What is a blog?

Blogs are the hottest thing on the internet today. They are a combination of personal and business websites that produce regularly updated content. Blog owners earn money from ad revenue, not necessarily by selling services. Anyone can build a blog but it takes talent to create a successful blog. Before building a blog, be sure to do a blog search to see if something like your idea already exists. A blog needs to be as unique as possible.

Free blogs built with blog templates are nice but they don't do much as far as revenue and professional image are concerned. I've compiled a list of reasons why create a custom blog.

Top 5 Reasons to Create a Custom Blog

1. Professional bloggers and people who are serious about earning real revenue all have their own custom blog designs on their own domains. Not only are paid domains better for SEO but you control everything about the blog. Having authority over a portion of the internet is important.
2. Having a custom design makes you look professional. If you can't afford a web designer and you're strapped for time, try bartering writing services for web design services. There aren't many WordPress designers out there when compared with other design occupations but there are enough. More often than not freelancers are willing to barter services with other freelancers to acheive mutual goals.
3. You earn 100% of ad revenue from your blog. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have all of my adsense and affiliate earnings than say 50%. Don't get me wrong, I still write for revenue share sites but its also equally important to have your own domain.
4. People love creative people. If you're a creative writer and you're frustrated with the fact that creative writing earns you little or no money, guess what? You're in luck! Your  own blog can earn you more than just a following. If you play your cards right, it can earn you a living.
5. Blogs are the hottest thing on the net. Marketing has shifted since the social media boom from a direct pitch to a form of "subtle" or "soft" marketing. You've got to be warm and friendly to people rather than just try to sell them something. Blogs are perfect because they are personal and they don't require much effort to market. Adsense and affiliates will earn the money.

Paid Blogging: Taking the Web by Storm

Some professional bloggers worry that the onset of millions of people attempting to earn money online from ad revenue is decreasing the amount of profit to go around. However, what they fail to realize is that no one wants to read poorly written content.

Therefore, only the best bloggers will earn substantial revenue. It's a long-term project that can take over two years to yield results, even for the most prolific bloggers but the passive income that comes from owning a blog is well worth it. Write one, earn forever.