Should You Become A Blogger?

Have you recently caught the "blogging bug"? CONGRATULATIONS! Blogging can really be a lot of fun, but if you're at all like most bloggers, you're in for a real treat. Now, if you're kind of curious as to why you might want to start a new blog, there are many reasons... good reasons. Many people start blogs to share what's going on in their lives or with their family and friends. Others do it to share knowledge about their favorite subject, and for still more, it's a hobby.
The main thing you need to ask yourself is what is YOUR reason for blogging? Once you know this (of course it can always change...) you'll want to be sure to start off on the right foot. That is exactly what I'm going to help you do.
First, please understand that blogging isn't difficult or hard to learn. To be honest, you could go from knowing absolutely nothing to putting up your first blog in just about an hour or so.
So what's first...? Check out these quick tips to get you going.
1. If you're just getting started, you have the option of setting up your blog for free. I'll go on record right saying that I don't recommend free platforms at all. Whether you're a serious blogger or just getting started, you'll lose a lot of time starting with a free blog. Why? Because if you're really serious about blogging, you will eventually switch.
I guess I should clarify what I mean by "free". This means that your blog is hosted by someone else. You have the option to purchase your own hosting for about $7 a month. That's the option I recommend. For such a small amount of money, you gain so much.
That being said... if you're blogging for fun, or as a hobby and you want to get your feet wet first, go for free. Get it all figured out, then you'll have a better idea of what you want to do.
Whether you use a free or hosted blog one benefit is... you'll have access to more professional blog designs and themes with more plug-ins and widgets then you'll ever know what to do with.
2. Here are two very important things... very important things... that you'll want to give a lot of thought before starting your blog. First... what will be the main topic of your blog and what group of people do you want to appeal to? Next... will your blog be geared to something you absolutely love to talk about... or something you intend to make money with... Here's a thought... How about a little bit of both?
How about letting these two things overlap and blog about something that you love that will also make you money! Eureka!! Well... that is... if what you love is also something that a lot of other people are interested in too. You must consider this point very, very closely. It can make or break your entire purpose for blogging.
3. Now that you have a blog, you'll want people to visit it often, especially if its for business. The way to keep them coming back is by making sure that you write about whatever you've chosen for your main topic. In other words... If your blog is about how to stay healthy by eating right and getting plenty of exercise, don't write about how to house train your dog. After all, your main topic is the reason people visit your blog, so be sure to give them what they want.
4. So where do you start? If you're doing a blog for business, or what I like to sometimes call a "money blog", you need to purchase a unique domain name and you need to get your own hosting account. If this sounds a little foreign right now, don't panic. But both of these are inexpensive tools that serious marketers MUST HAVE. You may not understand completely why right now, but trust me on this one. Just know that as you learn more about blogging, you'll be very glad you took care of the basics first.
I hope these simple points have given you a few basics on how to approach starting a blog and what to do first. Whatever you do... the most important thing is to have fun with it!!

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