Category: Start a Blog

Do You Want to Learn How to Start Your Very Own Blog? Do you have a message that you want to be heard by others? Would you like to earn some extra income working from home? Maybe even turn it into a full-time online business? Let Me Show You How to Start Your Very Own Blog in 2019!

When I was a little girl in the 3rd grade I won a young authors contest. I was able to go to a special convention in Orlando with my teacher and I was interviewed by our local TV station! It was so exciting! Ever since that day, I have always wanted to be a writer and an author! How amazing that in this day and age of something like the Internet that any one of us can be authors or writers! If you have a dream and you want your message to be heard, you can do it!

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

All It Takes Is ACTION!

Fast forward to the future and a whole lot of life later, my writing dreams took a back seat to the realities of life.

Hello, my name is Brenda Cataldo. I am a lover of Jesus, a wife and a momma of five kiddos ranging from 21 months – 21 years old! I am also a licensed Realtor, Entrepreneur and Blogger. WOW! I know right? As you can imagine, life in our house gets busy!

Despite my crazy schedule, I just jumped in and DID IT! And boy am I happy that I did! Starting a blog has been one of the biggest things that has changed our lives.

I had wanted to start a blog for years. I had also tried to get my siblings to start one with me. But distance and busy lives with new little ones running around prevented that from happening.

I was so afraid to jump into it by myself because I thought:

• What if I don’t have enough to talk about?
• What if no one likes what I write about? 
• How much will it cost to start a blog? 
• Do I need to be tech savvy?
• When will I even find the time to write blogs?
• Will I really be able to make money doing this?

The Final Nudge I Needed To Get Me Off My Butt And JUST DO IT!

These and so many other questions ran through my mind. Maybe you have the same questions going through your head right now. Unfortunately for me, I gave in to that fear and worry for years, until one day when I felt convicted by 2 scriptures that I read.

The first one was in James 1:22 about not just listening to the word and fooling yourself, but to actually take action and DO what the word says! This scripture was followed up by another one, Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 about investing in many ventures.

I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I had wasted so much time dreaming about this and wishing for it to happen. It was time for me to take ACTION! So I did!

You can do it too! It’s not as difficult as you may think. Let me show you how.

Blog Vision & Focus

You need to have somewhat of an idea about what you will be writing about and why. Do you want to advertise your business or accent it with a blog? Will you be writing about how much you love cooking and share your recipes? Maybe you really love fitness, the outdoors and traveling and you want to write about that. Whatever it may be, do a brain dump and write down as many ideas as you can. Give yourself 10 minutes….OK GO!

What did you come up with? Think about the things that you love, the things that you are interested in. If you are interested in it, or if you like to read about those things, chances are that there is an audience out there that wants to read about it too!

Remember that (especially to stay motivated) in the beginning you need to be passionate about what you write about. If you just write about things that you think other people want to read about, your lack of excitement will come across in your writing.

Choose The Name of Your Blog

• It should be as short as possible and catchy.

• Make it easy to spell – the last thing that you want is to spend all this time creating a site and then not having anyone be able to find it because they can’t spell it correctly. 

• The name should mean something to you.

• It should describe or express what you will be promoting, selling or writing about.

• You should do your research and make sure that the name you choose is also available on Pinterest and all social media handles (ex. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Your objective here is to make your brand flow as seamlessly as possible between all different forms of media that you will be promoting yourself on.  

If you have a hard time coming up with a catchy name, or if the name that you really want is already taken, do a variation of the original name you wanted. You could also do your name, or a variation of your name.

Choose How Your Site Will Be Hosted

I’m sure you have seen advertisements on how you can start a blog for free with platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Wix or Weebly. You’ve probably wondered if it is in fact that easy to start your own blog. The simple answer is YES. Yes, it is that easy to start up your own blog. But the question you should really be asking yourself is this: “Do I want to make money on the blog that I start?” If you answered YES, let me tell you why you need to start a SELF-HOSTED site instead of a free site. 

While self hosted sites will cost you a little bit of money initially, I think that you will agree that it is a worthwhile investment if you are planning on making money with your blog.

Free Sites Vs. Self Hosted Sites

You see, free sites are great for the “Just For Fun” blogger because it’s free and let’s face it, who doesn’t love free? The problem with free when it comes to your blog hosting is that when your blog is hosted by a free platform such as Blogger or Weebly, you DO NOT TECHNICALLY OWN your blog!! So that means you are at the mercy of Blogger, or Weebly, or whoever owns the platform your blog is running on. If the platform ever decided they wanted to shut your blog down, at any time they could! If you are making money on your blog, that could have devastating results for you and your family!

With a Self Hosted site, YOU OWN YOUR BLOG! This will give you control of what happens with your website. First you will need to purchase your domain name, I would recommend a DOT.COM. This is the go-to for most bloggers. Then you choose a provider like Bluehost to “HOST” your domain name.

With all that being said, if you are planning to MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR BLOG, you absolutely need to pay for hosting!

Bluehost is who I use to host all of my blogs. They have a quick and easy install of WordPress which is a free and open-source content management system.
According to data from web technology survey firm W3Techs, WordPress now powers 30% of websites worldwide. Bluehost is the # 1 TRUSTED WordPress Hosting Provider and all of their platforms are built upon reliable, high performance servers. Their amazing customer service is also available 24/7 so if you run into any issues or problems with your site, rest assured that help is only a phone call away!

Bluehost Setup – Let’s Get Started

Setting up your blog through Bluehost is easy.
First thing you want to do is click this link to take you to Bluehost. Using my link will get you a special price as well as getting a domain name & SSL certificate for free. Don’t worry, the link will open up a new tab, so this one will still be open so that you can click back and forth for easy setup.

Start Your Blog With Bluehost HERE!

Bluehost Select Your Plan

Choose the Bluehost plan you want to go with.
If you are just starting out, selecting the basic plan will work, just make sure when you are selecting options to spend a little extra to get the domain privacy. Keep in mind that if you don’t choose this option, anyone can look up the owner of your website and your private information is accessible like you name and address. Go for the upgraded plan if you can swing it though. It comes with a lot of extras for the money.

PLEASE NOTE:

I want to disclose this to you before you get deep into the setup process. Bluehost requires that you pay upfront for their hosting packages. You can pay upfront for 12 months, 24 months or 36 months.

There are many great reasons for upfront billing. Crazy things happen like getting your credit cards stolen. What if you forget to update your payment information with Bluehost? By billing upfront, you can avoid billing issues that could come up that would affect your site being up. It would be heartbreaking to see all the hard work you put in to creating your site get bungled up because of a billing issue! The peace of mind knowing that your site is secure for 1-3 years is priceless!

Another great reason is that you are able to make sure that your domain name, and basically your brand, can’t be purchased out from under you by somebody else. If you are serious about earning an income from your blog, TRUST ME, you do not want to do a month to month set up!

Bluehost Domain Search

Once you choose the plan that you want, you will be led to this screen where you can look up to see if the domain name you want is available.

If the name you want isn’t available, don’t be discouraged. Just keep trying different names, or variations of the name you want. You can also use your name if that’s available.

Bluehost Create Your Account

Once you have decided on your name, click on it and it will bring you to the screen where you put in all of your personal information. Put all of your information in and scroll down the page to the package information.

Bluehost Package Selection

This is where you will select the options that you want. Remember to make sure when you are selecting options to spend a little extra to get the Domain Privacy Protection. If you don’t choose this option, anyone can look up the owner of your domain name and your private information is accessible like you name and address. If you pay up front for 36 months, that will get you the best price. I wanted to get the most bang for my buck so this is the option that I went with. 

Bluehost Payment

Once you select your package information and extras, in-put your payment information. And press that button! A confirmation page will follow where Bluehost will tell you the email that they have sent your confirmation to. You will also get your order receipt as well.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

You are now the proud owner of a Domain Name that is hosted through Bluehost!! You are another step closer to getting your blog up and running!

CLICK HERE to Host Your Domain Name With Bluehost!

Bluehost Password Setup

Now it’s time to create your Password for your Bluehost Login. Make sure that you keep your Login and Password information in a safe place. You will need these to open up your account so that you can make edits to your site.

WordPress Setup

Once you have created your Password, press the Login button. It will automatically take you to your WordPress setup. You will be asked to select a theme that inspires you. It’s OK if you aren’t sure which one to pick. You can select one now and change it later, or you can skip this step.

Once your Template has been applied, you will get a Welcome to Word Press screen pop up that will start asking you some questions.

They will ask if you are setting up a business or personal account. If you are planning on monetizing your blog, select the business button.

Jetpack Setup

Jetpack

After setting up your Jetpack account, you will be taken back to your WordPress site. Now it’s time to start customizing your site!

The sidebar below displays all the options that you have to be able to edit your website. There are so many great ways that you can edit your free template.

There are many great tutorials on YouTube that show in great detail how to use WordPress and customize your template. Definitely experiment and look through all the sections. The more that you learn and feel comfortable with using WordPress, the better that your site is going to look!

Congratulations my friend! You are well on your way to getting your blog up and running!

If you missed the link for Starting Your Blog with Bluehost above, just CLICK HERE, or the link below.

Start Your Blog with Bluehost! CLICK HERE

I would love to hear from you and know whether this tutorial was helpful in getting you started on your new blog. Leave me a comment below and subscribe to my blog. It would really make my day! Until next time friend!

Here are some other posts you may like. Check them out.

Creating a Family Budget & Getting Your Finances Under Control

Mom Hacks For The New And Not So New Momma

Bible Scriptures About Worry & Anxiety

DIY – How To Make a Floor Length Mirror Using a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig

Bible Scriptures on Humbleness & Humility

The Devil Is a Liar! Battling Spiritual Warfare With the Word of God

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