When it comes to choosing a blogging platform, almost everyone says go for Wordpress. I understand why. It's very customizable, with many plug-ins among other things ... But you need to be a bit "geeky" to get the most out of it. And a custom design can be pricey. Getting reliable hosting for it is tricky too. That's more time taken to find it, along with the cost.

Weebly is so easy to use

According to my current situation and needs, Wordpress is too much hassle. That's why I like Weebly as a blogging platform. I have several blogs with it and I couldn't be happier.

Now you can use Weebly for free. But I would recommend getting the Pro option, which is only 50 bucks a year or thereabouts. There are many advantages from doing this including better customer service. I know from personal experience that they are definitely responsive and helpful.

You also have more template options. Of course you can get a custom design if you wish. But frankly I think the ones you already have access to look absolutely fine.

Weebly is a website builder and (very reliable) host all in one. The drag and drop interface is just so user-friendly. And the blogging tool is a seamless part of it. So, if you've set up your custom domain with them (a straightforward process) the blog comes off the main domain automatically, like with this site.

The dashboard is very easy to navigate and use. It's a doddle to add social media buttons, maps, slide shows, "read more" breaks, video, audio and other content.

Image library included

One feature that I particularly like is related to images. Of course you can upload these from your hard drive, but you can also search for, then publish them directly within the Weebly interface. They've set it up with access to a free and paid image library.

Now the pictures aren't all brilliant. And you often need to tweak your search terms to get something appropriate.

Still, you can usually find a picture to go with your post that complements it quite well. And you didn't have to fork out money and spend time looking through stock images on other sites.

This isn't a huge thing. But it certainly saves time and money.

Ecommerce options available

There are also ecommerce tools you can use within the platform itself. That's great if you want to offer products or services either through your blog or the other pages of a niche website.

I haven't yet utilized this option. But I may well do in future. The fact that it is already there in front of me and sure to be pretty straightforward is a real bonus.

So, Weebly definitely meets my blogging needs and will do for a while. If, like me, you love blogging but aren't into the more technical aspects of web design and building -- yet still want to promote and sell stuff then it's an excellent, reliable and affordable option.

Sure, it's not Wordpress. But there's still heaps you can do with it that's quick and easy. And this range of options will surely keep expanding over time.

As many people surely know already, it's easy to become hooked on using Pinterest. It really is a feast for the eyes. There are countless appealing images on there that you can pin to your own boards.

And it's not just the photographs ... One thing I really enjoy doing is browsing all the infographics related to blogging, social media and online marketing on there. Given how addictive the site is, it's not surprising that 80% of pins are actually repins.


While there's no harm in repinning stuff it's a good idea to put as much completely new content on there as well. That means that you'll stand out ... But then if that's all you do, it's going to take a lot longer to build up your boards …

Repin a lot to build momentum

So the strategy I would suggest for new Pinterest users is this: Repinning like crazy to get some momentum up with your boards. And as you do this, go for the popular stuff that is getting repinned a lot anyway.

Commenting on popular pins helps a little, much like blog commenting does. As you would do on blog posts, only do it if you feel a sincere need to, and your contribution adds value somehow.

But the main thing is to build up some boards with lots of good and relevant pins on them.

This gives you a clear sense of achievement and direction apart from anything else. And with so much on there, your boards will be more attractive to other Pinterest users.

Pin entirely new images to stand out

Once you've got some nice big ones happening, I would focus almost entirely on putting new stuff on there.

Some of these pins are going to go gangbusters, and you'll reap the benefits because you were the first to put it on there.

This is another reason why all your blog posts should contain at least one image. If it's completely original, even better.

Relevance is key

Of course the most beautiful photos go best on Pinterest. But they don't have to be masterpieces. I've got some locally oriented boards that include photos I took from around Sydney and Perth. They've been repinned, and brought traffic to those posts consistently over along period of time.

Again, it's all about relevance. Combine a decent new photo or image with a good description and put it on a board that's got a very clear focus, with heaps of good content already and you'll lift the odds of it being seen and therefore repinned substantially.

Again, as with so many things. It's all about being persistent and strategic.

As I've mentioned before I've been using social media to promote affiliate products for a while now. Of course you can do this in pretty much any niche. But for me at least the best products to promote seem to be books.

Interestingly, they seem to be a bit easier to sell than ebooks. Clearly, people are still very fond of sitting down with a good old fashioned tome and flicking through the pages.


Book Depository

But traditional books can be expensive. Which is why online booksellers that offer them cheap, with preferably free shipping, are the most popular. Book Depository is one of these. It has a huge range of books with free shipping worldwide and a good affiliate program. Have been paid so I can vouch for it.

Blogs are ideal for book promotion

Blogs are a great way to promote books. Probably the most effective method is to write reviews of them and include your affiliate link in the post. Needless to say you should disclose the nature of it, and that if people buy it you'll receive a commission. And while it's best to review books you do generally enjoy, make the reviews balanced. Blog readers will appreciate a thorough, fair review that includes a bit of criticism. Such appraisals won't reduce the odds of them buying the books subsequently. Might even increase them, actually.

While reviews are great, they're not crucial. You can just link to specific books in blog posts. As long as they're relevant to the content and good quality, people will click on those links from time to time. And some will end up buying.

Social media is a good fit too

Social media is also a good place to promote specific books. But you should do this sparingly, and only after you've built up a substantial, engaged following.

Twitter is ideal for this. Book titles tend to fit snugly into the 140 character limit. They also often have a lot of good keywords that you can turn into hashtags to make them more findable. And as long as you're not constantly posting them your followers will appreciate being pointed towards informative, relevant, interesting reads.

If you make a habit of engaging with your followers, then they're more likely to click on those links, too. That's because they trust your opinion. So, respect that trust, and only promote books that you have read or are pretty confident are good qaulity. If you just link to junk they'll stop clicking after a while. Some may even end up unfollowing you.

Authors love Twitter

You should also engage with the authors themselves. Again, Twitter is a great place for this. Most of them are on the site anyway, and many are influencers with huge followings. So, they'd be worth following, retweeting and mentioning in any case.

And if you do promote their books they'll be much more likely to notice you and follow back. They'll also retweet your links to their books from time to time. (This has happened to me a few time now.) Obviously they're motivated to do this for financial reasons. But it also reflects well on them. Your unprompted promotion of their work is social proof of their excellence in their fields, after all.

One Twitter marketing tactic that is extremely popular now is to follow and engage with influencers. There are good reasons to use it. They tweet great stuff that you can retweet to your followers. That makes you look good by association … Also, these influencers notice and appreciate RTs. If over time you make good connections with some of them they might mention or retweet you. If they do, it will lift your profile greatly.

Obviously, it's worth finding tweeps like this in your niche and following them … But remember that many influencers are aloof, and some are even downright arrogant. They often don't engage much -- at least not with other tweeps who are not already in their league.

So, when seeking them out, look for ones who do retweet tweeps who aren't influencers themselves -- and who reply to them too. If they do both, that's great. But they might only focus on one form of engagement. That's okay too.

Replying to influencers is worthwhile on its own

Even if they do neither of these things they can still be well worth following. And you can tap into their influence in your own way. That is simply by replying to them.

Remember that your typical "A-List" influencer has many thousands if followers. So if you can get in early -- ideally with something good, insightful and memorable -- with a reply your profile will get in front of many people, most of whom have never seen it before.

There's a good chance that this tweet will be retweeted one or more times down the track by the influencer, too. Your comment will still be there, just underneath it. So it can end up getting thousands of extra impressions after a while.

That will certainly gain you new followers. But even if it doesn't, it's still lifting your profile. Your handle and account photo are being seen by many, many people. (Every little bit helps, as they say. And this is more than just a little bit!)

You must genuinely want to engage with them

To get the best effect from these tweet replies, however, you can't just follow any old Twitter influencer in your niche. It has to be someone who really makes you want to do this. Remember it's crucial for your replies to really stand out. So they have to come naturally from you. As with all social media activity, it's always better if these responses are genuine.

So it might take you a while to find these people. My personal preference is for influencers who are forthright, and don't just post links all the time. They can be quite hard to find in the social media marketing, to be honest.

In this niche most influencers tend to post links to their long articles. These pieces can be great, of course. But you have to read them fully to respond insightfully to them. That takes time. And if the article covers a lot of ground, you have to select one aspect of it. That waters down the effect of your reply.

For these reasons I prefer to respond to those influencers whose tweets are self-contained -- direct tips, observations or insights. These trigger an equally direct response from me. The words flow easily and I type replies quickly. As a result I tend to get the best effect from them.

(Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

I'm sure you've heard that “persistence pays”. It's often cited because it's true for most pursuits. But it's particularly relevant to blogging -- even more so if you want to make money from it.

Basically, the longer you keep blogging for the more content you have up there, and therefore the more searches you're going to be found for, apart from anything else.



(Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Blogging skills improve over time

Then there's the fact that you keep getting better at blogging the longer you go. You improve your keyword selection and headline writing skills among others. So as a general rule, each new post you write becomes more findable and shareable.

You can also look back on old posts with the benefit of new insight. So you can rewrite them or write about what you've learned subsequently, quoting from -- and linking back to -- those old posts.

You'll have a book's worth of posts eventually

There's another bonus: By constantly adding posts you accumulate an enormous amount of interesting posts over the long term. If you look back on all that you've written on a specific subject over a year or two, say, you're sure to have the raw material for at least one solid book.

While affiliate marketing is a proven method of blog monetization, it's always best to have your own tangible product to sell -- off your blog, and elsewhere. A book definitely fits that bill.

So, you've got to keep going with it, in my opinion. There are just so many good things that result from doing so.

Monetization takes time

The reality is that these days, even if your content is brilliant, it's going to take months, if not years before you make even a small income from a blog. There's just so much competition nowadays, and so many niches are completely saturated.

So as well as adding good content and sharing your posts on social media, you've got to try different monetization tactics until you find the ones that work. This will be a slow, often frustrating process for sure.

So, there are many reasons that blogging is a long term process requiring a great deal of persistence. And this is where cost comes in.

A free blog allows you to keep going indefinitely

If the hosting is expensive -- even if it is very good -- and you're not making enough to cover the cost over a long time period -- which is the most likely situation, let's face it -- your enthusiasm is surely going to wane.  You're likely to get to a point where finally sit down and look at the project in a dispassionate way. After "doing the math" you may well decide it's just not worth it anymore. So after many months, perhaps even a year or more, you decide to pull the plug.

It's a shame if you do this. Without a doubt, countless people do.

For these reasons it's important to start with a free or (very cheap blog) in my opinion. And you should stay with it until you start earning a consistent income.

Wordpress hosting can be costly

Now, I know this runs counter to what many blogging gurus say. They often advise that a custom designed Wordpress is the way to go from the very start. But you have to be sure that the hosting is rock solid for this platform. And you're probably going to have to fork out a fair amount over the long term for this.

Given the realities I've described above, there's a strong chance you'll come to the conclusion it's not worth it after a year or so.

Blogger, Weebly and similar hosts can be a good option

But if you just chip away with, say, a Blogger blog, or one with Weebly (where this site is hosted), you don't end up in that situation. Sure, they don't have that sleek Wordpress look -- along with all the plugins you can choose from. But you certainly don't have to worry about cost.

When your blog is making money for you in some way, you can always upgrade.

I accept that this approach to monetizing a blog isn't for everyone. But it's certainly something to consider. While you have to focus on something to succeed no matter what field you're in, you're sure to encounter obstacles you never expected. Achieving a goal almost always takes longer than you thought it would, which is why it's always a good idea to keep your costs down to an absolute minimum and your options open.