Welcome to Part Four of the “Creating A Blog” series here on theNetFool.com. By this point, you should have everything ready to go. We know what we want to accomplish, and have the domain name and web hosting to make it happen. Now let’s talk about the system you need to install to get things up and running.

Modern day bloggers use a website script that acts as a writer/publisher/editor on the internet so you can run your blog entirely from your website. These scripts are very easy to install, and once you have things running you’ll have everything you need to blog like the professionals. This means that you can write, edit, publish, update and everything in between. Let’s get you set up with your very own blog!

The Choices: WordPress v. Blogger
There are plenty of independent blogging systems out there, but you should really only consider two: WordPress and Blogger. You’ll hear arguments both ways, and while most bloggers nowadays have made the switch over to WordPress, Blogger still makes for a viable blogging platform option.

Blogger: Blogs made with Blogger are hosted directly through the blogger.com website, so no real need for hosting. The advantage here is of course that you do not need web hosting. Other than that, since Blogger is a subsidiary of Google, all of the pages are very well indexed by the search engine and typically get decent rankings right off the bat. The system is easy to use for beginners, and great for a personal “my thoughts” type of writer. If you are looking for a cheap way to create a simple online journal, Blogger is the blogging platform for you.

WordPress: Serious bloggers scoff at the Blogger system because of its simplicity. There really aren’t many features at all in Blogger, as there exist in WordPress. WordPress.com allows you to host a blog there for free, just like Blogger, but most people using WordPress have the actual script running on their servers. This is what I recommend, because it makes things a lot easier and more professional in the long run. I’ve always used WordPress, and it just keeps getting better or better. If you are looking to run advertising or make your own blog with a custom template, you need to use WordPress. This system allows you to do things your way, rather than have a third party limit your room to work.

I personally recommend WordPress to everyone. However, if you are looking for a really basic and easy to use system for a low-key blog… why not give Blogger a run? I must warn you that there will be little room to expand without reverting to WordPress, but it’s not a bad start-up idea for someone looking for a basic setup.

Downloading Your Blogging Script
Again, I don’t want you using a third party… use WordPress or Blogger. If you would like to try the third-party hosting, you can simply navigate over to either Blogger.com or WordPress.com to set up your free account. Take notice: you cannot run your own ads and you might be required to display theirs, which makes things look a bit tacky.

Working from the assumption that you are installing WordPress, let’s check out the official download page on WordPress.org. You want to grab the most recent copy available, and save it to your computer wherever it will be easiest to find (called “wordpress-x.zip”). Then you simply need to unzip what you have and you’ll see all the files available for you. Most computers come with a default extracting program, but if its not working try WinRar.

Uploading WordPress to Your Server
Let’s learn a little about FTP (file transfer protocol). You know the “http://” before websites? This is just one protocol you can use, and the “ftp://” is essentially for file transfers. I’d recommend downloading a client so you can send and download files back and forth from your hosting account, the best are FileZilla and CuteFTP, and both are 100% free. This will allow you to easily access and edit your files.

Once you have your FTP client up and running, you just need to connect to your web hosting account (find the connection information in your host’s FAQ section) including address, username, password and port. Port is almost always going to be 21, so don’t worry about that. Address is where your website is (mine is “Jimvesting.com”) and your username and password is simply your login information. Once you are connected, you’ll see all your files laid out.

All you need to do to have your WordPress script ready to use is move all the files you just downloaded to your hosting account’s root folder. This will either be the first thing you see, or it might be in a folder like “httpdocs.” You’ll know it when you see it, just upload everything you just unzipped.

Creating Your MySQL Database
Don’t let the terminology confuse you. A MySQL database is basically just a big file where all of your settings are dumped and accessed by the WordPress script. All the text from your posts, usernames, setting, etc. are stored here in a file that you need to create. Having a database dedicated to your blog is a smart idea.

Creating a new database is typically done through your web hosting control panel, and should be pretty easy to figure out. Just make a new database, a user for that database, and a password for that user. May sure you remember this information, as we’ll need it soon. If you can’t figure it out, try this guide.

Installing WordPress
Installing the WordPress system is very easy, and this “five minute installation” guide from WordPress.org should guide you through things. Essentially, you need to find the file “wp-config-sample.php” in your unzipped files and just fill in the information for the database you just created. Save it as “wp-config”.php and upload it back on to your server. I use Windows Notepad to do this, easy!

Once your files are in place, point your browser to “yoursite.com/wp-admin/install.php” and follow the easy to understand prompt. If you get stuck, check back in with WordPress.org’s handy installation guide and see what could be wrong. You may have to change around the file permissions (CHMOD) on some of your files, but this can be easily accomplished with a right-click from your FTP client.

Congratulations, your blog is now installed (or hosted) and ready for you to start making posts. At this point, you have everything you “need” to start running a successful website. In the next tutorial, I am going to discuss how to find, install and customize a template and some very important plugins for your blog. This is going to be essential to get Google to find your website easier and to enhance the appeal/user experience at your new website. In the meantime, why not experiment by making a few posts to see how things work?

Stay tuned for part five, where I’ll get you customized and looking like a pro!
-Jimvesting

Bribing readers has been a touchy subject around the blogging world. We throw around the word “bribe” as if it is necessarily a bad thing, when in fact it can be one of the best marketing strategies around.

“Bribe (noun): anything given or serving to persuade or induce.” –Dictionary.com

Normally, bloggers offer bribes in two ways. The first is in the form of some kind of “exclusive” digital download (e.g. eBook, desktop wallpaper, discount coupon) offered upon RSS subscription. Second is in the form of entry into a contest, just like Jimvesting’s Outrageous Blog Contest offered here. I’m here to show you how bribery is not the root of all evil, and how it can help you succeed.

1. Incentivize Reading and Commenting
Here’s a fact of life: if someone offers you an incentive, you are more likely to play along. This is essentially what bribing is all about. As bad as it sounds, offering your readers a bribe will encourage them to come back to your website, read your blog posts and comment more often. As a businessman, I believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with offering a little incentive to have your readers come back.

As easy as it might be to subscribe to a blog, many readers hesitate to do so unless they are getting something in return. If you start a contest or have some kind of exclusive content available for subscribing, people that come by are more likely to subscribe to your updates. What this means for you is that they will be reading things you write more often and will come by and comment on your blog. This is what we want, more frequent flyers, and more interactivity in the form of commenting.

2. Increase Your Daily Traffic
As I’ve already laid out, offering a bribe to your readers will have them subscribing to your RSS feed. Once they are subscribed to your feed, these new subscribers will be getting all of your new posts sent to their email inbox or RSS reader every time you update. What this means for you, is that you now have a larger pool of people coming back to your website if they see an interesting post. This will increase your overall traffic flow to your website immensely!

Think about offering bribes like baiting a fishing hook and casting the line. You are setting yourself up to increase the daily traffic to your website, gaining returning visitors, which are the most important  type of traffic available. So go ahead and offer that bribe, it’ll boost your traffic like nothing else.

3. Boost your RSS subscriber numbers
Obviously, the main goal in offering an exclusive subscriber bonus is to see your RSS numbers increase. As I have mentioned numerous times in the past, your RSS subscribers are a gauge for your ultimate success as a blogger. Without returning visitors and subscribers, your blog isn’t worth a whole lot and future readers will be less likely to subscribe.

One thing I have found to be true across the blogosphere is that people flock towards success. Knowing this, a typical internet surfer will be far more likely to subscribe to a blog with subscriber numbers in the hundreds (or thousands) than one with less than fifty. You want to inflate your RSS subscriber numbers as much as possible, and offering a little incentive to encourage this is no problem at all.

Bottom Line: Offering bribes to your readers is one of the smartest marketing ploys in the book. People that label bribing as unethical are going to be put at a loss to bloggers that are incentivizing subscribing. So throw away that “good blogger” mentality and focus on enhancing the experience for everyone by encouraging your readers to come back for more… it’s the best move you’ll ever make!

-Jimvesting

In the blogging world, webmasters thrive on their fan base, their RSS subscribers­. As unfair as it might be, today’s blogs are judged almost entirely through the amount of subscribers they have registered to read their content every day. Sure, website traffic is important… but if you don’t have the numbers to back things up, you probably aren’t running a successful website.

Take a look over to the side of Jimvesting dot com for a perfect example. You look at the subscriber number as a sort of “validation” for the popularity of my blog. There have been quite a few bloggers that have fudged the subscriber count in the hopes of seeming more popular, and most of the time it works. But why should you subscribe to an RSS feed? Where’s the incentive? To better explain this, I’ve put together what I feel to be the top five reasons you should subscribe to RSS feeds.

1. Learn Useful Information About Things You Like
Obviously, the reason that you read blogs is to learn something new about a topic you find interesting… unless there’s something I don’t know. Blogs have become popular essentially because of the fact that they are easier to read than long newspaper articles, and typically get right to the punch. Assuming you would like this information anyway, why wouldn’t you subscribe to an RSS feed to stay notified when your favorite websites update? For the same reasons that you would typically rather get a corporate earnings call summary through Yahoo than read through the entire conference’s transcript… you should subscribe to RSS feeds.

2. Streamlined and Organized Information
Since the development of RSS readers like Google’s RSS Reader (which I use) and BlogLines, it’s easier than ever to subscribe in one click to a blog and instantly get their information in your reader each morning. I subscribe to every blog I can because all I need to do is click subscribe, and the feed will begin to show up in my Google Reader every time I decide to read. You don’t get nagged about reading (though you could if you chose to), it’s just there for your reference, just like a bookmark. Everything is streamlined, automatically updated, and easy to understand.

3. Faster and Easier Than Visiting Websites
Although I am not going to advocate this wholeheartedly, the truth is that using RSS is a lot easier and faster than going around to all of your favorite websites and reading them that way. Some RSS readers even allow you to comment on the posts without leaving! It’s quicker and more efficient to jump around from feed to feed than having to worry about loading up each and every website each time you want to read. RSS feeds can completely undermine the practicality of websites, and make learning new things a piece of cake.

4. Support Your Favorite Blogs
Supporting your favorite blogs is one of the most important functions of RSS in my mind. As long as it is so easy to subscribe to an RSS feed (takes about 5 seconds max), why not take the simple steps to support well-run websites? Every subscriber is very important, and as I’ve mentioned, blogs are judged by how many subscribers they have. If I read even one interesting post on a blog, I’ll typically subscribe just knowing that I am boosting their own morale and making their website more attractive to other readers and advertisers. It’s a win-win, and a no-brainer.

5. RSS Subscribing is Completely FREE!
So now you’ve heard why subscribing to a blog is so effective, efficient and mutually beneficial… the most obvious pull should be that it is completely free to sign up to receive updates for your favorite blogs. Some people still don’t understand this, and think they are going to be hit with fees and solicitations along the way. This isn’t a newsletter, so you aren’t going to get hit with spam. RSS just pulls the text/images from new posts and displays it to you in an easy to read format each and every morning with your cup of coffee. So take a chance and subscribe to your favorite blogs’ RSS feeds!

You’ve heard my arguments for subscribing to an RSS feed. If you liked this post and aren’t already subscribed to my feed, why not turn your life around and subscribe to Jimvesting’s RSS?! Bloggers are giving you free information each day, so subscribe to the good ones and repay the favor… I’m sure they will appreciate it.

-Jimvesting

Alright, you’ve heard the popular phrase “content before cash” thrown around all across the blogosphere. Well, here’s a controversial spin on the matter… I’m taking the money!

Sure, I’m all for the utopian, lovely, happy world where you can sit peacefully at your desk… writing articles for others to enjoy… all day long. Sounds fantastic. Unfortunately, anyone who actually believes this is living in a dream world. As a blogger, you need to be focused on number one. Cash Is King!

I want to reverse this phrase on the ‘make money online’ niche. Understandably, if you have a personal blog or if you are writing about landscaping or aquatic sports… you may have something else in mind. Nevertheless, if you are writing in this niche, you need to focus on cash… here’s five reasons why:

1. Your Focus Should Match Your Goal
If you are writing about making money online, but aren’t even focused on making money off your blog… you are in the wrong line of work my friend. The make money online niche is all about, go figure, creating cash flows on the internet. I really doubt your readers are going to be offended if you are making cash off of their traffic, in fact, they probably want to hear about how you are doing it. As a blogger in the area, I’m going to be more concerned about what I am bringing in than anything else. People telling you “I’m not in it for the money” are either lying to your face, or aren’t the kind of people you should be taking advice from.

2. Writing to Make Money Produces the Content
Go figure, if you are focused more on cash than content, who’s to say you are going to be writing bad material!? Not me. I write with the intention of getting a lot of traffic, subscribers… and ultimately ad revenue. Guess what? This ends up producing some pretty awesome blog posts. The fact remains, if you are really focused on making cash, than writing really good material is going to come naturally as an extension of this goal. Nobody ever made a dime rambling off uselessly. As much as readers want helpful content, it’s not going to come at the hands of some blogger who isn’t dedicated toward making online revenue.

3. You Can Make Money Off a Bad Blog
There are plenty of popular blogs out there that are making better money than me, and writing content that is sub-par at best. Look at John Chow for example. The man clearly isn’t too concerned anymore with offering new, original or useful content to readers, and people are literally eating out of the palm of his hand. This situation cannot exist under the doctrine of “content before cash.” Right? People who read ‘make money online’ blogs want to learn how to make money, not how to write content. So while it’s always important, you can definitely make a better living by focusing on your paycheck than by simply writing well.

4. Marketing Can Be More Important Than Writing
I’m not going to say “marketing IS more important than writing” because I’m not into getting hate mail… despite the fact that this is probably true. Consider this, theNetFool.com has been around since October 2007. But when you look at my traffic/RSS graphs, I had about 10 subscribers and less than 50 unique visitors per day until I started actively marketing my blog in March. Things exploded, and people comment all the time saying my content is great. But guess what… nobody can read your content unless you let them know it is there. The goal of marketing is to make money, and marketing is the key to owning a successful blog. Therefore, putting the transitive property to work shows us that focusing on money will lead to a more successful blog. Now there’s math you can bank on!

5. Cash Drives Blogging Motivation
Here’s the bottom line about blogging, things get old fast when you write articles that don’t bring home the bacon. Perhaps you just enjoy writing… but being in the ‘make money online’ blogging niche should mean that you are trying to make money online. Again, if your blog isn’t doing this for you, where is the motivation!? Steady cash flows make for a more inspired blog, better writing, more interactivity, increased traffic, the list goes on and on. By focusing on cash over content, you are going to put a good amount of work into your website and make things better all around.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I am not writing to spoon feed my readers what they want to hear. The fact is that in the blogging realm, it can be really cut throat. If you are focused on content over cash, you are doing something wrong and are going to be left in the dust. New advertising campaigns, referral programs, traffic sharing schemes and the like pop up all the time. If you are too concerned with writing good material all the time, you are going to end up missing the boat. People won’t wait for you to play catch up.

-Jimvesting

Running a successful website or blog is a simple matter of increasing your numbers consistently over a period of time. This goal is exactly the same as every CEO in the corporate world. I have this profound interest in the stock market, so why not think of websites as stocks?

Sometimes we need to step back and consider how we are doing. Far too often, bloggers fail to see the “big picture” of things, and focus too heavily on the near-term. Not the Net Fool. All websites are stocks in my mind, and I am focused on improving my margins (efficiency versus other “companies”) and increasing my growth rates (traffic, subscribers, etc.) across the board.

Here are five reasons you need to consider my “stock chart” theory:

1. Companies focus on earnings, bloggers want to make money too
2. Companies expand margins, bloggers want to beat out competition
3. Companies project future guidance, bloggers plan for the future
4. Companies concentrate on returns, bloggers want more “bang for their buck”
5. Companies track their historical prices, bloggers’ traffic acts as a stock chart

1. Companies focus on earnings, bloggers want to make money too
Question anyone who tells you “they aren’t in it for the money.” I’ll tell you right now that I see blogging as a huge cash flow possibility. Just as companies try to grow out their earnings year over year, bloggers try to drive more money out of there websites. Simple right? Jimvesting Dot Com might as well be a stock, because I am acting as the CEO when I make moves like networking, running contests, and posting articles. It all comes back in the form of higher revenue!

Bloggers provide a service to others, by offering up useful material, just as companies make money by providing services or goods to others that request it. When push comes to shove, this is a business just like anything else. People that fail to realize this are not going to maximize their earnings.

2. Companies expand margins, bloggers want to beat out competition
For most bloggers, myself included, its all about being number one. Just as companies compare their efficiency with one another in the form of margins, which show performance and market share, bloggers should always look toward their competition as a benchmark that they need to beat.

Bottom line: if you don’t have any benchmark, the “drive” is not there anre you aren’t going to be a successful blogger. We all need competition to have someone to compare ourselves to, and to set goals. Just as I look for ways to “get ahead” in my focus area, companies focus on leading niche markets.

3. Companies project future guidance, bloggers plan for the future
To let investors know what’s up, most companies offer expectations in the form of earnings guidance for the months or year ahead. Much in the same way, I have outlined my plans for the future and how I hope to dominate my niche market. Especially in the field of blogging I am in (making money online), you are going to hear about how people are doing, and how they expect to be doing.

I think its important to plan for the future. Too many bloggers nowadays are all concerned about what is happening in the short-term. I tend to zoom things back a bit and see where I am going to end up. It’s essential to keep this forward-looking strategy to be successful as a webmaster.

4. Companies concentrate on returns, bloggers want more “bang for their buck”
One important metric of a stock’s value is “return on investment capital” (ROIC). This ROIC number basically shows the return you get on every dollar you invest in a company, pretty important right? This is exactly the same in the blogosphere, and on two ends. Think about it. Bloggers are determind to increase their own value, getting more out of their blog then they are putting in. Much in the same way, readers are concerned with getting their money’s worth (in this case time). Nobody is going to read your blog unless they get something back from it.

So ROIC is equal to bloggers/readers getting their money’s worth. What’s the point? I think this is quite obvious, the point of all things in life, including blogging, is to make more back then you are investing… or profit in simpler terms. If you can’t get a profit, you are missing out. The time you put into your blog needs to be less than the value of everything you get back… or you are a loser in this game.

5. Companies track their historical prices, bloggers’ traffic acts as a stock chart
Have you ever looked at a companies stock chart and thought “wow, they must really be doing something right?” You need to start shifting this kind of focus to your blog. Let’s bring out a few graphs, things like traffic, rss subscribers and alexa rank for example. You can see with relative ease how these stack up to your overall performance.

I like to have a look back and say, okay my Alexa ranking has been in an uptrend recently, what can I do to increase this growth and continue up? If things in your traffic are dragging, then you know you are doing something wrong and you need to take a look at what you are doing to fix it. Having a great blog is as basic as having a great chart.

In this field, traffic equals money. By looking at your website like a stock, you can more easily analyse how to maximize your returns, whether this be traffic, subscribers, recognition or just plain ol’ money. Coming from a business background, I am a firm believer that looking at a more long-term view can really strengthen your blog.

-Jimvesting