Knowing how to make a blog is simple.  Knowing how to make a blog that makes you money - and makes you money continuously is something else altogether.

And there are so many courses and programs you can buy that it is hardly surprising that those bloggers or potential bloggers seeking to generate income at home from blogging just don't know how to start their blog.

It's easy.  But there are very important rules you should follow, in my opinion.

And I have been blogging for almost 10 years, learning the hard way and writing literally hundreds of thousands of words on everything from dieting to writing, to travel to internet marketing.

And the key thing to know - in a couple of easy steps - is to remember these factors on making a blog that works.

First, you should choose your blog topic carefully.

Now I know everyone talks endlessly about this, but you really have to take care with it and let me suggest two golden rules:

Rule 1 - blog about something you are interested in.  You don't actually have to KNOW about it, but you should have an interest because only by having a strong interest in your topic will you be able to make a blog that works for you.

So go and do some real thinking about the subjects that you're passionate about and make a list.  Then check out what blogs are out there and how you could set one up to fill a gap.  If you can help people by delivering some value to them it will be a massive help in getting your blog working.

Rule 2 - Do some keyword research using a free keyword tool like the Google keyword tool and find an exact match for at least 1000 searches a month.  Remember that the Google tool is not particularly accurate and I know people who are making a great living off keywords that are well under the 1000.  But that gives you a good base level of traffic that you know is reasonably accurate and yet not going to be something that you will fail to achieve.

After you've done your homework on the topic and the keywords you need to sort out your hosting.

You can make a blog for free by using free hosting platforms like Wordpress, Blogger and others.

I personally think you should buy a hosting account because only by doing that will you retain a tight control over your blog.

And remember that you're going to be making money with your blog - right?  So you should treat your blog as a business and buy an inexpensive hosting account which, for a bunch of reasons, will give you greater security and flexibility as your blog grows and develops.

Making a blog is fun and can be very lucrative.

Monetizing your blog is easy and generating the extra income from home is not difficult.

But you should make a blog that follows my key rules and build it from there.