I have written a very detailed guide on why would anyone start blogging and I have also written a detailed guide on how to create a free blog.
First if you want to start a blog a free blog there are two platforms i recommend mostly for creating a free blog
1. WordPress.com
2. Blogger.com
These two platforms are well known for their good performance mainly blogger.com which is been owned by Google
But once you decided to turn it into a paid blog which you can always make money from then you should go straight to WordPress.org
Note: In a free blogging platform like those that I have mentioned, no expenses will be done except when you are trying to buy a domain, all the hosting are free.
Reason To Move From A Free Blogging Platform To A Paid Blog
The reason is simple – customization and flexibility. Free blogging services like Blogger and WordPress.com don’t allow you to add all of the features available with paid hosting. Such as:
• shopping carts
• advertising
• speed enhancements to improve the user experience
• free add-ons to make your site look better
• access to thousands of free WordPress plugins (custom functions and features so that each blogger can tailor their site to their specific needs)
I’ve been building online businesses. I would never in my life start a new website with a “free” blogging or “free” website platform.
If you do, within months your website is going to start growing, and you’re going to have to switch to a paid platform anyway. You will have thrown away all that time (and lost money in the process).
Unless you are going to stick with the free blogging platform
I’ll give you another analogy. With free hosting, it’s like renting an apartment that has steel walls. You can’t use a hammer and nails to hang pictures, install shelves, put up wallpaper or hang a TV mount.
With paid hosting, your apartment is like a modular office space you can customize however you want. You can move the walls around, put nails in to hang pictures everywhere you want, install shelves, mount five TVs around the place, etc. Heck, you can even cut a hole in the wall and stick in a new window if you want.
You need to be able to customize your site if you want to make money with your blog.
For example, if you want to make money from:
Advertising, advertisers prefer professional looking websites. A professional looking website is much harder to get with the free blogging services, which is just one more reason to go with a hosting platform like Bluehost.
Why Use Bluehost To Create Your Paid Blog?
Here is why I trust and recommend Bluehost to new bloggers:
• Amazing 24×7 support via phone, e-mail, or chat. If you have questions on getting started or setup, you can get help quickly and easily
• It’s easy to get started. My 15-minute tutorial walks you through step-by-step how to get started blogging. It really is that easy to start a WordPress blog.
• FREE blog domain – Bluehost will give you a domain name for free such as www.kellymarketingcpa.com.ng
• 100% Money Back Guarantee – Bluehost has a 30-day money back guarantee
• FREE WordPress setup. WordPress is the blogging software used by the majority of bloggers. Bluehost includes an easy setup for adding WordPress.
• Reliability – Bluehost websites are up 99.9% of the time. Reliability is important because if your blog is down, you don’t make any money! A friend lost over $5,000 in one day before when GoDaddy was hacked and his website was unavailable.
• Self-hosting. If your goal is to make money from your blog you have to have a self-hosted blog. Self-hosting just means you are paying to host the blog yourself using a service, as opposed to using a free service that hosts it for you.
• You’ll look professional – Free blogs like Blogger, Tumblr, or WordPress.com limit you in various ways and appear less professional than self-hosted blogs.
• It’s cheap! Price matters. And when you have quality and price, it’s a win-win for you. Bluehost starts at just $2.95 per month (a discounted rate available through my link) which is less than a cup of coffee!
When you are ready to get started. There are a lot of blog hosting companies you might come across.
As someone who has been in the online business and has started three successful companies using Bluehost, invest in yourself and check them out.
Naming Your Blog
What if you can’t think of a name for your blog?
One challenge of getting started blogging has nothing to do with writing or setting up the blog. It’s figuring out what to name your blog!
You might think all the good names are taken! It just takes time to find the right one for you.
Even if you can’t think of one yet, you can get your blog setup and finish up the name later.
Action Items For Creating A Paid Blog
1. Sign up for a blog host (Bluehost is the one I recommend) and get WordPress installed. You can follow my step-by-step instructions.
2. Start thinking about a name for your blog