My Crazy Idea for This Weekend: 20 New Blogs by Monday

So, I had this crazy idea on Wednesday: why not spend this weekend doing a Blog Building Marathon?  After all, I love blogging, I love the setup process, I know people who want to start blogging but don’t know how, and, best of all, it beats doing yard-work.  Never one to think small, I immediately set a BHAG I could be proud of: I set the intention to create 20 new blogs between Friday evening and Monday morning.  I know, crazy, right?

I told a few friends what I was planning and asked them to spread the word to anyone they knew who wanted to start blogging but needed a little help to get going.  There were questions, of course.  I also posted my plans on Facebook, which generated a few more questions.  I got my first two new bloggers lined up, and they had even more questions.  So I thought, why not write a blog post to let everyone know why I’m doing this and to answer some of those questions publicly.  Here goes:

Why are you doing this? First and foremost, I’m doing this because I love blogging. I think blogging is a great way to connect with other people who share your passions.  I believe that blogging is a fantastic tool for attracting new clients to your business (or new fans for your music, or new readers for your books…you get the point).  I’m also doing this because I’m getting tired of hearing stories from people who’ve paid big money to blogging “experts”, waited for months to see their sites, and still been disappointed with the results.  I figured that if I could knock out 20 blogs in a weekend for a minimal cost, maybe more people would realize that it’s not as complicated as the “experts” make it sound.

What are you offering? Basically, what you’re going to get is a WordPress blog configured with what I consider to be the essential plugins (if you don’t know what plugins are, don’t worry…I’ll send instructions for using them), including a domain name of your choice and hosting for 12 months.  The blog will be built on one of the thousands of available free WordPress themes, with a little bit of customization to make it uniquely your own.  Nothing fancy, unless you really want it, in which case we’ll need to work out some details.  The blog will also be integrated with your accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so that when you write a new post, your followers on those sites will know about it automatically.

Is there a cost?  If so, how much? Yes, there is a cost.  Basically, I’m looking to cover the cost of hosting, domain name, and my caffeine and food for the weekend, plus a little something for my time and effort.  Oh, and to hire someone to do the yard-work I’m neglecting.  I’m asking $149, but honestly (and I really do mean this), if that’s not in your budget right now, tell me what is, tell me a good story, and I’ll probably do it anyways.  At the very least, I can give you some pointers on doing it yourself.  Which brings us to the next question…

Can’t I just do this myself?  Or hire the kid down the street to do it? Absolutely you can!  Here’s a little secret the “experts” are going to be mad at me for telling you: WordPress has made it super-easy for people with a limited knowledge of computers to set up a blog and/or website that perfectly suits their needs.  I’m just here to help those who don’t want to do it themselves and would like to just show up on Monday morning and start blogging without worrying about all the set up.  If you want some pointers on doing it yourself, send me an email (jerry@jerrykennedy.com) and I’ll be glad to help.

Why not use a free service like Blogger or WordPress.com? Excellent question!  For the definitive answer, have a look at this article from Hubspot.  It basically boils down to this: if you ever plan to use your blog for business or to attract traffic to your own website, you’re better off having your own site with your own domain name.  It’s much more flexible and better suited for helping you stand out from the crowd.  That said, if you really want to use one of the free services, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with doing so.  I have a friend with a very popular blog that’s hosted on the free Blogger platform, and he used it to make $100,000 last year.  No shame in that!

What about SEO?  Do you do anything for SEO?  Because all the “experts” say that SEO is SO important! Glad you asked.  I do recommend you use the “All In One SEO Pack” plugin, which is included in your installation, and I’ll send you some instructions on how to use it.  Here’s the thing about SEO, though: it matters, but not as much as everyone pretends it does.  What really counts with the search engines is whether or not your content is relevant to the person who is searching for answers! Write good content, stuff that your target audience would enjoy reading, and the search engines will love you for it.  Sure, there are ways that you can game the system so that you can “drive traffic” to your pointless, irrelevant website.  Trust me, though; you won’t like what happens when Google catches on to your game, I promise.  Write for people, not for search engines, and the people who align with your values will find you.

Won’t this project just add more crap to the blogosphere? Possibly, but I’m one of those radicals who thinks that everyone should have a voice, if they want one.  After all, one man’s crap is another man’s I Can Haz Cheezburger.

Here’s the bottom line for this project: blogging is one of the most democratic things to come along in decades.  It provides an opportunity for people to share their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, pictures, videos, music, drawings, artwork…whatever…with the world.  It’s my personal belief that there should be no barriers to entry; everyone (even the ones I don’t agree with or who I think are morons) should be able to participate.

And for those who want to use blogs to market their products or attract new clients to their businesses, I say “Good for you!”  I also say you don’t have to invest a ton of money and wait for weeks or months to get started.  I’m a big advocate of “completion over perfection”, and I’d like to help you get started down the road to using a blog as a way to build your business.

So if you or anyone you know would like to have a blog of your very own by Monday morning, send me an email.  The address again is jerry@jerrykennedy.com.  Or just leave a comment with your contact info and I’ll get in touch with you.  And I’m totally serious about the money part.  If $149 isn’t going to work for you, talk to me.

Let’s get you that blog you want!