What do I need to know to start a semi-commercialized blog?

Asked by kevbo (25675

) January 25th, 2010

I have a niche blog idea, and I think it has real potential. I want to model it on something like Lifehacker or Zenhabits (more like Zenhabits actually), where posts provide some degree of instruction or utility and can eventually be aggregated into spinoff products like an ebook (see here or a regular book like this one).

I can even get the domain name I want. (Sweet!) It’s not taken yet.

I know next to nothing about the technical aspects of blogging, although I understand that Wordpress and Textsomething are popular.

What should I do and what should I read? Should I partner with someone, and if so, who? How do I get it to pay for itself and maybe generate some income?

What do I need to know about copyright and drawing from other sources on the Internet?

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4 Answers

If you feel that it is a truly unique idea, you might seek out a venture capitalist who could give you some start-up money. Wordpress is really easy to use and set-up, and it would probably be a good idea to get the site set up and running before showing a venture capitalist so they can see what the site is all about. You might even ask us Jellies for some constructive criticism to improve it.

buckyboy28 (4961

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Wordpress is really great. My boyfriend has a music blog and it’s on wordpress. He says it’s a lot more easy to organize (compared to Blogspot) AND you can pay something like $10—$15 a year to just have the domain name shortened (without the .wordpress part). It’s really nice.

ridicawu (530

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You should watch this video. It’s called “How to Build a High-Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself”. Lots of great info there, well worth it.

gggritso (5459

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Before you try and use any other blog site. use Tumblr (tumblr.com)
IMO it’s very easy and understandable to post content…. edit….
and easy to import themes/ designs…. TRY TUMBLR!!!

anon30 (334

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