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You’ve been thinking about blogging for a while now – perhaps months or even years.
You know that a blog could help you make money, grow your business, or start a new career, but you’ve never quite got started.
Perhaps:
- You don’t know where to begin. You keep reading advice about blogging, but there’s just so much to learn.
- You’re not sure about the technology side of things. There’s so much jargon around: WordPress, plugins, widgets, HTML, CSS, Gravatar, tweet, domain name, hosting…
- You’re almost ready, but you keep second-guessing yourself, wondering if you’ll ever be good enough at blogging to be successful.
- You’re not very confident about writing online (even if you’ve got some experience writing for print or as part of your job).
- You have several different ideas for blogs and you don’t know which one you should commit to.
Do any of those sound familiar? The truth is that they’re all really common worries and problems. In fact, I think I had all of them at once when I began blogging in 2007!
I’ve got some good news for you: Blogging doesn’t have to be that complicated!
- Yes, there are lots of different things you could learn – but you don’t need to learn them all at once.
- Yes, the technology can be daunting – but once someone explains things in plain English, you’ll find that everything makes a lot more sense.
- Yes, you might not quite feel ready – but getting moving is the best way to improve.
- Yes, you may not be the next Shakespeare – but there are lots of simple writing techniques you can learn and use to write great posts.
- And yes, you might have lots of good ideas – but you can narrow these down to one idea that is really going to work for you.
How do I know? Because our shiny new course “Get Blogging” is designed to help you get your blog up and running with a minimum of fuss.
If it sounds just what you want, you can join now, or you can read on for more details.
Introducing the Get Blogging Course
Get Blogging is a straightforward four-week course designed to get your blog up and running in less than a month.
You don’t need any previous experience – Get Blogging covers everything, starting with settling on the right topic for your blog.
Each week, you’ll get four new lessons to read and work through, and short, clear assignments so you can move forward with your blog.
As part of the course, you also get access to online forums where you can talk with me and to other course members. This is a brilliant opportunity to network, and to get help and support with any questions you might have.
After the course ends, you’ll still have full access to all the lessons – meaning you don’t need to worry about falling behind or missing anything.
Here’s the full course program:
Week 1: Planning for Success
Lesson #1: Choosing and Refining Your Blog’s TopicWondering whether you should have a narrow niche, focus on making money, or choose something you’re passionate about? Getting your topic right is crucial to success – and we’ll help you feel confident about your choice.
Lesson #2: Understanding How Blogs Make MoneyGet to grips with the key options (donations, advertising, affiliate revenue, product sales, freelancing and other services) and the benefits and drawbacks of each – so you can decide, right from the start, how your blog will make money for you.
Lesson #3: Naming Your BlogLearn the pros and cons of using your own name (e.g. ChrisBrogan.com), a brandable word (e.g. ProBlogger), or a keyword-rich domain (e.g. DailyBlogTips.com). Understand what makes for a good blog name.
Lesson #4: Choosing and Registering Your Domain NameFind out how to choose your domain name (also called URL or web address) and where to register it. You’ll want to avoid changing your domain name once you’ve started, so it’s important to get this right. We also cover your options if you don’t want to pay for a domain name.
Week 2: Getting Your Blog Online
Lesson #1: Choosing Your Blogging Platform
Blogger, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org – what are the difference, and which one is right for you? Find out why we recommend WordPress, and how to get started with it.
Lesson #2: Choosing a Hosting Provider
Understand what hosting is. Learn what to look for in a web host – and why you want to get a good hosting solution in place from the start. We (Daniel and Ali) recommend our favourites.
Lesson #3: Choosing Your Theme
Learn about the different themes (designs) available for WordPress – and the key things to keep in mind when you’re choosing a theme.
Lesson #4: Customising Your Header
Personalise your blog with a custom banner at the top – we show you how to do this, with step-by-step instructions and support through the forums.
Week 3: Enhancing Your Blog
Lesson #1: Quick but Powerful Tweaks
Learn about some important tweaks you can make to your blog, like changing your permalinks, turning off comments after a set period of time, using the full range of formatting options, and much more.
Lesson #2: Setting Up Your Sidebar
We show you how to change your sidebar, taking off widgets you don’t want (like the default “meta” one that WordPress puts in place) and adding useful ones that will encourage readers to stick around.
Lesson #3: Letting Readers Subscribe
Learn what an RSS feed is and why it matters. Add an email subscription option to your blog, so readers can get posts straight to their inbox.
Lesson #4: Important and Useful WordPress Plugins
We explain what plugins are and how to install them on your blog. This lesson includes a handy list of recommended plugins, so you can super-charge your blog from day one.
Week 4: Writing for Your Blog
Lesson #1: Creating Your About Page
It can be tough to know what to put on your About page – but this may well become one of the most visited pages on your blog. Use our simple checklist and template to make writing yours easy.
Lesson #2: Adding a Contact Page
Decide what information to include on your contact page, and use the popular Contact Form 7 plugin with our handy instructions.
Lesson #3: Publishing Your First Post
Learn what to write in your first post, how to add it to WordPress, and how to format it for easy reading. (We’ll workshop posts in the forums to help you polish up your draft.)
Lesson #4: Writing More Posts
Come up with ideas, plan your posts, and understand how to use several powerful blog post structures. We also cover posting frequency – and backdating posts at the start of your blog.
What You’ll Get From the Course
By the end of the course, if you complete the assignments each week, your blog will be online and ready for readers. You’ll have a design you like, a custom header, complete About and Contact pages, and at least one post up.
If you take part in the forums too, you’ll also have a whole new network of blogging friends to encourage and support you – and lend you a helping hand.
We understand that it can be tough to find the time and motivation to stick with a course, so we make things as easy for you as possible, with:
- A short email every Monday letting you know that the new lessons are up, with a clear summary of what you’ll learn.
- A short email every Thursday linking to useful forum posts and other resources, and including success stories from other members to help encourage you.
- Friendly forums where you can ask questions, chat about blogging, and get help and support. We’ll be in the forums regularly to help you with any problems or worries you have.
- Video tutorials as well as text-based lessons; all videos come with written instructions too, in case you can’t or prefer not to watch video.
And There Is More… We Have Some Exciting Bonuses To Give You Right After You Join
Below you’ll find a list of bonuses you’ll receive right after signing up. They all complement what you’ll learn during the course. More bonuses will be added over time, and you’ll receive them too, at no extra cost.
Bonus #1: “Killer Domains: How to Find The Perfect Domain Name”
This ebook used to sell for $19, and when we removed it from the market we kept receiving emails from people who wanted to buy it. You are going to get it completely free. It contains all the tools and techniques you can use to find the perfect domain name. Most of the tips included here can be used to brainstorm domain name ideas for your blog as well, so it fits perfectly with the content of the course.
Bonus #2: “10 Deadly Business Mistakes You Should Avoid”
If you want to grow your blog over time you’ll need to treat it like a business. This ebook discusses the 10 most common business mistakes people make, explaining how you can avoid them. It includes examples and practical points you can start using immediately. The feedback received on the launch of this ebook was very positive, so we’re sure you’ll like it.
Bonus #3: “Make Money Blogging”
Written by Daniel Scocco, founder of Daily Blog Tips, this ebook covers everything you need to know to generate revenues from a blog or website. It complements the material on the course, with both intermediate and advanced strategies, and it will be very useful to you once you finish the course and start figuring out how to make money from your blog.