Create a Blog and BRAND It!

MG Blog Series

Today was a light day! I got to squeeze in time for learning. I was watching and listening to videos from the Teachable summit. For 2017, I want to create a course, but I don’t know what course to create and share with you. This endeavour is something new to me. I felt confused as to where to start and how to start. I then remembered that 8 years ago, blogging was also new to me. It moved me to think about how I started blogging, and to think of the factors that made me get to where I am today. I’m pretty happy that I have gotten this far in blogging, and I attribute a big part of it to branding. Create blogs with great branding, and you’ll go places!

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What is good branding? When you create blogs, consider thinking about the following:

1. Define a blogging objective.

What is the main thing or specific thing that you want people to do, learn or read from your blog. It is important that you have this in mind 24/7 when you create blogs. The topics that you choose, the videos that you make or even the picture or font that you use should be with aligned with the mood, tone or feel of the objective of the blog. Everything should be consistent. Consistency will come in when you have a clear objective.

2. Check on what you can offer that others cannot.

Uniqueness is a big part of the game. All of us can be a certain type of blogger (mom blogger, travel blogger, etc.). What sets you apart can be how you craft your content, the tools and methods of how you relay your message, the tone of your message, and the chosen angle of your message. These are all dependent on what particular niche you are trying to talk to. Knowing your readers really well is what makes you know of your “uniqueness”.  Truly listening and engaging with them will steer you towards the direction you alone will be taking.

3. Don’t forget offline marketing.

Talking to people offline is as important as chatting with them via social media. Building trust or just getting to know people who are part of your chosen community or niche is one big factor for successful branding. People should know who you are as a person. They will trust you more once you connect with them in both the online and offline world. This is especially true when you don’t have your own flock of brand believers who will tell others of who your are and your story.

These are just some tips that worked for me. Do you know of other tips that may have worked for you to develop a good brand. Share them with me please at the comments section below.

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The Best Free Blogging Sites

MG Blog Series

There are a lot of aspiring bloggers who don’t know what free tool to use for the blog that they want to create. What are the best free blogging sites in the market? So today, let me go through the list of the best free blogging sites that you can use.

WordPress

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The first on my list is one that I use myself. I highly recommend that you start with WordPress. All you need to do is go to wordpress.org and download the software script. The minimum requirement is that you have your own host. Don’t worry about hosting! There are a lot of reliable hosts in the market. You can check out Bluehost (CLICK HERE).

Weebly

weebly

I’m building a blog for my daughter and I am seriously considering this. Since most of the content that she produces is on Youtube.com, she only needs a site where she could amplify the content that she has made. What I like about Weebly is that the free designs are very elegant and modern. If you are putting up an online store, Weebly is one of the best free blogging sites for you. It has features for e-commerce. It provides an easy way of link-up to your social media accounts.

Tumblr

tumblr best free blogging sites

Tumblr is a classic. It was one of the sites that I had before I had a full blown one using WordPress. What I love about Tumblr is that it is so simple to do anything you want to do. The user interface is so easy. You can upload a photo, share a link, share a video or an audio; it can help you post practically anything under the sun.

Blogger

best free blogging sites

Blogger is one of the favorites of blogging newcomers! A lot of people find it easy to navigate through Blogger. It is a free service with a free domain in Blogspot.com. My first blog, ManilaReviews.com was actually on blogspot before we migrated to WordPress.com. You can sign in using your Google ID, since Blogger is a Google service. It also offers customized themes and is simple to use.

These are just some of the best free blogging sites that you can use. Here are other resources or articles that you can check out:

http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/best-blogging-platforms-121413634

http://www.startablog123.com/best-free-blogging-sites/

You can also check out this link on how to start a blog:

8 Steps to Start A Blog as a Beginner

I hope you found today’s blog post under my blog series useful! Talk to you again next Friday. Please do not forget to leave a comment below on other topics related to blogging that you would want to know. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Blogging and Earning Thousands of Dollars

MG Blog Series

I met with a friend earlier today. We talked about how I was and how she was. She mentioned that she was focusing on her blog since she was making around $1000 a month. “Whaaaaat?!” I couldn’t believe my ears. Then, she went on to say that in good months, she would actually earn more, around close to $2000. I nearly fell of my seat. The $2000 would probably be one contract for me that spans 6 months. And she quickly said that she was nothing compared to others out there who are earning way beyond what she is getting. “Whaaaaat?!”, I said again in disbelief. I would have sworn I said “Whaaaaat?!” quite a few times during that conversation, dubbing it my word for the day. I found it bewildering that I have been in this industry for the longest time and yet, I still learn new things!

This conversation got me thinking. Why didn’t I think about all maximizing monetizing my blog?! haha! And the other thought was, I need to tell the world (maybe not the world)… or probably just those who have a knack and talent for it, that yes, you can earn through blogging.

Talking about blogging and earning has been an issue for some. It was probably because some scenarios that involve discussing blogging and earning touched on ethics. But most of the scenarios, where pure talent, passion and effort come into play (which doesn’t involve ethics), shouldn’t be an issue. A person with unquestionable talent in writing, who uses that skill to create a blog,, should be given the opportunity to earn from it and make it his or her profession. To tell you honestly, I now at least have a handful of people (2 of which I am pretty sure) who earn a living by writing down relevant and useful content.

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Hopefully now, the non-believers are believers, the more pressing issue (because we need to start blogging A-S-A-P) is where do we start? I suggest that you better start quickly and make things happen and to START, check out the WordPress Blogging Basics Course.

The WordPress Blogging Basics Course was created by my friend, Marv De Leon — a very skilled, talented, brand builder. He built his brand with the main intent to help freelancers focus and live a life pursuing their craft. Now, why do I say you need to take this course? In this WordPress Blogging Basics Course, you will learn…

tips about blogging, why blogging is still relevant for you and your business today
practical tips on how to start your first blog with WordPress — the most robust blogging tool in the market today
the key elements and essentials of a powerful WordPress blog
the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
how to create a WordPress blog, step-by-step, and publish your first blog post in under 10 minutes
more about writing a killer blog post that your readers will love and share with their friends
how to effectively market and monetize your WordPress blog
tips on building a blogging empire from the nation’s award-winning bloggers

These are just some of the benefits of signing up for this course. You can read more about it by clicking on Register now!

Register Now

 

If you have the time and if you really want to make things happen next year, start now! Really, what’s stopping you? There are a lot of things in my life that I have said YES to. I never regretted saying YES. All of these are things that you learn from and learning is always a good investment.

I love how Marv placed this in his announcement:

THIS COURSE IS NOT FOR…

People who won’t commit to finish the training

Those who will not commit to taking action and apply what they learned from the training

People who who don’t have the patience and think that blogging is a “get rich quick” scheme

I know we are talking of thousands of dollars here, but blogging isn’t a get-rich-quickly strategy. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance. The name of the game is consistency. If you don’t decide to place time and effort into it, don’t even try. It’s a commitment. All of the professional bloggers I know will give you the same advice. If you place your heart into it, it is something that will give you fulfilment and financial success.

So again, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you start by enrolling in this course: WORDPRESS BLOGGING BASICS

 

Register Now

PS. See you tomorrow for our WEBINAR! Just click on the image to register!

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Setting up a Blog or a Website using WordPress

When setting up a blog or a website, it’s good to know the basics of handling your content management system or CMS. The CMS is your window to everything that you want to do with your site. If you want to upload pictures, write an article, add a video, etc., you log into your content management system and you add them all there or edit or delete things from there. The content management system that I use for all of my blogs and website is WordPress.

I started using WordPress in 2008 and it was so convenient for me. Burn Gutierrez and I would like to share with you, through the Webinar Series called Enter Entrepreneurship, on how easy it is to start a blog or a website. We have invited Mr. Jerome Esperanza to help us demystify WordPress.

Jerome Esperanza

Who is Jerome Esperanza?

Jerome is an active freelance web developer and trainer for over a decade now and has built his web expertise from projects of various fields, specializations and areas, and has gained considerable web skills while working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Accenture Philippines, American Recreation Club of the U.S. Embassy Manila, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines. He is also well versed in database management, search engine optimization and web analytics. Mr. Esperanza is a graduate of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) with a degree in public administration.

He has consistently given seminars, talks, special hands-on courses and training to different sectors of the field – from academics, government and non-profits, training outfits to businesses companies and organizations.

He is now currently a short term consultant for the World Bank Group involving a trust fund web project, and also presently focusing on launching a business company and expanding the consultancy services to include other web and digital solutions to include web hosting services and digital marketing.

What will Jerome talk about?

About WordPress
• Overview and Usage
• Difference between WordPress.Com and WordPress.Org platforms
• Showcase and Frontend Demo of both platforms

WordPress.ORG, the Content Management System (CMS)
• Getting to know WordPress.Org
• Navigating around the Administration Panel
• The Tool bar
• Screen Options

Pages and Posts
• Understanding the differences

Adding and Editing Content
• Creating your first post using the visual editor
• More on Posts
• Formatting text using the HTML editor
• Adding links to your posts / Opening a link in a new window vs. using the current window
• Adding images to your posts
• Adding a gallery of images
• Help, I changed themes and now my image sizes aren’t right!
• Adding video clips to your posts
• Setting posting and page options
• Post Formats
• Saving & publishing your post or page
• Post Locking/Unlocking Feature for Multi User Blogs
• Creating and managing your categories

Writing Pages and Structuring Them

Publishing Content Created by Other Contributors

Moderating Comments

Managing Links
• Creating link categories
• Creating links

Users and User Management
• Add and remove users
• Edit details of a user
• Manage the content created by a user
• Managing Options and Settings

Design and Themes
• Overview: Managing the Look & Feel of your website
• Appearance
• Theme Customiser
• Understanding and Using Widgets
• Custom Backgrounds
• Creating Custom Menus

Menus and Menu Management
• Defining a Menu
• Adding items to a Menu
• Deleting a menu item
• Customizing Menu Items
• Creating multi-level menus
• The Menu in Action

Great topics, right? I know that that two hour webinar will really be beneficial for you! And guess what? It only costs Php 500 per session. If you avail of all the 10 sessions, you get the 11th on Productivity and Time Management for free!  So hurry and sign up now at:

http://manilaworkshops.com/events/enter-entrepreneurship

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