As weird as you may find it, not everyone has a blog. Serious. A lot of people today still don’t know how to start a blog. Okay, it’s actually easy if you think of websites like LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress.com, or any of those free journal hosting websites. All you do there is create a username and start blogging. See it’s not that hard. Wow, this was a quick post for my blog today! Goodluck!

Okay, not so fast.

Let me phrase this all. Starting a blog and becoming an Online Rockstar Blogstar is HARD!!! So many people still ask, “How do I start a blog?” The goal of this post is to help you take action and make that a question of the past. If you’re someone that loves the “Do It Yourself” menatlity, read below and take a small step to starting a blog or building an online presence. I want you to stop thinking about it and start. If not today, very soon. If you’re not a DIY type, I suggest you still read and see if you can still challenge yourself. I am working out a way to help people that don’t have the time to set this all up themselves and end the “I don’t have time” excuse.

If you want to start a blog, you’re probably someone that frequents a lot of blogs. You might not even realize the number of websites you visit that are actually – gasp – blogs. You probably see blogs that are amazingly well designed, have a huge amount of comments and traffic, and are constantly updated with new content. The vibe of those blogs can really get you excited. So what happens when you go to set up your blog? You may start to read how to set it up and install something like WordPress, only to become overwhelmed.   I want to help. I want to help photographers, and anyone start! My goal is to help 1000 people take action towards their passion online and this is the start. Not just photoblogging but anything! Something to look forward to and have fun!

Most people get a rude awakening upon startup and can spend a huge amount of time learning how to install, set up, and make it looks like a website. That’s only the start.  The issue after that, is the realization that gaining any type of traffic comes with hard work and time. There is no instant gratification here, and if instant fame and money is what you’re looking to get out of blogging or photoblogging you may want to reconsider.  If you’re up for the challenge to pursue what you love, keep reading.

Before you start blogging, figure out a serious reason or story that you want to bring to the table. There is already a Perez Hilton. I am not talking about creating a business plan, or a long mission statement.  No freakin’ way man.  Quickly think about what you love and spend your time thinking about while you are grinding away at your day job.

Once you’ve realized your special passion and what you have to offer the interweb and it’s nomadic content hunters, you’re going to need the blog up and running. So, if you don’t know too much in the blogosphere, you’ll probably end up on something like blogger. Fine, that’s a great start. Let me list why it’s a great start. And then I’ll bring you up to speed why I’d skip that step and get your own domain.

Pros

• Simple Set up and Blogging Quickly
• Blogger is run by Google, so people say it is good for search engine recognition – I guess google has some kind of Authority in the Search Engine Industry
• Great to use and see if you enjoy blogging / photoblogging in the first place
• Hard to complicate things and no worries for upgrades
• No worries about bandwidth limits

Cons

• It’s owned by that company – ie Google – and not you
• 99% look like a waste of time
• If you seriously enjoy blogging, it might be a headache to transfer the info later
• Very little options for growth and expansion.
• Perception of Amateurish Content [Unless your Strobist]

My Recommendation

The best way to get your Blog or Photoblog going is to purchase your own domain and hosting.  There is a sense of excitement as you pick your own dot com name.  It’s like a sense of claiming your own land and putting that flag on the moon! MINE BITCHES! Sense of ownership! You bought your home because maybe you didn’t like renting.  Actually, I see it as owning your own land, and you live in the WordPress (the best open source blog software around right now) house.

You can purchase domains and hosting in many places online these days. Every website will probably direct you to another hosting company or recommend another space to purchase the domain.  I have purchased mine with 1 and 1, and got the Business Hosting Package because it offers room for growth.  I have a bunch of projects on the go now because of it and I feel alive!  I am an affiliate of 1 and 1 and it’s great because if you join though it you can earn money too and eventually it could pay for your own hosting and become free [just like that bland blogger account].

Just like the blogger type platform, I want to list Pros and Cons:

Pros

• You own the domain and website
• You have 100% control over design, monetization, content, and structure
• Great design is what can set your blog apart when combined with great content
• First Impressions are important
• Serious room for growth into more domains and projects
• You look authentic

Cons

• There is a cost to the domain and the hosting package
• There is a learning curve and it can set you back if you get frustrated easily
• You need to do maintenance and upkeep
• You could become addicted to it

This is where it can start to get a bit difficult for a lot of people and Blogger looks appealing again.  You buy your awesomenewdomain.com and you want to start blogging.  Login and get confused.  It’s wack.  Sometimes I think back and try to remember how the heck did I figure it out.  It starts to hurt when I think about that, so I stop pretty quickly.   But, what I do remember is how long it took me to search for information, process that information and experiment with setting up the blogs.  You may have seen some of my posts already about Kickass WordPress Themes, and this is because WordPress is my favourite and FREE blogging software.  Download it, install it and blog.

Download it, Install it, Start A Blog

You’re probably going to hit a speedbump here unless you’ve done a lot of reading up.  A friend at my work has run into this and has prompted me to write this post out.  How do you get WordPress onto your domain? Clearly this is the biggest, and most difficult question.   People that are familiar with using FTP’s will probably understand the WordPress instructions quickly but most people will be confused and give up here and bother 1 and 1 for their money back. Not you though.  You’re going to be a rockstar. With my help.

My first line of help is this post here on starting a blog. I want you to take your passion by the horns, taking the first small step to action. My initial drive was for photographers, however if you passion is monster trucks, I want to help you too.  This post isn’t meant to be insanely detailed and step by step.  You can find that one wordpress.org and learn.  I’m going to descrive to you the 1 and 1 user interface and what to look for to get it all going.  I’ll try my best to list it as steps so the DIY Blogger can try and get going [this is assuming you've already gone to 1 and 1, purchased the hosting and domain already]:

1. Download an FTP program – I live my life on MAC and use Cyberduck because it is free.  For windows there are so many options – Cute FTP, etc and a search on google will help for sure.
2. Login to your 1 and 1 account and find the “FTP Account” title in Basic Settings.  This will tell you the information to input in the FTP program to login to your server and easily upload your WordPress files already downloaded
3. On the 1 and 1 administration page, you’ll also look for “MySQL Administration” in the box titled “Webspace and Access”
4. You won’t see much except for a button in the middle of the page that says “New DataBase”.  Set this up [it's just clicks] and it will give you information about the database you just created.  This is the information you’re going to need when you go to the wordpress instructions for set up.
5. Go to the Installing WordPress Instructions and You’ll be onto blogging.

It can be frustrating and difficult to get it running but getting it to be remarkable is even harder. Getting it installed and set up yourself is a great feeling but It might take you a good amount of time that you could use to focus on your topic.  It’s going to be even harder in my opinion to be motivated into blogging on a simple platform like blogger or livejournal. If you’re the DIY type, then you can find all kinds of information online about making your blog unique and awesome with wordpress themes.  I have a few posts that would seriously help because the themes are amazing, but may cost you.  Remember that free has a cost too though.  A coulpe of my favorite places to find amazing wordpress themes are through WooThemes and DIYThemes.  You can also view my other articles that go in depth more regarding theme details.

If you’re not the DIY type but want a killer looking blog, easy set up, ready in a couple days and own your own domain, I’ve got something coming up soon.  A service to help you get online and on the way to a remarkable blog and online presence in no time and for a serious low cost.  My tentative date is going to be mid next week, but life can get out of control and I want to make sure I have all the cyberducks in a row. ha.   If you’ve been thinking about blogging or photoblogging but have been held back due to confusion, start thinking of your domain name and the reason you want to blog and build yourself and brand online.  You could have an awesome blog set up on Wednesday and be on your way.

Again for the DIYer’s out there reading, I’ll recap:

• Set up domain and hosting with 1 and 1.com – click here to get started.
• Get a kick ass Theme that looks rad to you.  My recommendation is something from WooThemes, or DIYthemes – Thesis.
• Login into your 1 and 1 account and get to work!

Technically, you could be blogging today! Boomshakalaka.
If you’re still a bit unsure, I’ve got some more information in the next few days that will put an end to any excuses for not starting your blog and being fully involved with what you love to do in your own time.  I’ll be setting something up to do the work for you!