HOW TO START A BLOG TO PAYOFF DEBT

Are you in the throes of trying to pay off debt? If so, you aren’t alone! A couple of years ago my husband and I set out to pay off $650k in student loan debt that we’d acquired during law school (me) and dental school (him). We’d both grown up hearing that student loan debt was “good debt” and should be looked at as an investment. When we sat down and looked at how much interest was accruing on our loans each year (close to $20k) we figured that advice couldn’t possibly true. And we realized we were going to need a big shovel in order to dig ourselves out of debt. In addition to working full time to help us pay off, we started a blog to payoff debt. We’ve been able to payoff over $200k the last couple of years thanks to the help of our blog. Here’s how.

Start a blog to payoff debt.

Have you ever considered starting a blog to payoff debt? Maybe you have an interesting story, or something that you are passionate about, or some skill or knowledge that you know could really help other people. Or maybe you just like writing or you are good at connecting with people. Perhaps the thought of actually running a blog seems a little scary or even fishy– are people really making six or even seven figures with their blogs? I was certainly skeptical when I was starting out. I was also very intimated by the technical aspects of running a blog since I’m not a computer person. And what’s more, I was SCARED to share my story with the world. While running a blog will require some effort on your part, and it might even require you to be vulnerable. But you know what? It is totally worth it if you are looking for a way to make some extra money (or even a full time income) to help you payoff debt. You never know what person out there you could touch. There is someone (perhaps a lot of someones) who need your voice, perspective, and knowledge.

I’m happy to share that setting up a blog is EASY. Really. If you have ten minutes to spare, you can set up your blog right now so that you can start sharing what the world needs to hear from you. Here is how to start a blog.

I personally used BLUEHOST to host our website and loved it. They have the lowest monthly rates in the business, they were PERFECT for what I needed when I started. As your blog grows, you’ll of course want to upgrade, but there’s no reason to pay more than you need to starting out.

When I first set up this blog, even being technologically illiterate, it took LESS THAN 10 MINUTES. I am convinced that if you are computer savvy enough to use basic social media, you are savvy enough to start and keep up with a blog. Here’s how you can get set up.

STEP 1: Click this banner below.

Then click “get started” and choose your plan. They offer 3 plans: Basic, Plus, Choice Plus and Pro. For me, the basic plan was perfectly fine for starting out. You will likely need to upgrade as your blog grows (and it will!), so its up to you whether you want to take care of that now or later.

STEP 2: CHOOSE A DOMAIN NAME. 

Now its time to choose your domain name. This is something you might want to take some time and choose wisely. Of course, you can always change it later, but a good domain name is necessary to make a good blog. You will also fill out some personal information at this point, but its quite easy and user friendly.

You can check the availability of your domain name here:

STEP 3: CHOOSE A PACKAGE + ADD-ONS

Then, you will choose a hosting package and other add-ons.

The more months you are willing to pay for your site upfront, the cheaper your blog will be.

Enter your billing info and congrats! You are now the owner of your domain name. I wish home ownership was so simple.

STEP 4: INSTALL WORDPRESS 

Now, you will install WordPress. Go directly to “hosting” on your account page and then click on “cpanel.” [Quick aside, your cpanel will be your go-to place while you are getting things set up and when you later need other things installed. So note that as you’ll need that later.] Scroll all the way down until you see “mojo marketplace” and then click on “one-click installs.” WordPress should be one of the top installs listed there. Click on “WordPress.” You will then be asked which domain you want to install– choose your name.

A new page will appear indicating that “you are almost there!”– under “Advanced Options” go ahead and type in the name of your site and set up your username, password, and email, then click “install now.”

STEP 5: GET TO BLOGGING!

Once WordPress is installed, you’ll be able to start posting. You can play around with whatever theme you want to use (you’ll be able to choose whether to purchase one or use a free one), play around with posting, how you want things to look, etc. Get after it so you can get your ideas out there and eventually start making money to payoff debt faster.

Honestly, BLUEHOST is so user friendly, I think you will find that you don’t even need this tutorial. It really walks you through it every step of the way. If you have been sitting on the fence about whether to start your blog, STOP. If you have something to share, SHARE IT! The world needs your voice and it only takes a few minutes to get started.

Get traffic to your blog. 

What I wish I had known when I started my blog was that my blog was not magically going to find its way in front of the eyes of the people who needed to see it. That was going to take some work on my part, and I had no idea how to go about doing that. Your blog is not going to make money on its own. Just like any brick and mortar store, you are going to need people to come to your store (blog) in order to make money. What’s more, you’re going to need those people to buy things to make even more money. Over the last couple of years, I’ve learned that Pinterest is one of the fastest free places to generate tons of traffic to your blog. Pinterest users are the best. Pinterest’s business statistics are really impressive. To name a few, 90% of Pinterest users use it to make product purchase decisions. Pinterest also drives 33% more traffic than Facebook, and they spend 29% more on products than non-Pinterest users. That’s some good information to know and exactly why you should be using Pinterest to grow your blog. Because without growing your blog (i.e., getting it in front of more people’s eyes) you won’t be able to make money. And money is what you need to payoff debt. Obviously.

I recently used the Pinterest Traffic Avalanche to help me get traffic to my blog. It increased my traffic by 500%! And that’s saying something because I had been blogging for a couple of years when I used it and my blog was doing fairly well (earning me about $1000 a month without me having to do much other than post about once a week).

Using Pinterest Traffic Avalanche helped me see exactly how people make six or seven figures per year blogging. It’s Pinterest that drives the kind of numbers to your blog that you need to earn money to payoff debt quickly. Of course there are other ways to drive traffic to your blog, like using good old fashioned search engine optimization or running some Facebook ads. But the beautiful thing about Pinterest, is that once you put a pin out there, it can keep getting picked up and up for years to come. Not to mention the fact that the traffic is free!

The course is really easy to use and is loaded with content that will help you create an amazing Pinterest account and give you great ideas for establishing and growing your blog. In my opinion, it’s a must for all bloggers– beginners or advanced bloggers alike.

If you are interested in growing your traffic FAST so you can make money quickly to payoff debt (like I did) you can sign up for the Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course by using my affiliate link here: PINTEREST TRAFFIC AVALANCHE.

If your curious exactly how your blog can make money (and how mine does) you can read about that here: How To Make Money From a Blog

Have a question about starting a blog? Not sure about Bluehost or Pinterest? Drop a comment below, I’m happy to answer your questions about any of the above! 

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