Have you ever thought about the start up costs of your business, web site or blog before you actually got started? It’s quite important and something you need to think about before starting your blog.
While blogging content might be free, there are many factors that aren’t. In this post we are going to break down the financials and budget planning for your blog.
Domain Name
The domain of your site is going to be something that will be with you for the lifetime of your site. A domain name usually costs around $10, but if you want a premium domain name or one that is about to drop or expire, you cam grab a decent one for around $60-$80. If you want a really great domain name you will be looking at costs in the few hundreds to a few thousand dollars. Investing in a quality domain name is a great way to build the branding and reputation for your blog or business online, but it’s also not required.
Web Hosting
There are thousands of web site and blog hosting companies out there, but choosing a package that costs you less than $10 a month is usually a safe bet for most bloggers who are starting out. I’m personally hosting HostGator to host all of my sites and they have some great packages for under $8 a month, which also include easy one click install of WordPress. To take a look at the other top hosting companies online, be sure to check out the top 25 hosting companies infographic.
Blog Theme
When people first get to your site the first thing they see isn’t your content, but it’s your blog design. The worst thing you can do is have the default wordpress theme or a horrible looking site. Many theme directories like ElegantThemes.com offer exclusive access to all of their premium themes for one low annual price. A custom designed theme will run anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousands, so it’s best to save your money and invest in a low cost premium theme when starting out.
Logo Design
A quality and original logo can do a lot for your business or blog. In the past a logo design would probably cost you a few hundred dollars, now you can get them done for as low as $29 each through services like LogoNerds. If you are looking to get a wide variety of logo designs created, then you should look through the list of top logo design marketplaces.
Content Creation
No matter your budget, in the end it will all come down to the content and value that your blog provides to your audience. Creating killer blog content takes a lot of time and skill, but it’s also possible to outsource your content if you can find high quality writers that know what to write about in your niche. Don’t waste your time creating a blog and throwing garbage content on your site, as it will not only waste your time but also your site visitors.
Guest Blogging
Since we are talking about the costs involved in setting up your blog, we should also talk about some ways that you can save money while also getting link backs and promotion for your site as well. Guest blogging is still one of the best ways to not only get incoming links and traffic, but also to get your name and brand noticed. Top blogs will allow you to blog on their site for free if you provide them with quality content. Be sure to check out this list of 100+ sites that allow guest blogging.
Social Networking
Just like guest blogging is free, so is the power of social networking. You should definitely create a profile for yourself on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ if you are going to be writing content under your own name, and also be sure to use Google Authorship with all of your blog posts. It’s also important to setup fan pages for each of your sites so your followers can receive your latest blog posts and updates through the major social networks.
So what’s the budget for your blog?
This may be a lot of information for a brand new blogger to think about, but it’s all extremely important to the overall success of your blog’s future. While it may seem like a lot, it actually will come together quite quickly and fairly simple. The good thing is that blogger is one of the cheapest methods for starting a business, as you really only need a domain ($10) and hosting ($10/m) to actually get started. As for everything else, you can slowly implement these benefits over time.
To learn more about getting starting in the world of blogging and how I’ve taken my own blogs from nothing to six figure businesses, be sure to check out my new book on Amazon.com titled “Blogging Tips: Confessions of a Six Figure Blogger“.
Zac Johnson
My name is Zac Johnson and I have been an online entrepreneur for the past 18 years and blogger since 2007. This is my personal blog and I welcome you to the site. In full disclosure, it is safe to assume that I am benefiting financially or otherwise from everything you click on, read, or look at while on my website.
I think tons of people don't realize what they're getting into when they start their blog. There are a lot of costs.
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Yes John,
You have right. Are a lot of cost. First when you will create, than for the content, SEO/increase traffic.
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@Zac: I just saw your comment on BloggersPassion
(I think my comment there was eaten up by Akismet).
For me, a good domain name and decent design would beat everything else because I can manage the rest of stuff, content, connections, social networking etc. myself.
Hey Jeet
That's true. Your comments were eaten by Akismet on my blog. I just published your all of comments on my blog. I came to know about this while searching for my domain name coverage in the last one week time on Google search. Then I reached this page from zacjohnson.com. I know from time to time, Akismet used to mark some genuine comments into spam folder. So I used to manually review my spam folder one in a week time type.
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Wow, you are working hard dude. Thanks.
I mentioned your blog because I saw similar discussion on your blog
Akismet can be weird sometimes, it won't let me comment on my own guest post on some blogs. I have stopped using my site's URL while commenting, but it still eats up my comments. I can't stop commenting because their algo is faulty
Interesting information dude,Thank you!
When setting up your social network accounts, how do you recommend configuring Facebook and Google+? If you ever plan to sell the blog, you can't have the Facebook fanpage attached to your personal account.
With Google, each of my sites already has an account to use for alerts, reader and docs/drive, as well as aggregating email accounts. The Google+ page should be attached to your personal page but the Google account is for a business. It's very confusing how this is supposed to work.
Big corporations have figured it out. Ford Motors and Coca Cola don't have their page attached to the CEO. What's the proper way to set it all up?
Zac
this takes me back bro, I remember when I was starting my blog I had to setup a $160 budget my most expensive purchase to start my blog was my theme profits theme.
I know could of gotten free themes but I wanted a good paid one.
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Yes, this post helps in planning the start up costs for your blog and specially for those who are novitiate in this field. I agree with John here, there are lots of people who are not aware of this things.
Very Good Article, I have learned some new things from here.
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i think instead of going to self hosted blog directly, you should try the free blog host like wp.com, blogger and tumblr. because not every blog get so much of readership and most of the blogs being ended into personal dairies and experiences. so i recommend to use free blog host first then moving out to self hosted wagon. And there are lots of plugins which will let fall in traffic when you move out of free host shadow.
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Thanks for the great information! I wonder if it's possible to have a successful blog without paying a cent…
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Great advice, will implement these tactics onto my own financial website, Stocks on Wall Street. Thanks!
Very interesting post as a lot of people don't realize that they're starting a real business…if that's what they want of course.
If blogging is a hobby for you, than you'll have to invest some money as you would do for many other hobbies.
But if you're blogging to set up a digital business, to brand yourself to and make money, you need to know your investments and if possible your ROI.
You need to have a strategy in place. What do you provide via your blog to your readers? How do want to monetize your blog? What is your traffic strategy? Paid? Free? Guest blogging? Forum marketing?
If you don't consider your blog as your business you'll struggle to make real money…it's all about the right mindset and how you see things!
Thanx for this great post
Mikka
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What a lot of newbie bloggers and other people who decide to start a business on the Internet don't take into account is that initial 3 year period to get the business up-and-going. If they were aware that a business has a lot more costs involved than just the initial start-up costs, I think that is something that no-one talks enough about.
In an off-line business when you do your business plan (and that always includes a cash flow projection) then I think more people would get a more realistic view of the potential of blogging as a business.
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There is a lot of stuff that most people forget about when starting a business. Thanks for the information.
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i am really confused with the term unlimited and its very cheap some one told me that this is not a real unlimited deal which lots of hosting company provides supposed i need a video streaming on my site. how much bandwidth do i need suppose if i have 10bg of videos and 1k daily visits how it is computed.
I've already invested quite an amount on my blog but I am seeing good results. Thank God I found a good freelance Filipino SEO Specialist….
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Your business start up costs will be minimal to non existent if you follow the following steps and thread in the footsteps of those entrepreneurs who relied on nothing else but their wit and hard work. Article marketing is a whole other topic for discussion but you will keep your business start up costs to a minimum and you can learn more at my blog..
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