FAQ: Blogging

• How did you come up with the name Bleeding Espresso?

I’ve written about this at A Blog by Any Other Name.

• What are your suggestions for starting a blog?

The fastest and easiest way to start a blog is with a free service like Blogger or WordPress, but if you have any inkling that you’ll keep up with it and expand, I suggest buying a domain, using WordPress as your platform, and learning as you go.

The freedom to set up your blog exactly as you want it is worth the extra hassle at the beginning—and you also won’t have to change addresses and risk losing your readership later.

• Can you help me with my blog?

I can certainly try, although I can’t promise anything. I’m no expert, but I’m wiling to share what I’ve learned. Feel free to send me a message!

• What about monetizing a blog?

I’ve written a post about this here, and I’ll also add “Text Link Ads” to the list of ways I make money on this blog.

• How much money do you make on the blog?

Not enough! Seriously, without giving numbers, I’ll say it’s enough to cover operating costs although nothing even near what I’d make at a part-time job.

• Why do you have a PayPal button on your site?

I put up a PayPal button, which allows people to send me money, because some readers had expressed interest in donating to the cause (Bleeding Espresso) after I had helped them with dual citizenship, Italian/Calabrian travel plans, freelance writing, etc.

I offer all information and suggestions free of charge, but I also *greatly* appreciate those who understand how long it can take to reply to e-mails and share my experiences and suggestions—thus the PayPal button.

• What about copyrighting?

Your writing and photos are copyrighted the moment you put them into tangible form; you don’t need to register anything with anyone or put a little © on it to be protected. You can, though, put that © on your work as warning to anyone thinking of stealing that you’re watching and don’t appreciate being stolen from.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to share your work under certain circumstances, you can also investigate Creative Commons licenses.

• What about your photos—editing, watermarking, and where do you find photos not taken by you to use in posts?

I usually edit photos using Photoshop and watermark using the free version of uMark. Photos not taken by me that appear in blog posts almost always come from Flickr through Creative Commons licenses.

UPDATED: As I’ve now become a Mac girl, I use iPhoto for photo editing and iWatermark for watermarking (and in case you’re wondering, yes, iLoveMyMac).

• Have you had any privacy problems because of the blog?

No, at least not yet, but I will admit that if I lived in a more accessible location I would probably have very different concerns about being so public about my name, where I live, etc. Please use your own judgment regarding your personal circumstances.