Tutorial Introduction

My wife Jenni was very sick for several years. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2003, suffered from a recurrence in 2005, and was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007. In 2009, Jenni passed away. I am writing this to share an experience that has blessed my family in ways that I cannot begin to describe.

While I was sitting in the hospital with little to do, I started a blog on Google's www.blogger.com called Jennibugg's Blogg to keep friends and family updated and see if Adsense was as good as their site promised. The site exploded. The site got thousands of hits each day and with Adsense was earning $100 to $300 daily. By the time Jenni passed away, the site had generated nearly $2500 in about a week. Click here to visit Jennibugg's Blogg.

I really didn't do anything special that a typical blogger wouldn't do, but most people don't even know where to get started and sitting in the waiting room of an ICU is the last place you want to be trying to learn blogging basics. That's where this tutorial comes in. I want to make it simple for people in the position I was in to update their families and friends, and maybe earn a few dollars on the side that will help pay for the overpriced hospital cafeteria food they've been eating.

Below are the steps you'll need to follow to create a blog with blogger, get it out to the people who need/want the updates, let people know how to post comments, and put the blog to work earning you a few dollars on the side. This is a very simple guide on the surface. However, as I have the time, I'll be posting more detailed instructions for each step, so if the title of each step is hyperlinked, you can click on it for more details. If not, the details will be coming soon.

Step One: Create a Google Account
You'll need a Google account in order to create a blog on www.blogger.com. Your username will be your email address. I personally recommend signing up for Gmail, but it isn't necessary. Any email account will do. Click here to sign up for a Google account.

Step Two: Go to www.blogger.com and Create a Blog
Follow the instructions and choose all of the default settings unless you can think of a reason to do otherwise. The only thing you choose at this point that is difficult to change later is the url (http://WhateverYouChoseAsTheURL.blogspot.com).

Step Three: Add Adsense to Your Blog
This is the program that will put advertisements on your blog and pay you when your visitors click on them. From the dashboard page, click on Layout, then on Add a Gadget, and then on Adsense. You will need to sign up for an Adsense account. Repeat this as many as three times, probably in different columns. Then click on Save at the top of the page. Congratulations! You now have a page that has the potential to earn you money. It may not be pretty, but it is functional, and you can change the way it looks later.

Step Four: Post Your First Update
Click the Posting tab. This is sort of like writing an email to your website for everyone to see. Fill in the subject line, write a message, and then click on Publish Post at the bottom of the page. Whatever you wrote will show up on your new blog. You will probably want to begin with an introduction. You'll need info on yourself and why you're in the hospital.

Step Five: Tell People About It!
No matter how modest you are, people want to know how you (and/or your loved one) are doing. The blog is a great place to let people know without having to explain the situation over and over again, without having to answer numerous phone calls, and without your friends and family having to rely on secondhand information. Send it in an email to everyone in your address book. Send it to all of your friends on facebook, myspace, linkedin, twitter, or any other social networking site you belong to. Write it down and give it to people who come visit you in the hospital. And if you don't mind a little publicity, tell them that it is okay to share it with other people.

Step Six: Receive Feedback
Support and encouragement are so important in these difficult situations. Encourage people to leave comments on your posts. They will surprise you with their love. You will probably want to change your settings so that anyone can post a comment. To do this, click on the Settings tab, then click on Comments, and then find the question, "Who can comment?" Click on Anyone.

Step Seven: Keep Posting
Whenever you learn something new, write a new post. Your family and friends will feel as if they are right there with you, and when they comment you'll feel like you're connected to them as well.

Step Eight: Customize to Your Heart's Content
Playing around with the template and color scheme of your blog can be an excellent way to keep yourself occupied in the hospital if you enjoy these things. In my humble opinion, it sure beats the 15 channel cable that you get in the hospital room (Note: number of channels is only an estimate).