3 Basic Steps to Start Blogging and Create a Success Circle Online
You have heard and accepted that starting a blog or becoming a blogger is one of the easiest ways to begin building your brand and create a success circle online, but your next question may be, “Where do I begin?” You have prepared your mindset and have decided on what you would like to start blogging about. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere, and you may decide six months from now that you want to change direction, but for now, let's get the process started for your first blog.
1. Choose a Domain Name: In building your brand and creating your success, you want to select a domain name that is simple, easy to remember, but represents you and what your focus will be – your niche. You will also want to choose a domain name that matches the title of your site so that it's easy for readers to connect both together in their minds and visually. If you'll be adding a logo in the future, make sure that the logo matches your domain name. Next, you'll need to register your domain name.
2. Register Your Domain Name: Your domain name is your URL; the address people will type in or click on to access your blog content. There are many registrars, and a search on google.com will confirm this; however, the one I've consistently used is GoDaddy.com. Note that on GoDaddy.com domain registrations are approximately $10 per year. You may be tempted to go with a registrar where the cost appears to be less, but please make sure to read the fine print as while the initial cost may be low, you may find that if you need to forward and mask your domain, you may be asked to pay for those services separately, or they're not offered at all.
Another point to note is that you will be offered additional services and longer registration periods that can add up to significant amounts. You only need the domain name for one year. In six months you may decide you want to change the course of your business and it would be pointless to be stuck for two years with a domain name that you're no longer interested in using.
You will have the option to select a suffix – .com, .net, .biz, etc. When possible, it's recommended that you choose .com as that's the most readily accepted suffix, especially for business and the one most people will automatically enter without checking. Next is Hosting your domain name.
Hosting Your Domain Name: We will not cover blogging platforms in-depth in this post but I will mention that there are free as well as paid services. One of the most popular free blogging platforms is Blogger.com. You basically need to set up a G-Mail account and use the User Name and Password on Blogger.com to set up your blog. If you will be using WordPress.org you will need to set up a hosting account. Again there are many hosting services available but I have two favorites. One is through Chris Farrell's membership site. Chris offers free hosting for unlimited domains to all members. The other is Hostgator.com.
Blogging has been my favorite way to create my brand and a success circle online. It could become yours too. In another post, I will go deeper into three of the most popular blogging platforms and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.
What are you waiting for? Let's get the basics out of the way and start blogging! Please leave a comment here with the name of your blog and I'll be happy to visit and leave a comment.
