I started my first real blog, BlogStash.com in 2009. When I first started blogging, I really had no idea what I was doing. I was so intrigued by the notion of making money blogging and all the hypes about blogs and blogging, that I just wanted to start my blog, despite knowing nothing, and I mean nothing about blogging, SEO or even how to buy a domain and hosting, much less knowing how to set up a blog.
Let me give you an example of what I mean by that. When I first bought my domain, I typed the URL into my browser, and went to start working on it! Yes, I thought, when you buy a domain, your blog is already set up, and you just go there to edit and publish your articles. I didn’t even know that I needed a hosting account. Yes, that’s how clueless I was! So, I did a lot of things the wrong way.
Try Swagbucks, the famous rewards program that pays you for watching videos, taking surveys, shopping and more.
There are a few things that I would do differently if I could go back. The first thing would be my niche, which is online money making. With my eyes closed, I started a blog about making money online. Without knowing it, I had picked, one of the most competitive niches(if not the most)out there. A niche, that even pros have hard time ranking for most of its related keywords. I mean, I didn’t really pick the online money making niche. It was the only thing in my mind, the only thing I had some experience with. I had been trying to make money online for years and knew scams from legitimate ways to make money online. So, I thought I would write about that.
Knowing what I know now, I would have probably picked a much less competitive niche as my first niche. Which I could rank for easier, thus giving myself the self confidence and the motivation to go further.
Another thing I would do differently, which I am also very ashamed of is related to using a software to auto comment on hunderds of blogs. Yes, I used a software to basically spam hunderds of blogs in my niche. Don’t get mad! At the time I didn’t know how things worked, so I didn’t know I was spamming. I thought, I was just doing something smart, since I had paid for a software that was automating my link building through comments. Today, I truly am sorry for what I did. I hate spam comments as much as everyone else. And I just don’t understand why people cant take 2 minuets to read the post and leave a genuine comment.
If I could go back, I would have never used such a software. Instead, I would pick a few good blogs related to my niche, and I would read their posts and comment genuinely, adding real value to their blog, while giving my blog a boost in ranking and traffic.
There are other things I would have done differently as well. But, what I want you, as a newbie blogger, to take away from this post isn’t what I have done wrong that I would have done differently, but rather what I have done right. And that is my determination and commitment. I would have never change that. Despite knowing nothing about blogging, SEO, word press, coding, HTML, ad sense and everything else that goes with building and maintaining a blog, I never gave up. I started reading online forums and blogs and absorbing everything like a thirsty old sponge.
I don’t mean to brag. I am just hoping my very small success will motivate some of you out there. My blog is nowhere near being a real successful blog. But for me, it is! From last year and knowing nothing and thinking my blog was already there when I bought my domain, I have managed to get my blog to the first page of Google for some of the most competitive keywords in my niche. I have a steady flow of traffic coming to my blog everyday and its growing. And I managed to do all of that while working offline for 14 hours a day, and I never even paid a penny (that comment automation software was the only thing I paid for, beside the domain and hosting) to learn anything. I just used online forums and blogs to learn everything I know now (which isn’t much).
If there is one thing I want you take away from this post, it would be this “you can do this, IF, you put 100% of your effort behind it and commit to it. Be realistic! You can not build a successful blog over night. It takes time and real effort. But, if you are ready to do the work, a successful blog isn’t beyond your reach, even if you don’t know anything about it today!”
If you have to only sign up for one paid survey site to make money with, I recommend Ipsos-iSay. Ipsos is the most fun and well-paying panel. Give it a try to see how you like it. It is free anyway!