I am a newbie too. I had a personal blog that I worked on for a couple of years, but then my parents found out about it and I had to seriously tone it down. Then it got boring to me. I'm 36 by the way, but my parents are uptight!

I am committed to my blog self funding too. Can any of you take a look at my blog and see if you could recommend any tweeks I could do for free please.

Also when I blogged before, I used blogger and could work in my own ads even after I was banned by the google monster. Can I do that on Wordpress too. There widgets seem to be a bit more prohibitive, but I took a few peoples advice who strongly suggested I start this one out on WordPress.

My best advice to anyone just starting out a blog is to find your voice. Anyone can write, but only you can sound like you. I'm snarky with a side of obnoxious, and I figure as I write it will eventually come out and give my blog the personality it needs to be successful.

I know that you said "free", but for less than $100 for the year, you could buy your domain and become self-hosted. That way, you'd be free to put up any ads you want (of course, Google is still a bully)! You would have practically no limitations as far as themes, widgets, plugins, and any other features that you think would work well with your message/personality.

I am committed to my blog self funding too. Can any of you take a look at my blog and see if you could recommend any tweeks I could do for free please.

Also when I blogged before, I used blogger and could work in my own ads even after I was banned by the google monster. Can I do that on Wordpress too. There widgets seem to be a bit more prohibitive, but I took a few peoples advice who strongly suggested I start this one out on WordPress.

My best advice to anyone just starting out a blog is to find your voice. Anyone can write, but only you can sound like you. I'm snarky with a side of obnoxious, and I figure as I write it will eventually come out and give my blog the personality it needs to be successful.

jana said:

i have two more questions:

1. all of your blogs are so nicely and professionally designed. how do you do this? i'm ok with content but i'm seriously lacking in design abilities.
2. how do i create an icon/logo for my blog? i have an idea but have no clue how to create it.

I'm open to answer any questions from any bloggers ;-) I've been in the business since 2006 and our network generate its fair share of money. So if you have any questions: thefinancialblogger at gmail dot com

 

for question #1 and #2 : consider outsourcing if you are not comfortable with it. for logos, try logosforwebsite.com Peter does an awesome job!

 

cheers,

 

Mike

TFB is a good resource. He makes a fortune online!

i have two more questions:

1. all of your blogs are so nicely and professionally designed. how do you do this? i'm ok with content but i'm seriously lacking in design abilities.
2. how do i create an icon/logo for my blog? i have an idea but have no clue how to create it.

I'm open to answer any questions from any bloggers ;-) I've been in the business since 2006 and our network generate its fair share of money. So if you have any questions: thefinancialblogger at gmail dot com

for question #1 and #2 : consider outsourcing if you are not comfortable with it. for logos, try logosforwebsite.com Peter does an awesome job!

cheers,

Mike

Send me an email anytime you wish (you can use the contact form on either site listed below).

OneCentAtatime said:

This is a great thread! As per my plan I will invest money on my blog only out of my blog income. I will get paid theme, akismet and pro design only after I start receiving ad revenue. So far on my blog I haven't spent a single penny other than hosting.

We still use a free host.  Haven't had the traffic need to start paying.  We bought our domain name for $8.  But we employed the same strategy - nothing purchased until we got some income.  I then paid for our twitter, facebook, site banner and "badge"/gravatar out of advertising money.  I don't pay for our theme even ...

I'm trying to do pay as you go as well.  I have two sons in the web programming business and make use of them occassionally.  My first buy will be unlimited domains and another domain name from Host Gator!  Next will be a logo.  If I ever make any ad money that is!!!!

This is a great thread! As per my plan I will invest money on my blog only out of my blog income. I will get paid theme, akismet and pro design only after I start receiving ad revenue. So far on my blog I haven't spent a single penny other than hosting.

We still use a free host.  Haven't had the traffic need to start paying.  We bought our domain name for $8.  But we employed the same strategy - nothing purchased until we got some income.  I then paid for our twitter, facebook, site banner and "badge"/gravatar out of advertising money.  I don't pay for our theme even ...

As far as your design question, I had mine professionally designed as well but I have made some tweaks since. 

I did my site myself. I am not planning to professionally redo my site I am slowly building it myself when I get some time.

This is a great thread! As per my plan I will invest money on my blog only out of my blog income. I will get paid theme, akismet and pro design only after I start receiving ad revenue. So far on my blog I haven't spent a single penny other than hosting.

 

That's how I did it. I kind of wish I'd done it upfront to start branding right off the bat, but it wasn't in the budget. I definitely would have started with my own domain and hosting if I had it to do over!