Creating a blog involves much more than merely choosing a theme, posting an entry and publishing it live to the internet. If you are going to be blogging for money how do you intend to monetize your site or even generate traffic since you will need a steady flow of visitors to your site. Before all this however, consideration must be given to what your subject is going to be and your ability to supply the content needed for your blog posting. This in fact is the most critical stage of the blog building process because the direction you choose will dictate the degree of success you experience! And if you intend to be blogging for money the stakes are even higher, making this stage all the more important!

Here are 5 critical stages through which you must pass to help establish the direction your blog building efforts will take and the probability of your success!

Got an Idea

Do you know what you want to write about? Is it something other people will want to read about? Remember a blog is actually a small 'niche specific' social network site so to be able to successfully generate traffic there will need to be an interest. But regardless of demand your very first step is focusing on what you will be writing about.

Got Passion

Blog posting will take a lot of time, research and just plain effort so it is advisable to always choose a subject with which you have an interest. This interest or passion will be the driving force behind your motivation to continue learning about the subject your site is based upon. This research will supply you the content you will need for your posting and will serve you well during the blog building process which tends to take time. And speaking of time...

Got Patience

As previously mentioned blog building takes time and results are often slow in developing. If you are blogging for money results may take even longer since you first have to gain reader loyalty and then their willingness to spend money on your site! Are you patient enough to continue investing time and effort even before you have any measurable results to show for it? This is a question only you can answer so if you do not want to devote a lot of your time into something and then walk away before you are successful, you may want to think twice

Got a Strategy

Are you blogging to be heard or to be paid? Personal blogs involve more of a 'go for it' type strategy whereas business blogs needs more structure and of course a business plan! If you are blogging for money you will need to determine how you will get paid and when you will even start marketing products on your site. Some business bloggers launch their sites and immediately begin to promote products while others first develop a strong and loyal following. In this area you will have decisions to make as to what direction you want to take.

Got a Blog

If you answered yes to all of the above then the only thing you seem to be lacking in is motivation if you do not already have a blog! Time to get busy but relax, setting up your own site is relatively easy and can actually be a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Creating a blog successfully is dependent upon the 'developmental' stages you take before even selecting a host or determining how you will generate traffic. It is the thought you put into what subject you will focus on and your honest determination as to the level of your commitment. The 5 stages reviewed above, will help you evaluate both your commitment and abilities to create the content needed for your blog posting. Whether you will be blogging for money or for personal reasons, success in terms of how you choose to measure it will likely take time and definitely effort! Knowing and excepting this beforehand will increase your chances of achieving whatever goals you may have established for your blog!