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Profitable Blogging Defined

Before we go much farther, I’ll define blogging.  While the answer might seem obvious (you’re reading one now) knowing what blogging is or isn’t makes profitable blogging a little easier to pinpoint in a home based business.

History of Blogging — What is a”Blog”?

Here’s a quick history of blogging, so you know where it all began.  I’ll take the information from Wikipedia, which reads:

“The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers.”

So blogging has been around for around 15 years, and was once mostly the diary-type writing.  The word “blog” itself is a mash up of two words — web log.  (A mash up is another way of saying a combination of two or more words.)

Define Blogging

Blogs are websites, but of a different kind.  Instead of writing HTML pages in a static format, blogs are usually organized in chronological order (most recent first).  So it’s pretty easy to define blogging in a technical way.

Blog interfaces tend to be simple and easy to use — if you can write an email, you can likely write a blog to make your home based business go.  The software is what does all the magic behind the scenes.

OK, so we see where blogging came from.  Now let’s take a look at today’s blogging.

Types of Blogs

These days, blogs serve all kinds of purposes.  The most popular types of blogs are:

• Celebrity Blog
• Business/Corporate Blog
• Fishing Blog
• Home Based Business Blog
• Personal Blog
• New Car Blogs
• New Technology Blogs
• News Blog
• Photo Blog
• Sports Blog
• Travel Blog
• Video Blog

A new type of blog gaining in popularity is the moblog (mobile blogging).  And of course, there are those who want to run a small from home based business to make money blogging — either to drive online sales or increase traffic to brick-and-mortar stores.

The Future of Blogging

So, what is the future of blogging?  Where do we go from here?  It’s kind of hard to tell, but one thing for sure — blogging is getting more and more popular.  Personal blogs will probably still be in the top three kinds of blogs, but profitable blogging from home business is likely to be up there in the top three as well.

To define blogging is to define the way we’re increasingly communicating online.  More and more, blogs will continue to be created, for a multitude of reasons.

So join the party and start blogging!  (And if you need a little help, here’s how to start a blog with setting up your blog to get you started fast!)

How to start a blog; it’s more than just opening an account at a free blogging hosting site and writing the first thing that comes to your mind.  Or…is it really that simple?  Let’s take a look at how to start a blog.

You Need a Goal

So, what’s your goal for your blog?  Since you’re reading this article, I’m going to assume that you’d like to make at least a little money from it.  But money aside, what do you want to get out of your blog?

Quick, grab a piece of paper and white down three things you want to see your blog do.  For example, you might have a money goal, a traffic goal and a “satisfaction” goal.

Got your goals written down?  Let’s move to the next step.

Selecting a Blogging Subject

So, what is it that you want to blog about?  Is it about your favorite hobby, something new you’re learning, something that you hope makes you some income?  Before you can blog, you need to know what to write about.

You may be asking, “Do I really need a subject?  Why can’t I just write about whatever I feel like?”

You can.  But unless you are a celebrity, you’re not likely to get much in the way of traffic doing that.  And traffic is the lifeblood of a blog.  So pick a subject also called a “niche” and blog about it to your heart’s content.

Free Blogging Sites

If you have never, ever had a blog before, I recommend that you go over to one of the free blogging sites like blogger or wordpress.com.  While I’m partial to the wordpress.com a free blogging site, I have used both and both are good.

Using one of the free blogging platforms lets you experiment and get used to what it’s like to blog.  If you like it; great!  You’re one step closer to making money with a blog.  If you decide you don’t like blogging, you’re only out some time.

Hosting Your Blog

Hosting your own blog isn’t as terrifying as it first sounds, but it does help a little if you are familiar with how blogs work before you try it for yourself.

I’m going to tell you straight out if you want to have a profitable blog, you need your own domain name and your own blog hosting.  I’ll talk in greater detail about this later, but get used to the idea.

The best blogging software available costs nothing it’s free!  WordPress.org software is available as a 1-click installation with pretty much all the major web hosting services.  So it doesn’t cost you anything extra, and it pays you back a ba-zillion-fold with its power.

How to Start a Blog

If you want the absolute easiest way to start a blog, go to wordpress.com and register for one of their free ones.  It doesn’t take long to register and set up your blog; you can be writing within 15 minutes.

I have a wordpress.com blog that I started back in 2007.  I wrote several posts on a specific topic then got busy doing other things and promptly forgot about the blog.  In late 2008 I stumbled on it again, took a look at the traffic statistics and just about fell over.  Wow!

So start a blog today.  Get used to how it works, and decide how much time you have to spend on it.  Pick your topic and get blogging!