A good foundation for any blog…
…starts with making the tough decisions that every new blogger is faced with.
Ask yourself two important questions:
- What is your blog about?
- What are the goals for your blog?
Sounds simple right?
But many times I get asked the question,
“Where do I start?”
In order to point you in the right direction and help put your mind at ease, I recorded a series of 5 podcast episodes that I consider a starter guide or you might call it Blogging 101. Each lesson teaches you some of the best practices for how to start blogging and help you sort through the confusion most new bloggers face. You don't have to listen to them all at once, but I encourage you to go step-by-step until you reach the end.
All you need to do now is tune out the noise, turn up the volume, sit back, relax and just listen. You can even close your eyes for the next 15 minutes, as you begin to imagine what your blog will look like 2 or 3 months from now. Remember, you now have the power to transform your longstanding dream of having your own successful blog, into an everyday reality. Listen to a quick recap of the Top 5 Blogging Tools Every Blogger Should Invest In!
NEW TO BLOGGING? Start here:Â Blogging Tips 101:Â Basic Blogging Tips That Will Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Recommended Blogging Tools and Resources
Blogging Platforms
Self-hosted WordPress is the blogging platform of choice for myself and for most professional bloggers because of it's flexibility and inter-operability with various platforms and networks. It's free open-source software that is highly regarded as the top CMS (content management system) of it's kind.
However, if you're not ready to take the leap into getting your own web host or if you're blogging as a hobby and just testing the waters, Google's Blogger (also called Blogspot) and WordPress.com are two excellent solutions.
If you do decide to go the route of  a self-hosted blog, you must first register a domain. Here's an excellent article that covers everything you need to consider about Selecting and Awesome Domain Name for Your Blog.
Domain Registrations and Website Hosting
For domain registration, I currently use GoDaddy and Namecheap.
This blog is currently being hosted on HostGator and I another site hosted with SiteGround. I was originally using Blue Host but my blog moved very slow due to something they call “CPU Throttling”. Connections to the server were frequently lost, I could not backup the contents of my blog and at one point my blog was down on almost a daily basis for several hours.
If this ever happens to you, no matter what host you're using, it's not good for you, your readers or the search engines. You need a hosting provider that will help keep your blog running smoothly and quickly. I had to make a move and the people from HostGator stepped in and moved the blog for me and in less than 24 hours I was back up and running in tip-top shape and I haven't looked back since.
Speaking of “backups” I use the BackUp Buddy plugin from iThemes to makes full and complete backups of my blog. I don't rely on free solutions or plugins because they don't have a way to restore your blog if anything should ever happen to it.
Responsive WordPress Blogging Themes
I switched to the Genesis Theme Framework in late 2013, but I wish I had done it long ago. The theme theme framework (also known as child theme) I use is Appendipity  Showcase. It's totally responsive, which means it looks great on any device, including iOS and Android devices, and it loads super fast. You can preview the full line of Appendipity Themes here. If you have a podcast, you're in luck because these themes were developed with podcasters in mind. So go ahead and check out Appendipity, you'll be amazed at how good your podcast will look when they are sporting one of these themes.
Podcast Hosting and Equipment
When it comes to podcasting one of the most important things you need is a separate web host for your media files. There's good reason for using an additional host on top of your blog's host. If or should I say when, your podcast becomes popular, you'll need a host that provides additional band width so that your audience of listeners can stream your media files (audio or video). Without this added bandwidth, your blog's server does not have the capacity to keep up and your site will go down.
That's why I recommend for you to use Libsyn to host your podcast. Libsyn is one of the few podcast hosts that has a dedicated support team and full time developers that will keep your podcast up and running at all times.
Their rates are very affordable and the customer service is one of a kind. Sign up for Libsyn here and use code SOPFREE at checkout to get your first month of podcast hosting for free.
Blubrry is another solution you can explore for your podcast, and they are also very well respected in the podcasting community.
Social Media Management and Additional Resources
For social media monitoring (especially Twitter) I recommend HootSuite. I use it to monitor @ mentions on Twitter, share blog posts and track activity on Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest. It's a fantastic tool for anyone with more than one Twitter account or if you are a heavy user of various social networks (including YouTube and LinkedIn).
Do you ever ask yourself?
What content can I share on Social Media that will increase my likes and retweets?
Whenever I have that question – ViralTag is my go to tool!
It pays to have help getting the word out about your content on social media.
I have several tricks up my sleeve when it comes to social media promotion that I would like to share with you today. Two of my favorites are Triberr and Social Buzz Club.
You can see a blog post and watch the video tutorials I recorded about Triberr here. You can see it in action by clicking the Triberr banner over on the blog's sidebar.
Social Buzz Club has been sort of my secret weapon when it comes to getting the word out about my content. SBC offers several unique marketing opportunities including access to the following perks:
- Your content will be shared by industry influencers
- You'll get access to weekly online training and coaching webinars featured in Social Buzz University
- You can earn point for sharing to your choice of Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn
- You get the ability to schedule your posts and your shares
- You'll be invited to the private Facebook Group giving you more access to influencers
- You can submit a guest post or hold a webinar hosted by SBC
Email Marketing and List Building
AWeber is the premium email marketing provider I use. I've used other providers and I think AWeber has more options and provides better segmentation tools. They also have one of the highest deliverability rates in the industry. AWeber integrates with these popular blogging softwares, social media marketing tools and ecommerce applications:
- WordPress
- LeadPages
- Teachable
- PayPal
- Google Checkout
- Optin Monster
- Eventbrite
- Many more….
Give AWeber a FREE test drive or download their guide for What to Write in Your Emails.
Find a complete list of applications here:Â AWeber App Showcase
One Last Tool I Can't Live Without
If you want to contact me to ask specific questions about blogging, social media, Google Analytics, YouTube, etc. sign up for my newsletter using the form on the sidebar, and you'll be able to reply with your questions to the first email that goes out after you confirm your subscription.
If you want to know more about any of the resources mentioned here or if you just want to say “Hi!”, you can leave a voice mail message by using the SpeakPipe icon over on the right and be sure to tell me your name and where you are from.
Before I go, I just want you to know that one most of THE most important resources for this blog is YOU!