I receive a few emails a week from people asking me if I can help them set up their new WordPress blog for them as they have no idea how to go about doing it. Sadly I am normally very busy and have to politely turn them down.
This evening I was sitting at my desk when I had the following thought:
“Would people be prepared to pay a small fee to have their WordPress blog set up for them?”
I’m not talking about a huge fee, maybe something like $5.00.
This would include the following:
- Initial set up of the latest WordPress version.
- Installation of up to 10 plugins of your choice (I’ll provide a list of ones I’ll install).
- Support for the first week.
Then I had another thought:
“What if I offer this service and then offer another option where I do it for free if they sign up for hosting from a company I recommend?”
What do you guys thinks about this?
Article by Dean Saliba
Dean Saliba is a freelance writer, professional blogger, media enthusiast, dirty football player and huge professional wrestling fan who covers a wide range of subjects and niches including, making money online, traffic generating, pro wrestling, blog reviews, football, how-to guides, music, internet marketing and more.
Connect with me on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+ | Website
Dean has written 372 awesome articles for us at I Need Di$cipline
I am a 33 year old full-time freelancer & blogger from East London, United Kingdom, who has been working online since early 2001.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been reading your blog for a while through my Google Reader, but decided to click-through and comment on this post. I have had dozens of people ask me to help them out with their blogs (register domain, set up hosting, install WordPress, etc.) and decided to just become an affiliate, let someone else handle the details, and make a commission off of the process.
A company called SocialSpin sets up the blogs for free and the person only has to pay for the domain and the monthly hosting. You get $50 for every person you refer to them that creates a blog. The company has a YouTube “reality show” – if you want to check them out, the YT username is Unstappd.
Anyway, I’m an affiliate for them and your situation reminded me a lot of my own. Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough hours in the day, LOL. If you’re interested in becoming an affiliate, I will paste the link to their affiliate center below.
http://bit.ly/9PfIjA
I also just wanted to let you know that my Google Reader still says your posts are “by Dean Saliba” – as far as I know, Dean sold the blog to you so you may want to look into updating that!
Enjoy the rest of your week.
- Kait
Hello Kait,
Thank you for visiting finally.
The web site you listed sounds like it might be a good idea for me to check them out. Might make slightly more using them as well.
Regarding the blog. I sold it but things changed with my personal life and the new owner lost interest so I bought it back at a reduced price.
Thanks for dropping by and I hope you come again soon.
I was wondering if that’s what happened! I even checked the ‘About’ page just to be sure. In that case, you may want to update that page.
If you do sign up to be an affiliate of the Free Blog Factory, it would be great if you used the link I provided above. I believe I get a small commission for referring you to the affiliate program.
Look forward to your future posts, DEAN, and promise to click-through more often.
- Kait
I keep meaning to sort that out. Actually I think I’ll force myself to do it now.
If I do sign up I’ll most certainly use your link.
Hey Dean – That’s how I make most of my money, but of course I charge a lot more than that.
Strange how that works. I charge an average hourly rate, and I know people who do it at twice my rate. So it seems that it’s not like a commodity – like milk or bread, which have average prices that you expect to pay. Installing blogs/websites using Wordpress – cost ranges so vastly that I think it’s more about people’s perceived value. If you think about it, it’s an entire website structure. It’s worth a lot more than $5.
I have seen ppl sell the installation w/hosting sign up, where you make money as an affiliate. Seems to work but there also seems to be some marketing effort necessary with that.
There are quite a few avenues to choose from. It is something that I need to think about quite a bit before I make a decision.
I do like the initial idea that I had for the free option where people sign up for hosting via a hosting company that I’m an affiliate with.
Dean! So it IS you!
Long time.
If I didn’t know how to install Wordpress, I’d consider paying for the service (more than $5 too).
Take care…
Hello there stranger!
Yes it is me, I sold this blog (along with my others) but I missed them and ended up buying them back (at a very good deal for me).
Seems like the idea is being looked on as a good idea. Lot of thinking to do as I keep thinking of different things.
Hope all is well with you.
@Aunty Eb: What’s up? Why are you stalking me? lol. I’d charge you $150 for setting up a wordpress blog. That way I can siphon all that money you’ve making from surveys. lol
@Dean: You should consider setting it up as a business as there’s a lot of cash involved. As you already now I’ve been working at it for like 2 weeks now and hopefully come August 1st, I’ll be launching my very own blog setup service. For now the price will be set @ N4,000 ($25) but will only be available to Nigerians for now until business picks up then I’ll introduce a method of payment for oversea orders
Awwww and there was me thinking that I was special with ebele visiting my blogs.
lol. Not to worry. I’m sure you’re as special as can be in Ebele’s books.
Listen, boys: there’s more than enough of me to go round – and that’s just my eyelashes.
I really would not pay for a wordpress installation.
It’s very easy and i think everydody can do it
You would be surprised at how many people don’t know how to do it.
Well, I make money by installing WP and also customizing themes etc. at http://wpblogexperts.com/
Me and my partner charge a lot more than $5.
Yeah $5 was just a mere starting point, something to throw out there and test the reaction. If I do decide to go through with this then I’d most definitely be asking for more than $5.
I do that sort of thing as well, and I charge more to do it than what you’re charging.
Yeah I think the first thing I’ll need to do is rethink the amount that I charge as pretty much everybody is saying I am under pricing my service.
I give a free 1/2 hr consultation to help determine the individuals niche, determine why they want a blog, etc…
If a person already has a blog but needs a little help, that is what we use the 1/2 hour for.
If they want to hire me from there, it’s quite a bit more than $5.00!
Yep that seems to be the theme when it comes to how much to charge.
You guys have certainly given me a lot to think about.