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FOR BEGINNERS EBOOK

Blogging

1. A note on branding

2. Site Plan

3. Setting up your Hosting

4. Choose your Theme

5. Wordpress Basics

6. Wordpress Plugins

7. Blog Post Pre-Post SEO Checklist

8. GettingStartedwithAffiliateMarketing

9. Additional Resources to kill it with your Blog

Table of Contents

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A quick note for youI’m soo glad you’ve trusted me to help on your blogging journey. I have worked really hard to put together a roadmap that should give you a great start in getting your blog set up and run-ning. I would have loved an E-book like this when I started so I hope this saves you some time and a lot of hours researching!

Please follow the steps I’ve outlined below and hopefully the added diagrams and checklists will be a great resource for you! I’ve also included a list of the top resources I currently use in order to make my business/blog successful and I’m hoping they can help you out as well. I’m soo happy to be your guide here and remember you can reach out to me at any time!

A quick note on brandingOne of the most important aspects of your blog/business is going to be your brand, as in your name as well as your logo. Let’s be honest, this can be very challenging! My suggestion is by writing down some idea and then immediately checking to see if the domain name is available.

Please don’t do all the work of choosing a name and designing a logo only to find out that’s it’s not available. Start with the name and then go from there. Please also think twice before you choose a blog/business name that has 4 or more words in it. It can get very difficult to read or remember as a domain name. 2-3 words is absolutely ideal!

Start looking for domain names on Bluehost see what is available, you don’t have to commit to anything when you are simply looking to see if certain names are a possibility! The nice thing is you don’t have much more to if you find the domain name or your dreams and want to make sure to snatch it up right away!

*WE ARE OFFERING A 50% OFF COUPON TO OUR SHOP FOR ANYONE THAT PURCHASES HOST-ING THROUGH OUR BLUEHOST LINK!

Affiliate DisclosureThis eBook contains some affiliate links which means I may receive a percentage of any pur-chased products or services because of my referral. I do not recommend any products that I don’t have full confidence in and/or have used myself. For more information, you can always check out my disclaimer here.

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Site Plan Overview

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Nowasyoucanseebelow,I’velaidouttwodifferentplans.Thefirstoneisifyouarejustrunningablogandthesecondisifyouareplanningtohaveasmallbusinessandblogaswell.Iwantedyoutoseethisfirstsoyoucanhaveagoodideaofhowyouaregoingtosetupyourblog/websitebeforewebegin.

AboutNOW YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ME!

About Connected ColleagueConnected Colleague was found-ed with the goal of providing me with a chance to have a flexible work environment and still be very present in kid lives. Now I spend my days offering VA Services and blogging to help other mwomen find the same kind of freedom!

Additional InformationI wanted to make sure to mention that I opened up a shop under CC Creative Design Studio which offers really great templates for Social Media, Opt-in Freebies and Branding. I used one of my Opt-in Freebie template packs to create this eBook. If you want to create amazing products too, please check out the shop here. CC Creative Shop.

All of our Templates are made for Canva and Adobe inDesign!

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Website HostingYouaregoingtobecreatingawordpress.orgblog/websiteandyouneedahostingservicethatwillhouseallofyoursite’sinfor-mation. This is essentially, where your site is going to live.

Thinkofyourhostingproviderasyourcyberspacelandlord,youwant to deal with a landlord that is reliable, easy to deal with and alwaysavailableifsomethinggoeswrong”.

This is where Bluehost comes in, they have an easy to use inter-face,aquickautomaticinstallforwordpress.organd24 online support.

IrecommendthembecauseIusethemformyownsiteandtheir24-hoursupporthaskeptmefromthrowingmycomputeroutthewindowafewtimes!Hopefullythisguidewilldotheysameforyou!

You will need to start here at: Bluehost Web Hosting

* I also have an entire detailed post dedicated to HowtosetupBlueHost!

Thenyoucanselect“SignUp”onthehomepage.Itwillgiveyouachancetochoosetheplanthatbestsuitsyou.ChancesarethatyouwillonlyneedtheStartupPlanatamere$3.95/month,whichisstillwhatI’m currently using. Youmightaswellkeepyourcostsdownwhenyouarestartingout!

Next,youwillneedtolookforyourdomainname,Iknowwetouchedonthisearlierwithbrandingandhopefullyyouhavebeenabletodetermineyourblog/websitenameandyouknowthatit’salreadyavail-able.

Onceyouhaveenteredinandselectedthedomainname,youwillthenbepromptedtoenterinallofyourinformationandselecthowlongofatermyouwant,1year,2yearor3yearterm.I’llleavethisupto you, when I started, I selected a 1 year plan but could have easily selected the others as I knew I wasn’t going to be stopping anytime soon.

Once you have your hosting set up, you will need to go to your CPanel (you will receive an email regard-ingthis)andselecttheinstallforWordPress.Assoonasyouhavewordpress.orginstalledthroughBlue-host,youofficiallyhaveyourfirstBlogupandrunning!WooHoo!!!

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WE ARE CURRENTLY OFFERING A 50% OFF COUPON FOR OUR SHOPIF YOU PURCHASE HOSTING THROUGH OURBLUEHOSTLINK!Justsendusanemailtoletusknow!

Wordpress ThemesIfyouarelookingatyournewwordpress.orgsite,youarelikelyseeingawhitepagewithafewaddeddefaults,don’tstress,wecanandwillmakethisbeautifulforyou!

Athemeisessentiallyapre-fabricated,sweetlooking,frontendtoyourwebsitethatwillkeepallofyourinformationorganized.Iwillbehonest,youhaveaTONofoptionshereandyoualsohave some Free Options. I have an entire blog post on this and I explain why I think a premium themeisbetterwhenyouarelookingtomonetizeandamakeabusinessoutofyourblog.

Thatpostalsogivesyouagreatlistoftipsandtrickstolookforsoyoucanpicktherihtoneforyou!HowtochoosetherightWordpressThemeforyou.

IhavetworecommendationshereintermsforWordpressThemes.Botharegearedmoreto-wardsthefeminestyle.Ifyouarelookingforsomethingalittledifferentormoremanly,youshould check out CreativeMarket,theyliterallyhaveeverything!

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1. Bluchic Premium WordPress Themes

Ijustcan’tgetenoughofthesetwo!

TheyareahusbandandwifeteamthatsawaneedinthemarketforstunningfeminineinspiredWord-Pressthemesandtheyarejustkillingit!

Theyhaveover15gorgeouspaidthemestochosefrom.Theyalsooffer3freethemes,ifyouprovidethemwithyournameandemailaddress,soyoucantrythemoutbeforehand.

Other than your own stock photos, there is nothing else you need to worry about. The theme comes witheverything,fromexcellentthemedocumentation,greatsupporttoinstallservices.(rememberyoucan also talk to me about this).

Theyalsohavea“SHOWCASE”tabwhichisacompilationofwebsitesthatpeoplehavecreatedusingtheirthemes.Thiswillgiveyousoomanygreatideasofwhatyoucandowiththethemeyouarecon-sidering.

Theyalsohavea“FREEBIE”pagewhichhasawholebunchofamazingresourcesandguides.Check

1. Bluchic Premium WordPress Themes (cont)

JusttoprovethatI’mnotalltalk,theWordpressThemeI’musingisfromBluchicandIloveit.DidImention the Landing pageyouprobablyusedtosignupforthiseBookisalsofromBluchic.

See.... No Bullshit here...

The theme I am using is the Isabelle Theme,itworksgreatformyservicesbusiness,myblogandmyonlineshop!

Seebelowhoweasilyyoucanbrandthethemessotherepresenttheimageyouhaveinmind!

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2. Restored 316 Premium WordPress Themes

Ifyouhaven’tseenwhatanyoftheselooklikeyet,youneedtotakeapeek,youWILLfallinlove!

Nowoneveryimportantthingtonoteisthatyouneedthe“GenesisFramework”inordertousethesethemes.

What does this mean? Essentially you need to buy the Genesis FrameworkbyStudiopressastheframe-workforthisthemetolookthewaythatitdoes.ThiswillcostyouabitmorethantheBluchicthemebutifyouarelookingonlineatvariousthemes,youwillnoticealotofthemrequiretheGenesisframeworksoitisquitecommon.YoucanfindtheGenesislinkHERE.

Restored316offers20differentamazingWordPressThemesandsomeoftheirnewonesevencomewithcustom Pinterest graphics that match the theme. They also have a really great Showcase where you can see everyone else’s site’s that have been created using their themes.

Theyaretotallyworthtakingsometimetolookat!

Wordpress Basics

SoyouhaveyourHostingandyourThemesetupandnowyouhavetofigureouthowtouseWordpress.org,thisisnosmallfeat!

Ihaveliterallyloggedhundredsofhourslearningtheplatformandthereisstillmoretolearn!IhaveareallygreatpostalreadycreatedforyouonWordpressBa-sicsandIgothrougheverythingyouneedtoknowtogetstartedpersonalizingyour site.

Check out the post: WordpressBasicsforBeginner’s.

Icoverthefollowingtopicsforyou:

1. Title, Tagline and Site Icon

2. Homepage/LandingPage

3. Header Image

4. Pages and Posts

5. Menus

6. Widgets

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iknowthispostisgoingtogiveyouareallygoodbasicunderstandingofWordpress.PleasetrustmeinthatWordpressisn’taplatformyouwilllearnovernight!Ifyougetstuckorlostorfrustrated,takeaminuteandbreathe.ThefirsttimeItriedcreatingaWordpresssiteseveralyearsago,Igaveupafterafewdays...Nowlookingback,ifIwouldhavestuckwithit,Iwouldbeevenmoreaheadnow!Don’tgiveup!

1. Wordfence Security:

Willhelptokeepyoursitesecurefromhackers,theyhaveafreepluginandapremium,I’mstillusingthefreeplugin.Ilovethattheysendyouanemailthesecondoneofyourotherpluginsneedstobeupdated.Theydothis,aswhenapluginrequiresanupdate,itcanbecomevulnerabletoattacks,whichmeans that your site can then become vulnerable.

2. Elementor and Elementor Pro:

Thisisprettymuchmynumberonerecommendationformakingyoursiteamazing.OneofthemainthingsthatscarespeopleawayfromusingWordpressistheythinktheyneedtobeabletocodetomaketheirsitelookgreat.Thispluginallowsyoutoedityoursiteonthefrontendwhilebeingabletoseethewholethingasyouaredoingit!IhavejustrecentlyupgradedtotheproversionbecauseIplantouseitforclient’ssitesaswell,butyoucantotallystaywiththefreeversionforyourpersonalsite.Pleaseforyourowngood,checkthemout!IalsotalkaboutthisinmypostonWordpressThemeshere.

3. Yoast SEO:

AsfarasI’mconcernedthisisnotevendebatable!I’msureyouhaveheardofSearchEngineOptimi-zation.Essentially,ithashowyoucansetupablogpageorposttoincreaseyourchancesofitbeingfoundinanonlinesearch,suchasgoogle.Thispluginisfreeandliterallytellsyouwhatyoucandotoimproveyourpagesandposttogiveyouthebestchanceofbeingfoundbypotentialclientsandread-ers.Theyalsoofferanumberofcourse,someofwhichIhavetaken,thatwillturnyouintoanSEOwhiz.IhaveincludedastarterSEOChecklisttouseforwhenyouaredevelopingyourfirstcoupleofposts.Itwillbesuperhandyforyouinthebeginning!

4. Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights:

ThispluginlinksyourgoogleanalyticsrighttoyourWordpressdashboardsoyoucanquicklygetanoverviewastowhatisgoingon.IfyouwantindepthstatsyouwillstillneedtologintoyourGoogleAnalyticsdashboardbutthiswillgiveyouanquickoverviewonthedaytoday.

Wordpress PluginsI’vealsocompiledagreatlistofpluginstoaddtoyoursitethatwillhelpfunctioneventhatmuchbetter.Nowawordofcaution,themoreplug-insyouinstall,thesloweryoucanmakeyoursite.Ifyoufindanddownloadapluginandthendecideyoudon’twanttouseit,makesureyoudeleteit!

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5. WP Forms Lite:

Thisisagreatplugintouseforanyformsonyoursitesuchasyourcontactform.Thisistheliteversionwhichmeansthefreeversionsothereareobviouslysomefunctionsofthepro-versionyouwon’thaveaccesstobutIhaven’tneededanyoftheextrasyet.

6. Mailer Lite:

YouwouldonlydownloadthispluginifyouaresubscribingtoConvertkittohandleallofyouremail/newslettersubscribers.TheyarewhoIuseandrecommendandthereforetheplugininanecessity.IcanliterallypluganysignupformI’vecreatedwithConvertkitatthetouchofabuttoninsteadoftryingtoembedthecodeinmysite.ItalsoworksgreatwithElementor!ThereismoreonConvertkitbelowinthe resources section.

7. WP Super Cache:

This will help speed up your site so that you rank higher with search engines and so that people don’t get annoyedwaitingforyourcontenttoload.

8. Pretty Link Lite:

Thispluginwillbecausecrucialtoyouwhenyoustartusingaffiliatelinks.Insteadofhavingtocon-stantlycopyandpasteyouraffiliatelinksintoindividualposts,youcaneasilyplacelinks.Thebenefittothisisalsoincaseforsomereasonthelinkchangesforoneofyouraffiliateprograms,youonlyneedtochangeitinthepluginanditwillupdatethelinkineverypostyouhaveuseditin!Thiscansaveyousoomuchtimeandfrustration.

9. Woo Commerce:

IfyouwanttoopenupyourownonlineshopthenthiswillbeagreathelptoyouwithyourWordpressSite. Once you download the plug in, you can literally start adding products to your site. I was thrilled thefirsttimeIgottopublishoneofmyproductsandIknowyouwillbetoo!

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Wordpress Plugins

Blog Post ChecklistSolikelythewholereasonyouarereadingthiseBookissothatyoucanstartyourfirstblogandthatdoesn’thappenuntilyouactuallypublishyourfirstBlogPost.

Once again, I have a whole post dedicated to this that I want you to read but also wanted you to have this greatBlogPostChecklistthatyoucanreferencetomakesureyouhavetakencareofeverything!WhattodobeforeyouhitPublish.

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Affiliate Marketing

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SooasmuchfunasBloggingforthethrillofitcanbe,ifyouaregoingthroughallofthistroubletogetyourshittogether,youprobablywanttomakesomebucksdoingitaswell!

TheeasiestwayyoucanstartmakingsomeincomewithyourblogwillbewithAffiliateMarketing.

AffiliateMarketingiswhenyoumakearecommendationonaproductorserviceandathirdpartyclicks on your link to purchase that product or service. Thecompanythatprovidesthatproductorservicewillsendyouakick-backasathankyouforrec-ommending their product.

Seemsprettysimpleright?Welltobehonest,itkindofis....

Therearesomeetiquettethingsyouneedtokeepinmindbutforthemostpartit’saprettysimpleprocess.

YouapplytoacompanyandasktobeapartoftheirAffiliateprogram.Youinsertthelinktheygiveyou in blog posts, social media etc..., someone clicks on the link, and you get the kick back.

Now please bear in mind, that because it is a pretty simple process, it’s easy to get carried away. Youdon’twanttojuststartthrowingAffiliatelinksaroundlikeamanwoman/man.Peoplewillclickon your links when they trust you.

Ifyouarejustinitforthemoney,chancesareyouwon’tbeverysuccessful.

Yourfirstpriorityneedstobetoprovidevalueyoutoyouraudienceandthenaddinaffiliatelinkswhere appropriate.

CheckouttheVERYdetailedpostIhavethattakesyouthroughAffiliateMarketingfromstarttofin-ish!

AffiliateMarketingforBloggersandVirtualAssistants.

Fave ResoucesIwantedtoalsogiveasamplelistofsomegreattools/programsIuseonadailybasisthathelpmekick butt with my Virtual Assistant Business and my Blog. I’m hoping these can also help you get some big wins with your goals.

1. Freshbooks–anaccountingandinvoicingsoftwarethatrocks!

2. Screenspresso–anAMAZINGscreencaptureandvideocaptureprogram

3. My hours – Free time tracking program that is great as a Virtual Assistant

4. Tailwind –Pinterest/Instagramschedulingtool.Checkoutmyblogposthere.

5. Mailerlite – THE best newsletter and list building program.

6. Hootsuit–SocialMediaschedulingtoolincludingFacebook

7. Paypal – payment program, you probably already know what PayPal is lol

8. Adobe Creative Cloud – subscription based graphic design programs (what I use)

9. Canva -graphicdesignprogramthatyoucanstartusingforfree

10. Creative Market –youcanliterallyfindanythingfromthemes,tographics,tofonts.Oh..anddidImention,Ialsosellmyproductshere?

A BiG thank you to you!ThankyousoomuchforreadingthroughmyE-Book,Ireallyhopeithasmadeadifferentinyourbusi-ness/bloggingadventure.Pleaserememberyoucangetintouchwithmeanyquestionsyoumighthave,Iwouldbethrilledtocomealongfortheride!

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