How to Set Up a Flagship Blog

A flagship blog is a type of blog in which you plan to keep long term. People start blogs every day for all types of purposes but your flagship blog should be one that you love to write on and based on a topic that you have a great interest in. It should be fun and you will be posting at least 3 times a week or every day if you are really into the topic.

You will want to keep this blog "white hat" meaning, you will not be doing any type of spammy (black hat) techniques on it.

Benefits of a Flagship Blog

The benefits of having a flagship blog are many. First off, you can build a brand for yourself. You can also make money in the process as your blog builds up a readership and web traffic, you can sell advertising spots. You can also make money from adding PPC (pay-per-click) advertisements.

If you are an internet marketer or looking into becoming one, a flagship blog can help you get approved by affiliate marketing companies much easier. It shows that you know how to generate web traffic and have some experience with internet marketing.

Another benefit, depending on your topic, are free products from companies that want you to review their product on your blog. I have received numerous products for free and was happy to write up a quick review.

Should You Start a Flagship Blog?

I would definitely say yes if you enjoy a particular subject and can talk non-stop about it. I started a fitness blog several years ago as a way to learn more about fitness and to motivate myself to get healthier. It has come a long way and ranks well in the search engines.

Your goal does not have to be money oriented at all. A flagship blog can be your outlet to have fun and network with other bloggers and readers.

Free Options

You could have a blog up and running within a few minutes and it won't cost you a dime. There are several places where you can set up a free blog. The most popular, free blogging services include Blogger and Wordpress. A paid service is Typepad. There are some pros and cons to using a free blogging service.

Pros

• Free - You can set up a blog absolutely free.
• User friendly - Learning curve is small and easy to learn.

Cons

• Account at risk - Your free account is always at risk and can be closed at any time.
• No ads - Your advertising options are limited or none at all.
• URL - Your website URL may be long and harder to remember.
• Limited design - You are usually stuck with one overall blog design.
  

Paid Option

I highly recommend purchasing your own domain name and web hosting if you plan on having a flagship blog. You do not want to risk losing your blog on a free service for any reason. You also want to keep your options open in terms of design and advertising. You just have much more control over how you run your blog.

If you choose to go with your own domain name and hosting, I suggest using Wordpress for your blogging platform. It is free to install and easy to use.

Cost of domain name: $10 (on average)

Cost for hosting: $120/yr (on average)

The best way to build web traffic is to write often and write interesting blog posts. People with other blogs will begin finding your content and will link to your blog or one of your posts. These are some of the best links to get because they are natural and free. The more links you can get, the better. Other traffic producing methods can include:

• Linking new posts from Twitter
• Linking posts from Facebook or MySpace
• Stumble Upon
• Digg
• Social bookmarking
  
• Be a guest blogger on other blogs
• Article marketing
• Forum posts
• Email signatures
  

Traffic will come as long as you are updating often and writing interesting posts.

Have Fun

A flagship blog should be enjoyable. That means you should have fun writing on it. If you are unsure if you can keep up with a blog, set up a free blog and if it takes off, move it over to your own domain name and web hosting. Wordpress offers an importing function for free blog services like Blogger.

Be Patient

Your blog will not take off overnight. In fact, it may take months before you are even discovered. Just keep plugging away and get the word out about your blog whenever you can. Eventually, you will begin seeing the traffic and receiving feedback in your comments.

Stay Open to Criticism

Not everyone will agree with your opinion. You will receive negative feedback every now and again but don't let it deter you from keeping up your blog. In the larger scheme of things, negative feeback is really not a big deal.