Starting your own blog is an opportunity for you to follow your passion, to share it with others and to influence your readers. It has never been easier to launch your own blog or website and the best thing about it is that you don’t even need to have any technical expertise or knowledge… you only need to allow 15 minutes of your time.

I recommend a self-hosted WordPress.org blog over the free hosted options like WordPress.com or TypePad.com, as it gives you the most control over your blog. This is what I use and what professional bloggers will recommend you.

Just follow the 3 simple steps below and you are ready to share your passion and talent with the world.

1. All you need to get started is your credit card details, your preferred domain name and 15 minutes of your time! The domain name should either be your name as in AlexanderKellermann.com or the topic of your blog as in HoteliersOfTomorrow.com.

2. The next step is to set up a hosting account and while this may sound complicated and even intimidating to you (as it did to me when I first got started), it couldn’t be easier, so please stay with me. I personally recommend BlueHost (the hosting account I use) as of its uncomplicated support and great service around the clock. Just click on the image below and sign up – it’s really that simple. The next step is to enter your domain name and to select ‘.com’ from the drop down menu next to it (don’t use ‘.org’ or ‘.net’ as it would hinder you later on once you start worrying about increasing your traffic). Enter your account information on the next page and choose your account plan under package information (I recommend to uncheck the other boxes below). Once you filled in your billing details, you’ll receive an e-mail from BlueHost with your login information. Go to BlueHost.com and click the Control Panel Login button on the top right corner of the page.

3. You’re almost there! Now you have a hosting account and only need to install WordPress that you’ll find under SimpleScript installations in your cPanel column on the left side. Click on the install button, uncheck the boxes under step 3, agree to the Terms of Service, and you’re done with the setup and can start writing and publishing your first blog.

You just launched your own blog!

If you need any help along the way, or have any questions about the setup process, leave your comment below, and I am glad to help.