Build Blog

Want to have your own blog?
In this material you will learn step by step how to make a blog.
I will present you 3 solutions for building a blog:
1. using Blogger.com
2. using WordPress
3. using Joomla
1. Using Blogger.com (www.blogger.com)
Blogger.com was launched in August 1999 by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) and purchased by Google in February 2003.
Blogger.com is one of the most popular solutions for blogging.
To use Blogger.com you must make an account on the site. This is easy, simply fill a short online form with your email address, name, username and password.
You will get access to dashboard, the place from where you create blogs and manage them. Click create a new blog and choose a blog title (must be unique) and a blog address. I suggest putting your keywords in the blog title and address.
After that just choose a template that you like and you have your blog.
Blogger strengths:
• Is free
• Open source
• Easy to use
• Don’ t need a domain name or a web host
Blogger weakness is that you can loose the information from your blog. So keep every post on your hard disk.
Example of blogs build with Blogger: http://affiliatesecretsrevealed.blogspot.com, a blog about affiliate marketing and http://funnygiftideas.blogspot.com a blog about funny gifts.
2. Using WordPress (www.wordpress.org)
WordPress is publishing software with a focus on easy of use, speed and a great user experience.
WordPress is a powerful personal publishing platform, and it comes with a great set of features designed to make your experience as a publisher on the Internet as easy, pleasant and appealing as possible.
For using WordPress you must have a domain name and hosting.
To find a good web hosting service visit www.web-hosting-advisor.info.
If your hosting service has the cpanel application installing WordPress is very easy: just go to cpanel, Fantastico, WordPress, and click install. Just follow the info on the screen.
If you don’t have cpanel don’t worry, download the install kit from http://wordpress.org/download. You can find WordPress online manual on http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page.
Read the manual and follow the instruction, installation is simple.
WordPress strengths:
• Is free
• Easy to use
• Powerful
Weakness WordPress demands minimal computer knowledge.
Example of blogs build with WordPres: www.plasmatelevisionadvice.info a blog about plasma television advice, tips, shopping guide and www.gadgets-club.com a blog for gadget fans.
3. Using Joomla (www.joomla.org)
Joomla is a free, open source portal solution.
With Joomla you can build a portal and a blog.
Joomla is recommended for a person who wants more than a blog.
You must have a domain name and hosting to be able to install Joomla.
Installing Joomla is very easy: just download the install kit from http://forge.joomla.org/sf/frs/do/viewRelease/projects.joomla/frs.joomla_1_0.1_0_12, upload it on your server and click install.
Follow the on screen instructions you and will do fine.
Joomla strengths:
• Is free
• Open source
• Easy to install
• Builds an entire website, not just a blog
Weakness of Joomla in the complexity. It may take a while to learn how to use it.
Example of blogs build with Joomla: http://www.giftideasblog.net a blog that presents cool gift ideas and http://www.killdeal.info/content/blogsection a blog about hot offers and kill deals.
Now it is up to you to choose the solution that fits you best.

Building blogs quickly is an essential skill to have if you are creating a virtual internet empire.  The quicker you build a money making blog the quicker you can start earning money from that blog from adsense, affiliate products, or flipping the blog.  I’m going to share with you some resources you can use to build your blogs quickly.

Resource 1

DomainTools.com is an essential tool to have in your niche blog building arsenal.  DomainTools has too many tools to name in this article, but one essential tool is the “Domain Search” tool.  The domain search tool will check to see if a domain name that you would like to use is available on any of the popular top level domains.  DomainTools.com shares valuable information that you can use to your advantage.  It will let you know if the domain name has been previously registered, allow you to look up the current owner’s  information if it is public, and it will  even make suggestions for other domain names you can consider using if the name you want is not available.

Resource 2

The next resource that you need is a reliable domain name registrar.  GoDaddy.com is one of the best registrars around.  Not to mention they have great advertising.  GoDaddy.com is not the best web host.  I’ll tell you whose the best in the next resource tip.

Resource 3

If you want reliable, up-to-date, and flexible hosting then HostGator.com is the domain host for you.  I’ve used HostGator.com for two years now and I’ve never had a major problem of any kind with them.  If you do have a problem simply get on the phone anytime day or night and give their customer service a call.  Their customer service is excellent.  HostGator uses the latest versions of PHP, cPanel, and WordPress.  Installation of WordPress takes a few clicks of your mouse button.

Resource 4

Once you have WordPress installed you will need to customize the look and feel for your specific needs.  The best way to do this is to use find a custom blog theme.  You can hire a designer to  create one specifically for you.  You can find them at SitePoint.com, Forums.DigitalPoint.com, and the WarriorForum.com.  Use Google.com to search for premium themes or free themes.

Resource 5

Once you find a theme that you would like to use you will want to use it for more than one blog or simply change a blog’s appearance over time.  The easiest way to do this is to change the header.

My favorite FREE resource to do this is XHeader.  You can go to XHeader.com and pick up this tool for free.  XHeader allows you to create professional looking headers in minutes without having to use expensive graphic design software.

Resource 6

If you consider writing content for your blogs to be a chore rather than fun you will want to outsource the task of writing your blog content.  Shelancers.com provides an excellent resource for hiring free lance writers.  You can hire writers to create forum posts, blog posts, articles, and even sales page copywriting.

Resource 7

You’re creating these blogs to make money if you are creating a blog strictly for adsense income then you know where to get the information to implement adsense.  However, you may want to market affiliate products on some of your blogs.  Finding the best affiliate products at ClickBank.com can be a time consuming chore.

The resource you’ll want to use to speed up your research is CBEngine.com.  CBEngine.com will allow you to search for ClickBank products based on a wide variety of search criteria that is much more comprehensive than ClickBank.com offers.

Resource 8

Finally you will need a good keyword research tool.  Google’s free keyword tool is one that I use quite often.  But most of the time I need to do more in-depth research than Google’s tool provides.  I then turn to Market Samurai.  Market Samurai is an awesome niche research tool that gives you an incredible amount of information on a group of keywords.  Check it out at MarketSamurai.com

Having your own blog isn’t just for the nerdy anymore. Today, it seems everyone—from multinational corporations to a neighbor up the street—has a blog. They all have one, in part, because the folks at WordPress make it easy to get one. but to actually build a good blog—to create a blog people want to read—takes thought, planning, and some effort. From picking a theme and using tags to choosing widgets and building a community, creating your blog really starts after you set (more…)