[Bushido]

^ They are blogs, but I don't update them very often. No dates shown on posts either. I deliberately picked areas that didn't require constant updates.

Not sure how you could forget to update a domain. Mine renew automatically and I also get a million emails nagging me to do so before the due date.

I think that owning the platform is always much better than being a figurative serf on a domain such as Wordpress.com, but that's just me. You don't control anything. You can always sell a domain with traffic when you own it yourself. In fact, even a domain without traffic is often worth something due to its age. A freely hosted site is of much less value by default.

[Turnus]

I would encourage you to start your first one if have a specific topic that your passionate about. Even if no one is reading your content, writing helps to sharpen your critical thinking skills and improve your communication among other things. If you're purely driven by the potential financial gain of this, you'll more than likely get discouraged and probably abandon this project shortly after starting.

[PoetryOfEros]

I can always try again when I'm ready for it. Thanks for all the positive remarks following the negative onslaught. I needed the extra cash back for now anyway. Will commit at a later date.

[weambulance]

If you have stuff to say but don't want to commit yet, you should just write posts on your computer but not publish them anywhere online. Then you'll have content built up and ready to deploy if/when you do decide to start a site. Having a history of content makes a blog look legit immediately. Or maybe you'll end up with a book instead of blog content.

That's what I'm doing right now, because I'm spending a ton of time at a cabin with no internet access. I just write a short post or two every night when I'm done with my work and at some point when I'm not so lazy I'll upload about 25 posts at once, backdating them appropriately. Since what I'm writing about is not related to outside events, but just the project I'm working on, it's not a big deal if my posts don't go up immediately. The posts are for a very young blog and I get about 1 hit every 5 days, so I'm not neglecting my audience because I don't really have one yet.

And if it turns out you never write any posts, well... then you know you shouldn't be blogging. Then perhaps you'll find a different outlet to express yourself.

[armenia4ever]

Bushido made some great points.

I urge the OP not to have too great of expectations. Just start writing. The quality to your content will come with practice as will the kind of niche that you want for your blog. Don't expect to make any money, so that if you do, it's a pleasant and comforting surprise.

As Samuel pointed out when it comes to readership, what makes your content worthy of your time. Attempt to write with a NEW and refreshing perspective. Develop your own unique voice when it comes to your writing.

Also, don't worry about layouts and all that. Just start writing.

Regarding hosting, others have pointed out you might want to pay for it, which is a valid point. I pay about 20$ something a year for my webhosting and its absolutely worth it - my host is an alt-right guy himself so he won't for any reason ever cancel your hosting because of pressure. I can give you his number if you wish to call him and see.

[PoetryOfEros]

I wasn't happy with the 3 posts I had on there. I still have the domain and hosting so I simply chucked a free theme on there, something minimal. I'm starting afresh. The domain and hosting is cheap enough, maybe I shouldn't have doubled down on a theme while my writing was getting some practice.

For what it's worth I had one comment within the first week. Lame, though, asking for details of my hosting etc, SPAM and deleted it.

Topics to write about seem to be governed by the domain name, if not, well, the 'theme' of writing would necessarily need to be in proportion to what you've titled the blog, right? I mean if you name your domain 'badassalpha.com' and you write beta game articles it seems a bit of a denigration to your own title.

Right now, my blog is blank, nothing but a theme and no content. The main task now is to create content and lots of it. The content is what makes up the whole point of visiting the site. Sure you have to be unique in some way, directly through the writing of course. That seems reasonable.

I don't live an utterly exciting life, I don't jump from buildings with parachutes or anything like that. It would seem silly to write stuff that is not real unless of course, one is writing non-fiction. I really need to make the effort of sitting down one evening and brainstorming ideas on a pad. Literally, figure out where I'm going to end up because I can't see myself writing lame posts every weekend and keeping readers entertained through half-assed attempts.

Some great points have been brought up regarding blogging just on a can/can't or is it practical/non-practical to start a blog? Really got me reassessing my goals.

[SamuelBRoberts]

(01-03-2017 12:36 AM)Bushido Wrote:  

Wow, such negativity around here. Cernovich would be scoffing at your "bush league mentality".

Samuel Roberts, I know you're just trying to be helpful here but you're basically discouraging this guy. I'd reflect a little on why you are being negative in this thread.

If I sound negative, it's because it sounded like he fell for the Badnet scam (Especially if he's been reading this corner of the internet) of overcharging for something you can get for free. I dislike Badnet, because I hate to see people waste their money, so I set him straight in order to save his cash.

As for what Cernovich might or might not say, I can't say that's super-important to me. Next time I see him, I'll ask him, but note that even he barely blogs anymore, and he certainly doesn't make any money off the blog itself. He puts far, far more of his effort into twitter, where he can reach more people and promote himself far better.

I agree that a specialized niche, particularly one linked to an affiliate program, can make a lot of cash. Not to bring up Cernovich again, but his juicing blog, with articles like "What's the best juicer?" that affiliate-link to 100$+ amazon items, is an ideal example of the kind. The problem is that all these niches are swarming with people trying to make a fast buck, so standing out is extremely difficult. It worked for Cernovich because he's got a built-in audience from his other blog, and also because he's built like a tank and people are more willing to take fitness advice from him. It worked for you with your exam pages are (presumably) in a field that's not well-known to the general public.

If OP can think of a niche like that where he can fill, I whole-heartedly encourage him to go ahead with his blog. I'll admit to a degree of skepticism there though.

[Bushido]

(01-03-2017 08:04 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

If I sound negative, it's because it sounded like he fell for the Badnet scam (Especially if he's been reading this corner of the internet) of overcharging for something you can get for free. I dislike Badnet, because I hate to see people waste their money, so I set him straight in order to save his cash.

Thanks for responding. I understand what you mean. And I see that you only have good intentions for OP.

I wasn't aware that Badnet is considered a "scam." What's the dirt?

(01-03-2017 08:04 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

As for what Cernovich might or might not say, I can't say that's super-important to me. Next time I see him, I'll ask him, but note that even he barely blogs anymore...

He still blogs. I think he is taking a break after the election unless I'm missing something.

(01-03-2017 08:04 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

...and he certainly doesn't make any money off the blog itself. He puts far, far more of his effort into twitter, where he can reach more people and promote himself far better.

Dude this is 100% false. Not sure where you get this idea from? Danger and Play still gets a ton of traffic and definitely makes some considerable passive income, without even taking his e-books into account.

I'm not Mike so I won't get into which platform is more important for him. But simply discounting what is a popular blog (with some strong SEO) is a little excessive. He could certainly sell it for a large chunk of cash if he ever wanted to.

(01-03-2017 08:04 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

The problem is that all these niches are swarming with people trying to make a fast buck, so standing out is extremely difficult. It worked for Cernovich because he's got a built-in audience from his other blog, and also because he's built like a tank and people are more willing to take fitness advice from him. It worked for you with your exam pages are (presumably) in a field that's not well-known to the general public.

Some markets are simply very large. Health is one of them. Juicing is a popular niche in a huge, huge market. You don't need a big following to make a few hundred bucks a month. In reality, a few well-ranking pages can do it. In fitness, for example, I'd wager that there are 1000s if not 10,000s of blogs/websites making this amount. Sometimes crowded niches just mean that a niche is fucking big...

My IT blog was just the first example. The websites that have followed aren't crazily niche. Keep an open mind man. There's still plenty of money to made out there. Google rewards unique and well-written content. You can find yourself ranking for all sorts of long-tail keywords you never even thought of.

Another example: I even have my mum making $100-150 a month from a site that I helped her make. She wrote the content a couple of years back (I was visiting family for Xmas) and the income has rolled in ever since. No SEO. No business plan. No gurus. No upkeep whatsoever.

(01-03-2017 08:04 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

If OP can think of a niche like that where he can fill, I whole-heartedly encourage him to go ahead with his blog. I'll admit to a degree of skepticism there though.

I see my former self in your posts. You simply "know" how things are. I used to write off friends and their business ideas too. Then I saw some of those succeed and ended up eating my words. These days, I avoid making any firm predictions about anything or anyone because most of the time we simply don't know until we make an honest attempt. Let's keep an open mind towards OP. I wish him success.

Look, a little scepticism is fine and necessary even. There are a lot of charlatans preaching BS about making money from blogs.

However, don't let a few scammers dissuade you from the overwhelming huge possibilities that still remain to make money online. When it comes to entrepreneurial or creative endeavours, it's all too easy to close your mind to the possibilities out there. Unfortunately, our modern education teaches us to be obedient slaves and pours scorn on anyone trying to break the mould.

The reality is that tons of people are quietly making some very nice incomes blogging without any special advantages or ever being a known name. FACT.

I have nothing to gain from trying to convince people. Just hoping that this helps someone around here. Now if you'll excuse me it's time to go write on a platform that I own.

[PoetryOfEros]

Wow, I appreciate the scepticism and the real accounts of experience but I really had no idea that being informed meant that your opinion counted. I'm honestly doing this for my own reasons. Fair enough I've done away with the theme which was just short of $100. I appreciate Roberts conscientiousness on the matter because that money is better in my pocket if I'm getting no visitors. I've never even known of 'badnet' until this thread and was basically going of Gorilla Mindset which I read a few months ago. I'm sticking with my hosting and domain name, really need to make time to sit down and write down content ideas and obviously figure out my niche in the process. I think I read somewhere that it takes three attempts before a business succeeds. If that's a blog then obviously you wouldn't know what succeeds until you put it into action. It could be a load of rubbish and never take off but how will you know if you don't try?

[General Mayhem]

I started a shit blog a few years back and spent a few months posting. I went about it all wrong the first time and tried to re purpose it to no avail.

Sure I blew some cash I could have spent somewhere else but I don't regret it.

I'm thinking about starting one up again with a different focus this time. Something I truly enjoy. I also think there is a physiological benefit to posting shit to the web vs just letting it sit on your hard drive but maybe that's just me.

[zoom]

One of the hidden benefits of going with self-hosting is that you can have your own self-hosted email address. No more yahoo, gmail, aol or any of the other major providers. Companies that show you ads, get hacked (yahoo), and don't care about your privacy. Once you have hosting you can setup a branded email like this: NAME @ YOURDOMAIN.COM

[ronsaur]

(01-03-2017 12:36 AM)Bushido Wrote:  

4. It takes time to organically rank on Google these days. 6 months is the general minimum. Don't panic if you aren't seeing traffic right away. In fact, I suggest setting up Google Analytics on your blog then not looking at it till several months in.

Regularly posting great content + time will automatically lead to gradual increase in organic rank (and hence traffic)? Or is there still a large component of luck of the draw involved (i.e. maybe Google needs to first see people are visiting your site--somehow--before they will rank you higher?)?

In other words, does consistent/interesting content get people to see your blog for the first time, or does it serve more to keep people coming back after they've already seen it?