Have you been thinking about starting your own blog? If so, are you wondering where to start? Luckily, I can help you for FREE by giving a step-by-step guide. If you are thinking about making your blog a business someday, I highly recommend you just start out self-hosted. In the end, this will save you from the headache later.
My Blogging Story
To start off, I have Fibromyalgia. Diagnosed in 2014, I have spent most of this time in denial. In 2018, I became very ill, which caused me to basically pause my life. Therefore, I took a medical leave from work and college. To hear more about my chronic illness story read Coming Out With An Invisible Illness.
Consequently, the medical leave forced me to face my illness head-on. In doing so, I started this blog to hold myself accountable to my illness. By telling the world about my illness, I had to admit it to myself. In doing so, found many supportive people that are blogging with a chronic illness (see Awesome Blogger Club for some examples). Ultimately, I found that bringing awareness and connecting with others makes me feel better. This is the reason I am in the blogging community to stay. Now, back to the reasons you should start a blog.
Why Should I Have A Self-Hosted Blog?
This is a great question!
- Anything you put on this blog belongs to you and you alone.
- You have complete control over your content.
- You own your content and no one can take it from you.
This is an affiliate post, which means if you click the BlueHost link and make a purchase I will make a commission. However, there is no obligation to do so, please see my full disclosure policy for more info.
Why Should I choose BlueHost for my blog?
- Free Domain
- Free Site builders
- 1 click WordPress install
- 24/7 support
- 30 day money back guarantee
- 3 different plans to choose from
- Low price of $3.95 a month
How Do I get Started With BlueHost Anyway?
First, getting started with BlueHost is super quick and easy.
- Click on this link: https://www.bluehost.com/track/fibromomblog/
- Next, you will want to choose which plan works best for you.
- At this point, you will pick your domain name.
- Afterwards, this is where you pay for the service. With the $3.95 plan you pay for 36 months up front. Which, is cool and convenient.
- Time to choose a password. Which, I recommend writing this down and keeping it with your blog notebook (you can buy one here).
Finally, once you are logged in you will see “Congratulations”:
- Ready for the fun part? Time to pick your theme. I started out paying for a theme. Honestly, I’m not sure I recommend paying for a theme out the gate. Granted, this is a personal decision for you and a financial one (remember to save receipts for taxes).
- Finally, you are ready to build!
- Here, you can see the tools to help build your site.
- Lastly, my advice is to get the basics up like your “About Me” page and maybe your first post. Most importantly, worrying too much about perfection is only going to cause self-doubt. Furthermore, if you don’t launch until it is perfect you will NEVER launch! I say just LAUNCH already.
- The page below is where you can add products, change your theme and even contact customer service. I’ve used this service and found it awesome. Just click the blue button “log in to WordPress” to go to your admin page where you can edit your blog.
Look out for more blogging tips on the Resource page. I welcome feedback of this post. Please let me know if you tried my step-by-step guide and how it worked out for you.
Click on the Blue Host link to get started on making your dream of blogging a reality today.
Jaime walker
Great blog
Suzanne
Thank you