How do I start my own blog?

[Rachel]

Now I've heard that some people get paid for doing blogs, what are they doing to get paid? Is it by having people advertise or something? Also if I start a blog how do i get foot traffic to it?

[Tiffany]

promote your blog like crazy online. comment on other blogs. you can get paid for advertisers. not exactly sure how that works. i have a free wordpress blog and I cant let anyone advertise on it. Most bloggers don't make much and the ones who do basically blog constantly. its not a get rich quick type of thing.

[Dwqd]

You can get paid for placing ads on your blog! "Google Adsense" is the most popular PPC out there. They pay you for each click you get form your visitors. Or you can place CPA offers which relate to whatever you'll be blogging about. Say your blogging for Weight loss tips and such then weight loss CPA offers will do well and bring in lot's more then adsense.

I recommend you start with adsense cause it's free and fun. CPA is also free though. I recommend Word-press more then ANY other blogging platform out there because it's the BEST and you'll soon know! Find something that's hot and in trend right now and start blogging. Make an adsense account and put up ads to get paid for your traffic. Make videos on you-tube promoting it which is the best way. Join social networks and share it. The .ORG version of wordpress if what you'll want so You can place ads on your awesome blog. Find free themes by searching: Wordpress themes in Google. If you don't know how to host your own .com website or anything then you'll need to try blogger.com which is owned by Google. I HIGHLY recommend getting your own website to use Wordpress.org because you get SO much cool stuff and plugins. Search word-press training on Youtube to learn it

Hope this helps you in IM!

[Wallace Woods]

We suggest you begin by exploring the most popular blogs in Yahoo!'s Weblogs category to determine your favorite "look and feel." What kind of blog do you want? Something issue-oriented, or more personal? How much media do you want to incorporate? Is this a group project?
Now, pay very close attention to this excellent introductory tutorial written by Nadine of the wonderful blog TokyoShoes. Described as a "blogging for dummies," it offers cogent, step-by-step instructions on how to set up a blog using a popular program called Movable Type. You'll find a handy glossary of relevant terms, as well as tips on the nuts and bolts of domain names and web hosts.

Movable Type isn't the only blogging tool around, but it's rapidly become something of an industry standard. Jason Kottke, who runs a popular blog devoted to tech issues, is a fan. Cory Doctorow's eclectic Boing Boing is fueled by something called Blogger. You'll find several other options in Yahoo!'s Weblog Software.

Once your blog is up and running, you'll need to promote it. John Hawkins offers eleven quick tips for new bloggers that includes the names of several popular blog directories. He also suggests you link profusely to other relevant sites. There's no such thing as a one-way link -- bloggers routinely investigate referrals.

What next? To keep customers returning, you should update your blog on a daily basis. You're taking part in an online coversation that has exploded in popularity over the last couple of years. As Andrew Sullivan proclaims in his Blogger's Manifesto: "It's a new medium finally finding a unique voice. Stay tuned as that voice gets louder and louder."