I saw Pat Flynn’s advice on ‘how do I start a blog with $100’ on bloggingtips.com. Basically, Pat was saying take an expert blogger to dinner and the two hours you spend will be the best education you can get. I don’t disagree with my mentor – Pat, but which expert blogger will come to dinner with a newbie? So I thought of creating a post on how to start a blog with $100 or less. This is how I started…
You can download this Infographic and use it in your site as long as you give credit to us with a link-back.
Step 1: Buy a Domain Name for $20
Spend $20 on buying your own domain name. This
is a must if you want to succeed as a blogger. You certainly need to come up with a niche first but this list is about starting a blog for $100. Spend some time finding your niche then spend some time looking for a domain name. I use NameCheap and they have no upsells like goDaddy and it is a simple painless process. NameCheap is also the lowest priced for domain names in my research.
Budget Remaining = $80
Step 2: Get Some Basic Education about Blogging for $0
You need to get some structured education that will not
put a hole in your pocket. You can simply crawl various websites to do this but that won’t be structured, might not have video classes, your questions may not get answered and need I say how time-consuming that is going to be? I am recommending Wealthy Affiliate as this is how I started and there is no cost for a starter membership. Learn the basics as no one is going to teach you this. Wealthy Affiliate has a task list to be completed after each lesson and encourages you to take action. See my Wealthy Affiliate Review here.
Word of Caution: Wealthy Affiliate recommends using their own keyword research tool Jaaxy and I did not find Jaaxy to be accurate. I use another tool – Long Tail Pro.
Budget Remaining = $80 (Nice one!)
Step 3: Find a WordPress Hosting Provider for $30
WordPress is the preferred platform with 66% of market share.
You have 2 options for WordPress hosting. You can upgrade to premium membership at Wealthy Affiliate and get free hosting, email and further advanced training courses or do this independently. I chose Wealthy Affiliate as I loved their training and wanted to keep going but purely to be unbiased I will give you another option: WPEngine. I am recommending WPEngine as they are a pure WordPress host. I put an Infographic on WordPress performance improvement and the research lead to good reviews of WPEngine.
Three things to look out for when selecting a hosting provider:
- You need WordPress hosting
- Good support and a plan that backs up your site
- Domain specific email (WPEngine provides hosting only and you may want to get Gmail for businesses for an additional $5 per month or simply use a free Gmail personal account)
Wealthy Affiliate: cost for the 1st month is $19 and $47 per month thereafter.
WPEngine: cost is $29 per month for a personal plan which is good enough for starters.
Budget Remaining:
Using Wealthy Affiliate = ~$60
Using WPEngine = ~$50
If you are on a tight budget and do not want to spend on hosting then try out Wealthy Affiliate’s free sub-domain and hosting.
Update: I now use and recommend SiteGround for hosting. They provide great support, good price and awesome performance.
Step 4: Get a Logo Designed for $5
This is not a mandatory step but to make your blog
look professional and stand out go to Fiverr and get a logo designed by a graphic designer. This will be the best $5 you ever spend in your life. I have filtered the link above by top designers but you can have a look at tier 2 sellers as well. You can get a 3D design, a modern design, a cartoon design or any other design you fancy. This is a fun step so don’t miss out and also the step with the most bang for buck.
Budget Remaining = $45 (using the lower remaining budget)
Step 5: Get an Autoresponder for your Website to 
Build a Mailing List from Day 1 for $20
Most expert bloggers advice is to start the mailing list from day one. The most common regret from expert bloggers is not building a mailing list earlier; so take their advice and start the list now. I recommend aWeber the best autoresponder out there and they also have a free one month trial, cool! Their cost per month after the trial is $19 per month up to 500 subscribers.
Budget Remaining = ~$25
* Please note some links above are affiliate links and there is no additional cost to you. These products are tried and tested. I don’t recommend products I haven’t used with the exception of WPEngine. I have read great reviews about WPEngine.
Summary
There you have it; we have covered how to start a blog under $100, in fact, we only used $75. Keep the remaining budget as a buffer or use it for the following month’s expenses.
If you didn’t know how or where to get started, you don’t have that excuse anymore. Use your $100 wisely. Get started and don’t look back. The journey is exciting and can bring the creative side in you.
Post a comment and let us know what else you would add to the list. Thanks for reading and happy blogging!
Additional Note: If you happen to have more than $100 to start with, then I recommend getting a Keyword Research Tool, a comfortable office chair and also a relaxing back massage as you are going to need it.
I wish i had come across this earlier,i definitely spent more and hope this will help new bloggers
Hi Dean,
The objective is to definitely help new bloggers. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Cent
Nice n simple, is this a 3 D infographic?
Hi Riyaz,
No, this is not a 3D Infographic.
Cheers,
Cent
I am new to your site but i like all your articles and infographic. Simple and easy to understand esp with the infographic. Keep up the good work. I will be a regular visitor to your site.
Hi John, thanks for the feedback and comment. Great to hear the articles and Infographics are useful. Awesome to hear you will be back. Cheers, Cent
I like Step 2, free education. I checked out Wealthy Affiliate and the video training is really good as you said. Thx
Hi Steve,
Great to hear you liked Wealthy Affiliate. This is a good starting point for basic blogging and WordPress education. Good luck and thanks for leaving a comment. Cheers, Cent
Nice article for novice bloggers. It gives a sense of direction where to start. Thank you
Hi Michael, Great to hear the post can guide you. Cheers, Cent
No expert blogger is going to waste their time with a newbie, this is a good investment of time and money to put in your own business
Hi Jacki, spot on. Thanks for the comment. Good luck 🙂 Cheers, Cent
This is a nice article. After reading this, I am sure newbies can easily setup their minds to start their own business and earn for their living.
Hi Abdullah, glad you think so. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Cent
very useful content.. thanks for sharing this knowledgeable post.
Hi Jyoti, glad you liked the information and thanks for leaving a comment. Much appreciated. Cheers, Cent
This is as simple as effective. I think as a beginner one can start blogging even with less than $50. E.g. If we consider Bluehost or hostgator, one can buy 1 year WordPress hosting plan for around $40 and a .com domain for $10. In fact one can get domain free sometime.
Hi Santanu, I don’t disagree with you. I took Pat’s advise and did not go for shared hosting. Yes you can even get free hosting but that would most likely be a sub-domain. There is nothing wrong with starting like that as long as people who chose that option understand the pros and cons. Just wanted to remind Wealthy Affiliate provides free domain and hosting for anyone on a budget. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Cent
Hello Cent,i went through the wealthy affiliate website and they are pretty good,they have a huge community and it’s a good place to start with.Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Gina, Wealthy Affiliate is a great starting resource. Great to hear found them useful. Good Luck. Cheers, Cent
just what I needed to launch my new blog on a low budget.
Hi Michael, great to hear you found the information useful. Thanks for leaving a comment, Cent
Thank you, i really need a blog, so thank to your post now i now what to do thank you very much!
Hi Michael, glad you found the information useful. Good luck and do come back to the site 🙂 Cent
$100 is a very small amount to invest as compared to the returns that one can get with the online business,thanks for giving plenty of options and a step by step guide.All the best with blogging.
Hi Avril, thanks for the comment and good luck to you too. Cheers, Cent