I have been collecting answers to a short survey, which is ongoing by the way ( Click Here to take survey ) and several people have requested that I talk about how to start a blog without paying upfront. In my Wednesday Internet Marketing Tip to my subscribers, I listed several ways to start a “no money down” blog. It included some well-known ideas such as Blogger and Squidoo. One idea that may not be as well known is Cagora.
Every Cagora community has a built-in blog among the various tools on the platform. Once you are registered, browse to a community in your niche, hover your mouse over the Interact tab and then select Blogs from the downdown menu. Then click on this icon: 
Give your blog a title and write to your heart’s content. Every blog has its own URL that you can post to the social bookmarking sites and also announce on your social media accounts like Facebook & Twitter. Readers can post comments after they log in to their Cagora account.
A cool feature of Cagora is that your profile picture and a text or image ad is attached to all of your content and links back to your profile . When a reader clicks on your ad, it takes them to your “My Ads” page where you can post up to 4 text or image ads with outside links such as to another website, an affiliate product, your Twitter or Facebook account or any other URL you wish. Your profile at Cagora allows an incredible amount of information about you so that readers can get to know you and find other content you have posted across the entire set of Cagora communities.
In addition to using Cagora to blog and drive traffic to other sites, you may want to take advantage of the free affiliate program. One idea is to offer easy & inexpensive websites to local businesses in your area. Pick up your local newspaper and look for ads placed by businesses that don’t have a website. Cagora can provide a website by gathering some basic information and may even be able to get them on the first page of Google for their type of business in their location. Prices for these packages range from $197 to $397 and you can pick up a 20% commission as an affiliate for the initial sale and for each renewal. This price should be a no-brainer for a business wanting a starter website to get more customers from the Internet.
- Step 1 — If you are not already a member, you need to register. Click Here & then click on the orange register button and follow the prompts.
- Step 2 — Upload a profile picture and fill in information about yourself, your business, your blog, etc.
- Step 3 — Create text or image ads on the “My Ads” tab.
- Step 4 — Browse to the communities you are interested in by using the Search box at the top of the page or clicking on the “Worlds” tab above your name. There are niche communities like Bonsai Gardening or Acoustic Guitars and there are location communities like Houston and London.
- Step 5 — Join as many communities as you want by clicking the “Join This Community” link on each community’s main page. Your profile is then updated with every community you join.
- Step 6 — Start blogging or adding articles, photos or videos.
- Step 7 — Check out the business website opportunities at http://internetmarketing.cagora.com/launchbusiness. Once you are registered you can add /go/USERNAME to that link which is your affiliate id. USERNAME is the name you selected when you registered. Commissions you earn will be paid directly into your PayPal account.
I have created a website Internet Marketing At Cagora that has more information for small businesses and Internet marketers. It may give you some ideas for helping your small business clients.
I welcome questions and suggestions.
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This post was written by...
Christine Cobb is a web technology consultant, a small business online marketing consultant and provides information for new bloggers and affiliate marketers. Please let me know your thoughts about this blog post. I recommend the products and services mentioned here either because I've personally used them or know the distributor's reputation. Assume links are affiliate links.
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You have been a busy bee today. This is terrific!
Nice layout here. I like the post in a simple to use 7 steps, nice. BTW, can you believe they got Bin Laden? Wow