Starting my blog three years ago completely changed my life. I went from being a high school band director that hated his job to working from literally anywhere that has an internet connection and choosing my own hours.
I don’t have a degree in writing, and there’s nothing “special” about me that’s led to my success as a blogger. I’m just a former teacher who worked hard and figured things out along the way.
And since I get emails and private messages every single day asking how to start a blog, I decided to put my teacher hat back on and show you exactly how to start your own money-making blog right now!
I’m going to show you everything you need to know to get started blogging, and I have even put some great free resources together for you. Over the years, I’ve seen so many people who want to start blogs and don’t, and I’ve realized that even if you know exactly what to do, getting started is still the hardest part.
The learning curve for growing a blog seems steep, and unfortunately, that’s what keeps thousands of potentially incredible bloggers from starting their own blogs every year.
That's why I decided to create Launch That Blog - to make starting a blog easy
My goal is to help you focus on what matters most with your blog: sharing your unique message with the world (and make money doing it).
I'll talk more about Launch That Blog (LTB) and how this free service will make the process of starting a blog simple, but first, I want to help you figure out if starting a blog is a good choice for you.
Let's get this out of the way first - I'm not some kind of tech genius. I had no idea how to run a blog before I started this website. I was a high school band director that had worked hard to pay off a lot of student loan debt, and I wanted to help people that were in the same situation that I had been.
In fact, I was so intimidated by the prospect of starting a blog that I put it off for months. I would share what I had learned about personal finance on my private Facebook page but realized pretty quickly that I could only reach so many people that way.
I wanted to reach thousands of people, not hundreds. So I finally jumped in and started my own website.
Talk about stressful. Suddenly, I was drowning in technical terms like themes, plugins, hosting, and more. It kinda sucked, honestly. All I wanted to do was write!
That's where Launch That Blog comes in. My team takes care of all the tech stuff so that you can get started blogging faster. I spent hours and hours watching YouTube walkthroughs, reading other blogs about how to actually get mine started, and slogged through tutorial after tutorial just to get to the point where I could even write my first blog post.
Launch That Blog will do all of the hard stuff for you...for free
We’re going to set up your blog for free because we want you to be able to focus on the fun stuff. Maybe that’s sharing your love of puppies, your personal finance knowledge, or your incredible cooking skills. Or perhaps you want to start a wine or bourbon blog… let me know if you do — I’ll read ALL of your posts.
The idea behind Launch That Blog is that we do the heavy lifting so you can start with a professional-looking blog that puts you on the path to make money blogging.
There is good money out there IF you’re willing to be your authentic self and share your passions and knowledge with the world.
Blogging changed everything for me. So what are you waiting for? Let Launch That Blog set you up for free.
Here's what you get with Launch That Blog...
You must sign up for Bluehost using my special link to get Launch That Blog and all of the free bonus material.
What does it cost?
There is literally only one thing you have to pay for... hosting. Launch That Blog does everything for you but store the website on a server. You'll need to pay for that, but fortunately, you can get that as low as $2.95 per month (billed annually) when you use Launch Your Blog to set up your site.
Here’s how to start your blog in under 5 minutes with Launch That Blog:
- 1Choose your hosting plan
- 2Choose your domain name
- 3Sign up
- 4We’ll install your stuff
- 5Check your email for all of your Launch That Blog material
About Millennial Money Man
Bobby Hoyt is a former band director who paid off $40,000 of student loan debt in 18 months on his teaching salary and then left his job to run Millennial Money Man full-time. He helps other Millennials earn more through side hustles, save more through budgeting tools and apps, and pay off debt. He is a personal finance expert who has been seen on Forbes, Reuters, MarketWatch, CNBC, International Business Times, Business Insider, US News, Yahoo Finance, and many other personal finance and entrepreneurship media outlets.
Comments
Taylor Davidson
That’s a pretty neat guide for the beginners like me. I am still struggling with the monetization part. Probably, it is because I have not achieved the ranking yet. SEO and link building seems to be a more difficult task than anything else
Millennial Money Man
Glad you liked it Taylor! SEO can be tough. The biggest advice I have on SEO is to make sure that you do it 100% white-hat. Write great content and build your network with blogs and people that have high ranking websites.
Ronald
Hi Taylor,
I have the same issue and monetizing is pretty difficult! Still working on my SEO and using the Yoast plugin in WordPress for that.
Ronald
Tyler
This is a awesome guide, I just started my blog about a month ago and will be working on monetizing it soon so I was hoping to read more about that (not that my daily trips to smartpassiveincome.com don’t help with that). I’m struggling with the fact that the easiest way to monetize is to put ads up but that I don’t want to do that, I’m working on a resource page and that’s about all I can think of as of now, I’m much more interested in freelancing than making money directly from my blog.
Millennial Money Man
Thanks Tyler! I actually think that freelancing or offering blog management services for companies is a FAR more effective route to fast monetization than ads. People think that you need to make money from your blog, but it’s really about making money from your blogging abilities!!!! Ad revenue takes a ton of time and traffic to be really effective.
Kalie @ Pretend to Be Poor
Maybe I missed this in a previous post, but where does your actual blog income come from? How much of it is from ads, affiliate income, sponsored posts, or freelance writing?
Millennial Money Man
Hey Kalie! Check out my latest post: “3 Strategies I Used To Grow My Blog Quickly”. I detailed exactly where my income came in last month from the blog.
Peter
Hi Bobby,
I am using the free WordPress and none to bright on IT things. Can I transfer my free WordPress blog (with the free theme) to Bluehost, would I first need to upgrade from my free WordPress plan?
Thanks
(I like your blog too)
Millennial Money Man
Hey Peter! Send me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll walk you through the export process!
Mikey
Thanks to this post I now have a blog! I followed it to a T and it was super easy! My site and even first few blog posts are now in the history books! I wish I would have seen this sooner.
Excellent work M$M!
Millennial Money Man
Glad it was easy for you! Let me know if you need any help ????
Brad Grimm
Blogging has created very cool opportunities for me. My income is split between three sources; physical product sales, affiliate marketing sales & Google Adsense income. Be sure to chose a nitch you are passionate about and be consistent.
Millennial Money Man
For sure! I like writing about $$$ so much that it doesn’t feel like work. It’s awesome!!!!!! 🙂
Bruce
Any recommendations on how to develop a logo for a website, blog, or app without spending an ungodly amount of money and/or sacrificing quality? Thanks in advance!
Millennial Money Man
I used thelogocompany.com for mine, which cost about $150. That’s a little high for people that are just starting out blogging and may not be serious, but for a good quality design with ALL of the necessary high resolution files (which is KEY) it’s a fair price. You also get unlimited revisions, but make sure that you have an idea in mind of what you are looking for and the process will move faster. A lot of people use Fiver, which is super cheap for ok quality. It’s a tough question because you can spend a TON of money if you hire a firm, or as few as $10 on some sites. Hope that helps!
Kathy
Thank you for the suggestion of thelogocompany.com and the reasons for doing so, that is super helpful!
Millennial Money Man
You’re welcome! They did a good job on my logo so I usually point people in their direction.
Andrew @ DebtFreedomJourney
This is an excellent and thorough guide, a must read for any beginner. You’ve definitely given me some ideas on how to improve my similar guide.
I decided to go with a paid theme and I’m very happy about that fact. I didn’t have to spend a lot of time customizing and the code is speedy and efficient. I had a very pleasant experience with MyThemeShop but there are other really great resources for premium themes out there as well. Great post as usual.
Millennial Money Man
Thanks Andrew, glad it helped (this post took me FOREVER but a bunch of people have used it)! There are good free themes out there, but I worry about some of them from an SEO standpoint. A lot of the free ones just aren’t coded as well as some of the good paid themes out there and have issues because of it.
Marita
Thanks for the post! Quick question, over what base/considering which factors you make the recomendation of WordPress being “best” for blogging? The interface, the cost, the capabilities to monetize? Also, what about Squarespace, any opinion on that? Thanks again!
Millennial Money Man
Hey Marita! Great question – here are my thoughts:
WordPress is fairly easy to get started in my opinion, but I do know that the learning curve is a bit steeper than it is on Squarespace. Most of my blog coaching students have no issues with wordpress other than just understanding the layout when you are in the admin panel.
The reason I like WP so much is that everything is focused around your content. It’s easy to write posts, publish, edit, etc. That’s the most important thing about blogging anyways right?
Every blogger that makes significant income that I know uses WordPress. Every. Single. One. Any big financial blogger you can think of is on WP. My marketing clients also use it for their businesses, and it works perfectly for using content to market their brand.
Squarespace doesn’t quite have the range of customization options that WordPress gives users. WordPress is open-source, so there are thousands of plugins that you can use to customize your site. The only issue is that some of them are coded poorly, so always stick to the ones that are rated highly in the plugin area and you will be fine.
That’s not to say that Squarespace is a bad platform. From talking to people and looking at SS websites, it looks like a good option for beginners or people that want everything wrapped up into one package. It’s ALSO a good option for people that need a visually based website rather than content based (photographers, artists, etc.). The issue that will come up over time is that when you are ready to go ultra custom with your theme (which you absolutely will if you blog long enough), it will be more difficult there than on WordPress. I only know about two bloggers that use SS, and both have told me they wished they had started with WordPress from the beginning.
The last piece of advice – I would say avoid WordPress.com (most serious blogs you see are self-hosted wordpress.org sites). I just have too many people that have issues trying to transfer over pictures and posts from a wordpress.com site to their self-hosted site when they decide to make the jump.
Hope that helps!
Bobby
Dalton
Hey Bobby,
This is a great guide and extremely helpful. So, thank you for putting it together. Quick question: Is there a stock photo list you pull from for you blog posts? Or do you use your own photos for all? I’m unsure if there is a plugin that can be used instead having to upload photos all of the time.
Thanks!
Millennial Money Man
Thanks Dalton! Glad it helped. Pexels is great for free pictures, and I also search on Google for creative commons pictures. I actually have started paying for pictures recently, but I don’t think any new blogger needs to do that. Plenty of free pictures out there. I upload my photos after editing them in Picmonkey.
Neeshay
Hello!
So I am just thinking of setting up a site and I’m confused about one thing. If I go with the free wordpress theme, will I not be able to add advertisement banners or get paid using good adsense?
Millennial Money Man
Hey Neeshay! If you are on a self-hosted WordPress site like the one this tutorial shows you how to make, you CAN use advertisement banners and adsense even with a free theme.
Brenda
Hi M$M,
I was wondering you ever took a blogging course? Or did you just learn as you went along? I started mine a few years back but haven’t been consistent (I just read your post on full time work and blogging, this will change this year) and still do not know how to change the font on my posts. The blog course I’m looking at is about $350 which is quite a bit of money for me, I keep going back and forth on this decision.
~Thank you~
PS I’m a new subscriber and really enjoy reading your blog.
Millennial Money Man
No I didn’t take a course, I learned as I went. What course are you thinking about taking? For the fonts (assuming you are talking about changing the heading sizes) check this page out – it might help! https://web.vanderbilt.edu/blog/2011/09/06/wordpress-visual-editor/
I’m so glad you like the site!!! 🙂
Alice Keesey Mecoy
M$M, where do you get your photos for your posts? I am working on redoing my blogger blog in WordPress and am fascinated by the pictures you use.
Love the blog for the financial info and the blogging help. I’m a baby boomer, hope I’m still welcome here!????
Millennial Money Man
Hey Alice! I use a mix of Bigstock and Pexels. Thanks for the kind words about the site! 🙂
Mat Frink
Bobby,
This is a great post and very easy to follow. I used your link to start hosting my own blog, I hope that gets you some commission. I’m just wondering where you get the pictures you use in each of your blog posts, whether they are paid or free through creative commons? I am aware of some good websites like picjumbo.com that allow you to use many of their photos for free without attribution. Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks,
Mat
Millennial Money Man
Hey Mat – Thanks so much! Glad it was helpful 🙂
Take a look at Bigstock and Pexels, they usually have good creative commons stuff.
Stephen
Looking forward to seeing your side by side comparison of thesis and Genesis. I’ve been debating taking my blog to the next level with a paid theme for a while now, I just haven’t pulled the trigger on which.
Millennial Money Man
Yes I definitely need to get that review out. It really just depends on how much you want to spend. Thesis is better if you want to stay in the $100-300 range for your site, and Genesis is really all over the place but much harder to create if you don’t have coding skills.
This current version of the site runs on Genesis, but it was custom coded and cost ~$4,000. The last version of M$M that I used for a year and a half ran Thesis that I paid $200 for. This one is obviously a lot nicer, but there’s no way I could ever make something like this by myself! I made plenty of money with the Thesis version too 🙂
Kathy
Hi M$M, I’ve enjoyed this course so much, and am just now getting ready to start my new blog. I’ve been looking at Genesis and it seems like the themes there don’t require knowing code, so I was wondering about your comment above. Are the themes not ready to go?
I’m trying to figure it all out, and I am definitely not tech savvy! I noticed the themes available through Genesis are about $100 and some have eCommerce options, and that all the themes come with different numbers of widgets. I don’t know if I’d need eCommerce, or if some of these themes come with some of the widgets I would want, anyway? Can I pick a theme with eCommerce and just not use it for now? I noticed your Stellaris site uses the Altitude Pro (which I also really liked), but it doesn’t look like you are using the eCommerce feature that comes with it, is that right? BTW, http://www.stellaris.com looks awesome! Do you recommend a minimum number of widgets for a blog? When I looked up widgets online to see what they were (I’m really, really not tech savvy!) I liked widgets like the optin monster, featured page widget, social count plus, recent posts with thumbnails, and maybe even a YouTube channel gallery (although I have not created any YouTube videos yet). I look forward to your thoughts, thank you sooo much!!!
Millennial Money Man
Hey Kathy!
You can do some building on Genesis without code if you use the palate design plugin, but it’s very limited in my experience. There are some great tutorials on YouTube, but they still aren’t very easy haha.
eCommerce is tricky – it just depends on what you are doing with your site. WordPress is compatible with several eCommerce themes like Woocommerce, but I’d suggest using a separate service like Bigcommerce.com. It’s just easier and inexpensive for the functionality and ease of use.
I think you might be mixing up widgets and plugins (which is totally fine, it happens!). PLugins are basically apps that you can install on your site to get different functionalities (like optinmonster), where widgets are areas of special code that lets you do things like put ads in the sidebar. Once you start messing around with WordPress it will all make more sense!
Kathy
Wow, this is all so informative and very helpful, M$M, thank you! I’m on Day 3 of your M$M blogging course & loving it! I’ve played around with a WordPress blog in the past, but it was really just for fun. I’m getting really excited about learning more and starting a new blog. 🙂
Millennial Money Man
Awesome Kathy I’m so glad to hear that!
Kendra Johnson
Thank you for all of the tips! I love your site. Question about social media. How do you join groups/post as your “M$M” instead of yourself. Doesn’t Facebook prohibit you from joining groups with a company name?
Millennial Money Man
You’re welcome and thank you! I really don’t do a lot of posting in groups – your Facebook page can be named whatever you’d like if I remember correctly. I’ve actually switched back and forth between M$M and Millennial Money Man a few times before.
William
Hi Bobby!
I came across your blog (I think through my uncle) and soak up all the great content!
Getting ready to roll out my new blog-first timer-later this summer.
4 questions:
1. WordPress org vs. com. I’ve read com is free but org may be better if interested in monetizing? FYI will most like go through Bluehost.
2. Relative to question 2. Any compatibility issues for affiliate links, Google Adsense or ebooks with com vs org WordPress options?
3. Online merchandise. Can WordPress host merch sales ok?
4. Lead captures and management. Should I use a system like convertkit or similiar email management tool? When capturing email, is it necessary to post a dedicated landing page only when offering a new product?
Thanks in advance for the time. This blogging is all new to me! I do publish with a traditional publishing house (health/fitness space) so if you ever need a guest blog etc around that would enjoy the collaboration! Best, William Smith, NJ
Millennial Money Man
Hey William!
.org is hands down the best way to go if you’re serious about doing this well. You’re talking about $70ish dollars to really do it right instead of going with the free .com and having to transfer all of your files over later. Just trust me on this one.
.org won’t have any compatibility issues
Yes, WP has several options for online sales. Woocommerce is a good plugin, but I’d actually do a bigcommerce or Shopify store and link to it from your blog. So much functionality with either of those last two sites. Fairly cheap too.
Convertkit is the bomb (what I use). The only other one I’ve used is Mailchimp, which is OK but not as intuitive for bloggers.
I definitely suggest that you take my blogging course in the sidebar. I think it will help you with a lot of your questions about getting started!
Will
Bobby, thank you! I apologize about for replying sooner. The comments section is gold on your site. So many good answers. I had a not so great experience with a couple websites about 10 years back spent way tooo much money. Taking it slow this time. You’ve validated a lot of my research thank you. I will check the course as well! I may have signed up but overlooked some of the content! You know full time job, 3 kids and commute! Regards Will
Millennial Money Man
No problem – you’re welcome!
Will
Bobby, had one more question. Regarding formation of a formal business entity, LLC etc. did you form one from the get go or wait a bit until you started generating revenue?
Millennial Money Man
I waited until I started to generate revenue. Look into a LLC with S Corp designation when the time comes and see if that’s a good setup for you.
Valerie
Hi! I am following these steps from my phone … I am at the installation of WordPress step.. Seems like its not working …is it possible by phone? U have an Android if that makes a difference.
Thanks! Val
Millennial Money Man
Hey Val – here’s an article that might help: https://www.webhostingplanguide.com/details/bluehost-work-iphone-ipad/
Micalicious
My old laptop won’t work so I am looking into buying a chrome book or something. Do you think that would be an issue in the long run if I start my own blog? Any thoughts?
Millennial Money Man
Nope! You should be good to go.
Shawn @ NMI
Thanks so much for this post, Bobby! After reading this post and doing some hard work for the last few months, I finally launched my blog today!
Any chance I can get a shout out? 😉
Millennial Money Man
Shoot me a tweet on Twitter 🙂
Shawn
I am about to start my first blog. Before I do I am a bit confused on how to make money. What is the approach to getting links on your wordpress site to make money. What makes the most money? How do you get paid? Can you elaborate a bit more on making money and how to get companies to pay you?
Taylor
Thanks for the information! Finally pulled the trigger on a blog thanks to your push. I am excited to see what I learn.
Millennial Money Man
Congrats! Just remember to have fun and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Content = king!
Hari
Thank you for taking the time to write this! I recently just started my blog and it’s definitely a lot to manage but kinda fun. Just not when I skip other things that I need to do because I got too focused into my blog. But, feel free to check out my website, it’s still definitely a work in progress!
Brittany
I’m ready to start my blog and just signed up for WordPress but am completely overwhelmed with the actual setting up part of the blog. I am an elementary school teacher and have run a Weebly website the last four years as a “hub” for my students. (We’re a 1:1 school where all students have an ipad so there’s daily technology use). I just use the free version and there’s no monetization of it. It is extremely easy to use as Weebly is a complete drag and drop feature. After choosing a theme I can drag and drop buttons, images, text boxes, imbed youtube videos or files, etc. all right on the page. This is the only format I’ve ever experienced and I think I’ve become spoiled with it!
I just signed up for WordPress and this is niave, but was totally overwhelmed when I realized that it is not drag and drop. I have a vision of the layout I want for my blog but am very confused at how to set that up within the website. What would take me 30 minutes to do on Weebly is taking much longer on WordPress. I feel that a basic knowledge of coding (which I don’t have) is necessary and scares me!
From the little bit of research I’ve done it seems like I can eventually monetize a Weebly site as well with affiliate marketing and google adsense. I’m very tempted to cancel my WordPress subscription and just do the paid Weebly subscription and stick with what I know/am comfortable with.
Would this be a mistake? Do I need talked off a ledge?
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Millennial Money Man
I’ll put it this way – I don’t know a single professional blogger on Weebly. There are definitely themes that you can use which have drag and drop features which will allow you to avoid any code.
You’re better off to jump in now and get the learning curve out of the way IMO! (It’s really not that bad)
Jessica
I set up my blog on wordpress and was told there is a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. I can’t tell the difference but was told it affects if I ever want to monetize my blog. Thoughts?
Millennial Money Man
With a .org site, you own the blog and content. The .com version is not self-hosted. The simple way to put this is that I don’t know a single professional blogger on the .com version. Hope that helps!
Kristen Reyven
Bobby,
I already have the domain name I want through bluhost. Is this still something I can utilize? I have been wanting to get this up and running for some time and all I have accomplished is the domain #failmuch #moneynotwellspent I “own” bloggeddownnurse but also wondered about changing it (too wordy, double letters??).
Kristen
Millennial Money Man
Hey Kristen! As long as you purchase the hosting for the site through my link, you’ll be fine. When you get to the “choose your domain” section, you’ll just need to enter your domain into the right-hand box instead of searching for one on the left side.
I’m not sure exactly what you’re going to be writing about, but I think the domain name is actually really clever haha. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email to Bobby @ millennial money man.com
Adam
This sounds great! How do I know what to blog about? I’m not an expert on anything! Thanks
Millennial Money Man
All you need to do is pick something you’re interested in! That’s how I started M$M 🙂
Lauren
hi bobby,
For the setup service are you using the divi theme? Thanks!
Millennial Money Man
Hey Lauren! We’re using the Astra theme for the setup service. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Lauren
Thanks for responding so quickly and thanks for offering this service. I can’t wait to take advantage of it. Take care!
Millennial Money Man
You’re welcome!
Michael
So, after the year us up, who owns the domain name? If we are succesful in developing an audience, do you charge a large fee to allow us to use it, or do you try to sell it to us for it’ s new market value based on our sucess?
Millennial Money Man
Hey Michael – just to clarify, you are getting a domain name through Bluehost, not through me. I get an affiliate cut from Bluehost when you sign up for hosting, which allows me to provide the setup service at no additional cost to you. All we do is set your site up for you once you’ve purchased your hosting and domain. Your domain would renew at $11.99 after your free year through Bluehost regardless of your success or audience size. Hope that helps!
Kiera Fuller
I just signed up with your link! Looking forward to finally getting this blog I’ve been dreaming about up and running. You have been been a huge inspiration for me for, well, years at this point.
Thanks so much for the great resource!
Millennial Money Man
Thanks so much, and you’re welcome! Hope you like the resources and service. 🙂
Jenn
Hi! I am trying to figure this out… do I need to purchase WordPress as well as Bluehost?? I want to understand better!
Thank you!
Millennial Money Man
Hey there! You will be able to install WordPress for free after you purchase your hosting through Bluehost. Basically we set it all up for you so you don’t have to touch a thing 🙂
Phil spencer-harris
Hi Bobby. After finding you guys on LapTop Empire about 4 days ago I have now taken the plunge and purchased my Bluehost package via this website. I’m very, very nervous/excited about this as it’s around $200 (New Zealand) so I’m behind the 8 ball, so to speak! While I’m here, well done with your blogging and podcasting success. I enjoy listening to your dicussions as I find them frank and honest and inspiring, you are the reason I am launching that blog! Now if you ever need some little nuggets of parenting advice, be sure to drop me an email. Cheers from New Zealand!
Alex
Was curious if one would still own their site even after getting the Launch You Blog help?
Just double-checking on that
Millennial Money Man
Hey Alex!
Yes, you own your site. All we are doing is setting it up for you.
Hope that helps!
Ryan
Hi Bobby-
Long time reader and owner of your awesome FB side hustle course. Looking to get into blogging for my wife’s counseling business and just had a few questions.
1- I know you to be super ethical and honestly I have to ask- the Launch Your Blog deal just seems frankly too good to be true. There’s no ongoing payments or what not to your team we are paying for this awesome service? Your compensation for this seems solely to be affiliate income based. Asking for a friend.
2- Being super new to the blogging setup jargon, when you say that you pre-install a theme, does that mean we don’t get to customize/design the look of the site? Seems silly even as I say it…
Thanks!
Ryan
Future Blogger
Millennial Money Man
Hey Ryan!
1. Nope, no ongoing payments. We get a commission from Bluehost when you sign up for hosting through our affiliate link, which is how we make money providing this service. The billing for hosting is done through Bluehost, so we don’t ever see or have CC information on our end to charge you with any kind of ongoing work.
2. So we install the Astra theme, install the plugins to get you started (basically they are add-on pieces of software that make the site work well), and then you get all of the training materials that I mentioned, along with a video guide to further customize your site. We’re essentially taking all the tech parts/installation out of the equation so that you can start with a site and customize to your liking on your own.
Hope that helps!
Ryan
That helps a lot. You and Mike really are rock solid human beings.
Side note- just started listening to the podcast this week. Good stuff.
Millennial Money Man
Thanks so much! Glad you’re liking the podcast 🙂