If you've never heard of blogging it's actually short for "web log" and likens to an online "diary" of sorts, or at least most blogs started out as online journals or diaries. Lately though I'm seeing more and more blogs being set up for business purposes and it's actually a great idea because blogging is simple, FREE and the best part is that your blog can contain any type of information you want, including marketing tips, product recommendations and so forth.

Unlike a website, it's easier to get traffic to a blog. Now of course the traffic will vary because most of it will start out coming from other blogs but as your blog develops, the quality of the traffic should too.

If you've been thinking about setting up your own blog but don't know how then here are step by step instructions you can use to get your blog set up and have your first affiliate product advertised there within 15 minutes or less.

STEP ONE: Go to www.blogger.com

When the page loads, click the orange arrow that says: "Create Your Blog Now", just like the image you see below:

STEP TWO: When the page changes you need to fill in 5 form fields and agree to the terms.

The first form field requires you to PICK A NAME for your blog. This is what will be displayed IN YOUR URL so make sure you pick something appropriate.

In our example I used "marketingtips" but I'm sure it'll be registered already, so I may be asked to pick another name. But just to see if I happen to get lucky on the name, I'll try marketingtips for the first choice.

Now I'm going to agree to the terms and submit.

Okay, just as I thought, the name was taken. Here's what you see if that happens to you.

So I'll keep picking a name until I get one that's available. You need to do the same if that happens to you.

(I finally ended up getting "hotmarketingtips" as the name.)

STEP THREE: Now we get to the next step where we enter in the name of the blog (the Blog title) and we select the portion of the URL we want to use.

Once you're done that you need to enter the word verification so they know you're not a robot, then click the submit button.

If the domain is taken, you'll know it. It shows you an error on the next page that the name is taken and asks you to try again.

Tip: If you're trying to get a name that has the word marketing in it, you can nearly forget about it. I just tried over 30 combinations with "marketing" and they were all gone. Even ones I was SURE no one would have thought of OR wanted.

Anyway I finally got one but went through so many, I can't remember what it is now. I'll find out after though.... And so will you if you end up forgetting what you picked too.

STEP FOUR: Once you're done playing the alphabet game (everytime you get the "name's taken" error, you have to enter the secret code again, only it's a different code with each error and eventually you go through the alphabet a couple times) and you get the green light on the name, you'll see this screen which asks you to pick a template.

That image only shows you 4, but there are LOTS of template choices you can pick from. Plus you can change the colors of your blog if you want. They are customizable in many ways.

So select the template you want. (You can change your mind and pick another one anytime, don't worry.)

When you've selected the template, you will see this on the next page:

STEP FIVE: Once you've picked the template and you see the orange arrow, it's time to make your first post!

For simplicy sake, we're going to walk through doing a basic post and will be using one of the 3 articles provided on the last page for our content. You're free to post whatever you want, but if you're not sure what to write and just want to get SOMETHING started, go to the articles page and pick an article and post it while you follow these instructions.

Step 1: Enter the subject line of the post.

Step 2: Now copy the article from the articles page and paste that into the blog message area. Change the CDXXXXXX to YOUR RESELLER ID.

Step 3: Pick a font and font size that you like.

Step 4: Click the PUBLISH POST button.

This is what the blog post looks like before you submit it:

And this is what just a portion of the actual blog looks like AFTER you've submitted the article and have made your first post:

That's just a portion of it though, obviously. Just enough to show you how the post looks. At this point you can change templates, change colors, edit your profile and so forth, to customize your blog the way you want it.

Wasn't that easy?

The best part about using blogger.com for your blog is, you start to get "next blog" traffic immediately because at the top of every blog when you're viewing it normally, you'll see a NEXT BLOG button and that means you'll start getting traffic pretty quickly.

There are other tips on getting more traffic too and some advanced tips on adding images, tracking and other items to your blog so stay tuned for those tips another day.

P.S. If you want to take a look at the blog we've set up for JUST THIS ONE POST to get a better look at it, go to:

http://marketingtipsntricks.blogspot.com/

It's not an active blog (well it is, but it's just been created for this example) so you can go there and check it out, check how the affiliate links work, and so forth.