A blog is a great way to communicate with your audience, showcase your affiliate offers, post viral content, develop your reputation in your niche, and get traffic from search engines.
So there are a lot of really good reasons to started with blogging and affiliate marketing. But the question is, how do you get started? This mini action plan with show you how.
More...
Blogging and Affiliate Marketing Quick Start Action Plan
Download and Install WordPress
There are plenty of content management systems (CMS) and blogging platforms out there. But there is only one that I recommend, WordPress.
Now, there is a good chance that your webhosting dashboard includes a “one click” installation for WordPress (WP). That is one very quick and easy to install WP on your site.
However, many WP security experts suggest that you download and install the software manually. WordPress.org includes both an overview of how to download and install it, as well as step-by-step instructions. If you have some tech knowledge, it will take you less than 10 minutes to get it all set up. If you’ve never done anything like this, then of course it will take longer – but it’s worth the effort.
Customize Your Blog
WordPress allows you to quickly customize the look of your blog and how it functions by installing a theme and plugins.
First, let’s talk themes, which is basically the design of your blog. When you log into your dashboard, you’ll see “Appearance” on the left-side navigation menu. You can search, download, and activate themes directly from there. Alternatively, you can go to www.wordpress.org/themes/ to find a good design.
TIP: Choose a responsive theme, which means it will look good on a variety of devices, from phones to tablets to desktops.
The second thing you can do to customize your site’s function is to install plugins. However, heads up: don’t just install plugins because you read somewhere that you should install plugins. Instead, figure out what you REALLY want and need on your site, and then search for a plugin to help you create it.
For example, maybe you’re not doing anything with search engine optimization, so it makes no sense for you to install the SEO plugins that everyone tells you to install. On the other hand, maybe you DO want to integrate your site with your social media platforms. In that case, search within your dashboard or go to www.wordpress.org/plugins/ to find what you need.
I highly recommend using themes and plugins from ThriveThemes. I use them on all my sites and I absolutely love their products.
FREE PDF SWIPE FILE
hAVING TROUBLE COMING UP WITH ATTENTION GRABBING HEADLINES?
Download this swipe file of 101 Headline Templates that grab attention (with examples) and use them in your email subject lines, blog post titles, ads, or anywhere you want to grab your target audience's attention.
Create Content for Your Blog
The final step in getting started is to populate your blog with content. That way, you can engage your visitors once you start promoting your blog.
Now before you start creating and posting content, it’s a good idea to come up with a content marketing plan. In other words, don’t just toss stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Instead, define your goals for your blog… and then create content that seeks to achieve these goals.
Ask yourself these questions: What is the main goal your blog?
Your blog should have one PRIMARY goal, which is what you focus on every time you post anything. And while you may have secondary goals, you want to create content with the purpose of achieving your main goal.
Examples of goals include:
- Build your mailing list.
- Make more sales of your own products.
- Make affiliate sales.
- Develop your brand in the niche/establish yourself as an expert.
- Share news and announcements.
- Get people to call you.
- Post viral content.
Again, pick one overall goal, but define your secondary goals as well.
And then ask yourself this question: What type of content will support your goals?
Of course you should provide a variety of content to see what your audience responds to best. However, your content should support your goals. So, for example:
