BLOG WORK BEHIND THE CURTAINS: WHAT TO EXPECT

One of the cruel joys of blog work comes at the start:

Either figure out how to start, how to build a site, or hire someone else to do it.

While I’m happy for folks who go either way, which is better in the long run?

The bottom line is spending the time to learn new stuff, or pay someone who knows the stuff.

One upside is learning through trial and error, the other is learning how to write a check for $1600.

Here’s what $1600 buys:

1. Upgrade of WordPress site Based on a Theme
2. Theme suggestions based on your domain and business.
3. Building a Development environment for new site development
4. Server Setup for WordPress on Hosting Provider Accounts
5. WordPress installation on Server
6. Home Page Customization
7. Service Page or Product Page Customization
8. Updates on other Pages
9. Setup of Forms
10. Blog page design
11. Setup of site’s structure, homepage and navigation
12. Menu setup
13. Mobile Responsive site setup
14. Setup of site category
15. Simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript/PHP customization and changes.
16. Setup of Custom web domains
17. Integration with Email Tools for Marketing
18. Integration with CRM for lead storage and follow ups
19. Integration with Social media channels
20. Integration with SEO tools 
21. SSL Installation (to make sure that website is safe and comes with the URL “https”)
22. Content migration from old site to new site
23. Delivery in 4 Weeks
24. 2 Weeks bug fixing support post delivery

When Blog Work Is Done

If you hire out for blog work, should you hire writers too?

Yes, hire a writer unless you want that $1600 to go the way of everything else you’ve paid for and ignored.

The best thing about ignoring a blog is no one else cares.

They can’t see it if nothing ever happens, not like an inversion table for hanging upside down, a nice bike, a guitar. Those things are haunting because of the visibility.

An abandoned blog hangs in the ether, not in the garage.

But who abandons a blog? When the hardest working man ever elected to the highest office in the land can only take blog pressure for a month, you know it’s hard work.

Since no one in the history of labor has ever worked harder than the ex-prez, you’ll most likely quit sooner than he did.

So, what went wrong? My would-be webinar instructors might point out his failure to “collaborate with other influencers” or “up his hashtag game” or even to “host interactive events.”

But I have another theory. It’s the thirst. Trump broke the cardinal rule of fame: He made it clear how much he wanted it.

The DIY Blog Advantage

If you hire everything done for you, it’s just another thing to weigh and evaluate. Walking away from that sort of blog is as easy as ignoring anything else you don’t care about.

But, if you grind through the process, put in the time, something magical happens. A blog may not matter to anyone else, that’s a given, but it matters to the builder.

Working up from free platforms offered by WordPress and blogger from google is a start.

If you keep at it, the free services lead to self-hosting because of the potential for wider exposure, more traffic, and an endless supply of followers.

Followers are not (usually) “followers” in the cultish sense, and they will tune you out if you don’t have the amplification that comes with a pre-existing network and a pre-existing power structure.

A powerful, influential, person who changes fields, then starts a blog, won’t receive the same adulation as they’re used to. Instead of facing the uphill climb of a lifetime based on effort, they quit.

The Do-It-Yourself people can’t quit. They never learned how. But they learned how to run a blog well enough to stick around.

About That List Of Promises At The Top

I’ve posted about blogs and blogging a few times in the past. About sixty pages worth on a search for ‘blog.’

One post in particular includes the essential links.

This is the answer Phillip and others are looking for.

If that doesn’t do it, read my personal favorite Darren at problogger.com.

Then hit Ramsay at blogtyrant.com for the dirt.

These links will either spur you on, or drive you away. It all depends on how much you want it.

Bloggers on the verge of blogging will jump right in. I did. Here’s the nuts and bolts of boomerpdx:

Hosted by bluehost.com. On the wordpress.org platform. Theme by studiopress.com. Genesis framework.

And yoast.com for SEO. It’s hilarious to see how many bloggers crib from this site. It’s free or paid.

WordPress is the only freebie, the rest need cash. Here’s what you’re buying: bluehost is your server, wordpress is the back end dashboard you’ll work from.

Genesis is an optimized framework you won’t see, but google will. Your theme is what the rest of the online audience will see your work on.

If things go wrong, and they will, don’t panic too hard. Once you go through the process a few times you’ll be getting comments asking for advice.

Don’t be afraid to coach people up a little. Beware of those who present themselves as the end all be all of bloggers.

You see how I’ve included links to my sources? Do that and avoid falling off the pedestal you climbed on to give advice.

Blog Engagement Means More Blog Work

How often do we see contests and polls and other actions aimed for engagement?

And how often do we engage?

My current request is finding a new name for boomerpdx.

The winning name contributor gets an interview right here.

Join the party. You might be a blogger, or get inspired to start a blog.

It could be worse. Instead of boring everyone you know half to death with opinions and observations, write a blog. Look for the kindness of strangers.

And be sure to ask for comments. Don’t be afraid, and if you are, good.

This is another example of doing things whether we’re afraid or not.

If you’re not afraid, it’s normal to be a little nervous when we push the publish button.

Like now. But it gets easier after the first thousand times. Be a leader.