SLAP!
Happy Blogging Birthday little newborn blogger! We're here to welcome you into the rough world you've just arrived in.
As a newborn, You would think life would be as easy as cry equals food, right? Not so our little one. It's a rough blog-world out there and just like you gotta work to put food on the table, you're going to have to work to get readers (if that's what you're after at least).
But being the loving parents we are, we're here to teach and guide you through all the struggles we've faced "growing up" (and hell, still facing, cuz let's be real, we're still babies ourselves!) and how to get through them!
Here's what we've learned about Blogging in all its wonderful frustrating and surprisingly satisfying glory!
Step 1: It's Not That Easy
Who would have thought starting a blog was so much more involved than just writing and posting the stuff on your mind... We are now four weeks in to this blog that was started for the sole purpose of logging the journey to being successful Amazon sellers. We have actually learned quite a bit Over the course of these four long weeks! But very little, if anything has been about selling on amazon. It's all been about blogging. And even with all we've learned, every day we learn that we still haven't learned anything. Why can't you just write a blog, and people read it? And why does it even matter if people read it?
For us, it matters because when we started looking for more information online about selling on Amazon all we could find were the people who want you to pay for their knowledge. We understand and respect the value of their knowledge but at the same time, In our opinion, most of the people who are googling for information on this thing are looking into it for a reason. And that reason most likely isn't "To become richer than I already am". It's because they're probably makin' do like us (maybe even making well-to-do) but they want to start making DOUGH!
We get it! That's us! But again, if we had a cool grand just hanging out on the couch eating all our food and drinkin' all our beer we would have sent that bad boy packing to any one of those "Buy my Amazon course" people a long time ago!
For us, it matters because when we started looking for more information online about selling on Amazon all we could find were the people who want you to pay for their knowledge. We understand and respect the value of their knowledge but at the same time, In our opinion, most of the people who are googling for information on this thing are looking into it for a reason. And that reason most likely isn't "To become richer than I already am". It's because they're probably makin' do like us (maybe even making well-to-do) but they want to start making DOUGH!
We get it! That's us! But again, if we had a cool grand just hanging out on the couch eating all our food and drinkin' all our beer we would have sent that bad boy packing to any one of those "Buy my Amazon course" people a long time ago!
Ok, now back to the point...
While he's been researching all the amazon stuff, sHe's been trying to figure out how to make sure she puts all these quirky little keywords in the right places so that anyone searching for more information on this stuff they can find it quick and easy in one spot... that's right folks. RIGHT HERE!
Yes, we're well aware we don't have any of those answers here yet! Cut us some slack people! It's been four weeks! But from what I can gather, blogs take time to grow (from what she's read, even with proper keyword research and the whole nine yards) her thought process is, let's try and get as much "right" with this blog right now as we can so that by the time someone does happen to do a search for "Random couple giving away amazon and blog secrets" we've got all the information here in a pretty damn good looking package.
SO here's What you need to know to before starting a blog (in no specific order):
While he's been researching all the amazon stuff, sHe's been trying to figure out how to make sure she puts all these quirky little keywords in the right places so that anyone searching for more information on this stuff they can find it quick and easy in one spot... that's right folks. RIGHT HERE!
Yes, we're well aware we don't have any of those answers here yet! Cut us some slack people! It's been four weeks! But from what I can gather, blogs take time to grow (from what she's read, even with proper keyword research and the whole nine yards) her thought process is, let's try and get as much "right" with this blog right now as we can so that by the time someone does happen to do a search for "Random couple giving away amazon and blog secrets" we've got all the information here in a pretty damn good looking package.
SO here's What you need to know to before starting a blog (in no specific order):
Step 2: You
Yes, that's right! YOU!
You might think you know why you're starting a blog, but do you really? Do you? Doooooo Yooooou?
This is something you really need to put some thought into. Like, more than you already have... And then do it some more. In all honesty, we thought we did...
She happened to come across a website that offered a free e-book by Marianne Manthey at DesignYourOwnBlog.com. And you know how she loves free info!
She highly highly highly recommends you downloaded it!! It's only 37 pages of beautiful, clear smart information that helps you hone in on your "who, why and what" as well as awesome information on how to create a visually stimulating blog that will keep your readers engaged and craving more.
(Yeah, we're still learning.. again, cut us some slack, we're new here too!)
You might think you know why you're starting a blog, but do you really? Do you? Doooooo Yooooou?
This is something you really need to put some thought into. Like, more than you already have... And then do it some more. In all honesty, we thought we did...
She happened to come across a website that offered a free e-book by Marianne Manthey at DesignYourOwnBlog.com. And you know how she loves free info!
She highly highly highly recommends you downloaded it!! It's only 37 pages of beautiful, clear smart information that helps you hone in on your "who, why and what" as well as awesome information on how to create a visually stimulating blog that will keep your readers engaged and craving more.
(Yeah, we're still learning.. again, cut us some slack, we're new here too!)
Step 3: Website and Hosting
This is a given, right? You wanna blog, you need a website. But there's a lot more to it than that apparently... If you're a newbie like us, you'd probably look into something free.
What we didn't know (which we mentioned before here) is that a website address (I.e. Yourthang.com) is completely separate from "hosting". And depending on what your plans are for your blog is how you would base your decision on where to go.
basically it's like this:
you're either a tent camper or a trailer camper. And you either want to have the freedom to do as you please, or you don't mind camping next to a grouchy site-host.
tent camping = basic blog, no intentions to profit.
you just need a place to word-vomit
trailer camper = you'd like to make money (affiliate, niche, ads, etc)
you want to make this website work for you, add some cushion and maybe a flushing toilet
website address = This is what people will type in to get to your blog. Will it be yourwebsite.com or yourwebsite.blogplace.com?
the brand of your trailer or tent
Website = What are you going to do with your website? Sell things, blog, a little of both?
your tent or trailer, think amenities. Are you just going to sleep in it, or are you more of a "Glam-per"?
web hosting = This is the best explanation of the "types"of hosting
This is where you're going camping
What we didn't know (which we mentioned before here) is that a website address (I.e. Yourthang.com) is completely separate from "hosting". And depending on what your plans are for your blog is how you would base your decision on where to go.
basically it's like this:
you're either a tent camper or a trailer camper. And you either want to have the freedom to do as you please, or you don't mind camping next to a grouchy site-host.
tent camping = basic blog, no intentions to profit.
you just need a place to word-vomit
trailer camper = you'd like to make money (affiliate, niche, ads, etc)
you want to make this website work for you, add some cushion and maybe a flushing toilet
website address = This is what people will type in to get to your blog. Will it be yourwebsite.com or yourwebsite.blogplace.com?
the brand of your trailer or tent
Website = What are you going to do with your website? Sell things, blog, a little of both?
your tent or trailer, think amenities. Are you just going to sleep in it, or are you more of a "Glam-per"?
web hosting = This is the best explanation of the "types"of hosting
This is where you're going camping
Step 4a: so you're a tent caMper
There are a lot of great free options for just blogging. All of them will end with something like .weebly.com or .blogspot.com, etc. so your tent brand will be something like "wordvomit.weebly.com".
and most free places will give you the option of paying a little extra to drop the .weebly.com part so you can have it be only wordvomit.com (ohhh you like the sound of that, don't you?)
and most free places will give you the option of paying a little extra to drop the .weebly.com part so you can have it be only wordvomit.com (ohhh you like the sound of that, don't you?)
you've decided on the brand you like and you're ready to buy your tent. But first you need to decide where you're gonna camp.
If you're feeling particularly sassy and have every intention of doing what you damn well please (along the lines of Matthew mcConaughey playing naked bongos around a campfire with a slight possibility of Bigfoot) then you're gonna wanna go with a self-hosted site.
that means #1, it ain't gonna be free (though it's not expensive either) and #2 you don't have to worry about any camp-hosts kicking you out for being too loud (or for naked bongo dancing fireside, if that's your thing).
if you're just looking for a quick weekend only slightly roughin' it, with real toilets within walking distance, a site like weebly, blogger, or any free blogging site should do just fine.
If you're feeling particularly sassy and have every intention of doing what you damn well please (along the lines of Matthew mcConaughey playing naked bongos around a campfire with a slight possibility of Bigfoot) then you're gonna wanna go with a self-hosted site.
that means #1, it ain't gonna be free (though it's not expensive either) and #2 you don't have to worry about any camp-hosts kicking you out for being too loud (or for naked bongo dancing fireside, if that's your thing).
if you're just looking for a quick weekend only slightly roughin' it, with real toilets within walking distance, a site like weebly, blogger, or any free blogging site should do just fine.
Step 4b: Show me the trailer baby!
You need a little cushion. We get it. It's not for you though, right? It's for the wife, of course.... 'Cause you're a man and you can sleep on rocks without a blanket 'Cause you've got your beard to keep you warm.
Yeah, we totally get it. You're gonna go camping every weekend... or at least once a month, write-off the camper on the taxes as a second home (after all, isn't that the only reason you agreed to buying one with a toilet?) the whole nine yard. You're gonna get your money's worth and your gonna make this camper work for you!
Depending on what your plans are as far as "making it work for you" i.e. making money with your website/blog, you may go the free route (unless you plan on using your site as a store where people can purchase items from you), or you could choose to pay a small monthly fee for more control over your site.
In all honesty, we don't have a lot of experience with these, but this is what we've read. We use Weebly (free version) currently, but we also don't offer anything for sale, nor do we have ads (or at least we don't think we do).
Many bloggers (read, every single experienced blogger we have come across) really really really recommend self-hosting. And we may just take them up on their advice someday. But we figured first we would even see if we could keep up with maintaining this blog while trying to figure out our other stuff so... you know... one step at a time.
Time to Digest
We'll let you sit and digest all this information for a little bit before we force feed you more information on the whole blogging business (also because she really needs to read all these other blogs that she's finding with loads of information that she can mother-bird back to you!).
It's like we said before, it is a literally a ton of information and we're barely even scratching the surface. It's like a secret society or something and we're just hanging outside where we think these mysterious people meet hoping we can get initiated so we can spill beans on all their weird inner-workings!
Yeah... you know what she's talking about...
It's like we said before, it is a literally a ton of information and we're barely even scratching the surface. It's like a secret society or something and we're just hanging outside where we think these mysterious people meet hoping we can get initiated so we can spill beans on all their weird inner-workings!
Yeah... you know what she's talking about...
-Me and Him