Building a Successfull Blog

Getting Started
It is always best to try and make money from what you know. It is far easier to write about what you know than to try and make money writing about other things. However, having said that, you can find free content on almost any subject, so you can pick a subject that you think would be profitable, but you don’t really know anything about.

Host Your Blog On Your Own Domain:
This is extremely important. I know many other authors will advise you to use a free site, but I disagree. If you host your blog on your own domain then you get to call the shots. If you host your blog on someone else's domain they get to decide what you can do with your blog. They can decide that your blog is “inappropriate” and pull the plug on your blog. I personally use Godaddy for my blog. You can get to godaddy by going to
http://www.deannaspencer.com/learnsmallbusiness, clicking on small business resources and then clicking on the word godaddy.

Creating Content For Your Blog:
It's always best to write your own content for your blog. Your posts don't have to be that long, ususally 100-250 words will do. You can write about a good book that you've read related to your topic. You can write something related to a post on a forum you frequent. You also should try to write something in your blog at least once per week.

When you get stuck writing your own content (trust me you will) use other people's articles. You can find free content for your blogs at article sites. You must follow the rules outlined in the article site. This usually means keeping the author’s contact information and links in place. Below is a list of links to article sites:

http://www.goarticles.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://members.tripod.com/buckcreek/
http://www.fripp.com/articleslist.html
http://www.arcanaweb.com/resources/article-directories.html
http://www.articledepot.co.uk/
http://www.dotcomwomen.com/free-content.shtml
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.isnare.com

Though this will give you a start, it is always better to write your own content. This can turn into articles which you can then post to the above directories and drive traffic to your blog. I won't get into article marketing that much here since that is truthfully a totally different book.

Creating Your Blog
Once you get your godaddy hosting set up, you should install wordpress on your website. Before you install wordpress, make sure to select the godaddy hosting plan that meets these requirements (don't get too hung up on what the acronyms mean, just be sure that your hosting has these things):
PHP version 4.2 or greater
MYSQL version 4.0 or greater
(Optional) Apache mod_rewrite module (for clean URIs known as Permalinks )
Once you have chosen the hosting that meets these requirements, you are ready to install your blog. Just go to http://worpress.org/download and download and unzip the wordpress installation package. Once you have Select a theme to use. Once you've selected your theme, you have to download the files to your computer and then upload them to your webhost.

Monetizing the Blog
Once you select a theme, you need to insert your linkworth code so advertisers know that they can purchase ads on your blog.
If you do not have a linkworth account, you can click here (insert linkworth link)
Once you have a Linkworth account, you will need to wait for advertsiers to buy links on your page.
Another way to monetize your account is to sign up with payperpost.com
With this site your blog does have to be at least 90 days old. You also need to have original content. You also need to make sure that your blog doesn't have a gap of more than 30 days.

Monetizing with affiliate programs
Affiliate programs are a great way to make money from your blog. Basically with an affiliate program, you are just selling other people's products on your blog. Be sure that you promote products that fit with your niche.
Go to http://clickbank.com http://cj.com, and http://paydotcom.com and create accounts. Find affiliate programs for high-quality products in your niche. Create affiliate links for these products and insert them into your sidebar on the template where it says “Links”. Periodically, post a full update with a review that explains the benefits of a particular product. You can also find affiliate products at http://www.amazon.com

Post another piece of private label content every two days. Search forums with related content - quote and link to pertinent information about your niche.
Insert links to other blogs, related news, etc. at the bottom of each post using your key phrase somewhere in the anchor text of the link.

Generating Traffic To Your Blog
Now that your blog is set up and installed, you need to drive traffic to your blog. There is no point in going through all of that trouble to set up your blog if you don't have any readers. The easiest way to get traffic to your blog is to get your blog listed in top blog directories.
Get Your Blog Listed On Search Engines and In Top Blog Directories
Once you have posted your first piece of private label content, inserted your linkworth code, etc, it is time to promote your blog.

Go to http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/ and submit your blog to as many of these blog and rss feed directories as possible. Some of them may not accept your Blog. Use your key phrase in the title and at least once in the
Description if you are able to enter one. This is going to take many hours, but the effort is well worth it.

Go to http://yahoo.com and set up an account if you don’t already have one. Add your RSS feed to your "My Yahoo" account as a news feed you want to monitor.
You will need to add RSS Beta to your My Yahoo content if you don't have it. For more info on how to do that, go here:
http://my.yahoo.com/s/rss-faq.html and add it.
You will now add your blog into the RSS feed in my yahoo. To do that, click on edit in the RSS feed section.

Enter the url of your blog.
Go to MSN.com, create an account, and do the same.
To do that, enter your blog URL with “atom.xml” appended to the end of it where it says “Search for content to add”. I am using one of my blogs to demonstrate. The URL I will enter is:
(insert your blog link here)

Submit your blog to:
http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request
http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
http://www.mybloglog.com
http://www.blogrush.com

Go to http://pingomatic.com and submit your blog. Remember
to use your key phrase in the title and at least once in the description.
Repeat “the Ping” every time you post new content to your blog.
Getting Traffic With Forums

Join forums related to your niche market and post regularly. If you have a blog post related to a question that is being asked, be sure to post the link to that blog post. If there is a profle section, be sure to list your blog there. Also, if the forum allows a signature file include your blog's url in your signature file.

Getting Traffic With Blog Carnivals
Host a blog carnival on your blog. Basically a blog carnival is a collection of blog posts related to the topic that your blog is on. This helps you drive traffic to your blog and it helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field. I suggest that you use www.blogcarnival.com to host your blog carnivals. This will help you streamline the process of hosting your blog carnival.
You can also gain traffic to your blog by participating in blog carnivals hosted by other people. Just go to www.blogcarnival.com and type in your niche. I'm sure you will find a blog carnival about your topic. You can also go to google and type in blog carnival + (whatever your niche is) and find carnivals to participate in that way as well.

Monitor Your Search Engine Rankings
Once you have been indexed by search engines periodically check up on your blog’s rankings within its niche. You do this of course by searching on the key phrase you used for optimization.
If you picked a penetrable niche, you should be able to get onto the first page (at least on Yahoo) within a month, but if not, you will need to:
Search out link partners in your niche and setup reciprocal links. Simply find high-ranking websites in your niche on Google and Yahoo and offer to exchange links with them.

That’s all. (I know, that was a lot of work.)
Now, just keep up your blog. If you think of other niches to write in, simply repeat these steps for that niche. It makes things easier for your blog's search engine rankings if it sticks to one theme. It also won't confuse your readers.