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Blogging for Fun and Profit
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Social Media
Blogging for Fun and Profit
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If you are twenty or thirty, then blogging is a concept that makes a whole lot of sense. But for Boomers and Retired people, it can feel like a daunting idea. Hopefully in this post I can simplify and
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Cat:27dad6ff-8702-4ad9-8dc8-e79db2fe96b9Forum:5c995fcf-313f-479e-8b5f-1a574455525f
Cat:27dad6ff-8702-4ad9-8dc8-e79db2fe96b9Forum:5c995fcf-313f-479e-8b5f-1a574455525fDiscussion:689e92c1-5d16-4b29-b59b-4ff33cb7eabf
Forums » Technology » Social Media » Blogging for Fun and Profit
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Blogging for Fun and Profit
posted at October 20, 2012 9:34 PM EDT
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Posts: 5
First: February 24, 2009 Last: October 20, 2012 |
If you are twenty or thirty, then blogging is a concept that makes a whole lot of sense. But for Boomers and Retired people, it can feel like a daunting idea. Hopefully in this post I can simplify and make blogging easier and even FUN!! A blog is nothing more than a web log. That is where the work BLOG came from. People began using blogs in the way that we used to use journals. But because they are online, others could read them. That's when it got fun. People realized that they could blog about any topic under the sun. The uses were endless. Blogging about your travels or about your grandchildren. Blogging about gardening or recipes. Authors began using blogs to post book chapters and create a following. Mainstream media added blogs to their online website. Today, any company or organization that does not have a blog is missing a huge aspect of online and social media marketing and conversation. The search engines, like Google, like blogs because the content changes frequently. This is very different than the old fashioned static website. Search engines look for change, and blogs feed them constantly. This matters a lot if you actually want people on the internet to read what you write, because first they have to find you. For instance - Let's say you want to blog about cooking and you have some fantastic recipes that you have created yourself. Your idea is to blog and eventually maybe sell your recipes online. When someone searches the internet for "interesting recipes" or "recipes created by grandma's" or "best homemade fudge" - you want them to find you. A blog allows this to happen over time. There are some skills necessary to learn, but not too many. If you just want to blog for fun, and share your link with friends and family, that is absolutely fine too. You can easily create an online story, catalogue, journal etc... You can add not only text, but photos, video, audio and links to other online places that you like. The next question is always "How do I create a blog?" The answer is: There are many ways - some easier than others The first question I always ask back is: Do you want to monetize your blog at all? The answer to that question leads to the best blogging tool for you. You may think that you have nothing to monetize with - no recipes, or ebooks, or lessons to sell. That might be true, or it might not. It depends if you've really thought that through. It's amazing what will sell and what people will buy. But even if it is true, if you are passionate about a topic you would like to blog about, you can passively earn income from your topic by blogging on the right platform. You see, some blogging platforms are such that you pay a very low fee (like $25 per month) to have it all set up for you and ready to go as well as be well positioned for the search engines. All you have to do is sign up and start writing. This particular platform I'm thinking about has information already on it that offers the same $25 system to others. So as people come to read about your recipes or your garden or your travels, they will also see information about how they can also start a blog and have it all set for them. They might get excited about that possiblility and sign up too for $25. In this situation you earn 100% commissions and Voila - money in the bank. Do this a few times and you'll be making a nice passive income because of your blog. This particular blogging platform is also very highly ranked by the search engines, so you can be found if you want to be. There are other blogging platforms that are free to set up and there is just a bit more to do yourself, though it's easy to find youtube videos showing you how to do it. On some of these, like blogger.com, you can still monetize if you wanted to but in a more complex manner by becoming familiar with Google Adsense. That can be an entire ebook itself, so we'll save that for another day. People who are blogging for business usually prefer a Wordpress.Org blog these days. Unless you are tech savvy, you'll need some help with this one. You'll need a hosting company and the skills to upload the blog to your domain name. Even after years of working online, I still hire my favorite tech guy to set up these blogs for me. The $25 blogging option I talked about above, happens to sit on a Wordpress.org platform. That is one of the things that makes it brilliant. You get the power of Wordpress.org but none of the hassle. I have many blogs in different places throughout the internet. I enjoy this one for all the reasons talked about above. Feel free to message me directy if you want to know where to find it. Regardess of which direction you choose, blogging is fun, creative and interesting. As more and more people read your blog, you'll get comments which can spark conversations with interesting people across the globe. Just from blogging about something you love, an entire new world of possibilities can open up to you. |
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Re: Blogging for Fun and Profit
posted at October 30, 2012 6:08 AM EDT
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Posts: 17
First: September 11, 2012 Last: June 1, 2013 |
I am using Wordpress.com to chronicle my father's footsteps during WWII while in the 11th Airborne Division: pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com. The company made everything so simple to understand - even this old geezer (and computer illiterate) can use it. IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE!! |
Forums » Technology » Social Media » Blogging for Fun and Profit
