What do I need to know to start a semi-commercialized blog?

I have a niche blog idea, and I think it has real potential. I want to model it on something like Lifehacker or Zenhabits (more like Zenhabits actually), where posts provide some degree of instruction or utility and can eventually be aggregated into spinoff products like an ebook (see here or a regular book like this one).

I can even get the domain name I want. (Sweet!) It’s not taken yet.

I know next to nothing about the technical aspects of blogging, although I understand that Wordpress and Textsomething are popular.

What should I do and what should I read? Should I partner with someone, and if so, who? How do I get it to pay for itself and maybe generate some income?

What do I need to know about copyright and drawing from other sources on the Internet?