Welcome to my new series of posts that I will be talking about. The theme of this series is to talk about the absolute basics of blogging and really talk about what it is all about. This will start from finding out what blogging really is, all the way to picking a niche, a domain name, and installing WordPress and much more. I am very excited to start this series, I guarantee everyone will find something they find useful in it. This is part one of ” Blogging In The Beginning.” I hope you enjoy it. If you liked this post then check out do you really want to make money blogging, and choosing the right topic will make you more money.

What Really Is Blogging?

This may seem like a stupid question, but surprisingly most bloggers don’t even know it. This is an answer though that may have a different take on it depending on who the individual is. Everyone sees blogging differently. Some bloggers see blogging as a way to talk and express their emotions, while other bloggers take it as a full time job. I am starting to notice a trend in blogging as a source of income nowadays, and it is starting to become more and more popular. Some more popular bloggers who may their living online such as John Chow, Pro Blogger, ShoeMoney, and many others are really starting to boom and live off of this. The more people there are wanting to make money with blogging the more money they make.

So far we have come to the conclusion that you can ether:

• Blog as a personal hobby or entertainment
• Blog as a living or make an income off of it

One thing that I didn’t mention here is that, many bloggers use a combination of these two factors. In fact, I really don’t see anyone being able to make a living off of blogging unless they find some fun value out of it. This brings me to my next point which is…you have to find blogging fun and desirable, otherwise you will give up and not succeed. Blogging is not something that you can fake, there is no way you would be able to last.

What Does It Take To Be A Blogger?

Despite what some people say blogging is, being a blogger is one of the hardest jobs there is to do. Especially in the beginning, there is so much work to do. Here is a little snippet of some of the things I do as a blogger everyday.

• Write A Post Everyday - This one is the hardest tasks of them all to do. Sometimes you just don’t have the time to write a post everyday and that is okay, but if you make it a habit you will get no where. To make things even more harder, you will have to try to make every post unique, catchy, and full of content. It mat take you 30min all the way to 2 hours to write a post. Keep in mind that you should be doing this almost everyday.
• Commenting On Other Blogs - This is an easier task to do, but no spammers are allowed here. You will need to comment with good thoughts and responses. This will be part of your regular routine.
• Fixing/ Monitoring Your Blog - As you blogger, you will need to be keeping an eye on your site. Make sure that everything loads, and nothing looks funny. If you blog goes down, you are the one who has to call your service provider and try to figure out what the hell is wrong. Remember, your the boss here.
• Network With Other Bloggers - This is usually what I spend the majority of my time doing. I participate on forums, talk to other bloggers on IM and stuff like that. This really helps you build relationships and connections. This is a skill you will need to develop as a blogger.
• Promoting - The hardest thing in my personal experience as a blogger was to promote. Promoting is very hard to do if you are not familiar with it. You will also need to do a lot of it, in order to even be known that you exist.

That’s probably about half of what I do in a day as a blogger. I also spend a lot of time in front of a computer, and I’m pretty sure every other blogger out there does the same.

The basic thing to realize is that, if you think blogging is about putting in 1-2 hours of work each day and then being able to relax and do nothing, then you are wrong. Blogging takes a lot of work to get set up and to get something started. Then you may be able to get to that point where all you have to do is put in a few hours each day, but that day is pretty far away.

As a blogger you will need plenty of patience. I remember when I made my first blog on blogger. It took me almost a week just to get someone to comment on one of my posts. After that it started getting easier, but that initial wait before you get noticed is what kills many of us. Many people go into blogging expecting to be a hit right away. Well, it takes days, and weeks, and sometimes years before you can achieve that status.

As a blogger you will be marketing, you will be socializing, and you will be selling something. If you want to make money off of blogging, then you will have to learn how to be a business man. You blog in a sense is your own personal business and you are the owner. It’s time to realize this and take control.