Advice On Starting A Blog For Business
So you want to start a blog, eh?
With a solid hundred-million of them in existence already you have your work cut out for you in terms of getting noticed. That is, if you actually want people to notice it. Some people blog purely for the creative outlet which is fine.
Most of us blog for a higher purpose; not just casually. We want to share a message or we’re doing it to start an online business and hopefully earn some money. That’s fine too as long as you go into it with the right mindset.
It Doesn’t Happen Overnight
People think it’s still 1997 and you can whip up a single page website (like a glorified 2.0 business card) and think people will come swarming. Nope. People don’t come swarming to buy your products or services simply because you registered a domain and put out a 300-word article.
If you’re going to get into this game just realize it’s going to take continual effort to get your blog indexed, add valuable content, get it commented on, shared in social media, and regularly visited.
But don’t let hard work scare you off. The rewards can be exciting!
Free Vs. Paid Blogs
If you’re just starting out and don’t have many online business ideas you can register a free blog here on Tumblr or use Wordpress.com to gain some momentum.
Use it as a test field for a week or two and see if you can consistently upload content. That way you don’t have the cash outlay of a domain name and hosting right from day one.
But if you plan to monetize a blog you’ll want complete control of the domain and host. Therefore, once you know you’re committed to a topic and you want to earn money from it you’ll have to get serious about paid hosting.
Also, many free platforms don’t allow you to monetize your site or promote with ads.
Online Business Via The Blog Strategy
There are many ways to start a business via your blog but realize that the blog isn’t your business. It’s just a pivot-point for your offerings. That’s it. You don’t get paid for writing articles.
You use the blog as your platform to gather your tribe of fans around your content and offer great value. Write articles that make people think. Write articles that motivate people. Write articles that elicit an emotional response. Then go out and network and comment on other blogs enticing them to comment on your articles.
It’s all about social marketing and relationship-building these days so if you’re going to build a sustainable online business with a blog then don’t work in a vacuum. Get out there and talk to other bloggers!
