Is it possible to create a successful blog without having too many resources such as knowledge, contacts or money to invest? Is it true that you can make a lot of money with a blog without spending more than a few hours a week? What is really the use of having a blog and what are its main advantages and disadvantages that nobody counts? What is the key to turning a blog into your real way of life in a short time?
100 % of bloggers I know admit that having their own blog has changed their lives.
Few are the people who have dared to launch a blog and then have regretted it.
And it is not strange, since in a blog you can express your ideas, help society, grow as a human being and earn a lot of money.
The idea that we used to have about what it was like to have a blog or to be a blogger has disappeared forever.
Well, this is not exactly the case, since rather the concept has evolved into something completely different that many still do not know.
Those old blogs whose sole purpose was to tell little more than your personal life are now history. Today's blogs are powerful platforms for doing business with high returns at very low risk.
Blogs have become a powerful tool available to anyone, where what a few years ago were simple diaries have been left far behind, giving way to something much more revolutionary.
Quickly, today's blogs offer you the opportunity to:
- Build a powerful and profitable means of communication from scratch.
- Becoming influential to an audience that loves what you do.
- Solve problems for people who need it.
- Develop new skills that help you grow both personally and professionally.
- Generate new income through your own business model from anywhere and at any time.
Although having a blog can be seen from the outside as a complicated thing or, simply, as something that "is not for us", you should know that this idea usually goes through our heads every time we start something new.
Do you have the spirit of a true blogger?
The truth is that we all have the capacity to have a blog, since there will always be something that interests us, and that can be very useful for other people who can only access this knowledge through your own platform, designed and created only by you.
A blog is perfect for those who want:
- Expand your knowledge to infinity
- Create, publish and share content, and be able to earn money (or not) thanks to them
- Sell your own product or service (information products, ebooks, consultancy, courses ...)
- Promote others' products and get a commission for each sale
- Create your own online store (eCommerce)
- Create a personal brand that differentiates you from other professionals
- Have an online platform to boost your business offline
And the best of all:
- Being able to manage it from any corner of the world with just a laptop and an internet connection!
If we take a look on the net about how to be a blogger or how to create our own blog, the only thing we find are other blogs where they encourage us to take the step without fear and explain to us at a technical level how to do it.
They talk about all the benefits and wonders that a blog offers and show us the direct path to paradise, after checking out.
However, although this may seem that simple, we all know that beginnings are never easy, so if you really consider yourself at this time someone with the necessary predisposition to overcome adversity, then you are in a position to create your first blog. .
What it means to have an influential blog and nobody tells you
A blog can serve to improve different areas of our lives.
The reasons why you are thinking of becoming a blogger are enough to give you a slight idea of what you can achieve.
Among other things, some of the best things that come with having your own blog are the following:
- You will show a part of yourself to the world
- It will change the way you think and see things
- You will help other people
- You will find a new hobby
- You will overcome your fears
- You can find a new way to earn a living and that gives you freedom
You should already know that in blogging, the limits are set by you. It is up to you to create a blog that attracts tens of thousands of users who love and look forward to your next posts and news.
Especially in the blogger world, where to learn it is necessary to experiment, diving headfirst into the pool is the only way to achieve success, because if you hope to depend on someone else, then you will be letting that person decide for you.
Normally, traditional teaching methods tend to separate theory from practice, however, and although it is true that we can find courses and tutorials very useful to take our first steps as bloggers, until we do it ourselves we do not really feel that we are.
To make it easier, you can do the following:
- Be fully aware of your autonomy. Deciding to start solo does not mean that you are really alone, but rather that you are independent.
- Think about your business idea. An idea that motivates you is the best to start with. If you are not sure about it, think of another. You don't have to trust 100 % with an idea for it to be valid, but it should convince you before trying and seeing if it works.
- Count your resources. At the beginning you will not have too many, but little by little you will increase them, so that the quality of your productions will be higher and higher.
- Spend as little as possible. The key to good management lies in the ability to produce as much as possible at the lowest possible cost.
- Take a chance from time to time. It is not about being an unconscious, but there are times that we do not realize how blocked we are until we play it.
Being a blogger is very similar to driving. We can find driving schools that teach us how to drive the car and help us get a license that certifies that we know how to use that machine. However, it is only up to us to get our own vehicle, as well as to decide where we are going to go and which way we will go. Becoming an excellent driver and traveling to wonderful places depends solely on you.
In this case, your blog is the car and the destination is the purpose we want to achieve.
The first step is to focus on building and launching your blog, and later you can bring the people you love the most to join you on the spectacular journey of having a blog.
The 4 harsh realities of being a blogger
However you decide to start your blogger journey, there are some drawbacks that most bloggers must face throughout the construction of their blog:
1. Confusing start
When we start any type of web project we have to be aware that it is not about planting today to harvest tomorrow.
It is something that we start today, but we do not know when it will start to bear fruit unless we have a very exact planning, but this most of the time is not the case.
If you expect to see results in the short term, forget it! Unless you are someone very famous, you sell an extraordinary product, or you spend thousands of euros on advertising, your results will not appear by magic.
Creating a blog from scratch is not a difficult task, but it is not something we can do very quickly either.
The 90 % of what you produce will depend on you, so remember that you are your own conductor, although here you play all the instruments. Do not get overwhelmed and go little by little: think ideas, create content, discard the unviable, find out, contact who knows what you do not know, pay for what is necessary and, above all, keep in mind that your next goal to achieve is to be the next great influential blogger on the web.
2. Constant uncertainty
The first time we launch a blog, it's like stepping into the ocean without ever having seen it. You do not know what you can find and you do not know exactly what are the rules that dominate that environment.
Therefore, what I recommend is that you enter little by little. First read everything that you find interesting, then read a little more, until you feel confident to register your domain and your hosting and start being one more blogger. In a few months you will begin to see how the results begin to appear, the visits will increase and your income will grow, which will motivate you to keep going.
You will have to put in a lot of work without really knowing if what you are doing is working, so to be a blogger it is very necessary to have good intuition.
It should also be said that the speed of your results will depend on your budget. As long as you are willing to pay, the sooner and more succulent the results will be. However, if it's a really good thing, you won't need to pay too much to see results soon.
Although with a little extra time we can see similar results without investing more, it is true that strategically supplementing our project with some additional investment can greatly speed up the process.
3. Individualism
When you start your first blog everything absolutely depends on you.
It doesn't matter how social you are in real life or what great global cause you decided to launch your blog for.
In most fields, a large part of the projects start alone.
Although later a complete work team collaborates, the reality is that the idea germinates in a single mind, and only that person is capable of materializing it in reality and getting collaborators and followers.
You may feel confused or even anxious. Almost nobody will understand what happens to you, so it is essential that you believe a lot in yourself.
You want to exploit that idea and don't wait for someone to do it for you.
4. Hard work behind the scenes
When we see the projects of some of the most popular bloggers, we soon realize that creating a blog may not be as easy as it is painted.
We see super neat designs, perfectly written texts and spectacular photographs.
Make no mistake, a blog requires a lot of work that others can never see.
The good news is that you manage what you do, and decide the urgency of every aspect of your project.
For starters, you don't need to count on all the bombast. A simple template and a basic hosting plan is more than enough to practice.
Focus on your content. Later you will be able to polish the different details that will make your blog much more attractive and spectacular, but don't forget that first things first, and if your blog is about psychology, publish interesting and complete articles; if it is a cooking blog, publish simple recipes with good photographs; etc.
Little by little you will improve your skills and in less time than you imagine you will have a professional-looking blog that will convey an extra confidence and quality.
Why did bloggers' 90 % fail in less than a year?
Although I have said before that any of us have the ability to have our own blog, not everyone knows or is aware of the ingredients necessary to be a good blogger. They think that all they need is register your domain and publish a few articles. After a few weeks they see that they do not get any visitors and they soon forget about it. In a very short time their blogs fall into oblivion.
Do not worry if you consider yourself someone who is not very patient or who tends quickly to demotivation. It happens to all of us, to a greater or lesser extent, however we are fortunate to be able to develop all these skills and strengthen them to our personality to improve ourselves, and what better than a blog to do it?
Patience
Remember that the results are not instantaneous, and that patience is the mother of all sciences.
In life everything works very fast, but remember that creating a blog is like building your own boat. You will start by building a raft, but in your hand is wanting to transform it into a real ocean liner.
The time in the shipyards can be very long for someone inexperienced like you, but once you set sail with your blog, I assure you that things will get easier when you overcome the first waves and enter the high seas.
The first months (and sometimes years) of a blog's life are the hardest. Once you start to have traffic, you will see that everything becomes more fun.
Self-control
When we want to have a successful blog that becomes a highly profitable online business, self-control is essential.
To lead our blog to a successful project it is important that you carefully order your priorities, and that you check what position you occupy to succeed with your blog.
Many times there will be more fun things to do than to be on a Friday night in front of the computer correcting some code on your website. However, understanding that everything has its moment will help you to enjoy everything without neglecting the creation of something impressive.
Study and review each of your actions, and dedicate the optimal amount of your resources to achieve each of your goals, without giving up the things you like the most.
Constancy
Pursuing what we want is the only way to achieve it.
Keeping your blog running and up-to-date is a fundamental task for your project to achieve absolute success.
Luckily, you can organize yourself however you want, but it is important that you do not take very long breaks, as this translates into abandonment in most cases.
Take the breaks you need, but don't let time take over your ambitions, and stay in charge of your blog every day.
With a little planning and organization, you will be able to have your blog running almost autonomously and you will only be the one who directs its journey.
Inspiration
If something motivates us, it is to feel inspired.
Without inspiration, expiration is impossible, which means that to get the best out of ourselves as bloggers we need to find a force that moves us to become owners of our goal.
When you can see in your mind something so clearly that you think it is possible to build, it is when you will find yourself fully inspired. You will feel that every second that passes is time in which your inspiration burns you inside.
To increase inspiration effectively you can try a few things:
- Do exercise
- To meditate
- Read interesting things
- Learn new languages
- Make or listen to music
- Paint
- Write
This list is just a small sample of everything you can do to increase your inspiration.
Just look for something that you might like, even if at first glance it seems that it is not something we can do or that goes with us. For example, if you have always been attracted to the idea of skating but have always considered yourself a clumsy person, it may be a good idea to have a hard time learning and then enjoy skating.
Seeking inspiration means seeing ourselves capable of breaking with what is established in our mind.
The more valid you see yourself with other things, the faster you can feel that you can become a great blogger. That is the inspiration you need.
Concentration
Keeping our ultimate purpose in mind is imperative to being a blogger.
Without concentration it is impossible to start a blog.
Some people have facilities than others to concentrate. You have innate abilities to concentrate if:
- You are passionate about reading, writing, drawing or playing an instrument.
- If you spend long periods of time in front of your computer, tablet and mobile, consuming online content.
- You enjoy computing and you like the integration of technology into people's lives.
- You love meeting new people and connecting online with other people.
However, it is possible to be a blogger even if you don't like these things.
If you create a blog you are a blogger, but if you create a valuable blog, you will be an online entrepreneur. Go out of your way to contribute something interesting to someone and let yourself go.
Innovation
Although creating and managing your own blog is very easy nowadays thanks to content managers and the multitude of templates that do almost everything for you, it is true that as you progress as a blogger, you may run into problems that will require that you know some more advanced programming.
The internet is a blogger's best instruction manual.
If you are thinking of a large project that has very specific functionalities, I recommend that in that case you pay someone to do it for you.
But my advice is that even if you have the money, if you haven't done anything before, it is best to start with something simpler and then make the big leap to something more complex when you have some experience.
6 incredible advantages of having your own blog
It is difficult to list all the benefits of being a blogger, and they will not be the same for everyone.
Although each one can see their own advantages and disadvantages, I think these are the ones that most influenced me when deciding to start my first blog.
1. Absolute control
One of the things that blogs tend to attract the most is that you are your own boss.
Many people have turned their blog into their main tool to be able to live and now they live the life they want without being slaves to a job that robs them of time and health.
The most striking thing of all is that in addition to having complete control of your platform, your blog can also become the instrument that also gives you control of your life.
Those who try hard and work hard with their blogs, most of the time they tend to end up receiving enough income to be able to buy food, pay for a house, travel, invest in new projects and indulge themselves from time to time.
In short, a blog can give you the opportunity to become the true owner of your life.
You decide what to do, when you do it and in what way. What is more important than your well-being?
2. Explode your creativity
Releasing something wonderful from your mind for others to enjoy produces one of the best feelings you can experience.
A blog is like a tree that we plant and that we see grow little by little. Everything we give him, he will give it back to us multiplied.
Creating a blog is a great way to expand our minds and make things we thought impossible come true through what makes us unique: imagination.
If you are a person who spends the day imagining and is passionate about creating new things, then you will love having a blog.
Take out that child in you and start painting walls with your hands!
3. Inputs in automatic mode
Something that usually draws people's attention is the possibility of generating income through your own blog.
Having a blog most of the times means having your own business on the internet. Even if you work on something else, with a little time, your blog can become a business. This brings some extra responsibilities, however the good is much better:
- You can work from anywhere
- You are your own boss, so it depends on you how to optimize the processes so that, even if your participation in the blog is minimal, it continues to work the same.
- Recurring money: If you do it right, a blog can give you benefits throughout the 24 hours of the day even if you are not in charge.
- You live life
I am one of those who think that there are no experiences in life, but that the experience itself is life itself.
Earning money while you sleep, eat in a restaurant or are in the gym can be considered as getting rich while you get rich, since thanks to that income you can buy what is worth doing something that you enjoy.
They always tell us to give to the Universe so that we can receive from it, but make no mistake, in our world everything works very well with money, so having it to exchange it for better things seems like a very succulent option.
4. You can combine it with anything
It does not matter if you work, study or if you are a billionaire. Blogs are versatile and adapt to each of us.
A blog will not take your time, it will give it to you.
The possibilities that computing offers are unlimited, and although there is still much to invent, the truth is that today it is already possible to automate most of the processes, so that you only have to take care that everything continues to work. And if it doesn't exist, surely you can pay someone to do what you hate.
The feeling of dedicating your time to other things while your online business continues to function is indescribable. You may be generating income while you walk in the park or go to the movies.
5. Freedom: in every way
The summon of the human being is freedom.
Saying goodbye to ties, saying goodbye forever to the permanence of commitments and living a life full of burdens and ties is something that many people dream of.
- Live new experiences
- Not putting up with people you can't stand
- To be able to enjoy more time with the people you love
- Do what you like at all times
- Have the resources to make anything happen
Remember that bloggers work 99 % of the time with machines. And far from the fragility of humans, who get sick and make mistakes, computer equipment is becoming more and more infallible.
Once you have your system created based on the minimum human factor, it itself will be able to keep running and will always strictly follow your orders.
6. Your permanent footprint
A blog doesn't just have an impact on you and others. One of the most attractive things about creating your own blog is that what you do now can be of use for many years.
My friend Pablo is a handyman in the kitchen and loves to invent your own dishes, perhaps the best way to immortalize them is through a gallery with photos and data about the dish, so that both himself in the future, as well as people interested in it that my friend does, you can visit what Pablo did one day.
Your content can remain for many years on the internet, so that it is accessible to the people of the future!
The star process to become a blogger today
It is clear that to be a blogger, something essential we have to do is create a blog.
But we do not want a blog that has neither head nor tail. We are looking for one that attracts thousands of users and that allows us to grow it until it becomes a real automatic business.
Doing so is very simple, and you only need to know a few things. Once you have it clear, you can have your blog ready in a few minutes and start earning a few € in no time.
Do not forget that for your blog to be of value, it is important, above all, that it be consistent.
Answering these questions will help you outline the outline of your future blog. Solve them in order and get to work as soon as you answer them.
- What do you have to offer the world?
- Who are you going to address?. Why are these people interested? What are they like? What do they feel, what do they see, how do they relate, where do they move?
- How we are going to address our audience. Are we going to have a page on Facebook? On Twitter? Can users subscribe by email? How often will you publish content? What communication style are we going to adopt? Formal? Informal? Will you talk to them?
- How we are going to deliver the content. Text? Video? Images? Everything?
- How are you going to prepare your content. Record videos, write articles, compose songs, structure themes, etc.
- Where are we going to promote ourselves?. Search engines, social networks, industry references ...
- What does our blog work on?
- What are we going to need in the medium term. What or who can help us achieve our goals?
- How are we going to make money. What method of monetization are we going to use? (Own products and services, affiliate platforms, advertising platforms, etc.)
Solving all these questions at once can take some time, but don't worry, because with a little effort you will gradually shape your blog idea.
Once you have your value proposition clear, you know who your audience is and you have a more or less clear idea of what you want to do, then it is time to get down to work.
Remember that everything does not have to be perfect, so do not be afraid of being wrong. If you do, you can start a new blog and take advantage of all the experience you acquire during your mistake.
Step 1: Create your basic content
In addition to an internet platform, it is vital to have content to offer to visitors. Strive to create quality, unique content that engages people.
Creating a loyal audience at first may seem difficult, but once you have fallen in love with each of your users, nothing will make them forget you.
Think of it like this: if your blog were an airplane, one engine would be a functional and usable platform, and the other an original and attractive content.
Focus on building a blog rich in quality content from the beginning and everything else will be much easier later.
Remember that in this life everything can be bought, so if you need help with any aspect of your blog, especially at the beginning, it may be advisable to go to a professional. On the internet there are many people who offer services that may be crucial to not quickly demotivate you with your blog.
Step 2: Register your hosting and your domain
It seems logical that to have a blog we are going to need a space on the internet.
Although we can find free blogging platforms, such as Blogger or WordPress.com, if you are thinking of launching something with a more professional appearance, I always recommend that you register your own domain and your hosting plan to give it an extra seriousness. Here you have more information about domain and hosting.
Step 3: Install and configure your CMS
This is generally very easy to do. Once you register your domain and your hosting, you will receive in your email the instructions to access the control panel that will allow you to install different content managers. The 98 % of blogs use WordPress, since it is very customizable and easy to use.
Once you have it ready, you can configure each of the WordPress aspects, in addition, you can install:
- Themes: Perfectly modifiable pre-designed templates to make a beautiful and professional blog in a very comfortable way.
- Plugins: that add extra functionality to your blog.
Step 4: Start publishing your content
Once you have the general aspects of your blog ready, it is time to publish content.
Remember that nothing should be perfect, just that it works. Make sure your blog is able to function basically and keep improving it constantly. In a very short time you will be amazed at what you have created.
Remember that you can create as many blogs as you want, and that it may be a good decision to start as many as we have ideas, however, it is much more practical to start focusing on one and gradually increase this number.
Step 5: Create and configure an email list
Email lists are often undervalued, since at first glance they seem something super difficult to configure and understand.
But the reality is that a mailing list is the best way to keep in touch with people who are interested in you.
Offering a welcome gift like an irresistible PDF that encourages users to subscribe in exchange for their email is a great way to grow our email list.
You must be aware that everyone who subscribes is because they have trusted you, so it is only fair that they receive high-quality content.
Email is a great communication channel that allows you to keep up-to-date with those most related to your topic.
Step 6: Updates, optimization and maintenance
Keeping your blog up-to-date and in proper working order will be the last of your functions as a blogger.
You can post as much as you want, but make sure you don't stop. Although it is not always true that the more content you manage to publish, the more people you will be able to reach, it is true that you will have a better chance of reaching further.
Thanks to analytics programs like Google Analytics, we can quickly start receiving metrics from our users. Where do they visit us from, how long do they stay on the page, whether they are men or women or the language in which their browser is configured.
Try to learn from your audience to discover what they like and anticipate them, so that you become their favorite blogger.
