A “blog” is abbreviated from the term, “web log” which is a form of online diary or journal.

Since its advent a few short years ago, blogs have found numerous uses. Just to name a few, these include:

- teenagers putting their thoughts and ramblings online
- hobbyists giving updates about their interests and passion
- people staying updated with friends overseas
- professional bloggers updating specific niche products
- multinational corporations (MNC’s) such as Microsoft & General Motors using blogs as marketing tool

Like a web site, a blog has global reach. However, it’s far cheaper, quicker and definitely easier to maintain a blog than a traditional web site. A blog’s contents can be easily updated by submitting short or long articles (commonly known as blog posts) through an easy-to-use graphical interface. As a blog’s content is updated regularly, they naturally attract both human readers as well as search engines hungry for fresh content.

To set up a blog, we need some form of blogging software or platform. There are free software like Blogger and WordPress and there are paid platforms like Moveable Type and Typepad.

Blogger is owned by Google. It’s free and perhaps the easiest way to create a blog and your first post, literally within minutes! Howeer, its features are somewhat limited.

Thus, WordPress is a good alternative if you are looking for free blogging software. As it is an open source software, it is literally supported by a huge community of users and developers that assists both new and experienced bloggers. Not only feature rich – it supports categories, pages and trackbacks, just to name a few – it is constantly being updated through its core software as well as through software plugin’s which are bonus software components that extend the basic functionality of WordPress. For more information, visit WordPress.org

Here are 3 different ways to get a WordPress blog up and running:

1) Via WordPress.com

2) Via WordPress.org

3) Via CPANEL’s Fantastico

VIA WORDPRESS.COM

Like Blogger, you can get your WordPress blog and first post up and running within several minutes through WordPress.com! This site is meant for people to get a taste of WordPress without having to go through the somewhat involved procedure via WordPress.org (see the section below). If this is the first time you are getting your WordPress blog up and running, you should definitely give this a shot.

It’s as easy as going to WordPress.com, clicking the button that says “Get a WordPress Blog Now>>” or something like that and following the directions there. And then, you start posting!

In this case, your WordPress blog will be hosted on WordPress.com totally free. Therefore, you do not need your own web host. The only drawback is that there are limitations such as you can’t install your own themes or plugin’s.

VIA WORDPRESS.ORG

Instead of having your blog hosted on WordPress.com, you can install WordPress on your own web host. (Of course, in this case, you need to have your own web hosting account which preferably comes with a version of “CPANEL” – a an easy-to-use graphical control panel to manage your web host.)

Setting up of the WordPress blog comprises the 3 main steps below.

Step 1: Visit WordPress.org and download the WordPress installation files which are free (since it is open source software as mentioned before). As the files are in a compressed format, run your compression utility (such as Winzip) to expand the files to your hard disk..

Step 2: Run your File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program and connect to your web hosting account. Then upload the installation files to the domain (if you have multiple domains hosted) and folder that you want your WordPress blog installed.

Step 3: This step is going to be challenging for the non-techie type if they managed to survive Step 2! You log into the CPANEL of your web host and create and configure your MYSQL database. After this is done, you need to configure some files to complete your installation.

Next, launch your browser to access your blog and start making your 1st post by running the “wp-admin.php” script that has been installed.

As you can see, this is the “normal” but very tedious way of setting up of your WordPress blog.

However, the effort you expend is worthwhile as you can configure all aspects of WordPress like installing the theme you like and adding HTML codes to include Google AdSense on your blog to earn some profit, etc.

VIA FANTASTICO

Again, you install WordPress on your own web host but this time through FANTASTICO. In this case, not only would you need to have your own web hosting account, it MUST come with a version of “CPANEL” that includes “FANTASTICO” – an advanced script installer that automates a 1-click WordPress installation! (Actually a few clicks are needed.)

With FANTASTICO, all the 3 steps above are automated for you. All you need to do is to log into the CPANEL of your web host and then click the FANTASTICO icon, which is a smiley face.

In the next screen, click on “WordPress” and then click on “New Installation”. FANTASTICO will open a form and you fill in a few things like which domain (if you have multiple domains hosted) and which folder to install to. Once you have typed in the information and pushed a button, FANTASTICO will install WordPress in a few seconds!

How is that possible? That’s because the installation files are already at your web host. This saves you time as you don’t have to download them from WordPress.org, expand them and upload to your web host. Likewise, the databas is also automatically created and configured for you.

Next, launch your browser to access your blog and start making your 1st post by running the “wp-admin.php” script that has been installed.

As you can see, this is the “preferred” method of getting a WordPress blog up and running, also within minutes.and yet you can have all the benefits of configuring all aspects of WordPress, such as adding Affiliate Programs easily (including Amazon.com) and Google AdSense to make a handsome profit month after month!

What does passion have to do with it? I just want to make money!

Well making money might be a good reason for starting a blog and money CAN be made, but in the end creating and maintaining a blog that is going to last is more about your passion or your driving force. Ask yourself this question;

“What would I do everyday, for the rest of my life, without ever being paid to do it?”

Whatever answer you come up with is your passion. That is what your blog should be about; YOUR PASSION. That is what you should be blogging about. Write for yourself before you right for someone else. Money and fame are just icing on the cake.

See, when you first start writing your blog, there most likely WILL NOT be any money returned from your time investment. Making money is usually a result of long hours invested in gaining subscribers and avid readers and becoming known as an “expert”. You might decide to monetize your blog, but without people reading your blog, how are you going to make money?

Remember this:

THERE ARE NO GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEMES RELATED TO BUILDING AN A+ BLOG!!!

Sorry to dash your dreams but if you are looking for the “key” to riches beyond your wildest dreams, then please go somewhere else; you won’t find it here.

Step 2: Write Down Your Goals

Most likely if you write down your goals those goals will happen. This is because making yourself actually think about what you want to accomplish is half of the battle already won.

“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail.” ~ English Proverb

What do you want to accomplish? How are you going to deliver your message? When you are finished, what is it going to look like?

Step 3: Visit Some Other Blogs

Do some research and check out what other people are doing with their blogs. Learn what blogging is in general. Don’t just search for blogs in your niche, but also in general. There is alot to be learned from others that have already put up there own blogs. Posts some comments so that you can start to get a feel of what the whole blogging process is. While you are researching be sure to bookmark those blogs that you have visited and write down interesting ideas that pop into your head. You might not remember where you have been only a day or two earlier.

Step 4: Choose a Blogging Software

There a bunch of options when looking for your blogging software. I would start by doing a search on Google for Blogging Software. Don’t be intimidated by the 62,000,000 + results returned back to you.

For the scope of the article, I am going to talk about WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com). I chose WordPress for my blog not only because it is the most popular, but also because it is backed by a huge community, has some really useful plugins, gives you loads of control and is easy to use. You can either signup for at www.wordpress.com or find your own hosting provider to host the blog for you. If you are new to blogging then signing-up at www.wordpress.com might be your best bet. There are many of bulit-in extras like stats that track your visitors that are beneficial. Best of all it is FREE!!

Step 5: Buy a Domain Name

Buying a domain from a domain registry such as GoDaddy will make your blog appear more professional. Choose a domain name that not only fits your blog’s purpose but also has keywords in it. For instance, if your blog is about gardening, then choose a domain such as “MyGardeningBlog.com” or “My-Gardening-Blog.com”. The .com, .net, .org, etc extension is not important although .com extensions are generally recognized as the default.

Step 6: Customize Your Blog

Customizing your blog is very easy with WordPress. If you choose to host your blog with www.wordpress.com then you can choose from dozens of pre-installed templates. You can also Search Google for additional templates that are either FREE or low cost for around $45 a template. If you find a template that is not provided by the hosted service then you can simply upload the new template to your account. The control panel that comes with the hosted service is very easy to use.

If you are daring enough to modify the template by hand you can do so. WordPress is built in a web site scripting language called PHP. If you are not familiar with PHP then this route is not for you. You can, however, find additional resources online either at the WordPress website or by doing a Google search.

Step 7: Install Helpful Plugins

WordPress is easily expandable by the use of “Plugins”. Plugins are little pieces of software that are created by a 3rd-Party developer that accomplish simple tasks such as helping you manage your Google Adsense(http://www.google.com/adsense) ads or backing up your WordPress installation. There are many plugins to choose from and you can search for them at www.wordpress.org.

Step 8: Write Your “About” Page

When you are ready, you can describe the blog and its purpose in an “About” page. Be as descriptive as you can about the target audience and what you will be providing in the blog.

Step 9: Start Posting to Your Blog

This is actually the hardest part. If you have done your homework on what your passion was and you did some research, then you most likely did some blog posts in your head. Don’t sweat coming up with great and astounding ideas or intricate essays. Remember the KISS method and Keep It Simple Stupid! (OK I had to break this rule for this article but you know what I mean…)

You have to remember who your audience is in general. Most people read blogs rather than other forms of information because they are short and to-the-point snippets of information that can be easily digested. I think this is just normal human behavior in a conventional society. There is far too much information on the internet and too little time to try to consume it all. Blogs satisfy our normal curiosity like small little squares of chocolate would satisfy our sweet-tooth.

Step 10: Marketing (and maybe Monetizing) Your Blog

Since you have been blogging your little heart away, wouldn’t it be nice if people actually read it? Here are a few ways, among many, to go about marketing your blog.

1. Google Website Submittal(http://www.google.com/addurl/) – This allows you to easily add your new blog (or website) to Google. I also suggest you submit to Yahoo and AltaVista and any other search engine or directory you can find.

2. Google Adsense and Adwords – Adwords allows you to advertise on Google and Adsense allows you display ads on your blog that match your content. If any visitors to your blog click on the advertisements you get paid for it. What a concept!! Be sure to check the other suggested affiliates and ad networks under the “Money Makers” section of this blog.

3. Google Sitemap – This is a FREE plugin for WordPress that you can install that will create a Google Sitemap of your blog that can be used to allow your blog to be better indexed by Google.

4. FeedBurner – Another plugin and service that is FREE that allows you to do some really neat things with your blog’s feed. The feed of your blog is what allows someone to subscribe to your blog. It is a file that contains all of your posts in a specific file format called RSS that an “aggregator” (or “feed reader”) such as Google Reader can read and keep track of. You would want to use an aggregator because it keeps track of the different blog feeds that you have subscribed to and allows you to read those blog feeds all in one place. Although you do not need FeedBurner to allow your blog to be subscribed to, it has some really great features that you need to check out.

5. Comments – Visit alot of blogs and subscribe to them. Try to be the first to leave a comment with a link back to your blog.

6. Forums – Forums are the same way. Just be careful that you are truly leaving a comment about the thread and not just trying to advertise your blog.

7. Signatures – When you leave a comment or send an email make sure you use a signature that has your blog address.

8. Write Articles – Turn you blog posts into an expanded article that you can put on a tutorial or eZine (Electronic or Online Magazine) website such as ArticlesBase.com(http://www.articlesbase.com). Make sure to add a link back to your blog.

9. Word of Mouth – Don’t forget to tell the people you know about your new blog and keep them updated on what is going on. Ask them to become subscribers to your blog.

What is a blog?

Blog is a personal space, rather a personal diary, with the difference that it is not a closed diary but one that is open to anyone to walk in and read and leave a comment. There are various types of blogs, some are business blogs, and some are social networking blogs. Some blogs are personal some are professional but most of them have a theme on which the contents are based. Creating a blog is easy, even a child make a blog.

Types of blogs

Comment blogs are the ones that offer comment on events in the writer’s life. It takes a subject or incident and makes a comment which the reader may be interested in. Comment blogs often substitute for newspaper editorials. Needless to say they are a combination of news and opinions. Blogs are tools in the hands of writers to keep in touch with each other and also to inform the world about events in the writer’s life. Recently, there have been instances of bloggers updating the world about events in countries that have undergone political change, when no other traditional media was allowed to cover the events.

The other type of blog is filter blog. Filter blogs are similar to comment blogs but point to other locations within the internet for articles and have minimum of content, and more of links. Owners of such blogs can be requested for links to sites, for a fee, of course. You can make money online using these blogs.

You can opt for any of these types to make money through blogging. Most blogs such as blogger.com and wordpress.com are free to subscribers and you can easily create a blog in a few steps and earn good money.

Creating a Blog

Blogs are easy to create on Blogger.com and wordpress.com. There are other blog creation sites such as typepad, and MSN’s live.com. It only takes a few clicks to create a blog. Have a name that is appropriate to the theme of your blog so that they will show up in search engine results and it can also impact your ranking on search engines. For example if your blog is about mobile blogging have a name such as mobile-blogging.blogspot.com. Do not combine the two words, i.e., don’t create a blog with the name as mobileblogging.blogspot.com. It’s a better strategy to use the former to let search engines find your blog.

Promoting Your Blog

First of all submit your blog to the major search engines before you can earn money from blogging. Slowly, your traffic will build and you can paste a visit counter to check the progress of visitors on your blog. Also send a link to your friends and extended contact lists to visit your blog and link to you. When the number of links of your blog increases, so will your popularity and your rating with the search engines. Keep promoting your blog without let up.

Apply to Affiliate Programs

When there is a constant flow of visitors to your blog everyday you can start the process of earning money from your blog. First apply to affiliation programs which pay money to feature their ads on your blog. After registering with them copy and paste their code in the appropriate sections in your blog. Affiliate programs pay per click or pay if a sale is made through a click from your blog. So choose your affiliate program wisely.

Register with Google Adsense

Google runs their advertising program on websites and blogs which is called Google Adsense. When you register with Adsense, Google supplies you with the code that you can copy and paste on your blog. Once you do this you can track your blog’s performance by registering on Google’s analytical tool – Google Analytics. This free analytical tool will analyze the number of visitors to your site each and also give you the demographic data of the visitors.

Do not give up. As the popularity of your blog grows, both traffic as well as ranking on search engines can only become better. So the more popular your blog the more will be your revenue from Affiliate programs and Adsense.

Most importantly, if you are seeking to make money from blogging, spread your interests across multiple revenue streams so as not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Some Good Money Making Affiliate Sites:

www.google.com/adsense

As mentioned above, Adsense is Google’s advertising program and when featured on your blog can bring you revenue when a visitor clicks on the ad links. If you place the adsense code strategically on your blog then you can get more clicks. It should be right at the top of the blog, and preferably at the top right hand side. Also you can choose an ad size that is prominent enough to display it prominently on your blog.

www.amazon.com

Amazon has an affiliate program that includes products like books, CDs, office products, household products, etc. It also has a contextual advertising program in which you have to place a code in your page and all words on your page that has association with Amazon products will turn into a link. This has more chances of making money as the reader is directly reading content relating to the advertisement, and therefore has a greater chance of clicking on the ad.

www.register.com

Register.com is a website that is in the domain booking and related services realm. It has an affiliate program by which their ads can be featured on blogs and the blogger can earn referral income. For more details read the affiliate page on the website.

www.g2bux.com

Though G2bux doesn’t have an affiliation program it rewards members with G2points which can be converted into cash when it reaches a certain limit. Users can find tens of ways to make money online on G2bux. It is a good site to make money from and offers a number of modules through members can earn money. Registration is free and is open to all.

www.ebay.com

Ebay.com also has an affiliate program in which bloggers can become a member. Ebay is a popular site for buying and selling used and new products and your visitors would certainly be interested in the products for sale on the site. Visit ebay.com for their affiliation program and sign up if you think it will work for you.