Step by Step Guide to starting a blog - and making money from it

This is a complete Step by Step guide for Newbies about how to start a blog and monetize it. There are so many helpful sites online for this kind of thing but I couldn't find a complete guide for begginers starting from scratch....

Feel free to post this on your site - just make sure you link back to my blog.

I hope you find it useful....


STEP 1 - PLAN

What are you going to write about? What interests you, what do you have a lot to say about? Put some ideas down on paper and choose one topic. Now you need to write about something from a different angle - what will make your blog stand out from the others?

STEP 2 - GET YOUR BLOG

Sign up for a free blog with blogger ( who this site is with). It's great and really easy to create a nice looking blog.

STEP 3 - STYLIZE

Work on making your blog look good. First impressions count!
Blog Crowds Has some great free 3 column templates. Just copy the code and post it in your edit template page in blogger.
Choose a colour scheme - keep it simple just two or three main colours - you don't want people to get distracted. There is a great site which helps you choose schemes for your blog. Color Schemer
*Text size - the number one way to lose readers is to make your text too small. Make sure it is a good size so that everyone can read it easily.

STEP 4 - CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

Content is what makes your BLOG. It's what makes readers return visit after visit. Make sure it is unique and well written. Use LABELS in the side bar so people can find posts on the topics they are interested quickly and easily.

STEP 5 - MONETIZE

Once you have completed steps 1 - 4 and are happy with the results you can apply For a google adsense account. Make sure you have atleast 5 good qulity posts or they may not accept you. They will respond to your request within 3 days. Then you will get a publisher I.D number. Inside blogger there is an adsense section which will match the adds to the color scheme of your blog.

STEP 6 - Publisize

Get your site out there, increase the traffic to your site.

1 Join MyBlogLog A kind of Myspace for blogs, join communities and promote your blog.

2. Put a link in your signature in forums that you post in with a catchy title, this will get people looking.

3.Use Mylot To promote your blog, start a discussion, ask open ended questions and put your blog link in the post. You get paid for posting at the same time!

4. Link exchange with similar sites, swapping links is a good way to generate a bit of extra traffic.

STEP 7 - Stick at it!

This is the most important yet the hardest one. Do not give up hope. Set an amount you will post per week and stick to it! If your site is unique, well written and laid out then resders will return.

Good Luck


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