The first things.

When trying to think about how to monetize this blog, I wondered about the focus of this blog or any blog. One also has to decide which blog site to use. Since this is a blog about building an income using free and very low cost blogs and marketing, I could not use my own web site domain.

Web site domains are very cheap today and hosting can also be very cheap. This still does not fit into our "free" or ultra low cost budget. The times when we spend money will be on things like Adsense and other PPC advertising methods. We will discuss that type of marketing on a later blog.

Right now I focused on what I wanted to concentrate on. Well, I figured I would have to focus on things that mix well with this kind of blog. That means I would need to find advertisers and promoters and publishers that focus on marketing, publishing, advertising, writing, blogging and the like.

Next I have to determine how I want all of the adds to appear on my blog. Not to mention how many ads I want to have on my blog. You have to understand that more is not always better. You also have to have the right mix and place those ads in the right place on your blog.

Blogger sites can limit how and when and where you can post your ads which is why when it comes down to the nuts and bolts there really is only two FREE blog sites you should use or consider.

The two are Blogger.com (the place where this blog sits) and WordPress.com. Now, I am more familiar with Blogger so I chose that particular one. Blogger is also easier to use. However, from what I have read and from the many blogs I have seen, it looks as if WordPress is the better of the two as far as being able to program your marketing efforts in a manor which would be of most profit to you. However, it takes a bit more to learn and they also have a pay side to their site. This also limits some functions to you if you do not pay for the extra features. So I will use Blogger for now.

Now I need to go out to the web and find the free affiliate programs and ad programs to put on this blog. By the time you read this, you will probably notice some programs I have joined specifically for this blog. Take a look around and notice the placement of ads and other information.

Oh, and of course, if there is something you strikes your fancy, go right ahead and click on that ad and get the information you want and need. OK, that will be the only "plug" I will make for ads on this blog. But keep your eye on what goes on with the ads. After all, you are here to learn which methods work the best in making the most of your blog.