1. Start a Blog from Scratch: How I Built My Blog in 26 Days
Do you like writing? I do! I've always had a thing for writing. I know I am
not the best writer in the world but it is something that I truly enjoy (which I
think is the most important thing). After all, it is always good to do
something you enjoy otherwise you're in for some rough mornings. You
don't want to wake up every morning thinking, "Man, I have to write again
today!?", do you?
I started this blog because I enjoy writing. I was a member of eHow until
Demand Studios bought them. I really loved writing eHows but I just
couldn't get into Demand Studios platform. When I did decide to give it a
shot there were never any article titles available and so I decided to start a
blog instead. I figured by having my own blog I could write about whatever
I wanted and not be stuck into certain topics or layouts. I can be my own
boss in a sense.
You may be wondering what steps are needed to start a blog. Everyone
starts their own blog in basically the same way. I am not sure how everyone
else did it but I can tell you the steps I took to start this blog.
Blog Topic
One of the first things I had to do was decide what I was going to write
about. You can not start a blog without knowing what you are going to write
about. I choose to write about the many jobs of a mom because that's all I
really know. I am a mom. That's my life and I wouldn't have it any other
way. Check out: How to Choose What to Blog About
Domain Name
Once I thought of a topic for my blog I had to buy a domain. A domain is
your website's address. For example, my domain is
www.homejobsbymom.com. I chose to buy my domain through Go Daddy
because they are the most well known domain registrar (and they were
having a sell at the time!). It costs me less than $10 per year and I don't have
to worry about my content being deleted because I don't own the site. Check
out: 12 Rules for Choosing the Right Domain Name

2. Website Hosting
The next thing I had to do was find a host for my domain. Let me be honest.
I really had no idea what website hosting company I should choose since I
had never created a website before. I decided to go with HostGator because
most of my fellow moms on my Work Place Like Home forums had the
consensus that HostGator was the best company to go with. None of them
seemed to like Go Daddy's hosting services so I just went with the popular
vote. The plan I chose costs me about $10 per month. Check out: Top 10
Web Hosting-Best Website Hosts 2012
Blogging Platform
Then I had to choose a content management system for my website. A
blogging platform is used to create and maintain your blog. The two main
companies I had heard of before I started blogging were Wordpress and
Blogger. Everyone that I talked to seemed to think that going with the paid
version of Wordpress was the best choice so that's what I did. Check out:
What Blog Platform Should You Use?
Appearance
Themes. Now that I had my blog site up and running I needed to make it
"perty". Right now, it's not how I would completely like it to look but it will
serve its purpose for now. Maybe after I have been blogging a while I will
invest in a paid premium theme that I really like.
I spent quite a few hours just switching themes in and out just to see how
they worked. I decided I wanted a theme that I could add a header or logo to,
had a slideshow, that I could change the color of, had tabs that could have
multiple subtitles, and a layout that allowed sidebar and footer widgets.
Getting your site to look the way you want can take quite a bit of time. Just
play around with it and you will find something that fits you. Check out:
Free Themes Directory
Plugins. Next, I played around with some plugins. Plugins allow your
website to perform various tasks. The plugins I am enjoying so far are:
 Akismet- It protects your site from spam. It has already caught 12 or
so comment spam on my blog

3.  Broken Link Checker- It has helped me find two broken links right so
far
 CommentLuv- Seems like a great idea! When people comment on
your blog it puts a link to their recent blog post in the comment they
posted. Sharing the love is great!
 Display Widgets- Let's you choose if you want a certain widget to be
displayed or not.
 Page Links to- Great for connecting blog posts to tab catagories
Check out: 20 Best Wordpress Plugins
Monetize
Another thing you have to decide when you start a blog is whether or not
you want to make money on it. Are you just writing for fun? Are writing to
make money? Or maybe both? I've made about 37 cents so far but my blog
is new and it takes time to build a readership. Blogging is not a get rich
scheme. I would suggest that you actually like writing if you are going to
start a blog because it can take quite some time to make money from
blogging if that is your goal. I have heard you can make money from a blog
in several ways.
 Ads
 Affiliate Marketing
 Selling a product
Check out: How to Make Money Blogging
Content
Another thing I had to concentrate on was actually putting content on my
blog. It's great to have your website up and running but it isn't really a blog
unless you actually have some posts and pages with content on them. My
goal was to at least have something on each of my pages before I launched
my blog. Check out: When Should You Launch Your New Blog
Final Thoughts
I have been working on my blog for 26 days now so I am far from a
blogging expert. I have spent hours and hours working on my blog-seeing
how everything works. When I start something new it is all I can think

4. about. I have found it useful to have a piece of paper laying out next to my
bed at night. My brain has been running a mile a minute causing me not to
sleep. I keep thinking of things I should do or things I should look up which
gives me busy brain. When I write out all these things out on paper my mind
stops running and I am able to sleep.
Being sleep deprived has also caused me to lose some weight. I have lost
about 6 pounds since starting this blog. Please don't get too consumed with
your new project. Now that my blog is more or less ready to go I am going
to focus on spreading out my time commitments. There needs to be a
balance between all of your many jobs. You don't want to end up like this,
do you?
Okay, okay. I will fess up. Yes, you can start a blog in less than 26 days.
You could do all of the above steps in a day if you wanted to but I like to
over think things. I also wanted to officially launch my blog on the 1st of a
month to keep better track of my stats. The time you put into your blog is
completely up to you. It is your choice on how quickly you want or need
your blog to go public. Just remember to have fun!
Written by Krystle with http://www.homejobsbymom.com