How to Start a Website for Free

I get a lot of messages from people who tell me that they would love to do what I'm doing, but they don't have enough money to get started.

I have a confession to make: I started my business with a budget of $0.00.

You read that right: It cost me absolutely NOTHING to start my business. It takes a little longer to do it this way, but I am living proof that it can be done. These are the exact same steps I took to start my business with NO MONEY, and you can do this too!

This tutorial is written under the assumption that you already have a Paypal account set up. If you don't, do that first.

First Step:

Open a free blog on Blogger. This costs you nothing if you use the generic "name.blogspot.com" url they assign you. This will give you a home base to start learning and growing (as well as making money). Note that I did not recommend WordPress because they don't allow you to monetize your site.

Step Two:

Design your blog layout and add advertising to the blog. If you want a faster payout (and can bring yourself not to blow it) I personally recommend using Adbrite for your ads. Just avoid the full-page ads that Adbrite will want on your site-it only annoys people, but the in-text ads are a wonderfully inconspicuous way to generate revenue.

Step Three:

Sign up for affiliate accounts at E-Junkie, Clickbank, and Smashwords. This will enable you to sell other people's ebooks on your site for free. You will get paid for your sales depending upon the service, but E-Junkie pays once a month.

Step Four:

Add links to the affiliate programs that you choose for your sidebar. On your Blogger Dashboard, click "Design," "Add Gadget," and choose "HTML." Place the affiliate links in the box for your gadget, and save it. You can also create a store page, or add links to books within your blog posts.

Step Five:

Post about your passions on your blog. Search out others that share your passion and comment, placing your blog address in your comments (the comment window will have a place to add a website). List every post on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or anywhere else you can think of. Post at least three times a week and make it good. Show people how to do stuff and they will keep coming back. Share links to posts and blogs that interest you.

Step Six:

Respond to all comments on your blog and tweak the little things to suit as you get time. Watch as the money from your affiliate sales and your commercial ads builds up.

Step Seven:

When you get fifty dollars built up (rough estimate), visit SiteGround.com to sign up for their hosting service. The reasons I recommend SiteGround are these: low fees, easy setup and the ability to get free hosting when you refer their service to others. Pay for the setup and the first year of hosting with the $50 you have earned from your free blog and affiliate sales.

Step Eight:

Set up your new, totally free website using the skills you learned by playing on the free Blogger blog, add your affiliate links, post a SiteGround banner or two so that you can earn free hosting, then launch your new site.

You can import all of the posts from your free blog or just start from scratch. I imported my posts from my other blogs, then linked to the new one on the free blogs to let my readers know where I've moved to. I also post an occasional post to keep those blogs fresh and pointed in my direction.

Step Nine:

Enjoy the fact that you just started a Minimalist Business for FREE, and keep blogging about your passion!

When you are comfortable blogging, write an ebook of your own to sell, that way you can keep all of the profits for yourself, or share them with affiliates who will be selling YOUR work for a change!

Enjoy your free website!

If you would like to see the free websites that I started to pay for my main blog, visit the following links to see my most successful free blogs:

A Journey To Simplicity
Living on $500 A Month or Less