I mentioned here on the blog that I had started a brand new blog where I share my fitness, health, and weight loss progress and that I was going to start sharing how I set up the new blog and how I drive traffic, get readers and subscribers, and how I monetize that blog.

So this is the first post of many where I will share what I’m doing with that blog. Obviously I’m sharing here from the blogging standpoint but if you’re also interested in fitness, health, and weight loss please join us over there on the blog Bikini After 40 so we can all encourage and support each other.

My buddy, Dennis, asked me if men were welcome … Yes, men are definitely welcome (despite the reference to “bikini”) to join us gals and participate there. Some of the topics are geared towards women but much of it is fitness, health and weight loss in general so no worries there.

OK … let’s get started …

Choosing My Domain and Setting Up the Blog

I’ve mentioned here on the blog that I use HostGator hosting and I use GoDaddy for all of my domains. Yes, they are affiliate links LOL but I really do believe I have a system down pat for setting up a new blog very quickly and without any hassle.

Domain Name. First, I choose my domain name. For my niche sites I choose domains that are very … hmmm … full of keywords, but for this site I wanted it to be something fun and catchy. I did however do the keyword research and luckily some of the keyword phrases I set out to tackle (“fitness at 40” and “fitness for over 40”) worked well for the domain I wanted. No, not an exact phrase like I usually try to get but at least it’s got a couple of my keywords in there. LOL.

I log into my GoDaddy account and I purchase the domain name. DURING the purchase there is an option to “Set nameserver.” (see image). Since I already have an account with HostGator I can enter the nameservers while purchasing and then everything is set up almost instantly (instead of waiting the 72 hours they quote). You can get the nameservers from your host or if you have other domains with GoDaddy that are hosted elsewhere you can get the nameservers from inside your GoDaddy account (find them attached to the other domains in your account).

Hosting. Then I go to HostGator via my cpanel and I add the new domain to my account. By the time I’m done doing this the domain is usually up and ready and online. I then go to the Fantastico section within my HostGator account and I add WordPress to the new domain.

I Select a Theme

For this particular blog I decided to go with Squeeze Theme. I am also using it here on suzannefranco.com and I’m starting to really like it (didn’t “not” like it before … I’m just technophobic and resistant to change LOL). Some of the reasons I chose Squeeze Theme for the BA40 site (that “BA40” looks kinda funny huh?! LOL) is that it’s (a) very easy to work with within the admin panel and doesn’t require a lot (if any) coding for what I need to do, and (b) I can add some “squeeze” pages for some optin pages (an example would be here on the sf.com blog http://www.suzannefranco.com/blogging-idol-secrets-revealed-ebook/). A “squeeze” page is typically a page that promotes something specific and visitors/readers no place to go but to buy/optin or leave. The one I used is a modified version where they can still see the main navigation buttons at the top but there is no sidebar to distract them.

On BA40 I will offer some free eBooks and possibly email mini-series so that I can grow my email list.

I Dressed It Up

OK … well I didn’t personally dress it up! LOL. I hired the very talented Chrissy Jensen (<– love her!) to do that for me. Initially she did the header and the color scheme (header, background colors, heading colors, link colors, etc.). This can all be changed within the Squeeze Theme admin area but I’m not creative at all so for me it’s best left to a professional. I also hired her for the optin box and some other graphics but we’ll get to those in an upcoming post.

I Defined My “Purpose” for the Blog

We often have ideas swimming around in our heads about a business and we never really map it out from start to finish.

When I first had the idea to do a blog about my journey to lose weight and get healthy it was more of an online journal to keep myself accountable. As I thought more and more about it and visited other blogs with a similar “niche” or “theme” I realized that I would eventually reach my goals and I would love to help others get there too. If you’ve known me for any amount of time you’ll know that’s what I enjoy most about being online … meeting new people and helping them as much as possible.

I have tried a lot of ways to lose weight … some have worked and some have failed. I would love to share what they are and the reasons I believe they worked or didn’t work.

I also have access to a great fitness trainer who is also a personal friend. I explained the blog to her and told her that I’m very lucky to have her helping me. I know that readers who don’t have access to a personal trainer will assume that it’s the reason I will succeed and the reason they can’t. So … I will be getting help from her to show my readers how they too can get in an incredible workout. She will show us effective home workouts we can do without any fancy club or equipment. Pretty cool huh?

So the purpose is to keep myself accountable and to help as many people as possible. When I find ways to actually monetize the blog I am open to that too. This is in stark contrast to the niche sites I set up that are simply there to drive traffic and/or sales to make me money! This one is very personal and I’m very passionate about it! The money will come when it’s time.

I Wrote Out Some Post Ideas and Outlined the Categories

I got a Word Doc started with my topic and post ideas … and after reviewing those I was able to define some of my categories. These will change as time goes by and I find my “groove” on the blog but it’s important to have some type of an outline to get started … or you WON’T EVER START!

(Side Note): Speaking of STARTING … I’ve said time and time again the biggest reason I believe people fail online is they simply never get STARTED!!! This isn’t brain surgery guys! It isn’t rocket science! Just take an idea … any of the hundreds you have swimming around in your head … and take that leap ok? What’s the worst thing that could happen? I can tell you … the worst thing that could happen is that you change your mind and you’ve spent $7.50 on a domain and you don’t keep it up and move on to something else. You will still have your hosting and you just start again and see if something else sticks. Come on … give it a go!

Get the eBook So You Can Follow Along

OK … that is a brief overview of how I actually got the blog idea off of my chest and onto the net. Next I’ll start using the very techniques I’ve outlined in my “Blogging Idol Secrets Revealed” eBook to drive visitors and subscribers to the blog. If you haven’t downloaded it yet you really should check it out so you can follow along.

Do you have any questions so far? Do you have the eBook yet? Have you implemented any of the ideas so far? What would you most like to see step-by-step (in more detail) while I build and promote my new blog? I’m here to help so just tell me what to do ok? *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Well … we’ve planned our next trip to Mexico and I’m soooo stoked! In early June we’ll be taking kids down to the resort where we took our honeymoon, Dreams Puerto Aventuras, in the Riviera Maya area about 45 minutes from Cancun. It’s an all-inclusive resort and we’ll be totally spoiled. LOL We’ll also be in our bathing suits much of the time … so that means the race is on for me to lose some weight and tone up.

Since I was journaling my food and exercise and taking before and after pictures I decided to put up a blog and share my tips and ideas with others who would also like to look great in their swimsuit http://www.bikiniafter40.com. Why am I sharing that with you? Well, I am building this blog from the ground up so I thought some of you might want want to follow along and see what I do to set it up, to drive traffic, build backlinks, do the SEO, monetize, etc.

If you’d be interested in watching me I’ll be posting every so often here on the blog at suzannefranco.com and I’d love to hear any questions you have about what I’m doing with the site. I’d also love to have your feedback on the blog itself. What do you think of the concept? Of the look and feel? Of the content? All thoughts are welcome of course!

Here’s a video message:

Please leave me your comments and let me know what you’d like to learn about my new site and I’ll address it here on the blog. *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. If you’re looking to lose weight and/or tone up … or interested in health and fitness in general I hope you’ll join me over on the new site so we can support and encourage each other

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I put up a lot of sites and blogs for my businesses and I’ve never had a problem getting a site indexed with Google very quickly – until now. I put up a blog / site last week and it’s still not indexed … so I thought I’d share what I usually use and put it out there to my readers too to see what all of you do to get your sites indexed quickly.

I usually don’t need to do anything more than use a social bookmarking site and I usually use Mister Wong first and sometimes I use a few more as well.

I will also sometimes add a link from one of my other existing sites that I know gets spidered often.

I might add some links back from a Squidoo lense … use some article marketing … use my 30 Minute Backlinks method … submit the site to some directories … but truthfully I don’t usually need to do more than add to Mister Wong to get indexed and I use the other methods for more backlinks.

The only thing I can think of that I haven’t done so far is add a site map to the blog so that’s my next step.

I’m waiting a day or two because Austin (my 14 year old son) once read in an eBook to go to the first sample post (the Hello World post that comes standard on WordPress) and edit it to say the word “Google” with a link to Google.com. Hmmm … not sure about this one but he’s asked me to wait a day or two to see if it works or not. LOL

So … what do you do to get your site indexed? How long does it usually take? Share any ideas you have so we can all learn from each other OK? *SmiLes* Suzanne

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<—— A quick reminder to Retweet if you enjoy the post … Thanks!

I plan on starting a new online business and I’m really excited about it! I am a huge fan of Traffic Geyser and they are offering a “business in a box” type system with training to go out and help brick and mortar businesses get to the first page of Google using video creation and submission.

Truthfully, I know first hand that this is pretty simple competing in the local markets.

I was going to get this system just for my own businesses and for my husband’s business but I think I’m going to have some fun doing this for others as well. It’s very lucrative and I could use a boost in income right now (who couldn’t right?).

Check it Out Here: Traffic Geyser

Let me know if you are interesting in doing this and maybe we can get a group together and brainstorm and support each other. *SmiLes* Suzanne

Watch this video it explains it better than I could LOL

NOTE: There is an email opt in to see the awesome videos of two people who have done this successfully already. Even if you’re not interested in this particular system I learned a great deal watching the videos they have posted there so it’s worth your time I promise.

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Yesterday I met some awesome new friends on the internet, Viktoria and Gary, and they gave me some great ideas as we brainstormed together for my WAHM 2 WAHM site. I just love my “job!” Look for some awesome new changes to the site … we decided that it needed to offer even more value in order to incent subscribers to sign up quickly … and stick around for the new bonuses. Thanks Viktoria and Gary … I appreciate you two. *SmiLes* Suzanne

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