If you’re a blog reader, chances are you’re also an aspiring blog writer. Launching a for-profit weblog is extremely attractive because it has the potential for endless profit with practically no overhead. Launching a blog is a quick and easy process even for the absolute beginner. The following is what I learned from my pre-lifehack.org blog in which I earned over $100 and received over 100,000 page views my first month blogging. I did it and you can too! Make the jump to find out how. Technical stuff
First things first, you’ve got to get the technical stuff out of the way. The “technical stuff” I’m talking about includes choosing a blogging platform, choosing a hosting service, and choosing a domain name. Chances are you’re well aware of the various blogging platforms so I won’t spend time going over them. I think the best blogging software to use is Wordpress. Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger.net has an excellent post that describes the features of Wordpress 2.0. After you’ve decided on a blogging application, you need to chose a domain name and a hosting service. If you have never blogged before (or even if you have) you will find that it is easiest to chose a domain name and hosting package from the same service provider. GoDaddy.com has 24/7 technical support (although you will pay a premium compared to other hosting providers) and it will completely automate the installation of Wordpress for free. If you are not a technical person, this frees you from messing around with all the technical junk. Domain name
It is extremely important that you think long term before picking a domain name. After you establish your blog, you aren’t going to be able to transfer your domain name without losing your readers, really! Think of your domain name as being permanently attached to your blog. Your domain name should be as short as possible, easy to remember, easy to speak, and not include any part of your name unless you’re a celebrity (which you’re not). You should avoid using any part of your name because if your blog becomes popular enough to sell, having your name as part or all of the domain name will drive down some of the blog’s value. Get advertisements immediately
Sign up for advertisements immediately. You’re not going to make any money without advertisements. Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and many others offer advertisements that you can easily integrate into your site. I had great success using Google Adsense. Despite what you may have heard, you can make some pretty good money with Google ads. Checkout Darren from ProBlogger’s survey about Adsense income. I also recommend signing up with PayPopUp banner ads. PayPopUp pays you every time their ad is displayed, you don’t have to rely on users clicking the links. This will not make you nearly as much money as Google Adsense, however it is guaranteed money even if no visitors click your advertisements. After your blog is established, the goal should be to ditch third party advertisements and sell advertising space directly to companies. Get Google Analytics immediately
You will want to track as much information about your visitors as possible, the easiest and most detailed way of doing so is with Google Analytics. Amongst many other things, Google Analytics lets you see the referring URL of your visitors, your top content, what Google searches are landing users at your site, how long users are staying, and their exit points. Knowing this information will help you customize your content so that you can maximize your readership. You should also consider using Site Meter to publicly display your site’s up to the hour traffic to potential advertisers. Write 50 posts
That’s enough talk about setup, it’s time to talk content. That’s right, you need to write at least 50 posts your first month. That’s 2-3 posts per day, everyday for 30 days. It may seem tough, but it is absolutely necessary. The number one way that you will lose potential readers is to not update your site regularly. You need to establish readership, and get your Google Page Rank up, if you can’t come up with 50 posts the first month, you may want to consider finding another topic for your blog. Adding several posts per day will help increase the amount of Stumbleupon traffic your site grabs. Submit every article to Digg
This recommendation is going to bring some negative comments, I’m sure. Regardless, digg.com is a tremendous way to advertise your site for free. Honestly, submit every article you write to digg. When you are starting a brand new blog, besides exchanging links with more establish blogs (which I recommend) there will be absolutely no links to your site. Even if you think the article is no good, submit it to digg. Let the digg community decide what is good content and what is not. You might as well let your work get some exposure. Some of my most popular posts through Stumbleupon got less than 4 diggs. Every article that doesn’t make the front page of digg will land you about 100 page views. If you do make the front page of digg (it’s a great feeling, believe me). You will get anywhere between 3,000 and 20,000 page views per day.
What would you do differently
I know some of you have been blogging for a very long time. What would you add that I didn’t mention? Is there anything I suggest that you disagree with? Please share your opinion in the comments.

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Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

1. The Haystack / Blogging for money, designing for ads
2. Beginner’s Guide: Start blog, get 100,000 views and $100 in first month « Tons of Fresh News
3. Wanna blog? « The Way IT IS…
4. links for 2007-03-30 « General Musings
5. Running A Blog Costs Hundreds of Dollars - lifehack.org
6. Steve Miller’s Web Sites of Interest » links for 2007-03-29
7. We’re Not Doing It For The Money… We’re Doing It For A Shit Load Of Money!!! at So It’s Come To This:
8. Can it be done? » Blog Archive » 100,000 page views and $100 income?
9. Beginner’s Guide: Start a blog, get 100,000 page views and make over $100 your first month : BlogInvest
10. blogtoweb.com » Blog Archive » How can I start blog website? - ZNet India Articles
11. blogtoweb.com » Blog Archive » Press Start Blog Archive 6-13-2007: The Last Press Start at
12. blogtoweb.com » Blog Archive » Digg - Work At Home Start Up Guide: Home Business Traffic Made Easy
13. blogtoweb.com » Blog Archive » Forums Off to a Strong Start
14. 100,000 page views and 0 income? | Can it be done?

Comments

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1. Leo says on:
   March 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
   Wow, great post, Kyle! Very useful stuff here.
2. Jimmy says on:
   March 28th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
   Kyle…I’ve been reading for a while and always wondered what earning ballpark you’re in now that your an established site? Care to share any info on that?
3. j henry says on:
   March 28th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
   What do you recommend for an offbeat blog? Mine is about nudism/naturism and travel destinations (wholesome oriented - non-sexual). For example, I just did a post entitled “Nudist Fitness Expert / Radio Show Host Offers Nude 5K Race Tips” on http://nudisttravel.blogspot.com
4. Andrew Flusche says on:
   March 28th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
   Kyle, Overall this is a great post. I do disagree with a point about Digg. You said that every post that doesn’t make it to the frontpage will get 100 page views. Perhaps this is true for some blogs/posts, but I don’t think it applies to everything. I personally haven’t experienced anything like that with Digg. I can regularly get 300 page views from a good post on StumbleUpon, but only ~20 (if that) from Digg. This is just my experience. Most of your other advice is dead-on, though. Maybe I’m just doing something wrong with Digg. Take care,
   Andrew
5. Nenad Ristic says on:
   March 29th, 2007 at 12:23 am
   Wonderfull advice… I have stayed away from digg in my own promotional efforts, since I did not know if my posts were good enough, but you are right, the only way to find out is to try.
6. William Ryall says on:
   March 29th, 2007 at 2:22 am
   I’d like add a few extra tips. Submit all of your articles to reddit (I get more pageviews from reddit than I do from digg, unless it’s a popular story and reaches the first page). Add reddit buttons and digg buttons to the bottom of all of your posts. That way your readers can easily just digg your stories if they like them. (Also, if it looks like your stories are getting traction and might hit the first page your feeders are likely to help you get there.) Comment - Write comments on blogs you frequently visit. (Not in the hopes that somebody clicks on your name and visits your site, although I have got readers this way.) But if the authors of the blog read your comment (which they will, I don’t know of any blogger who doesn’t read their own comments) they might check out your site and if they like it you got a good chance of getting a link in the future. I’d take a link from lifehack/techcrunch/boingboing over hitting digg front page any day of the week. Also, if you don’t think you can post 2-3 times a day don’t worry. Just save up content for a month and then launch with saved content. That way you can keep your blog rolling along nicely for the first month. Once you start seeing some money come in, you will get motivated and blog more often and there’ll be no need to use your stored content. Another option is to just invite people blogging about similiar things to do guest pieces on your blog.
7. Ford F. says on:
   March 29th, 2007 at 6:06 am
   The best part of the article is that it doesn’t take long before any reader is advice to write 50 posts and get to the dirty part.
   As about digg, I had a few articles I submitted to digg that didn’t get 10 diggs. And I was pretty content with them as a beginner.
   Perhaps it’s because of presenting mostly news that one hundred other sites also show, but I intend do expand the area of blogging.
   Nice article to keep the high spirits.
8. Svaj Malizo says on:
   March 29th, 2007 at 6:52 am
   Hey! I’ve got another tip for the beginning blogger: write on other blogs! It’s a great way to break the ice with an audience and spread the word about your blog. For example, just right now I am writing this comment on this blog which hopefully will make someone click and go to my blog. It’s not spam, it’s a comment that answers the question “What would you add that I didn’t mention?”. It works because this way you contribute to your online presence it states that you are there (you’re active). And, well, online being alive is measured purely by how active you are. BTW! Visit my blog http://svajmalizo.blogspot.com
9. MacKash says on:
   March 29th, 2007 at 10:13 am
   I’ve been toying with the idea of creating my own blog for quite some time now. I don’t know if it’s been lack of motivation, or lack of real knowledge about the way the whole choosing a blogging platform, choosing a hosting service, and choosing a domain name thing worked, Never mind thinking of a topic and coming up with content to fill it at least 6-10 times per week.. But this post really helped! I’ve been reading lifehack.org for a few months now and I have to say I really enjoy it! Keep up with great posts like this one!
10. OSXDaily says on:
    March 29th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
    I would suggest utilizing the entire gamut of social networks other than just Digg and StumbleUpon. Of course what works depends on your blogs topic, but other web2 sites certainly can help drive traffic and build links. Good information though for those that are just starting out.
11. Liming Xu says on:
    March 29th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
    hm.. let me test out if anybody clicks mine from HERE!
12. JamesT says on:
    March 30th, 2007 at 9:56 am
    Hey Kyle, Still no mention of what you guys are making here?
13. Leon says on:
    March 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am
    @JamesT: maybe the answer itself warrants for another article. Subscribe and stay tuned
14. Stephen Miracle says on:
    March 30th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
    I don’t know if nobody has thought about this secret yet or its just a little to obvious, but with my most recent upstart I utilized my Myspace account with my “friends list”. I’ve asked several to do guest posts and frequently supply a bulletin with recent posts. Also, I don’t mind just flat out spamming them to come to my blog on their comments page (which is read by their friends). Of course, I do it in a polite fashion and not with every comment/message/bulletin. In the end, it might not generate incredible numbers of links, but its a great way to boost page views and getting conversations going on the comments.
15. Liming Xu says on:
    March 31st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
    I guess it works? i got several people clicked just from the post I comment above. looks like I’m going to have start following your suggestions!
16. JamesT says on:
    April 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 am
    @Leon: No worries about subscribing, as I’ve been reading lifehack.org for quite a while. Anyways, looking forward to that future article
17. Rene Kriest says on:
    April 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
    Everybody starts small in blogging I think. Very nice round-up. It is really motivating to hear from an AAA-Blog what it was like when everything started. Regards, René
    ProBloggerWorld.de
18. Pedro says on:
    April 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 am
    uhmmm nice post, I’ll try some of thesse things in my new blog thanks
19. Elle says on:
    April 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
    Thanks for this really helpful article. I’ve had a blog for two years and have had no success with it. I’ve spent too much time and effort on it to give it up, so I’m starting anew and amping up my promotion efforts.
20. Jose says on:
    April 4th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
    I’ve just started taking my blogging more seriously. I’ll definitely try some of these ideas in the future.
21. Kate says on:
    April 10th, 2007 at 8:20 am
    I have found this article very misleading. The online quick setup blogs do not allow you to insert ads or google analytics. The wordpress standalone is not easy to set up. MySQL? I don’t have MySQL… I continue to be baffled by this whole process, it seems to me you need several hundred dollars to set up a semi-professional looking blog that allows ads.
22. Rich Tatum says on:
    April 11th, 2007 at 6:50 am
    Thanks to your encouragement, I’ll start Digging a few of my non-niche items with broader interest to see if they experience any sort of digg effect. Like you, I’ve found StumbleUpon to be a great tool for promoting content. It doesn’t get “demoted” for being self-serving when I post a review of my own content, as I have seen happen on Digg. For what it’s worth, you may enjoy my article along these lines: 39 Tips to Improve Weblog Traffic and Visibility Which I have dug here. Regards, Rich
    BlogRodent
23. Wilson says on:
    April 17th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
    So I did everything that was suggested, and I started get great traffic to my blog… but after submitting my articles to Digg they banned my url. Saying that I am not allowed to dig my own site.
24. heluhelu says on:
    May 16th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
    i am a seriouse blogger. i love the world.
    blog back to me!!!i love to read!@!! read you!!upand down/ oooooohh baby!1
25. Sleeping Dude says on:
    June 16th, 2007 at 1:52 am
    Kate,
    my advice is that if you’re not techy enough, pair with someone who is. There are plenty of hosting options with WordPress preinstalled (Blue Host, Dreamhost, etc) and it’s not that hard to customize to your taste. From my experience when I worked on a blog with my friend we generated 5x more ideas than I would do on my own.
26. paynito says on:
    July 17th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
    I took this as a how-to manual to monetize my blogging. I’ve dugg 5 posts already and after I get to 50 posts dugg I’m going to count up the revenue. I just did the popunders b/c I don’t know how to set up my Expression Engine sidebar with Adsense.
27. LanguagesLover says on:
    November 15th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
    Very useful guide for beginners. I didn’t know how to use Digg.
28. Dale Merritt says on:
    January 4th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
    Nice blog and article! I agree with everything you said but personally found wordpress too much work, although I love its design features. I started on a blog platform called moguling.com with has built in SEO and also includes more niche graphic options for headers, etc.. oh yea..and its free! my fave
29. Dale Merritt says on:
    January 4th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
    oops, forgot the link, http://www.moguling.com
30. Caught Picking says on:
    January 17th, 2008 at 12:53 am
    For a great blog about people caught nose picking, check out: http://www.caughtpicking.com/