It doesn’t take much experience to run a Photoshop tutorial blog these days, and the pay out is not bad either. All it takes is some average Photoshop skills, web hosting, and a domain name. Tutorial blogs have always been my source for quick and easy money. In fact, the past 5 years I have ran and sold, a total of 6 tutorial blogs. I sold each blog after only 1-2 months of opening, leaving me with $400-600 a piece. Each blog cost nearly no money to start, was easy to manage, and sold no problem. Today I will be explaining how you can start and sell your very first tutorial blog.

Before you run out and buy a domain name, take a little time to think about if you really want to invest the time running a tutorial blog. Running a tutorial blog will require you to spend several hours a week writing unique Photoshop tutorials. This is not as easy as it sounds, and you will go through times where you can’t find the inspiration to write new tutorials. Consider if the payout is worth it to you as well. Did I scare you off yet? Good, now that you’re committed, lets get started.

The first step towards launching a tutorial blog is purchasing a domain name. It can be frustrating finding the perfect domain, but there are still plenty available. I generally stick to one of the following formats.

__________tutorials.com
tutorial__________.com
__________tuts.com
tut__________.com

I recommend doing the same. Having tutorial(s) in the domain name is great for search engine optimization. There are tons of different domain registrars and everyone has one that they prefer. My favorite has always been Name Cheap. There domain names are competitively priced, and I’ve never had any issues with them.

Now, that you’ve got a domain we’ll need web hosting. Just like with domains, there are plenty of places to buy hosting. For the past few years I have been hosting all my sites through This Web Host. You won’t need anything more then a basic shared hosting package. This should cost you around $5~ a month.

By now you have a domain name and hosting set up and ready to use. The next step is to installWordPress and find a theme. I recommend designing your own. You have to think about what the buyer wants. A custom theme looks a hell of a lot more professional then a generic theme that 50 other sites are using. Custom theme’s generally cost around $100 to code, but I always design and code them myself. If you choose to hire a coder, I recommend going with me (of coarse). If creating a custom theme just isn’t an option, you should at least customize a downloaded theme, making it look somewhat unique.

Make sure to include register links in your theme. The more user registers you get the more value the blog will hold. You are also going to want to install the plugin called Hide Content. Hide Content is is a simple plugin which will allow you to hide content from non registered users. Pretty obvious huh? Once you start posting tutorials be sure to offer the source files for every tutorial to registered members. This will give visitors a reason to join. Posting the psd’s for members really will help a lot. Remember to turn email activation on to help avoid fake registers. I also recommend that you add a retweet button to your post loop. This will help you get more traffic as well. There are plenty of free plugins for this.

All right, you’re now to the point where you will be writing tutorials. If you’re looking to start something long term, I recommend writing slow, high quality, tutorials. Trust me, in the long run quality content will go a lot farther and be more beneficial. If you’re looking to make quick money you should pump out 3-4 tutorials a week. Write tutorials on unique topics that aren’t too difficult to explain through words. This includes tutorials on text effects, web graphics, photo effects, etc. Make sure every tutorial you write is good enough to get accepted to good-tutorials, and other majors tutorial directories (pixel2life,designbump, etc). These will be your main source of traffic. Using proper grammar and plenty of pictures/screenshots will help make this possible. Have your friends rate your tutorials as well, honestly of coarse. Sometimes great tutorials get rejected simply because of too few ratings. Tutorials shouldn’t take longer than 45 minutes to write. If it’s taking you hours on end to write a tutorial you’re doing something wrong and should look into it. Continue writing and posting tutorials for at least 1 month. Chances are you will write a tutorial that gets way more hits then all your others. Write similar tutorials once you figure out what works for you. Throughout this month the user registers, comments, and traffic will skyrocket. When your blog reaches around 20,000 unique visitors, 100 registers, and a grip of comments, you are ready to sell. Those numbers may seem high at first, but each tutorial can bring in 1000+ unique from good tutorials alone.

Once you’re ready to sell, it’s as simple as listing your blog on Flippa. Make sure to post all your statistics and emphasize how much the site has grown in only one month. Be completely honest with people though, no one like’s a liar and it’s not worth getting negative feedback over. I usually set my starting bid at 1$ and the buy it now price at $600. You will probably get a few private messages asking you to buy it for $XXX, slightly cheaper then the buy it now price. If the offer sounds fair you should take it. It’s not a guarantee that someone else with buy your blog, plus nobody likes waiting a month for the auction to end.

Congratulations, you just sold your first tutorial blog! I really hope the process went as smooth as it usually does for me. Go out and celebrate, and don’t spend your money all on one place! Below is some proof of my success.