I cannot even begin to stress how important this first step is. It is imperative to research your niche market before hand and make sure to choose quality hosting. I know that many people are are on a budget when starting on but do not start off with free hosting with the intention of changing it later. I can tell you firsthand that this is a nightmare and any reputable business will have their own domain name. Companies who may consider paying you for a sponsored blog post or ad space will typically turn down working with a free site. The same goes for reputable advertising networks , they require you to have your own domain.

This is a business and you need to treat it as such, business’s will have expenses and will become tax write offs for your business. And while cutting costs might seem like a good idea, believe me when I tell you it is not! I personally use Siteground for my hosting needs ( most hosting companies will also have the ability for your to purchase your domain name and will often provide a free one when you purchase their hosting plan) 

I have used hosting site such as Host Gator, GoDaddy, and Bluehost but was not happy with the service, speed or constant downtime of my site. I have been with Siteground for quite some time and their customer service is spectacular! ( Plans start around $3.95 per month)

TIP: When you purchase a years worth of hosting you save on monthly fees and will typically get a pretty good discount!

If you have done any prior research on running a business, I am sure you have heard the phrase that the money is in the list…

There are many ways to grow your email list ( we discuss this and all the topics in this article in detail in Blog & Business Blueprint) and having a easy to use platform is key in creating and tracking your email list.  When people visit your website , you will want to encourage repeat visits and the way you accomplish this is via an email list.

I have been using Convert Kit for years and in fact, when I switched to ConvertKit I started seeing improved deliverability with my email and an increase in open rates.

You can also create opt in forms and landing pages with Convert Kit.  Platforms like Convert Kit and Leadpages enable you to run an online business without even having your own domain.

Once you have all of the pieces put together you will find that you have created a system that runs and grows your business almost on autopilot!

The use of scheduling tools will help get your content in front of more eyeballs and ensure that your content is gong out on a regular basis. I use both Tailwind and Tassi to accomplish this.

Other schedulers include:

• Meet Edgar
• Co Schedule
• Smarter Queue
• Hootesuite
• CrowdFire