SUBJECT: Beginner's Blogging Lesson #1 - Where To Start

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Welcome to the first lesson in the "Blogging From The Beginning"
crash course.

Over the next few days you will receive several lessons that
will help you learn the ins and outs of beginning to build your
own successful blog. In your lessons will go over some basic
options for setting up your blog as well as some different
techniques that you can use to make it popular and profitable.

In this first lesson let's talk about how to choose the right
blog platform to suit your blogging needs.

Starting a blog is one of the most accessible ways to make money
online. If you are starting your first blog, you are being
confronted with many choices about how to set up your blog,
including selecting your blogging platform. A blogging platform
is the software that will help you turn your writing into a
website that can be easily navigated and accessed by visitors
from around the world.

There are two basic platforms to choose from when it comes to
successful blogging: Wordpress and Blogger. Both of these
options have advantages and disadvantages. Before you make your
decision, you should read through the pros and cons of each and
think about which will be best for your needs.

Blogger has several advantages. It’s very easy for new bloggers
to use. Setting up a blog with Blogger is as simple as following
a few prompts. There is nothing to install. Some of the other
advantages include: Price: Blogger is totally free to use. You
don’t have to purchase a domain name as the system will give you
an address based on the name of your blog.

Ease of use: Posting to your blog is easy. You can also change
the look of your blog very easily. This is all done through
Blogger’s dashboard. If you have more than one blog with
Blogger, you can access all of the blogs from the same dashboard.

However, Blogger does have some major disadvantages when it
comes to creating money making blogs.

Lack of flexibility: Compared to other options out there, the
design and function of a Blogger blog is very limited. You can
download and install custom themes for the blog, but most look
very similar. This means your blog won't stand out as well in
your niche.

Domain name: You will get a free domain name with your Blogger
blog, but the domain name will be “yourblogname.blogspot.com”
instead of “yourblogname.com.”

Ownership: You will never truly own your Blogger blog because
the files and content are hosted on Blogger’s server.

Wordpress is the other popular platform for blogging. There is a
free option that functions similarly to Blogger. However, there
is also a free option that allows you to have your own website
name. You install Wordpress on you website hosting and hook it
up to a domain name that you own. If you don’t know how to do
this, your hosting company should be able to walk you through
the process.

Other advantages include:

Customization: Wordpress themes are diverse and plentiful. Some
themes will even make your blog look like an online newspaper.
Features: Wordpress users have created tons of “plugins” that
will increase the functionality of your blog and help you make
the most out of your site.

However, Wordpress is not without its problems. It is not as
user friendly as Blogger, which can make it intimidating for
newbies. You will also have to spend money to get your domain
name and your website hosting.

Despite these disadvantages, most professional bloggers go with
the Wordpress option because they maintain ownership of their
blogs and can customize them to their heart’s content, but
ultimately the choice is up to you and what will fit your needs
the best.

That's it for today's lesson. In your next lesson we will talk
about brainstorming and generating good topic ideas to write
about on your new blog.

Thank you again for joining me for this short course. If you
have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to
contact me at anytime using the contact information below. I
will be happy to help. 


To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
YOUR LINK