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Instant Success: How To Start A New Blog – THE RIGHT WAY!

March 19, 2010 By 22 Comments

Probably the most common question asked in the blogosphere is “how to I start a blog?” With thousands of new blogs popping up a day, it is pretty obvious why that question is asked. Recently, I started a new blog over at CoffeeObsessed.net, so I thought I would use this opportunity to show you how easy it is to setup a new blog and be successful starting in the first month of operation.

There is no secret to success…just some fundamentals that give you a head start on everyone else out there staring at a “Add New Post” screen. Warning…once you read this…you are going to say…”Wow. It is really that easy.”

How To Start A New Blog – The RIGHT WAY!

So I had this idea to start a coffee blog for quite some time. Let me just warn you…I am literally obsessed with coffee. I don’t drink beer or any other alcoholic beverage (drank myself silly and college so that was enough for me) so coffee is my liquid outlet. I wanted to share this passion obsession online and a blog is a natural progression into this arena.

So what did I do first? – Domain Selection

I picked a domain name! Typically, I would tell you to research your niche, really think about what you want to blog about, etc., but I already had all of that covered so I needed a URL I could call home. I headed over to GoDaddy and started looking for domain names that fit what I was trying to accomplish. CoffeeObsessed.net was open so I snatched it up and it was off to the races.

What did I do next? – Hosting Setup

After I had the domain name I wanted, I hit up my boy Alex at Sliqua and told him I had just bought a domain at GoDaddy and I needed to get it hosted. He set me up and I was ready to start the install process. If you are not ready for high end hosting, I recommend using HostGator for their price and ease of use. When you are ready to step up to the big boys, hit up Sliqua for your hosting needs.

Let’s Get to Blogging! – WordPress Setup

Forget Blogger, Typepad or any other blogging engine. If you really want to have a successful blog off the bat, you need to drop the 20 bucks it cost to have your own WordPress install self hosted. Anything else is going to cripple you from day one. I installed WordPress, setup my plugins and was ready to blog. I am not going to go into that entire process here. If you want to know how to do that, download Ramped Blogging. There are step by step instructions.

Getting Everything Looking Good – Design

I know what you are thinking. Robb has a successful blog off the bat because he has a team of designers behind him that make everything look perfect. It takes a ton of money to do that and I don’t have a wad of cash to drop on blog design. Guess what? You are wrong. Here is what I did with Coffee Obsessed.

I went to WooThemes and bought the Therapy theme. I took the stock background included with the theme and added a coffee cup. Once uploaded…it is the theme you see live on the site as we speak. That was all the customization I did. Easy right?

Then I must have had a pro jump in and design the logo right? Wrong again. I headed over to IconFinder.net and looked for a coffee cup icon I liked and matched that up against the logo written in a font I liked. Logo complete and the site is up and running. See? It really doesn’t get much simpler than that for a professional looking blog.

Beginning Article Setup – The Writing Process

Now…I have a pretty good Twitter base to pull from, so I knew I needed to spark conversation right off the bat if I wanted the blog to do well in the first 30 days. I wrote 3 articles that all asked questions and then hit up my social media circles (specifically Facebook and Twitter) asking them to check out the new site and comment on the articles. While not everyone did…a pretty good number chimed in and I had double digit comments on each of the brand new articles.

I Need Coffee! – Product Reviews

A large part of a coffee blog is writing reviews of different coffees and coffee equipment. I started off with the coffee I already had on hand and got to writing. I included pictures, my honest opinion and hit publish. After a couple of reviews hit and people commented…I had a new blog off the ground and rolling along smoothly. So…I used that success to contact some specialty coffee roasters for review coffee.

After a couple of emails back and forth, I was sent coffee from some of the top roasters in the country. I published their “first look” articles and later the reviews. Everyone is stoked about the publicity and honest reviews and now coffee roasters are contacting Coffee Obsessed directly for reviews on coffee and high end coffee equipment.

Rinse and Repeat – The Ongoing Process

From here…I just rinse and repeat. Everything is sipping up smoothly and I know have a great blog that I really enjoy. I get to form relationships with private coffee roasters which is a true pleasure in its own right (I have met some really cool, passionate coffee people) and I get to taste coffees from all over the world.

What You Need To Take Away From This Process

So…looks easy right? It really is that easy. So what do you need to take away from this process to insure your success in your blogging whether you are starting up today, starting another blog or trying to squeeze more success out of your current blog?

Setup Your Blog Correctly From The Beginning

I hear so many beginning bloggers say, “I use Blogger now and then switch to WordPress if it catches on.” Be ready for disappointment if you are going to go that direction. If your blog does catch on, you are going to have a hell of a time converting it over and…worse yet…if you start your blogging with that mentality you are going to fail anyway. Your blog is going to be successful and that is why you are going to set it up correctly from the beginning.

Download Ramped Blogging…go to GoDaddy and get a domain name…go to HostGator and get a hosting account…get a good looking theme like the ones from WooThemes…make a quick logo and start off on the right foot instead of one step backwards.

Mindset Is Everything

How you start your blogging mindset is everything. If you start blogging wondering…doubting…or doing it half-assed. It is never going to work. You need to have the right positive mindset going into the whole process before you even write the first word in your first article. If you do not, you are just setting yourself up for failure.

Leverage Your Strengths

If you have Facebook friends or Twitter followers that would be interested in your blog, ask them for help in the beginning. Blogging is a collaborative effort and can not be done on your own. Your friends and family are going to be a massive resource for help in spreading the word and commenting. Do not spam them, but ask them to help in building your community.

Review Product Is Possible In The First 30 Days

Yes…you can get in review product in the first 30 days. No one in the coffee industry knew who I was before Coffee Obsessed but through a professional looking blog and a passion for all things coffee, I was able to bring in more coffee than I can drink and form really cool relationships with other members of the industry. Dealing with other passionate people in coffee has been the biggest reward of this entire process.

If you want to know how…check out Ramped Reviews.

Do not over complicate things…do not talk yourself out of success…believe that it is really that easy to start a successful blog and go after it. If you do things the right way from the beginning…you set yourself up for incredible success. If you go into it half cocked “just seeing how it goes”, you will get back exactly what you put into it…nothing!

Filed Under: Blogging, Featured, Generating Cash, How To Start A Blog, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Setting Up Your DNS Nameservers For Your Blog

September 3, 2009 By 2 Comments

Now that you have setup your domain name through GoDaddy and your hosting account through HostGator, we need to get your domain name and your hosting files to talk to each other. This is done through the admin panel of GoDaddy so you can get your domain pointed in the right direction to your WordPress blog files and see your blog on your url through the use of DNS nameservers. Basically…we need to get your hosting files and the IP address the same so when a visitor goes to your url…they see your blog and not a default “this domain is registered at GoDaddy” page.

The technical aspects of nameservers, DNS records, etc. really aren’t all that important for the purposes of setting up a blog. If you really want to dive into the technical definitions and why everything works the way it does…do a simple search for DNS and you will get more than enough information to geek out on. For the purposes of this tutorial, we are not going to dive into the technical aspects. We are just going to get you setup!

Where do I find my nameservers?

First, we need to get the nameservers in your hosting account.

Sign into your HostGator cPanel. You were given this login information with your account information when you signed up. The cPanel is your blog backend headquarters where you setup email addresses, databases and basically manage the nuts and bolts that are outside of WordPress…but we will get into more of that later.

In the left column, scroll down until you see two nameserver records that should look something like this (yours should be slightly different)

NS1066.HOSTGATOR.COM
NS1065.HOSTGATOR.COM

These are the two records that you are going to need to copy and paste into fields in your GoDaddy account, so leave this window open and open a new window or tab in your web browser.

Inserting Your Nameservers In GoDaddy

Now…we need to go into your GoDaddy account where you purchased your domain names and get the domain pointed in the direction of your files (even though we have not technically uploaded anything yet).

Login to your GoDaddy account and under the navigation tab for domains, click on “My Domains”. This will open up a new window that is your Domain Manager. Click on the domain name that we are working with for this blog and in the bottom left hand corner you will see a heading for Nameservers. Click on the “manage” link in that field. You should get a popup that looks like the screen below.

DNS Nameservers on GoDaddy

Under this field, click on the bubble that reads “I host my domains with another provider.” You will then be shown the Nameserver fields and this is where you are going to copy and paste the two Nameserver records from your HostGator account. Once you copy and paste in the two nameservers, click ok. You should get a window that tells you…

Your changes have been submitted. Please allow a few minutes for the changes to take effect.

Click ok and you are done! Pretty easy right? This process is also the same no matter what hosting company you have decided to go with. If you have your domains and hosting separate, you have to get the two pointing in the same direction for everything to work properly.

Note: In most cases, you are not going to see the page you land on for your url change right away. It normally takes an hour or two for the domain to completely resolve, so just be patient and we will start to work on installing WordPress on your server (hosting account) in the meantime.

Direction Post Image by treehouse1977

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Choosing and Buying the Right Domain Name for Your Blog

August 17, 2009 By 4 Comments

Since you have already taken the first step and chose your blog’s niche topic, it is time to tackle the domain name for your blog.

Choosing the right domain name can prove to be a difficult task…especially in crowded niche’s where many of the typical names will already be taken. With a little creativity and planning, you can have a catchy, easy to remember domain name that you can start to build your brand around for years to come.

Do Not Make The Same Mistake I Did

One of the main reasons for publishing the How To Start A Blog series is to prevent early mistakes you can make as a blogger. Lucky for you and unfortunately for me…we can learn from my early mistakes as a blogger so that you can use that knowledge and experience as you move forward. Through this…you don’t have to make the same mistakes that I did!

Early in my blogging, I picked a domain name that I liked that seemed relevant at the time, but it was difficult to remember in hindsight. MTBTrailReview.com is not the easiest url to pass along to other mountain bikers at the local trailhead. Luckily, you can change urls (going to bike198.com…see how much easier that is to remember?) but the process is a tedious one that requires A LOT of work and planning. By taking the extra brainstorming time in the beginning of the blogging process, you can save yourself a lot of headache in the future.

Brainstorming Domain Name Ideas

The world of domain names is becoming increasingly crowded as more websites and blogs are added to the net on a daily basis. Choosing the right domain name for your blog might be a long road of brainstorming ideas, or a quick guess that hits with the first try. Start with a list of keywords and catchy phrases that are directly related to your niche blog topic. These are going to be the foundation in which you build your blog’s domain name.

Note: It is a proven fact that url’s help with general SEO, so having specific, related keywords in your domain name will help in the long run.

Once you have a list of specific keywords, start looking for catchy ways to string several together in an easy to remember domain name. The idea is to have a unique enough domain name that sets you apart from your competition that is also easy to remember. If you are making strictly a personal blog, your name would be a good choice but that is not required.

Remember, your domain name is what you are going to build your branding around as a blogger, so think of your domain name as your brand name as you continue to look for the best name for your blog.

Researching Domain Name Availability

Now that you have several ideas ready to go, head over to GoDaddy.com to research the availability of your domain name choices. GoDaddy.com makes it extremely easy to research domain names through their home page and they even go as far to recommend alternative choices if your potential domain name is already taken. You might get lucky and hit your favorite right off the bat. In most cases…you won’t and this is where you are going to need to start to get a little bit creative. If you have several names that you really like but are already taken, head over to thesaurus.com and try out different, similar word combination’s. In some cases, I have actually come up with domain names through that process that I liked better than my originals.

Try to keep your domain name short and to the point as you research into different options for your blog. There is a lot of argument around the web on .com vs. .net vs. .me etc. Typically, I would stick to the .com’s and .net’s if possible as they are the easiest to remember for potential blog visitors. In the past, I used to soak up all of the potential endings for brand protection…but sticking to the main ones and saving a little bit of money is proving to be the best tactic at this time.

You Found The Right Domain For Your Blog

Great! You have your own domain name that you are ready to purchase to build your brand and your blog. GoDaddy.com has a great url/domain name backend, so I recommend that you go ahead and purchase it right there. With some of the best pricing on the internet and easy search-ability for possible domain names, GoDaddy.com just makes sense for domain name management. As you continue with your blogging career, there are probably going to be other domain names that you want to scoop up in the future, and I would keep them all at GoDaddy (that is where I keep all of mine).

Now that you have purchased the right domain name for your blog…we need to move onto hosting your blog and installing WordPress…and that is coming up next so stay tuned!

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