1. Buy the PHP script online and download it instantly in the form of a zip package.
   The beauty of buying digital products is that you can download them as soon as you have the urge to experiment. You have the idea, you make the purchase, you download it, and bam, you have it!
2. Unzip the package and find the Install instructions to guide you through the process.
   Usually when you open up the package you downloaded, you’ll see some sort of HTML or text file that they’ll call instructions.txt, install.txt, readme.txt, etc. This will explain how to install the script. This is pretty common.
3. Upload the PHP script’s files to your web server.
   Usually there will be a folder inside the package designated to be the files that make up the script. These are the files you would upload to your web server. Usually the install instructions will tell you something like “Upload all of the files located in the “files/” directory to your web server.
   
   Usually the easiest way for most people to upload the files to your server is with some sort of FTP software. Open up your FTP software, log into your website, drag the files from your computer to your web server. Now this process may take a little while, so go read a book or play a video game. Soon, you’ll be ready to roll!
4. Setup a MySQL database, database username, and password.
   Most likely when you purchased web hosting, your web hosting company gave you a username and password where you login into their website. From there you probably have some sort of interface where you can click around and edit stuff (possibly cPanel or PLESK).
   
   Anyway, look for a button that says “MySQL” or “Databases.” Maybe you’ll see a picture of a dolphin, as this is the MySQL logo. You create a database, and then create a new user for that database.
5. Go to something like YourSite.com/install/
   Most PHP scripts come with some sort of install script that gets uploaded to your web server with the rest of your PHP script’s files. This install script is necessary so that the MySQL database you just created gets configured properly to work with your new PHP script.
   
   In your install instructions you will probably be told to go to a certain address on your web server in order to follow step by step instructions. If you don’t see an address to go to, try just going directly to your website and you may be automatically forwarded to the install script. Many PHP scripts work like this, too.
6. You’re then guided through an easy installation process, step by step, where you’ll eventually put in your MySQL database name, database username, and password.
   It’s become pretty standard that a PHP script you pay money for needs to come with an easy installation script. Generally these are some sort of step by step process that you follow through at your website.
   
   Usually the installation will ask for your information like the title of your website, your e-mail address, an admin username and password. The most important thing it will ask you is your MySQL information. This is so your database can be configured to work properly with your PHP script.
7. Then you delete whatever Install files you uploaded to your server.
   Generally, your install instructions will tell you which files to delete after installing your PHP script. Typically, there will be an “install.php” file or an “/install” directory (fancy talk for folder).

If you wondering how you can make money with setting up a website with a PHP script, or how to find them, check out our previous post:  Using PHP scripts to make big money

In a nutshell, that’s the basic concept of how any PHP script is installed. Keep in mind this is just an overview and general information. PHP scripts come in all forms. So, spend a few dollars, dive in, and experiment a little. See just how easy it is to get started on the Internet.

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The opportunities are endless if you just learn the basics concepts of PHP and MySQL.  You can feel comfortable purchasing one of these PHP scripts, and creating a website with it.  You don’t actually need to know  how to program PHP.  You just need to understand the basic concepts.

The MySQL database holds the information.  PHP operates on the web server, retrieving and storing information in the MySQL database.  HTML and CSS display the final result to the Internet user.  It’s that simple!

How would creating a website with a PHP script actually give me some mad Internet money?

Once again, the concept is simple.  Your website is like NBC’s biggest Thursday night television hit.  The more people that watch it, the more advertisers will pay to have their spots show during the commercial breaks.  The more Internet traffic you can acquire to your website, the more valuable your advertising spaces are.  If you create a social networking website targeted at Houston Singles, and you can get everyone in Houston, Texas surfing your website, advertisers will be jumping at the chance to have their banner appear at the top of the website.

I realize that I make it sound easy, and you need to understand that making this kind money is never that easy.  However, it is possible.  Any business venture is going to be a long road and a risky one.  You may succeed or you may fail, but there is one difference between starting a business with a PHP script and starting a business out in the real world.  With a website like this you’re always going to be starting it for around a few hundred dollars.  Imaging the potential this few hundred dollar investment has!  You wouldn’t find anything like this anywhere, but the Internet.

A few years back I used a PHP script, SocialEngine, to make a social networking website for deaf people.  I bought SocialEngine for around $300 and bought a template for it from MySocialEngine.com to work with the script for about $50.  After $350, I was off and rolling.  Eventually, I figured out that I wasn’t getting enough traffic.  I picked a bad niche, or maybe I didn’t promote the website properly.  Whatever the case, I eventually decided that it wasn’t for me.  I moved on and explored other online business ventures.  I wasted $350 and a few weeks of my time.  No big deal.  Here I am today!

So how do you find these PHP scripts?

This is the best part, my friends.  It’s seriously the easiest thing ever and you’ll probably kick yourself if you’ve never thought of this before.

Imaging you come across some awesome website on the Internet with great functionality and tons of people using it.  You think to yourself, “I wonder if I could make a website like this, but maybe for a different audience of people.”  Well, believe me, you’re not the first person that has had that thought!  Go to Google and search for whatever kind of website it is + “PHP” and you just might find a programmer or company that has already made a clone script for it and is selling it online.

A real life example:

There is this cool website that I found the other day.  I know you’ve probably all heard of it already, but what can I say, I’m a little late on the curve.  The website is FMyLife.com.  People signup and post short, horrible stories about how their life sucks, and thousands and thousands of people are surfing the website reading the latest posts.

So, I went to Google and did the following searches:

FMyLife.com PHP
FMyLife.com PHP script
FMyLife.com PHP clone
FMyLife.com clone script

And guess what? Eventually I found one.  A company actually makes an exact copy of the FMyLife and is selling it for $50.  So, for $50 I could be off and running.  Maybe I could create a website called WhyLifeIsGreat.com and everyone can post the wonderful things that happen to them.

Okay, that’s a totally lame idea, but I hope you get the point.  With PHP scripts, the possibilities are endless.  We can make websites for little money, dabble around, and try different things.  Happy PHP searching, people!

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Let me give you a practical rundown so you can get started on your journey to mad Internet money.

HTML/CSS

Basically, HTML is the code that makes up the look of a website.  Most of what you physically see in the browser when you visit a website is produced with HTML code.  Your browser looks at the HTML source code and displays it as it’s programmed to do.

Next, you have CSS, which basically “aids” the HTML. CSS gives us more control over the way our HTML is displayed. With CSS, we can be more specific with our code declarations.  Where HTML only allows us to put a border around something and choose its color, CSS allows us to choose its width, color, style, and whether it shows right, left, top, or bottom. Get the idea?  CSS simply allows us to take HTML much further.  They are a pair and work great together.

PHP/MySQL

PHP is what we refer to as a server-side programming language.  PHP and MySQL allow us to create dynamic websites – meaning that the website has user functionality.  An example of this would be your websites having members that can login with a username and password.  This is dynamic.  Don’t let that jargon confuse you.  It’s really not that complicated.

A website works by having files on a web server.  PHP is “server-side” because it gives commands for things to be executed on your web server.  This is different from how HTML works, as HTML is simply read by your browser and displays the website.  No changes are being made over on your web server when the HTML code is displayed.

When we talk about MySQL, we’re talking about a database that stores information.  This is necessary for a dynamic website to work.  There needs to a be a database.  If you have a website with members, where else would all the usernames and passwords be stored?

How does it all work together?

The MySQL database stores the information.  The PHP code communicates with the database, storing and retrieving information from it.  The HTML/CSS displays the final result to the Internet user. Simple, right?

Let’s look at a basic example.

Say you have a dynamic website with members.  Your members need to login to the website.  So, you have a login form displayed with HTML code to them. They type in their username and password and click ‘submit.’  Now the PHP script sends that login information to the web server.   The PHP script then finds the username in the MySQL database and checks to make sure the password is correct.   When the password is correct, the PHP then sends back the proper HTML code to display to the user.  Now your member sees the message in their browser, “Welcome back, John!”

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The absolute free alternative to Wordpress
When a lot of people first get into the “blogging” thing, they generally start with a completely free source like Google’s Blogger.  Using something like Blogger will allow you to create a blog with absolutely no cost and hassle attached, making it a convenient choice for many.  However, when you use something like Blogger, your blog is very restricted in what you can actually do with it.

Take it further!
Wordpress allows you to do so much more with your blog.  While Wordpress is free to download and install, it does require you to have your own web hosting and domain name, which you obviously need to pay for.  For Internet newbies, this whole “web hosting” and “domain” business can seem overwhelming.  This is especially true if you’ve been using something like Blogger, where the web hosting was essentially provided to you for free.

By using Wordpress you can get rid of this yoursite.blogspot.com sillyness.  Start telling people to follow your blog at YourSite.com because you actually have a real website now!

The process of actually getting started with Wordpress in a nutshell…

1. Buy a domain: A domain is your web address (i.e. yoursite.com)

2. Buy web hosting:  In order to have a website, the files that make up your website need to be stored on a web server.  You need to rent this from a web hosting company for a fee, plain and simple. Also, you need to make sure that your web hosting includes PHP/MySQL support (this is required for Wordpress and most standard web hosting packages include it).

3. Create a MySQL database:  This database is how Wordpress operates, by storing and receiving information from this database.  It can generally be set up wherever you log in to your web hosting company’s website (usually in a cPanel or PLESK interface).

4. Download Wordpress: Visit http://wordpress.org/download/ and download Wordpress for free.

5. Install Wordpress:  Upload Wordpress to your web server and install it.

Let me make it even simpler for you!
If you just read the 5 steps listed above and it just hit you that you have no idea what you’re doing, don’t worry!  We all had to start somewhere.  When I first got into the Internet biz, I didn’t know a domain from a blog, but here I am today!

GoDaddy actually offers Wordpress specific web hosting packages, where they will take care of setting up your domain, web hosting, and Wordpress Installation.  If you’re just starting out, go for the cheapest one they offer.  It costs $5/month and they set everything up for you!  If you start to get more traffic to your blog and you’re using more bandwidth, then you can always upgrade to a more expensive plan.  So, start cheap and see if you really enjoy the whole blogging thing.

I wish GoDaddy offered this when I made my first blog!

Click Here to see GoDaddy’s Wordpress hosting options.

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First of all, can you actually make money by having a blog on the Internet?
The answer is yes, of course, you can make money blogging! But it’s not as easy as it sounds.  It’s not as simple as just posting a blog and keeping it up-to-date.  Creating a website, writing blogs about something you know, and posting those blogs is the easy part.  The hard part is acquiring an audience.  The more Internet visitors you have to your blog, the more “blog money” you’re going to make.

It’s all about the advertising.  Your blog is like a TV show.  Build an audience and your advertising value will skyrocket.

So how can a blog make money after it’s been setup and has Internet users actually reading it?
From my experience, there are a variety of ways to make money with your blog, but let me give you the basic of the basic.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising: These advertisements simply pay you every time they’re clicked.  Generally, they’re posted in the form of text advertisements.  It’s as simple as a company giving you a piece of HTML code that you copy and paste on your site, and relevant advertisements are automatically feed to your blog.  Google Adsense and Adbrite are examples of companies who offer you this service.

Affiliate Programs: Basically, you put an advertisement on your blog, and when someone follows your link and makes a purchase from your advertiser, you’re paid some sort of commission.  Commissions can be paid to you as a flat fee or a percentage of the sale.  Many companies offer affiliate programs to help promote their services and products.  To get started, try checking out some of the big name affiliate companies like Commission Junction, Links Share, and ClickBooth.

Advertising Space: Anyone can use PPC advertisements and affiliate programs on their blog, but when you get into the big time blogging and the traffic is flowing, you can step it up.  All of a sudden your advertising space becomes prime Internet real estate that can be rented out for a fee.  The formula is simple.  The more traffic you have consistently to your blog, the more your advertising space is worth.

If you have the time and the resources, you can manage your advertising space yourself.  However, I’ve always prefered to just let another company handle it so I don’t have to deal with it.  If you have multiple blogs and online ventures, this makes your blog money a little more automated.  For these types of services, check out BuySellAds.com.

I’m sure you can understand, at this point, why having a lot of people continuing to visit your blog can create a profitable outcome for you.  The more blog visitors you have, the greater your chances are of converting some advertising dollars.

Don’t stop with this blog post.  Use the above list as a starting point for your research.  Now that you have a basic overview, you can go back to Google and start learning more about what we’ve briefly covered.  There is blog money out there to be had. Now go get yours!

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