In this post, you'll learn how to quickly and easily start a blog of your own in less than 15 minutes!
On Dishes & Dust Bunnies I typically write about food, recipes, homemaking and my experiences as a frazzled and busy mom. Since starting my blog back in 2014, I've received a lot of questions from readers about how to start a blog of their own, so I've created this post to help those who are interested in getting started. 🙂
I'm tremendously thankful that my journey as a blogger so far has led me to some great opportunities, including the ability to make a little extra income for my family! As a stay at home mom blogging in my free time, this helps our family a lot. Currently, my adventures in blogging allow me to bring in an extra $4000-$8000/month USD and it continues to grow!
One of the main concerns I hear from others who are interested in starting a blog is:
“I'm nobody ‘special' – can I make it as a blogger?”
Yes, you can!
The honest truth is that Dishes & Dust Bunnies was started on a whim when I felt isolated and needed a creative outlet after the birth of my son. In the beginning the thought of making money as a blogger hadn't even crossed my mind – I just wanted to do something fun that would help me connect with others online who have similar interests. I'm certainly no celebrity – I'm just me!
Not long after starting my journey, I began to pull in a little money and it's been growing ever since! The more I learned about blogging and the more I worked at it, the more successful I became.
The truth is that anyone can be a blogger and make an income – you just have to work at it and keep consistent. In fact, I know of many bloggers who are earning even enough to retire their husbands/partners! They all started somewhere, you know!
I'm talking to YOU, my friend. If I can do it, anyone can.
Making an income writing about the things I love and my experiences as a mom really is a dream come true. It's allowed me to earn money while staying home to care for my son and that truly means the world to me.
A few Things to Consider before starting
Starting a blog is quick and easy but there are a few important things you need to consider before jumping right in.
What is the end goal for your blog? Is it for the money or for the love of it? There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make money with your blog, but your main goal should always be to help people and for the love of it. Making money doing something you love, while helping others feels amazing!
If you're planning on creating a blog without the intentions of ever earning money from it, then you can choose one of the free options such as Blogger. If at any point (even if not right away) you plan on making money with your blog, it's an absolute must to set up it up as self-hosted with a host such as Big Scoots.
Why is having a self-hosted blog important?
When you publish your site using a free service you don’t actually own the blog – the company does. Since you don’t own the blog or site itself, there’s always the risk that the service may suspend or remove your site at some point – and without notice (especially if you start getting a high amount of visitors). I’ve heard far too many horror stories from others who have lost all the hard work they put into their blog when their site gets taken down.
With self-hosted you own your blog AND have complete control over what happens. Being self-hosted also gives you more flexibility to grow. For example, you'll have the ability to make money through ads placed on your site, be seen as more professional to potential sponsors, and have more options in terms of design and the coding that goes into your site. (I'll talk more about this in a future post.)
The quickest, easiest, and most reliable way is to start a self-hosted blog with Big Scoots. I've used many hosts over the years and I'm so glad I switched over to Big Scoots back in 2018.
Since switching, my site never has downtime (they have uptime rate of 99.99%!) and I also have the peace of mind knowing there are knowledgeable experts fully managing my hosting behind the scenes. 🙂
I used to run an entire server for my websites completely by myself, which was a tremendous amount of work – having Big Scoots manage my hosting has freed up more of my time for blogging! ?❤️ You can't go wrong with Big Scoots – hands down THE best hosting company!
There are so many reasons to choose Big Scootsfor your blog and I highly recommend them for the following reasons:
- Big Scoots offers excellent technical support and often go above and beyond to help you if an issue arises.
- It's super easy to use, even if you're not great with computers
- Big Scoots is extremely affordable, and especially so when compared to other companies who offer fully managed hosting! You can start with one of their lower hosting packages and easily upgrade as your site grows.
- Big Scoots offers a 45 day money back guarantee if you decide it's not for you. If you have any questions (how to set it up, pick a plan, etc) feel free to send me an email and I'll help you out.
- You'll be self-hosted, which is important when it comes monetizing your site (see above).
To start your own self-hosted blog on WordPress, I highly recommend signing up with Big Scoots. Many professional bloggers have switched over to them and have had a great experiences – that's one of the reasons Big Scoots is known for having 100% positive reviews!
