I started my tea blog in July of last year. It was my first time writing a blog, although I had produced small websites before. I didn’t really have a specific goal in mind. Since I’m a tea lover, I wanted to write about Japanese tea (my favorite) and I knew that what I could 
write about would be as good or better than what was currently out there. Now that I think of it, it was one of the best decisions that I’ve made.
How I started my blog:
First, I bought my domain and opened a hosting account. Again, this isn’t hard to do. You can pay with credit card or your Paypal account. The fees are quite low, no need to worry about that.
To create the blog itself, I used wordpress.org. There were many good things being said about WordPress so I decided to give it a try. It’s a free platform to create blogs, but no special technical knowledge is required. Writing a blog is very easy nowadays; just about anyone can do it. Finally, I downloaded a theme for my site’s design, and that was it. The rest was writing and taking pictures for my posts, along with tweaking/experimenting a bit.
What I’ve gained from tea blogging:
Before anything else, I want to make clear that getting a decent income from blogging about tea is extremely difficult. I get less than five dollars per month in advertisements, and at the beginning it was cents. The reason for this is lack of traffic because the audience is not as big as for other topics. If you’re in it for the money, you’ll most likely be quickly disappointed.
However if you own a tea related business, a tea blog can be a great asset. The traffic it sends your way can be converted into customers. And the market for tea is not only big, but it’s growing! Since I do some tea reviews in my blog, I do get free samples every now and then. This is one thing that I enjoy. Getting new teas from companies is exciting!
I also had the opportunity to meet and interact with other tea bloggers and people in the industry. I’ve made new friends, and readers of my blog write me emails or comments that I’m happy to reply to. Another important aspect is the skills I obtained thanks to blogging. I learned about online marketing, social media, setting up blogs, writing guest posts, etc. That alone makes the whole experience worth it, from a professional point of view.
If you’ve been wanting to start your own blog, now is a good time to do so. You have little to lose and a lot to gain.
You can read Ricardo’s blog here.
Welcome to blogging Ricardo. I started T Ching in 2006 and it has been a wonderful experience for me. We have grown considerably and are currently ranked by Invesp as the #1 tea blog on the internet.
Thank you Michelle, I’m happy to be a contributor for T Ching.
My aim is to be the #1 tea blog about Japanese teas : )
With patience and interesting, relevant posts, I have no doubt you will succeed. You’re on your way. Please keep us posted along your journey.
I would be interested in reading a post about Japanese teas and the impact the nuclear disaster has had on the industry. Many people are still concerned about consuming teas from the closest regions to the site. I realize the FDA is testing teas from Japan as they enter the U.S. Unfortunately the FDA has lost its perceived position as a respected gatekeeper for the American food supply.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll make sure to write about that topic in the near future.
Keep on good work, my friend.