More importantly is the fact that I was able to actually get the thing accomplished and looking half-way decent. That means the next time around, I can improve that much more. I learned so much on Thursday. Let me recap what I did.
The first thing I did was set up a hosting account at Host Gator and purchased the domain name at the same time. The cost to my PayPal account was $22.96 after it was all said and done. I got the middle level account where I can get unlimited domains, disk space, and bandwidth. I am assuming that I can have more than one blog for the same low cost of under $10 per month. It is called the "baby plan". If I am wrong and mistaken about my assumptions, let me know. I don't plan on worrying about it for a few months since I doubt I will start another blog before then.
Then I managed to find the WordPress one click download to the server through the cPanel whatever it is. Okay, I admit that I had to spend time with the Live Chat on Host Gator cause I never would have found it myself. But once this was online, I was able to find and download a free theme for my blog. It isn't the greatest visually appealing theme, but I think it is pretty good for my first time. Plus it was free. I then spent some time playing around with the different widget locations in order to get AdSense onto my site.
Next, I wrote an introductory post to get a little content on the site. This actually worked out pretty well. I am getting a lot better at using the WordPress blogging interface and am liking it a lot. I also got my site set up to be tracked by Google Analytics. I had some trouble getting it registered with Google Webmaster Tools and had to go to Live Chat a second time. I like the convenience of the Live Chat option.
I am pleased so far with Host Gator, have heard good things, and so signed up for their affiliate program. If you want to sign up to make money on the internet with your own blog, consider using my affiliate link.
I now have 2 posts on the site and plan on adding another 2 in the next week. It is a blog that focuses more on general financial topics as opposed to the limited topic of options investing. I am hoping that this more broad scope will lead to more potential traffic. So now I am slowing commenting on other blogs to solicit a little bit of social traffic to the site. I know that it will take about a month to start generating any search traffic at all, but hope by the end of the year to have made some money off the site.
I have just over $60 in my PayPal account which is all money that has come from eHow payments. Those will be coming to an end but I should have plenty of funds available in that account to pay for hosting for the rest of the year. Add the eHow one time purchase and the HubPages payment program, and I can safely say that hosting will be covered for at least 2 years. I would hope to see some growth over that time.
Then if I build another blog by the end of the year, I can have 2 sites and begin my own little online empire. LOL! It has been quite a lot of fun. I am excited that I was able to create something on my own. It may not be the prettiest, but it is all mine. The bottom line is just do it. If I can, anyone can.
Photo credit: lanare Sevi
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Hooray! I know you could do it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because I remember how intimidating it was the first time I built my own Wordpress blog - but it all seems so easy now. Anyway, I definitely think this is a good move for you! Congratulations.
That's fab Kidgas! I am a bit behind and still haven't commented on your last post, but just wanted to quickly say well done :) and yeah you're right about the Hostgator plan, you can add as many domains as you like to it in future.
ReplyDeleteMichelle and Ruth,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I greatly admire the work that both of you are doing on the web and look up to you both. I am honored that you take the time to read my blog.
Anil,
My new blog is primarily a blue color. I did it myself and downloaded the "HeatMapTheme" which was free. Someday maybe I will pay for one but wanted to not devote any of my own money to this venture so I have kept my expenses minimal.
Good, man! I'm hoping you find it wasn't near as hard or intimidating as it may seem at first. As far as paying for themes, I use free ones and customize all the colors, header banners and logos, and even go into the php coding and change a ton. Freebies are just as good as paid ones if you customize under the hood.
ReplyDeleteGood going, Kidgas. I moved all my Blogger blogs to WordPress a month ago, after starting an e-commerce site on WordPress a month or so before that. I still find WordPress intimidating and can't get anything to look or work quite like I want it to. At least adding new content has become like second nature.
ReplyDeleteJared,
ReplyDeleteIt is getting easier to work with but I still feel like I know very little. As David says, posting content is fairly easy but I will still want to mess around with it. I had wanted to change some colors and maybe find a picture for the heading but had spent too much time that day. I will have to save it for another time.
David,
That is awesome. I hope the e-commerce site works for you.
Great news! I too just started a Web site with WordPress (and DreamHost). I have done most of the stuff you've talked about except Google Analytics. You did a lot in one day! It took me the better part of a week but I stopped when I hit a wall b/c I tend to get very discouraged and just quit. So, great job! And if you figure out how to set up an email account that has your domain name, please write a blog entry about that. I cannot figure out how to do it and not sure who to ask.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Peg. It makes me feel good knowing that I was able to accomplish so much. Sorry I can't help you with the email question. Maybe somebody, somewhere knows.
ReplyDelete