I get e-mail quite often asking for advice on how to make money from home. First, let me tell you that no matter which route you take it will consist of A LOT OF WORK! So if you are not afraid of learning, making mistakes and working hard, then working from home may be just the thing for you.

One way to make money form home is through blogging. Blogging does take time. I am not a fast writer, nor am I a good writer,but I do think I can communicate well enough. For my articles and e-books that I publish elsewhere I always have someone proofread/edit for me, but for daily blogging and building relationships with folks I do my best and hope that there are not too many mistakes. :o) I usually spend about 4-5 hours a week blogging.

You need a blog to help you relate to your potential costumers. A blog makes you real to your people. You should update your blog 3-7 times a week, the more you blog the better. Blogging is also important in networking with other website owners.

Blogger is super easy to use, but is better in the long run to use WordPress.

If you are going to blog about something besides you and your family be sure to pick a topic you are passionate about.

Ask yourself a few questions:

What do I enjoy doing?
What have other people told me I am good at?
Am I willing to accept advice and constructive criticism?
Am I willing to continue to learn new ways to improve and market my product or service?
Are there ways I can use my skills and business to help people?
Do I want to do this just because I want to make money or is there is bigger goal/purpose?

Once you figure out what you want to blog about you will need a few things to get started.

Your Domain

If you intend on making money with your blog you will want to choose a name/domain. Choose a name that will incorporate your vision/purpose, but also try to use words that a person might search for as part of the domain/title.

For example, Teaching Good Things, was created with the intent of actually “teaching” skills. It is geared towards educating and a homeschool life style.

I have other websites that were created just for my products. I chose their domain/title to reflect the product. I want to be able to market these products to people who may not be Christian, homeschool moms, who are the bulk of my readers here.

The Cake Decorating DVD
The Crochet DVD
The Patchwork Quilt DVD

Teaching Good Things is part business and part ministry. That is something you’ll have to consider when choosing a name and blog/website. Is your target audience just for homeschoolers, or just Christians, or just horse lovers, etc…? Do you want to get your message out to the masses or a selected mass? Keep that in mind when choosing and paying for your name. Also, if you use your name for a year or so and it’s not working for you don’t be afraid to change it (I had to do that). You can change names and still keep your content.

One more thing to keep in mind; be careful about using your personal/family name. It can work for you, but if you ever get to the point that you build a profitable business and want to sell it, a lot of people won’t want your name. I have no plans of selling Teaching Good Things, but if I ever do, it will be easier than trying to sell “Brodock Enterprises”.

Domains need to be paid for every year. The cost is about $8.95; you can get them cheaper and there are some that are more expensive. I buy mine here.

You can have a blog without a domain, but people will take you more seriously and search engines will like you better if you have your own name rather than a yourname.blogspot.com !

Build a Website Cindy Cullen Web Services

I use Cindy to buy my domains and hosting. She is a Christian and has been very easy to work with. If you choose to use her, please send her an e-mail letting her know I sent you. Her prices are reasonable and she also does some web design.

For the next few weeks I’ll be talking about ways to make money with a blog as part of our Building a Family Economy Series.

This post is also linked over at The Legacy of the Home.