By Joshua Fields Millburn* Follow: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Updated April 8, 2021 
Learn how to start a blog in less than an hour. Become a blogger today by following the steps we used when you initiate our blog, which now has reached more than 20 million people and has been seen in the New York Times, TIME magazine, and on the TODAY show.
How to Become a Blogger in 5 Simple Steps
Choose your blog mention and get your blog hosting. Start your blog by adding WordPress. Select a simple theme to utter your blog your own. Contribute two key blogging plugins to find your books and road stats. Write enforcing material to create a blog that your readers adore.
Do you want to start a blog fast?
This is a long essay and you may want to start your blog without read all the details.
This is the first how to quickly start a blog guidepost.
To start a blog fast simply 😛 TAGEND
Look for these chests. Follow the brief steps. Click the link to jump to the next box.
Click now to go to the first step.
How We Started This Blog
Want to create something meaningful? Why not start a blog? Why not become a blogger? Creating this blog is one of the best decisions Ryan and I ever represented. After all, our blog is how we earn a living. More important, it’s how we add value to other people’s lives.
So you’re thinking about starting a blog, but you don’t “ve got an idea” where to start, right? Guess what–neither did we! Before we became “The Minimalists, ” we wanted to start a blog to communicate our thoughts and express our feelings, but we were overwhelmed with options.
Clueless, embarrassed, and perplexed with options, we had no idea how to start a blog or how to be a blogger. When should we start? How do we register a domain name? What is hosting? Which blogging platform should we use? How do we pick a blog theme? What is a plugin? What should we write about? Heck, we could hardly spell HTML, let alone build a blog!
But good report: it is about to change that starting a blog is much easier than you think. We’ve learned a ton of instructions during our rising to millions of readers, and now you can learn from our aching and stand to avoid much of the banality involved in setting up a blog.
Disclosure: The Minimalists’ blog is hosted by Bluehost. For $ 2.75 a month, Bluehost can help you set up and host your blog. Because The Minimalists are a Bluehost affiliate partner( i.e ., we earn some revenue, at no additional cost to you, when you are buying employing our joins ), our books can use this link to receive a 50% discount off the monthly premium and a free arena for the first year.
How to Become a Blogger: Video Tutorial
If you prefer to watch our process for setting up a blog, we’ve started a step-by-step instructional video, How to Become a Successful Blogger Today, which shows the entire starting-a-blog undertaking. Otherwise, read on.
How to Start a Successful Blog in 5 Steps
Choose your blog name and get your blog hosting. Start your blog by adding WordPress. Picking a simple theme to start your blog your own. Supplement two key blogging plugins to find your readers and racetrack stats. Write making material to create a blog that your readers adore.
While there are other blogging programmes out there like Blogger.com and Tumblr.com, nearly every serious blogger consumes a self-hosted WordPress site because of its artistic freedom and flexibility.
The Minimalists uses WordPress because it gives us greater restraint over the examination and feel of our blog–more creative ensure than any other platform. Oh, and WordPress itself is free!
These are the exact gradations we made when we created this website. If you follow these five gradations, you will learn how to set up a blog in less than one hour.
Stair 1 Choose your blog figure and get your blog hosting
The first thing we did when starting our blog was go to Bluehost and register our realm, which is free with hosting. We’ll explain hosting in a moment, but let’s talk about your domain name first.
Blogging Quick Start- Step 1
In this first step you will choose your blog list( domain name) and buy your blog hosting.
Go to Bluehost and sounds the Get Started Now button. Hand-picked the Basic plan. Collect your domain name and open it into the New Domain box. Procreate your Bluehost account.
Click here to climb to the next step.
Choose your domain name
Your domain name is an important part of your blog because it creates a first impression–it is the name of your blog. Too known as your URL, your land is also your address on the web. For example, our domain name is www.theminimalists.com.
So, what do you want to call your blog? Maybe it’s YourName.com. Maybe it’s YourBusinessName.com. Or maybe it’s a innovative brand name you thought up. If you’re having a hard time thinking of a good domain name, try Wordoid, a wonderful naming tool that will give you plenty of enormous options. Time make sure you don’t buy the domain from them since Bluehost will give you a free domain.( If you’ve already purchased a region abroad, that’s okay, very, because Bluehost will make it easy to transfer your existing subject during the setup process .)
Set up blog hosting
Once you’ve decided on a domain name, you’ll need to set up hosting for your blog. While WordPress itself is free( picture Step 2 below ), you need a reliable lieu to host your WordPress blog( your blog needs to be on a server somewhere on the Internet ).
For hosting, we recommend Bluehost for several concludes 😛 TAGEND
We Use Bluehost. We personally use Bluehost to host The Minimalists. If you recommend a company, you better be willing to use their product yourself. We likewise use them to host various other websites of ours. Remarkable Customer Service. Bluehost’s customer service is 100% US-based. With hold times that median less than 30 seconds and 100% in-house, on-site staff in their Texas agencies, you can rest assured that the person promotion with your locate knows how to help. In other texts, if you have any questions, they will help you through the entire setup process. Great Pricing. TheMinimalists.com is a Bluehost affiliate partner, which means that in addition to using their service, we too receive a commission for directing brand-new purchasers. To be fair, though, we are to be able still use Bluehost even if we weren’t an affiliate–we’ve put-upon them for a long time. Ergo, we don’t recommend Bluehost exactly because we’re an affiliate( every hosting company offers a same affiliate curriculum ); we recommend Bluehost because they are the best, most reliable option. Plus, because we’re a partner, Bluehost offers a 50% reject for The Minimalist books: only $2.75 a few months for the first time. Free Domain. When you sign up for hosting, Bluehost will give you a free domain name, which allows you to avoid the upfront and recurring costs associated with purchasing a domain on your own. If you’ve once bought your own domain name, don’t worry; you can still use your domain with Bluehost( it’s really one extra step ). Money-Back Guarantee. Bluehost offers a 30 -day money-back guarantee, so there’s no danger if you deepen your memory. Reliability. Bluehost’s facilities are world class. They have their own custom-built 20,000 -square-foot datacenter with enough backup generators to strength a town. Friends& Family. Many of our friends and family too use Bluehost to host their blogs.
Now that you’re ready to get started, go to Bluehost and sounds the Get Started Now button.
Next choose your hosting plan.
You’ll see that expenditures wander from$ 3 to$ 6 per month, depending on whether you require a basic, single blog hosting strategy or a most robust program that allows you to create several blogs.
Note: Because we’re an affiliate partner, Bluehost offers a special price for The Minimalists books: simply only $2.75 a month for the first year. That’s a significant discount.
Once you select your proposal you’ll choose or enter your domain name.
If you don’t own a domain name simply enter your desired blog specify into the New Domain box.
If you’ve already own a domain name simply enter that into the I have a domain name box.
Click Next.
Finally create your blogging account.
And click Create your password to complete your blog hosting setup.
Just like that you’ve practically become a blogger!
Free Ebook How to Start a Blog Ebook
Pressed for term? Learn how we are beginning our successful blog consuming this free ebook.
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Step 2 Start your blog by adding WordPress
Next you will install WordPress, which is free. Don’t cause the word ” invest ” intimidate you, though. It’s much easier than it voices and Bluehost does all the work for you.
Blogging Quick Start- Step 2
Next you’ll install WordPress.
Click the Log In button. Click Skip This Step on the Pick a theme screen. WordPress is now installed, click Start Building to go to your dashboard.
Click now to climb to the next step.
To begin simply click Log In.
Bluehost affords several blog design options, but simply scroll to the bottom and sounds Skip This Step( you’ll envision why in a few moments ).
WordPress is now installed. Simply clink Start Building to go to your new blogging dashboard and continue to Step 3.
Step 3 Pick a simple theme to compile your blog your own
A theme allows you to pick a design for your blog without the need for coding expertise or pattern lore. In other utterances, a good theme helps you to design your blog exactly how you want it to look. If you’re not a coder( I’m certainly not a coder ), then a topic draws the design work a million times easier.
Blogging Quick Start- Step 3
Next you’ll choose and position your blog’s WordPress theme.
Go to BYLT. Purchase the theme that fits your style( we use the tru Theme ). Download and save your theme’s. zip file to your Desktop. Return to your WordPress dashboard and going to see Appearance> Themes. Clink Upload and then Upload Theme. Click Choose File, hand-picked your theme. zip file, and sounds Install Now. Clink Activate.
Click here to prance to the next step.
Our blog design is from BYLT, a platform created by our good friends at SPYR. They have various beautiful, simple WordPress themes make their own choices, and, in fact, you can purchase the same theme we use if you like.
Simply go to BYLT and find the minimalist WordPress theme that best fits your desired aesthetic. Their themes are feature-rich; plus, once you buy your topic, you will have the same team supporting your work that we trust to support ours.
Once you purchase your topic you’ll be able to download your WordPress theme( a. zip enter) from your BYLT Dashboard. Save this file to your Desktop because you’ll need to upload it to WordPress in exactly a moment.
Remember how easy it was to install WordPress? Well installing your blog theme is just as simple.
First return to your WordPress Dashboard.
You should once be logged in, but whenever you are signed out go to my.bluehost.com, enter your brand-new domain name( or username ), your password, and click Submit.
From here, go to My Sites and click on Log in to WordPress.
Next, in your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance> Themes.
Then, click the Upload Theme button followed by the Choose File button.
Find the. zip register you downloaded from your BYLT Dashboard( this is your theme file) and click Install Now to install your brand-new simple blog design.
Finally, clink Activate and your blog theme is installed.
Step 4 Add two key blogging plugins to find your readers and line stats
Plugins are third-party members that add additional functionality to your blog.
Blogging Quick Start- Step 4
In the final setup pace you’ll set two plugins that will improve your blog’s features.
In your WordPress Dashboard go to Plugins> Add New. Rummage for Yoast SEO. Click Install Now followed by Activate. Clink the Add New button to add one more plugin. Investigation for MonsterInsights and click Install Now be accompanied by Activate. Clink the Launch the Wizard! button to configure MonsterInsights.
Click here to prance to the next step.
It’s best to keep your number of blog plugins to a minimum and install only the best ones, because too many plugins–as well as unreliable plugins–can slow down your website. We use very few plugins at The Minimalists.
In this section you’ll install and activate the following free plugins 😛 TAGEND
Yoast SEO is the defacto standard SEO plugin for WordPress. For details and everything you’d ever want to know about WordPress SEO read Yoast’s Definitive SEO Guide. Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights can be used to road your blog’s congestion readily and with lots of interesting data: overall freight, traffic sources, views per scribe& list, automatic tracking of outbound clinks and pageviews.
In your WordPress dashboard go to Plugins> Add New.
Search for Yoast SEO.
Then clink Install Now be accompanied by Activate and your blog will immediately have improved SEO.
Next sought for MonsterInsights.
Then sound Install Now be accompanied by Activate.
Next click Launch the Wizard! and follow the steps to complete the MonsterInsights setup.
Finally, so people can receive our blog poles via email, we established a free Feedburner note. For a more feature-rich email-subscription service we recommend Constant Contact( affiliate join ).( By the path, if you don’t once subscribe to The Minimalists’ blog via email, you can here .)
Step 5 Write fascinating material to create a blog that your readers adore
Congratulations! You started a blog, and now it’s time to start blogging. This is where the merriment begins.
Now that you have your own blog, you get to make it yours; you get to turn your seeing into a reality.
Content. Start writing and publishing the content for your basic sheets: create an About Page, Contact Page, Start Here Page, and any other page you require in the header of your brand-new blog. Photo. Add a photo of yourself( pro gratuity: you can start with a well-lit selfie, but when you get a chance, get some professional photos made; they’re well worth the cost because people identify with other parties more than they identify with mottoes ). Logo. Create a basic badge use a programme like InDesign, Photoshop, or a text editor( document: even though we have no design talents, we were able to use Apple’s Pages application to create our simple logo after downloading some free vector art and choosing the typeface that best suited our aesthetic ). Or you can hire someone like 99designs or SPYR to design a professional logo. Images. Spice up your blog uprights with high-quality stock photos and portraits: Paul Jarvis( free ), Unsplash( free ), Library of Congress( free ), iStock( fee-based ), Shutterstock( fee-based ). Comments. Determine whether or not you want observations on your blog; they are often a helpful path to receive feedback and immediately engage with your readers. Social. Establish a social media proximity on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram( or all three ). Publish. Start writing brand-new blog posts. Publish at least once a week, extremely when first starting a blog, so you can build an audience. Below you’ll too find 20 blogging gratuities to improve your writing in the How to Blog part, as well as 15 concludes you should start a blog and 3 grounds not to start a blog.
We hope you have onus of fun conveying yourself on your brand-new blog. We’re sure-fire it will be a huge growth experience for you during the coming months. You have now officially become a blogger. Wherever you’re going, make sure you enjoy the jaunt ahead.
How to Blog: 20 Blogging Tips to Improve Your Writing
We receive countless emails asking how to blog, about blog topics, and about the creation of meaningful material. The amount of this paper explained how to start a blog, but that’s just the initial gradation. Now it’s time to start writing and publishing your content.
Here are 20 tips on how to blog.
Find Your Niche. You needn’t have a niche, but it helps. When learning how to be a blogger, it’s important to ask yourself what you’re passionate about. Running? Cooking? Being a parent? Have you found your joy? If so, whatever it is, write about that. If not, then you must first find your fervour.
Note: We generally recommend that parties don’t start a blog about minimalism or keto or any other heavily saturated topic. But what we really mean when we say this is: don’t create a blog about something unless you have a unique perspective. If you’ve hugged simple living and have a unique perspective, then by all means have at it.
Define Your Ideal Readers. Once you’ve conclude your niche, you need to know who will be reading your blog. For example, we blog about living a meaningful live with less. Thus, our principle books are people who are interested in exploring minimalism so they can clear the path toward more meaningful lives.
If you want to write about your newborn baby growing up, that’s wonderful: your ideal readers are probably your friends and family. If you want to write about reinstating classic automobiles, that’s cool, extremely. Tailor your “ve written” your books( whether it’s your family or neighbourhood parish or whoever else will read your blog ).
Add Value. Your blog must add value to its books’ men. You want to help people solve problems. This is the only way you will get great quality readers to your site( and to be maintained coming back ).
Adding value is the only way to get someone’s long-term buy-in. We both learned this after a decade of preceding and succeeding people in the corporate nature. With everything you write, it’s worth asking: Is this adding value?
Be Original. Yes, there are other blogs out there about the same thing you want to write about. Question: So why is your blog different? Answer: Because of you. You are what moves your blog different. It’s about your perspective, your originality, the value you contribute.
Be Interesting. Write interesting blog poles. Extremely if you want people to share it with others.
Be Yourself. Part of being interesting is telling your story. Every person is unique, and your story is an essential one. The important part of storytelling, nonetheless, is removing the redundant items that attain the tale uninteresting. A huge storyteller removes 99% of what really happens–the absorptive details–and leaves the interesting 1% for the book.
Be Honest. Your blog needs to be authentic–it needs to feel real–if you want people to read it. You is likely to be your blog, or your blog is likely to be you. That is, do you really embody the stuff you write about? If not, people will see through it.
” Be the conversion you want to see in the world ,” is the far-famed Gandhi quote. Perhaps bloggers should construct the blog they want to write for the world.
Transparency. Being transparent is different from being honest. You needn’t share every detail about their own lives just for the sake of being honest.
Always be honest, and be transparent when it lends appraise to what you’re writing.( Because everything we write must perform the greater good, you won’t ever appreciate pictures of us working the restroom–that’s simply not related .)
Time. Once you’ve learned how to start a blog, you’ll learn that blogging takes a lot of go, peculiarly if you’re as neurotic as we are.
That said, formerly you have your design set up, don’t tweak it too much. Instead, expend the time on your writing.
Vision. The conclude our area motif gazes good is because we have a great host, we have a great theme, and, most crucial, we had a vision of how we wanted our blog to look.
Once we had the imagination, we worked hard to constitute that vision a reality.( Note: neither of us had any design experience before starting a blog .) It’s hard to create a beautiful blog if you don’t know what you want it to look like.
Find Your Voice. Over time, good scribes discover their utter and their writing tends to develop a certain flow, one that is appealing to their readers. Finding your singer meets your writing feel more alive, more real, even more urgent. For additional learn, check out our blog berth about Finding Your Voice.
We Instead of You. Use the first-person plural when possible. Explanations of we and our are more powerful than you and your, peculiarly when talking about negative behaviours or propensities. The first party comes off as far less accusatory. Think of it this acces: we’re writing peer-to-peer–we are not gods.
When to Post. Question: When is the best period and time to publish a blog berth? Answer: It doesn’t really matter. We don’t adhere to a particular time-of-day schedule, but we do publish at least once a week because uniformity is important. You needn’t get bogged down in the details, though.
Social Media. Yes, we recommend employing Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to help connect with your public and other bloggers, but don’t get too caught up in it. Focus on the writing first, social media afterward.
Ignore Negative Criticism and Stupidity. Sure, we is a lot of negative the remarks and stupid questions from ignorant people who aren’t really our readers (” You’re not real minimalists !”).
We call these people seagulls: They fly in, poop on your site, and fly away. But we pay them no memory, because we didn’t start our blog for them. Delete their commentary and move on.
Research. Spend time researching what you’re used to describe. The rationalization we are able to use so many helpful, relevant relations in our papers is because we put in the time to research our topics.
Keep It Simple. This is where minimalism can be applied to starting any blog, regardless of its genre. No need to place superfluous advertisements or widgets all over your site. Stick to the basics and remove anything you don’t need–remove anything that doesn’t add value.
Picture. Put a picture of yourself on your blog. People like to see the face of the person who’s writing the blog. If two goofy guys from Dayton, Ohio aren’t too afraid to set their envisions on their site, then you have nothing to worry about.
Remarks. If you’re going to have observes on your locate, then speak The Five Words That Kill Your Blog by Scott Stratten.
Live Your Life. You’re starting a blog about their own lives( or about certain aspects of your life, at least ), so you still need to live your life. There are things that we ever put before blogging: usage, health, affinities, experiences, personal raise, contribution. Simply applied, live a life worth used to describe.
15 Intellects You Should Start a Blog
We were inspired to research and write this blog pole after speak Joshua Becker’s 15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog, in which he discusses 15 enormous reasons why you should start a blog.
Why is the keyword here. Crucially, Becker writes about the purpose of blogging , not just how to start a blog. That’s what many of these other ” blogs about blogging” seem to miss: they miss the purpose–the why behind starting a blog.
Here is a summary of our three favorite rationalizations from Becker’s index 😛 TAGEND
You’ll become a better columnist.” At its core, writing is communication. It is about recording reckons on paper and urging others to agree with them ,” writes Becker.” To that intent, writing( just like every other form of communication that has ever existed) improves with tradition. Blogging will not force you to become a better scribe, it’ll merely happen as you get it on. And becoming a better scribe holds important benefits for the rest of your life–whether you are creating a book, a demonstration, a resume, or an anniversary poster for your marriage .” Spot on! Writing blog poles is not just a matter a great way to improve your blog writing, it’s a wonderful chance to improve everything you write–from business emails and textbook sends to that fiction you’ve been dreaming of confining. You’ll assemble new people.” Whether “its been” through statements, emails, or social media, you may be surprised at how quickly you gratify people online ,” writes Becker. That’s true! The Minimalists’ blog is responsible for many of the most important liaisons I’ve developed over the past decade–long-term business and personal relationships delivery from this very blog You’ll become more confident.” Blogging will assist you discover greater confidence in your life ,” writes Becker.” You will instantly realize that you do live an important life with a unique opinion and have something to offer others .” So genuine! Writing helps us better understand the lives we live and the consequences of our acts.
3 Intellects You Should Not Start a Blog
So now “youve had” 15 reasons why you should start a blog, and we’ve register you how to start a blog, step-by-step, based on our its own experience.
But after giving you those detailed instructions, which could save you hundreds of hours of consumed epoch, we also want to give you some good reasons why you should not start a blog.( Keep in spirit that these reasons are just our opinions, and we do not pretend to offer them up as a collecting of empirical blogging axioms .)
Money. You should not start a blog to make money. We need to get that out of the way first. If your primary objective is to replace your full-time income from blogging, forget about it. It doesn’t work that way.
Do you think that Jimi Hendrix picked up his first guitar so he could” complement his income “? No, he didn’t. Rather, he did it for the beloved of it, for the exhilaration and realization he received, and the income came thereafter–much later actually.
Notoriety. Don’t plan on getting” Internet prominent” right away. Not every site grows as fast as ours did, but that’s okay. The truth is that we kind of got lucky. We found a great domain name, we cobbled together a logo and site design that beings liked, we write fairly well, and our content connected with parties in a unique way.
We didn’t start this site to become ” prominent ,” though. That’d be ridiculous. We started this site to become bloggers and share a message. Our popularity came as a surprise to us, and it was a result of a little luck and a lot of hard, enthusiastic creation.
Traffic. Not all traffic is good traffic, so don’t worry about get thousands of readers right away. Spend your time produce meaningful initiations and eventually the gathering will be displayed if you are helping people solve problems. In other messages, concentrates on adding quality , not increasing traffic.
The funny thing is that all these things can happen. You could make a full-time income from building a blog. We make love, Corbett Barr does it, and so do many others. And you could become an Internet famed blogger like Leo Babauta or Chris Brogan.
But if these are the sole rationalizations “youre starting” blogging, you’ll be contemptible because it will seem like a job. And if it feels like a activity, you won’t be passionate about it, so you’ll either hate it or fall flat on your face( or both ).
Instead, become a blogger and write because you’re passionate about it…
4 Blogging Assets
If you want to learn more about blogging, publishing, writing, and SEO, then check out these additional resources 😛 TAGEND
What Kind of Media Counts ?( Seth Godin) How to Publish an Indie Book( Asymmetrical Press) How to Write Better: Online Class( Joshua Fields Millburn) Some Funny Thoughts on SEO( Exile Lifestyle)
How to Start a Blog Infographic
FAQs When Starting a Blog
How do you make money blogging? How much do bloggers spawn? Can I make money blogging? Are blogs still productive in 2021 ? What does blog stand for? What does blog necessitate ? Squarespace vs WordPress: Why should I use WordPress instead of Squarespace ? How do I become a blogger ? What’s the distinctions between a blog and a website ? Are blogs dead ? Does anyone predict blogs anymore? Is blogging a waste of time ? Is it worth starting a blog in 2021 ? What has changed blogging ? What should I blog about ? What is a blog used for? What makes a good blog ? How do “youre starting” a blog free of charge ? How often should I blog ? What should my first blog announce is related to ? Why do blogs fail ? Does Bluehost charge monthly or all at once ? Do you have a question that we didn’t answer ?
How do you make money blogging? How much do bloggers impel? Can I make money blogging? Are blogs still fruitful in 2021?
How to make money blogging is the topic that beginner bloggers tend to be most interested in. At The Minimalists, we earn money in several ways 😛 TAGEND
Creations. By building an public who perceives quality in our meaning, we’ve been able to offer our three diaries and our documentary, Minimalism, to an gathering who is willing to support our creative work. Consequently, all three journals have been bestsellers and are now translated into more than a dozen communications; and thanks to Netflix, our documentary is available in 190 countries.( For detailed information about our book-publishing process, read this blog post succession: How to Publish an Indie Book .)
Audience Contributions. Since we refuse to clutter our blog or popular podcast with ads, we depend on audience support to fund production of our podcast. With more than 5,000 backers on Patreon and many others via PayPal, The Minimalist Podcast is fully funded with public foundation, which means we’re able to pay for our podcast farmer, filmmaker, and studio space without circulars on our platforms.
Speaking. As we constructed our audience, many organizations, universities, and conferences began contacting us about to talk about their happenings. At first, we starting speaking for free merely to build a name for ourselves. Then, we started charging a few hundred dollars per phenomenon. Now, we’re able to fee significantly more money because the demand for our talks is high.
So far, The Minimalists wish to speak at Harvard, Apple, Google, Allstate, SAP, SXSW, TEDx, and many other organizations. We speak about a wide array of topics, from simple living and “simple work, ” to state, ties-in, writing, publishing, social media, personal proliferation, and contribution–and it all started because we started this blog.( Anyone who is interested in hiring us to speak can visit our speaking page for details .)
Tours. Over the past eight years, The Minimalist, have launched on eight speaking tours, including 2017 ’s 50 -city “Less Is Now” theater tour, which attracted an average of more than 1,000 parties a light, with considerably larger publics in bigger metropolitans. Our 2014 “Everything That Remains” bookstore tour covered 119 cities in eight country level allured 75,000 attendees.
Writing Classes. I get endless questions about writing, so I’ve been able to transfer that skillset to help hundreds of students improve their writing over the years. I educate a four-week online writing class designed to improve the writing of people at any skill level–beginner, intermediate, or professional.
Amazon Links. If The Minimalists recommend a product like this photo scanner, and then a book obtains that concoction, we receive a small commission for that sale at no additional cost to our public. We’re careful about what we recommend, however, because, as minimalists, we want you to consume less and to spend intentionally.
Affiliate Sales. When we recommend services such as Bluehost and Constant Contact, “weve received” a referral cost. Once again, though, that’s plainly not why we recommend these services. Practically every hosting companionship has an affiliate program, so we think it’s best to recommend the companies we use.
Through these various entails, Ryan and I are able to earn a full-time income through blogging. But it’s worth noting that making money from your blog is not the best place to start.
While there’s nothing wrong with making money–which you can do through affiliate ties, advertisements, and your own products and services–the best reason to start blogging is because you have something to express.
If you make money along the way, that’s great. In actuality, if you help people solve their problems, you’re all but guaranteed to make money from your blog–eventually. Let’s just recollect there are at least four resources that are more important than coin: knowledge, epoch, power, and attention.
That said, let’s not teenager ourselves by acting as if making money is irrelevant–it’s not. Making money from our blog is simply not the primary motorist for our clevernes or why we became bloggers. Although beings often think of money as the eventual source, it is the least important of the five mentioned above.
Money won’t definitely improve your life, but it will enlarge your existing actions. If you have bad wonts, then more fund will attain your life considerably worse. And if you’re previously a magnanimous being, then more coin can help you be more loving, attending, and considerate.
What does blog stand for? What does blog want?
According to Wikipedia, a blog is a debate or informational website be issued on the World wide web consisting of” discrete, often informal diary-style text entries( poles ).” The expression “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997. The short pattern, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog in 1999.
Today, blogs have countless influences and widths. Numerous are public publications parties use to express their feelings. Others, like this blog, exist to help people recollect critically and solve problems.
There are blogs that cover nearly every topic, ideology, and interest–from plays and politics to religion and tour and everything in between. Even the world’s largest news organizations–ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC–all have their own blogs.
Squarespace vs WordPress: Why should I use WordPress instead of Squarespace?
It feels like we hear about Squarespace on every podcast. But when you compare Squarespace to WordPress, you soon discover that WordPress is superior in several ways.
While Squarespace isn’t a terrible alternative, it needs the personal control that’s available with WordPress. This is why every serious blogger I know uses a WordPress blog.
Here are five reasons WordPress is better than Squarespace 😛 TAGEND
Design( Themes ). Squarespace provides some beautiful templates, but they’re limited by the number of motifs that have existed. Since WordPress is a free, open-source blogging platform, there’s an ecosystem of tens of thousands of themes ready to satisfy every requirement and need.
While this mixture is a benefit, we know full well that too many options can be achieved through a mystery of choice. This is why we recommend starting with the premium themes designed and supported by my best friend at SPYR. We’ve worked with SPYR since the early days of The Minimalist and continue to recommend their products and services.( This is not an affiliate link–SPYR really does great work .)
Features( Plugins ). While Squarespace has a rich piece positioned , no blogging stage can compare with the immense scale of boasts that WordPress offers. WordPress has a library of over 54,000 free plugins that can handle any chore. While we have shown that you keep the number of plugins on your blog to a minimum, the level of customization provided by WordPress is unmatched.
Plugins aside, one key aspect that’s built in to WordPress, but not Squarespace, is explanation limit. Version control moves your changes and allows you to compare revises and revert back to a form of your Page or Post from any point in time.
I use this boast all the time because I know that if I’m unhappy with anything I’ve converted, I can quickly revert back to the previous copy. This piece provides a failsafe that allows bloggers to compile, enlist, revise, and publish their announces within WordPress itself, offsetting it a ended blogging answer.
You Own Your Content. Owning your content means that you have full govern over what you express on your blog–and complete access to take that content and use it anywhere that you wish. To enable the latter, WordPress provides tools to export your data for use on any hosting provider that you choose to use.
With Squarespace you can never rightfully download a terminated facsimile of your server records or database, but with WordPress you can create an exact replica of your blog, at any point in time. This is most valuable for maintaining backups or in case you choose to restart a blog with a new hosting company. With WordPress you have 100% ownership of your material, registers, data, and design–and everything can be backed up.
SEO. Out of the box, both WordPress and Squarespace are search engine friendly. But with a single plugin WordPress elevates your SEO( Search Engine Optimization ). A plugin we recommend for every blogger is Yoast SEO. This free WordPress plugin allows deep customization of your on-page SEO, but, most impressive, it furnishes automated content analysis. This helps guide you to improve and optimize your material for better readability and improved reach in search engines.
While SEO isn’t everything, we all start our blogs in hopes that parties will predict what we’ve written. Following proper SEO rules can be a distinguishing factor in reaching new people.
Rise. WordPress is excessively robust and customizable. It allows you to build a blog exactly as you’d like. But what happens as your brand-new blog germinates? If you outgrow the off-the-shelf option, maybe it’s time to work with a designer to create a fully tradition website that’s tailored to coincide your label and persona.
Since WordPress provides you with ended owned of the pulpit, it also provides a decorator with the freedom to build and create your blog motif without restriction. Good-for-nothing is off limits.
How do I become a blogger?
The answer is in the question: the only way to become a blogger is to start a blog. This might announce overly simplistic, but that’s because it’s not rather difficult. If you follow these steps you’ll become a blogger and start blogging today.
Choose your blog appoint and get your blog hosting. Start your blog by adding WordPress. Pick a simple theme to compile your blog your own. Supplement two key blogging plugins to find your books and move stats. Write enforcing content to create a blog that your books adore.
There’s an old axiom,” Novelist don’t like writing; they like having written .” I see the opposite is true for bloggers: because of the instant gratification of the WordPress ” Publish ” button, I is my finding that bloggers experience writing because they’re incessantly sharing that writing with the world.
The barrier to record is become, so start blogging if you want to become a blogger. It really is that simple.
What’s the distinctions between a blog and an internet site?
While the lines have blurred over the years, the simplest way to situate it is that a blog is a type of website, one that catalogues, over hour, the personal or professional thoughts and beliefs of a person or organization.
As your thoughts, ideologies, and projects modify, so will your blog. It’s nice to have a era pod of our thoughts, as they’ve progressed over the past decade.
Are blogs dead?
No, blogs are not “dead.” In fact, blogs are more alive than ever!
As a matter of fact, our blog has grown every year since 2010 and now boasts more than 3.78 million books and an email list that continues to grow every month.
Does anyone read blogs anymore? Is blogging a waste of time?
Millions of parties read our blog every year-and our gathering continues to grow because, thanks to our blog, new people find our job every day. But it’s not just The Minimalists who succeed. Blogs are popular all over the world, and they are the simplest way to publish content without middlemen or gatekeepers.
Blogging is the opposite of a waste of time. If you have a genuine desire to share your creativity with the world countries, then it’s one of the best “time investments” you are eligible to construct. Our blog is simultaneously our rule space-where we share new ideas and writings with the world-as well as an announcement board that remembers our audience abreast of any new developments in the world of minimalism.
Is it worth starting a blog in 2021?
Yes, starting a blog is arguably more important than ever. Whether you want to publish your writing, build an audience, open a business, or start a podcast, your blog is the home for your imaginative campaigns.
Once you’ve started a blog, you are no longer reliant on other people’s stages. There’s nothing “wrong” with having an Instagram or TikTok account, but those stages are fleeting. If they fall out of relevant, then so do you( remember MySpace ). That’s not the case with a blog, though. Because you own your blog, it stays with you no matter where different cultures sways.
The best time to start a blog was a decade ago. The second best time is now. If you have an idea you want to share, is starting!
What has superseded blogging?
While new forms of media continue to enter the picture-podcasts, newsletters, social media-nothing replaces having a home for your creative work. The Minimalist have a podcast, an email newsletter, and various social media notes, but none of them could ever supplant our blog. Instead, we use our blog to point to these additional resources.
What should I blog about?
We often hear people say that you should blog about what you’re fierce about. That’s great suggestion if you know what that passion is. Perhaps it’s technology, finance, roasting, music, or rock climbing. If so, write about that!
If, nonetheless, you don’t know what you’re heartfelt about, don’t worry. Passion isn’t simply stumble upon; it is nurtured.
Here are six questions to ask yourself to help you determine what you should blog about 😛 TAGEND
What are your values? Whatever you write about, you want it to align with your values. What rouses you? There will always be drudgery, but if you find something that provokes you, you will be able to drudge through the labor. What establishes you angry? If you aren’t excited by something, then anger is often a great motivator. If there’s something in the world you want to change, write about that. It will help inform and strengthen your values. How are you able solve problems? You will feel fulfilled if you can provide solutions to people’s questions. Coincidently, if you write about solving your own difficulties, that will help other beings resolving those same difficulties, extremely. What if fund wasn’t important? If coin wasn’t a factor, what would you do with your life? Yes, you need to make money, but, as important, you want to do something meaningful. Write about that. Who is the person you want to become? Your writing should help you become the person you aspire to be. Write as if you’re writing to impel your future self proud.
What is a blog used for? What makes a good blog?
A blog is used for two things: to express and to communicate. A good blog is able to marry communicative writing and express writing to create blog posts that are informative and entertaining.
When considering how you want to use your blog to communicate and express yourself, ask these questions 😛 TAGEND
What letter am I attempting to communicate? Does the writing express the ardours I want to the reader to feel? What are those feelings? How can I do the narrative more urgent?
Does this sentence help a purpose? Can I chipped this indication and still preserve my message? How can I make this more concise? Do I need all these modifiers and qualifiers?( Hint: no !) If I killed the first two clauses, would this segment to get better? How could I restructure this sentence/ clause to make it more climactic?
How do “youre starting” a blog for free?
The good bulletin is that starting a blog is free with WordPress. All you need to pay for is hosting, as documented in the step-by-step instructions above.
There are also other ” free” amateur business like Tumblr or Blogger that allow you to start a blog on those company’s stages. Merely be careful, because you may not own your content if you’re affixing it on someone else’s website. That’s one of the many reasons why we use WordPress.
How often should I blog?
When talking to my writing students, I recommend writing every day and publishing a blog berth at least once a week. We usually publish two blog poles per week on this blog. Seth Godin blogs every single day.
Whatever you decide, we recommend you stay consistent. Setting a weekly schedule helps you create accountability partners( your audience) so you feel compelled to write even when you don’t want to write.
What should my first blog post is related to?
Avoid grandiosity. Avoid throat make. Your first blog upright needn’t be a extravagant assignment account. And your first blog post doesn’t have to be a vapid, self-involved introduction to your blog.
Instead, find one thing that interests you today and write about that. Use the stimulates in the” What should I blog about” section above.
For reference, you can read the first blog berth on this blog, circa 2010: Be on the Mountain.
Why do blogs fail?
There are at least three reasonableness blogs flunk 😛 TAGEND
Some bloggers have poor expectations. If “youre starting” a blog today and expect a million readers overnight, you’re decided yourself up for default. But if your incitement is sincere-if you want to add value to the world-then you’ll find your possibilities displacement. Some bloggers don’t add value. Instead of metrics like subscribers or follower counts, The Minimalist concentrates on supplementing ethic to our public. If you help people solve problems, the success will spring from that-not the other way around. Some bloggers placed fund firstly. There’s nothing wrong with earning a living from your blog( we do ), but it needn’t be the main objective. Good blogs make money; enormous blogs make a difference. Said another way: we give money to have a seat in the car, but it’s never the move.
Does Bluehost charge monthly or all at once?
Bluehost monies yearly, so when “youre using” our link to receive the discounted proportion of $2.75 per month you will be legislation for the entire first year.
That said, if for any reason you decide that it’s not right for you, Bluehost offers a 30 -day money back guarantee.
More Blogging Questions
Do you have a question about becoming a blogger that isn’t answered above? Tweet to @theminimalists with your question and a link to this essay.
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