Want to Finally Start a Blog

[Sweets2005]

I have been dabbling with a private blog for almost 4 years now. I have been researching blogging all this time as well. I keep wanting to start one and then chicken out, thinking it will be a waste of time. I am about to start homeschooling my twins this fall, (only pre-k this year) so I thought it would be a good time to start my blog and follow that journey. I used to be a teacher so perhaps I have a lot to share (or not haha!). I have many articles already written to get it started off. Also, next fall (September 2015), I will have to quit my PT job because DH's schedule will change and I won't be able to keep my same schedule. So I was hoping to build up my blog for the next year and see if I can get it off the ground by then. What do you think?

Also, I will focus on homeschooling/pre-k, but also want to do money saving, crafting, and cooking, that is not too much for one blog is it??

Lastly, I have heard blogger is no good but wordpress confuses the heck out of me!! Are there any resources to help me get started?

Thanks so much!!

[mwldream]

Congratulations and hope the blog goes well for you.

I have blogged for years and I am currently in the weight loss & how to for fellow bloggers niches. Though I have done plenty of others like crafts, food etc.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you get a proper domain name and don't use the free services like blogger. Godaddy auctions have some great expiring domains and thats where I get mine from for my coaching clients.

Secondly for a first site look at someone like Bluehost for your hosting before your website grows and you need a VPS.

Blogging is great fun and its also a great career and will easily take over a part time income but you need dedication and to be organised and enjoy writing to make it happen.

Good luck and I hope it goes well for you!

[bwright]

It's good that you're aiming to start your blog *now* instead of waiting. It can take many months to get a blog to point where it has a strong traffic following, so the sooner you can get it up and running, the better.

Like mwldream mentioned also, get your domain name and do NOT use blogger for your platform. Yes, you will need to spend some money (negligible) up front to get things set up, but in the long run it will be well worth the investment. I think a domain name is about $10 and hosting will likely run you about $30 every 3 months or so. I also use Bluehost (since '06) and have had maybe 2-3 issues in the entire time I've been with them.

As for Wordpress tutorials, there are a ton of them all over the internet that you can choose. I have used this ebook ( http://www.2createawebsite.com/wordpress-tutorial/ ) from Lisa Irby to start some of my sites before. I'm not an affiliate of this product, but I just know the information to be clean, understandable and on-point.

Later, when you've built up a traffic base and ready to start monetizing your site, she and other active bloggers have lots of helpful information about going into that direction. The main beneficial thing that you can do is to take your time with each step and phase of the blog and build a solid foundation for its growth. It's not easy, but it's also not impossible.

Wishing you the best of luck!

[Catherine L]

Blogger is actually not all bad, but it isn't the best route.

My advice:

1. Godaddy domain.
2. Host Gator hosting.
3. Wordpress.

You can install WP at the click of a button from cPanel and there are plenty of free and premium themes around the net. What I'd recommend though is putting part of your budget towards web design. A good impression will help to increase sales conversions and audience retention.

[Robin Bull]

I prefer Blogger. I left WordPress and moved to it. I have my own reasons and theories, but in the long run...I just liked it better. It's not quite as easy to customize, but it gets the job done.

[Catherine L]

Here is the thing . . .

Have you heard about Squidoo? I was closed down yesterday. Everyone who had spent years working on their Squidoo lens just had them deleted. I also can't tell you how many times I've read / heard about people losing their Blogspot blogs. That being said, do you really want to put hours, days, weeks, months, or years of effort into something that resides on a platform you do not own, that is, in short, controlled and owned by someone else? Or would you rather spend 2 bucks on a domain, a few bucks on hosting, and sleep easy?

[dreaminqueen]

Not really to add except Congrats and keep us posted.

[mselise]

AS long as you have good content, I don't think it matters about your domain name or hosting. I suggest that you start out on blogger as it is free and you can transition anytime. Blogger is also owned by google so the search engine loves it and they index these blogs pretty fast. Meaning you get lost of traffic.

I am a Wordpress fan myself, but like you said, it can get difficult especially if you get caught up in all the fancy templates.

If you are going to blog, then just blog, if it's good people will love it and share it. Your readers wouldn't care what or how you are writing as long as it's good.

Good Luck!!

[mmfh]

Also favor Blogger over Wordpress.
While on Blogger you can setup and customize everything quickly, on wordpress you are required to pay for extra customization. Not to mention you don't even have option to change the font size with basic setup.

[QueenMaa]

You can also use website builders to blog. With them you can blog for free and if you want to you can upgrade. The upgrade will allow you to get more features. You can upgrade whenever you decide to. Also, they are pretty easy to use even if you don't know any html you can still use them. The instructions are very helpful and it's very easy to get into contact with support.

I also believe you should get started immediately because it does take time to get traffic and an audience. So, the quicker you get going the better. You may want to read other bloggers blogs just to get a feel of what you will be doing.