Blogging in the Time of COVID

We’re all stuck inside. You’ve made all the sourdough you can and started every hobby under the sun. There’s only so many socks you can knit and puzzles you can complete. 

Maybe it’s an idea that has been rolling around in your mind for a while – starting a blog. There’s never been a better time! A blog is your digital journey into unleashing your thoughts and feelings into written form. 

Why would you start a blog?

If you’ve been around the internet for any time at all, you know blogs are featuring all kinds of different topics. From baking to parenting, tech, or gardening – there are no limitations. You can use a blog to inform, share your knowledge and experiences, or as a personal journal. 

How to start a blog? 

There are a lot of website services out there and you can get as customized as you want to get. Here are a few popular choices for blogging:

  • WordPress
  • Square space
  • Wix

Most of these services allow you to create a custom domain and add personalized content like design, formatting, backgrounds, and more. 

What’s the first step?

After finding the platform you want to use and deciding on a domain and design – now onto the tofu and potatoes of it all: blogging. 

Step 1: Decide on the main theme (see the section below for ideas!)

Step 2: Write an About Me page

Step 3: Compose your first post

Sit back and let the inspiration roll in, tsunami style.  For comprehensive help with starting your blog, The Blog Starter has a good guide for beginners.

Blog ideas

Think about the things you are most passionate about or interested in. Maybe even go retrospective and cover the travels of your past (we’re stuck at home now, you might as well relive the glory days). 

Use these blog ideas to kickstart your own:

  • Home-baking recipes (if you still haven’t had enough sourdough)
  • Your weight loss and fitness journey
  • Video game reviews and deep dives
  • Sustainability and earth-friendly recommendations
  • Fun history lessons

The Pros of starting a blog

These days, it can be hard to get excited about something. Life might seem a bit duller and this can seriously bring you down. If you’re interested in starting a blog, finally taking the time to do it can be the pilot light for igniting the joy back into your life. 

A blog is a way for you to steam off your creative energy and develop your skills. It can give you something to activate your mind and offers an opportunity to connect with like-minded people from around the world. 

The blogging world has been bustling since the dawn of the internet, and in the time of COVID, more than ever. You can use your voice to make a difference in the world and influence others to do the same. 

Why not start a blog about being a serial-tree-planter?? 

Under the cover of night, you slink around with shovel and sapling in hand to plant secret trees around town. Sure, maybe it’s a form of eco-vandalism (that’s a stretch), but it’s good for you, good for mama earth, and can attract a fun audience. 

Before you know it, you’ve got legions of sneaky tree-planters all over the world using your hashtag and referring to your sleuthing techniques. 

Beyond the blog

Try exploring the blogging world beyond your little internet island. What other blogs in your specific topic are out there? 

Engage with the blogging world by:

  • Leaving comments on others’ blogs
  • Reaching out to friends to do collaborative posts
  • Contacting brands about sponsorship posts and features
  • Organizing virtual events for bloggers and readers 

Where can a blog take me?

It’s possible to take your blog further than a personal journal, if that’s your goal. Becoming a well-known internet writer can lead you into other media opportunities like book deals, radio shows, and more. It doesn’t have to, of course.

Many bloggers are satisfied to keep within the backyard of their blog, and that’s just fine. But if your personality wants to burst through that bubble, you can make that work too. 

Maybe most importantly, you can help people, even if you just started a blog as a personal outlet. You can make a difference for others by:

  • Helping people to recognize common struggles
  • Educating others on meal planning and nutrition
  • Encouraging people to make earth-friendly choices
  • Providing some much-needed COVID-era entertainment!

Read on

Just go for it. There’s no downside in starting your blog. You might not know it, but plenty of people out there are searching for information or encouragement that you might be able to provide. 

Whether your topic of choice is fashion styling or identifying animals by their poop, you’ll collect readers, hone your skills, and above all, find some joy. And that’s a hobby worth pursuing. 

Categories dmm

How To Make A Website On WordPress In 2019

Let’s build a website together in 32 simple steps.

I’m making a real website today, right along with you. No confusion means you save a lot of time.

The real value here is the time you’ll save by following along with me literally click-by-click.

Does your business website need an upgrade. Or, do you want to get started earning online?

You no longer need to spend thousands to get a beautiful, functional website you can edit yourself, even if you have no tech knowledge at all.

The process of making a website has changed. Today we have drag-and drop-page builders and other tools that are visually intuitive, and I’ll show you exactly how to get the most out of them.

No coding, no confusion. Even the WordPress installation is basically automatic.

In fact, if you can work a mouse and you have an email address, you’ll make it through this step-by-step tutorial with no problems.

Your new site will be/have:

1) mobile-friendly
2) search engine optimization friendly
3) enhanced security against hackers
4) automatic backups so you never lose your site files
5) easy to add content to–I’ll show you how can do it yourself.

Add text, titles, images and even video like a pro.

If you’re serious about building a better website for an existing business or you want to finally get started earning online, click here.

And that’s just the beginning. My affiliate partnership with Bluehost, one of the biggest hosts in the world, means this special promotional link will also get you:

~ a free domain
~ the cheapest current discount for Bluehost hosting
~ a free SSL certificate, to keep your site more secure. (This is a great deal as many hosts still make you pay for this)
~ a 30-day money -back guarantee
~ renowned 24/7 customer support from one of the biggest hosts in the world

Using my link to purchase hosting earns me a commission–thank you–but there’s no extra cost to you. In fact as I say you can be sure you’re getting the best current Bluehost price plus all the other benefits, and it encourages me to keep making videos like this.

How to use this tutorial
I’m moving pretty fast. It’s by design, to cover more topics. Please use the pause button on the video. As you sign up for Bluehost you can click back and forth from this tutorial to the browser tab or window(s) in which you first sign up, and then keep building your new site as you follow me.

1) Choose a Domain Name – 1:36
2) Buy Hosting & Domain – 1:55
3) Install WordPress – 4:21
4) Add a New Theme – 6:19
5) Creating and Editing Content – 8:38 onward

Content section:

1) How to Install and activate your theme 6:19
2) How to install and activate a plugin 6:52
3) Choose Elementor Page Builder 7:37
4) Install Astra pre-made site 8:08
5) How to edit with Elementor 8:38
6) How to edit text in your theme 9:10
7) How to edit/add images 9:44
8) Using ‘Customize’ in your dashboard 12:15
9) How to edit your header 12:34
10) How to add your logo to the header 12:40
11) How to add social media icons to header and connect to social media accounts 13:43
12) How to edit your footer 14:03
13) How to edit your navigation menu 14:48
14) How to create pages from scratch with Elementor
15) Creating pages from pre-made templates 18:23
16) How to create a beautiful FAQ page from a block, and edit it 18:43
17) How to add your FAQ link to your navigation menu 19:54
18) How to link to another site from your nav menu 20:16
19) How to use the new WordPress editor, Gutenberg, to add pages and content–using blocks 20:56
20) How to optimize permalinks 22:26
21) How to log in to your WordPress dashboard directly 24:00
22) How to reset your WordPress password 24:30
23) Bonus section! 24:47
24) How to make your pages SEO/Search Engine Optimization-friendly, installing the Yoast plugin 25:10
25) How to automatically backup your site, installing UpdraftPlus plugin 25:30
26) How to make your site more secure, installing Wordfence plugin 25:43
27) Configure UpdraftPlus plugin 25:53
28) Configure Wordfence plugin 27:04
29) Configure Yoast and using plugin 28:45
30) How to add Google Map 30:52
31) How to add YouTube video 32:23
32) https SSL certificate check 32:481) How to Install and activate your theme 6:19
2) How to install and activate a plugin 6:52
3) Choose Elementor Page Builder 7:37
4) Install Astra pre-made site 8:08
5) How to edit with Elementor 8:38
6) How to edit text in your theme 9:10
7) How to edit/add images 9:44
8) Using ‘Customize’ in your dashboard 12:15
9) How to edit your header 12:34
10) How to add your logo to the header 12:40
11) How to add social media icons to header and connect to social media accounts 13:43
12) How to edit your footer 14:03
13) How to edit your navigation menu 14:48
14) How to create pages from scratch with Elementor
15) Creating pages from pre-made templates 18:23
16) How to create a beautiful FAQ page from a block, and edit it 18:43
17) How to add your FAQ link to your navigation menu 19:54
18) How to link to another site from your nav menu 20:16
19) How to use the new WordPress editor, Gutenberg, to add pages and content–using blocks 20:56
20) How to optimize permalinks 22:26
21) How to log in to your WordPress dashboard directly 24:00
22) How to reset your WordPress password 24:30
23) Bonus section! 24:47
24) How to make your pages SEO/Search Engine Optimization-friendly, installing the Yoast plugin 25:10
25) How to automatically backup your site, installing UpdraftPlus plugin 25:30
26) How to make your site more secure, installing Wordfence plugin 25:43
27) Configure UpdraftPlus plugin 25:53
28) Configure Wordfence plugin 27:04
29) Configure Yoast and using plugin 28:45
30) How to add Google Map 30:52
31) How to add YouTube video 32:23
32) https SSL certificate check 32:48

Categories dmm