrivinghomesecrets we are always looking for way to simplify and make our lives better. One of the ways we do that is by sharing different ways one can make money online and from the comfort of their home. Our no 1 recommendation to anyone who wants to make some extra money is to start a blog.
If you are looking for an easy guide on how to start a blog in 2019, you are at the right place. A very simplified, step by step guide that anyone can use even without any tech background. With these steps, you will be able to start a blog the right way and in a short span of time you will be making money.
Am sure by now you have seen so many income reports online of bloggers making money blogging. I can attest to that, you can make enough money blogging to quit your 8 to 5 job. Am now a full-time blogger and I love every bit of it. Check out this income report post and see how these bloggers make it work. The beauty of income reports is that most bloggers reveal what working for them and what isn’t working so you get to focus all your energy on what works.
About two years I was looking for a profitable way to make extra money that would give me the freedom I craved for and make enough money to support myself. One day I stumbled upon an income report that intrigued me and that’s where my journey started. Naturally, am curious as a cat, so I followed so many bloggers who were publishing income report income reports and after a month I was sold.
Why Blogging?
1. Blogging gives you freedom
You can work from anywhere as long as you have a computer and good internet connection. Since you become your own boss you set your own working hours.
2. Gives you an opportunity to make money
It’s clear from the income report above that making money from your blog is more than possible. It does take time but with the right information it’s faster. Consistency is key. Put in the hard work, willingness to learn and implement more and you will see results in no time.
3. Blogging provides a platform to connect with big clients
Your blog will act as your portfolio and it will help you advertise your services or skills even better. For example, if you are a social media manager or a virtual assistant people will get to know more about you and what you offer through your blog. Your blog makes you an expert. It shows that you as an authority in your field .
4. Self development
Through blogging you will be able to articulate your thoughts clearly in form of a post which will help you to develop and boost your confidence overtime.
What Should You Blog About?
This is where so many people waste so much time trying to come up with the perfect topic and most end up quitting even before trying.
There are so many approaches to follow when deciding on a topic. Passion, experience and skills are some of the criteria that you will see pops up when you are deciding on which topic to write about. While all that is good advice I highly recommend you pick a topic (s) that has the potential to make money.
You could be passionate or experienced about a topic that will not bring you money at the end of the day. You need to think big. Most people advice to follow the passion rule simply because it makes things easy since you will be focusing on topics you already love, so it doesn’t feel like work at all. There is also a high possibility that if you start a blog in a niche you aren’t passionate about you might get bored along the way but your reasons behind wanting to own a successful blog should fuel and motivate you to keep going.
The easiest way to decide on a niche is to find a problem then come up with solutions for it. You need to solve people’s problems. For example, if you find out most people are looking for ways to be frugal, then start a blog that gives them advice on how to lead a frugal lifestyle.
Some of the niches that have proven profitable over the years are:
Personal Finance
Health and fitness
How to make money
Food
Fashion and beauty
Personal development
Lifestyle (You don’t necessarily have to niche down to be a successful blogger).
The reason why these topics do well is that their demand is so high. For example, in health and fitness people are always looking for ways to lose weight and be fit throughout the year.
As you start you might not be passionate about your niche but as your blog starts to pick that will gradually change. If you want to make money blogging the kind of money that actually allows you to live your dream lifestyle and pursue blogging full-time then you must choose a profitable niche from the word go.
Disclaimer: You can make money blogging in almost any niche you go with, the difference is that some are way easier to build a loyal audience than others. Some niches pick faster and are easy to monetize than others.
After you have your niche sorted you are ready to start a successful blog
1. Choosing a domain name
The first step is to choose a domain name. A domain name is your website URL for example, www.juelzjohn.com or www.thethrivinghomesecrets.com
Don’t overthink your domain name, what matters most is the content you will have on your blog. Don’t aim for perfection otherwise you will end up wasting time. An easy way to go about is to stick with your name. My first website domain is www.juelzjohn.com which is my name. Type in your domain name below and check if it’s availability.
A few things to consider when brainstorming your domain name:
• Pick a name easy to remember
• Make it easy to spell
• Keep it short
• Easy to pronounce
• Avoid numbers and hyphens in your domain name.
If you are still finding it hard, you can add an adjective or verb and combine them. For example, for this website, I went with thethrivinghomesecrets. As you can see nothing profound really but one can easily tell what the website is all about.
2. Choosing a good and a reliable Web hosting
Web hosting is where your website is going to live. You should never go for free websites no matter how tempting it is. You need a self-hosted WordPress site. A free website will look something like this thethrivinghomesecrets.blogspot.com or juelzjohn.wordpress.com
Why free websites are a big no
Doesn’t sound or look professional so it will be hard for you to be taken seriously.
Your work can disappear overnight. Imagine spending sleepless nights creating content only for you to wake up one morning and find that it’s no longer there. Trying to recover is torture and almost impossible. This is because on a free blogging site you don’t own your content or your blog either.
It will be extremely hard for you to monetize your blog if it’s not self-hosted. Free websites don’t look professional, most companies and readers tend to stay away from such sites. Brands, sponsors and ad companies will have to look for self hosted blogs. WordPress will limit your ability to utilize display ads and widgets for example the ones used for hosting giveaways .
With a free blogging site, its very hard to customize it. For example you won’t be able to add plugins that will help you to protect your website from hackers and to get subscribers. At the end of day appearance is everything and you want your blog to look amazing which will be extremely hard to achieve with a free blogging site.
No need to worry if you are using a free blogging platform, you can get someone to help you migrate your site over to Bluehost WordPress site for a small fee or just contact their customer service.
There are two companies that I highly recommend that is Bluehost and Siteground. I have used both companies for hosting my different websites so whichever you choose, you will be good to go. Today we are focusing on how to start a blog with Bluehost because it’s super cheap and very efficient. I have had one of my websites hosted by Bluehost for more than two years and I have had no problems with them so far.
Why Bluehost?
I absolutely love Bluehost because it’s very efficient, reliable, quick, and super affordable.
Their customer service is top-notch and the best part is that there is a money-back guarantee if you are not happy.
Not only do you get a free domain name for a year but WordPress is automatically installed. Awesome right?
Its’#1 recommended web hosting company by WordPress.org.
There are over 2,000,000 other bloggers using Bluehost so you can be sure you’re in good company. Not a surprise that big bloggers such as ProBlogger.com or Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income highly recommend Bluehost.
You get at least five free email addresses that match your domain. Mine is juelz@thethrivinghomesecrets.com instead of gmail.com
Let’s dive in.
Click here to check out Bluehost and simply follow the steps below to guide you through the whole process of starting a blog. ( You get a discount code with that link. You can now start a blog with less than $4.00 per month)
Click the get started now button which will direct you to where you will choose a package.
Choose a package
Since you are just starting out I highly recommend you choose the basic plan and your blog grows you can upgrade to a different plan.
I personally went with the 36 months option, because the longer the duration you pay for the cheaper it becomes. I know it’s a lot of money to pay upfront but as mentioned above Bluehost gives you a money-back guarantee if for any reason you decide to withdraw. With the 36 month plan you end up saving a lot of money in the long run.
Make sure you go with the 12 month or more plan so that can get a good discount and a free domain name. You will notice that if you decide to pay monthly you will end up paying more.
Get a domain
If you haven’t picked your domain yet, it’s time to do so. If you don’t have one yet click the first option but if you have one already then type it on the second option.
If you still can’t brainstorm a domain name you can still choose a free one later one
Fill In Your Account Information
After this step, it’s time to fill in your account, payment and address details
If you want to keep your costs as low as possible, remember to uncheck any of the extra add-ons. I strongly advise paying for “Domain Privacy Protection”, which is only $0.99/month to keep your details private. This helps to make sure that personal info like your email address isn’t out there for others to see.
Payment details
Below, you will have to enter your payment details.
After you have filled in all the details required remember to click the little box to agree to all the terms and conditions and click on submit.
On the next page, you will find some add-ons just skip that because you don’t need that at that moment and click complete.
After that, you should get a welcome to Bluehost page.
After you have set a strong password you will get a congratulation message.
As mentioned above WordPress is already installed, so the next step is to pick a theme.
At first, I went with the a default one then later purchased one. I bought my themes from Pipdig and Theme forest. I have to say am obsessed with the Thrive market themes they are beyond amazing and easy to customize.
I know we all want our websites to look amazing because a well-designed theme is very attractive and inviting. So ahead and have some fun with it. Customize to your liking.
After you select the theme, click on start building now
Welcome to WordPress
You are now a blog owner. Are you excited?
After here you will need to set up important pages such as contact, about me and work with me. Then install plugins and start writing engaging blog posts. All this is part of having a profitable blog. I have included all of it in my free eBook The Beginner’s whisper guide. Which clearly outlines all the steps and shows you some of the important details behind starting a successful blog. Download it below.
Was that hard? Not really. Right? A simplified step by step guide on how to start a blog with Bluehost. Remember to grab your free ebook above that will show the next steps to running a successful blog.
Still hesitant? A year from now you will wish you had started today.
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If you have any questions about starting a self-hosted WordPress blog, please leave me a comment or send me an email at juelz@thethrivinghomesecrets.com. Am here and more than happy to help you. You should be prepared to put in the hard work and a lot of patience because there is nothing like overnight success in the blogging world.