That is not really the title I would have given this post. I probably would have called it “Why you Might Want to Blog,” but I will tell you in another post why I chose the other instead.
So, this really is a post about the reasons you might want to begin blogging—and they may be the same reasons I have. And it’s about some of the things to think about before you begin. I hope that my experiences as I try to create a website that has readers and eventually has advertisers will help you to find out if blogging is for you.
I think there are a lot of people out there, including you, that have information they would like to share. You know things! You may have always thought about writing a book; but writing a book is a hard, and usually not very lucrative, proposition. First, you have to gather and organize all your information before you can see one dollar of profit (unless you get an advance). Second, you must convince a gatekeeper to let you publish your book (although that is not so true anymore with self-publishing options out there). But you probably wonder if you want to do all that work before you know if there is an audience for your book. Blogging or building a website is a way to test the waters so to speak. It might take the same amount of time as writing and organizing a book, but you can start to get readers along the way and build out your information in stages.
The Difference Between Blogging and a Website
Many businesses have websites. They use their website to have a presence on the internet so customers can find their location, their hours, their phone number, and so forth. The information on this website may never change. That website probably serves its purpose, but it isn’t a site people are going to visit a lot.
A blog on the other hand probably makes you think of someone writing an on-line diary, just spilling their thoughts to the world.
But the way people think about websites and blogs has changed. Businesses (or a person wanting to monetize their knowledge) must drive readers to their website, and there are basically two ways to do that: 1)Be found by search engines or 2) Be shared through social media. That means that standard business websites now run blogs, keeping their content up to date (and visitors coming back for more) and sometimes giving away knowledge in order to sell more specific knowledge.
The main difference then between a website and a blog is that a website has static pages in addition to the blog posts. So, for example, in my website, I intend to add some of the curriculum resources I have and to make them accessible from a “Resources” page. I also intend to have a “Reading List” page, and who knows what else as I go along. So I don’t just have a blog—I have a website with a blog.
So the first step is really to decide what information you want to provide and who you are trying to reach with that information.
Then you follow Building a Website Step 1 and Step 2 to get started.
How Long Does it Take to Make Money Blogging?
You can make money blogging with the information you know that others want to know. I have read that it is possible, and I am going to try to do that. And as I said, you can follow along and learn with me and find out if it works.
How long will it take? I guess we will find out that together, but I am not expecting much traffic or revenue for six months. Everyone says that “content is king.” So having interesting and useful content is the most important feature of a successful website. So I am going to concentrate on that while I learn about other parts of building a website.
In the next few posts, I am going to explain some of the terms and issues you have to address if you want your website (or blog) to reach readers and eventually become self-supporting. Then I will get back to some of the step-by-step posts. But you are going to have to make some decisions about your site, so you need to be informed about what else is involved.
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