35 replies
Is it a good idea to use blogger for starting off? I was thinking about it, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make any profit from it. I was thinking starting on blogger, then moving to my own website and host later.
#blogger
  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    There are pros and cons to everything you do.

    What research have you done so far that makes you err in the favor of Blogger?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442171].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author nhieuphan
      Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

      There are pros and cons to everything you do.

      What research have you done so far that makes you err in the favor of Blogger?
      Not really "in favor" of Blogger, I just wanted something free so then I could hopefully make some profit and move onto to the real thing.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442197].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
        Originally Posted by nhieuphan View Post

        Not really "in favor" of Blogger, I just wanted something free so then I could hopefully make some profit and move onto to the real thing.
        Blogger IS owned by Google and its content inherently tends to rank high.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442205].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
          Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

          Blogger IS owned by Google and its content inherently tends to rank high.
          My tests have proven otherwise

          To date I have run 5 tests on this and in the tests I take all of the popular web 2.0 properties and free blogs hosts (wordpress, squidoo, blogspot, weebly, wetpaint etc.) and I test them against a .com domain name on a webhost.

          All of the factors are same (same number of backlinks, same type of content, same quality of backlinks etc.) and in the end any all of the free properties never beat the self-hosted blog.

          Like I said, I have run this test 5 times over the past 1 1/2 year so I am pretty sure with where I am going
          Signature

          “The first draft of anything is shit.” ~Ernest Hemingway

          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442731].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author CyberSorcerer
            Originally Posted by Mohammad Afaq View Post

            My tests have proven otherwise

            To date I have run 5 tests on this and in the tests I take all of the popular web 2.0 properties and free blogs hosts (wordpress, squidoo, blogspot, weebly, wetpaint etc.) and I test them against a .com domain name on a webhost.

            All of the factors are same (same number of backlinks, same type of content, same quality of backlinks etc.) and in the end any all of the free properties never beat the self-hosted blog.

            Like I said, I have run this test 5 times over the past 1 1/2 year so I am pretty sure with where I am going
            I'm teach blogger to my students and I find you need a little more research into your theory about that.

            I have plenty of examples too, along with my own blogger blogs that rank but I'll give just one for you here to save space. Naturally this might change if someone sees this post a month from now, so keep that in mind ya'all.

            Do a search on "make money online with blogger" - no quotes a broad search and the first result "Problogger" is a top blog, carlocab.com ranks first page for "make money one" but someone that's wants blogger would ad it to the search like I did because that's what their looking for specifically.

            And what do you know, in with all those big wigs, ranking #3, is Make Money Online | Webtalks

            Just saying it would be nice to help newbies out when they are asking about a way to get started without spending money right up front; because, times are hard and even $15 might be a lot of money to them.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3443010].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author younginoc
              Originally Posted by CyberSorcerer View Post

              I'm teach blogger to my students and I find you need a little more research into your theory about that.

              I have plenty of examples too, along with my own blogger blogs that rank but I'll give just one for you here to save space. Naturally this might change if someone sees this post a month from now, so keep that in mind ya'all.

              Do a search on "make money online with blogger" - no quotes a broad search and the first result "Problogger" is a top blog, carlocab.com ranks first page for "make money one" but someone that's wants blogger would ad it to the search like I did because that's what their looking for specifically.

              And what do you know, in with all those big wigs, ranking #3, is Make Money Online | Webtalks

              Just saying it would be nice to help newbies out when they are asking about a way to get started without spending money right up front; because, times are hard and even $15 might be a lot of money to them.
              Wow. Very interesting. Went there and checked it out. Indeed #3 on Google. And what is really interesting too, is that the guy hasn't posted for 5 months!!!
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3446175].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author CyberSorcerer
                Originally Posted by younginoc View Post

                Wow. Very interesting. Went there and checked it out. Indeed #3 on Google. And what is really interesting too, is that the guy hasn't posted for 5 months!!!
                Thanks younginoc,

                This person also knows a little about making money using blogger, because, I see some important clues in his blog.

                For one, are the two Adsense units he has "above the fold" on his site. Which I covereded in my chat session on Talk Marketing Now this last Saturday, thanks CD for the opportunity to speak on your show by the way.

                The person that runs that blog also post why he hasn't purchased a domain, also if you read some of his post, his pagerank, and Alexa, numbers are pretty good to. And not just because you put a blog up on Blogger doesn't mean you're automatically going to get good pagerank because Google owns it. Look around at some of the other normal blogs on there and you'll see for yourself that isn't the case.

                Now understand, if IM is your career choice and you expect to make a full-time living at it then eventually you do need to get your own domain and hosting so you can move onto bigger and better things. But when you're starting out broke and can't even afford the $10, etc, then using Blogger, or free hosting, is an option until you get to where you're making enough to purchase hosting and a domain.

                If you're able to grow your business from the ground floor, which is using FREE hosting, then I have full confidence in your ability to sustain a full-time income at IM and make a career at it.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3446485].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by nhieuphan View Post

    I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make any profit from it. I was thinking starting on blogger, then moving to my own website and host later.
    There are certainly people who've done that successfully, albeit with some later cost and/or inconvenience and sometimes some regrets.

    There are others (including many who have posted here about their experiences) who've had their blogs summarily deleted by Blogger, often without quite appreciating exactly what they've done wrong, so idiosyncratic and inconsistent are Blogger's interpretations of their own ambiguously drafted terms of service.

    If money's the issue, I have a suggestion for you. Start with a self-hosted Wordpress blog using the very reliable, advertising-free, well-established free hosting at Byethost.com. If you want to, later, you can decide to upgrade to their paid-for hosting instead, without having to move anything. Much easier!

    Other places where you can do equivalent things (albeit not with a Wordpress blog per se) are Weebly, Yola and Blinkweb.

    I'm not saying you'll necessarily have problems through using Blogger to start, just that there are safer, equally free, perhaps qualitatively better alternatives, which also don't leave you with a "future moving problem".
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442248].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author rmoore
      Go for a Self Hosted Wordpress Blog:

      This will be the best money you have spent in online marketing.
      • $10 for a domain ( .com if possible)
      • $5-$10 per month for hosting.

      Honestly...you should at least be willing to spend $10 per month if you are serious.

      With Blogger you are never 100% in control.

      -Rusty
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442267].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BruceWood
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      There are certainly people who've done that successfully, albeit with some later cost and/or inconvenience and sometimes some regrets.

      There are others (including many who have posted here about their experiences) who've had their blogs summarily deleted by Blogger, often without quite appreciating exactly what they've done wrong, so idiosyncratic and inconsistent are Blogger's interpretations of their own ambiguously drafted terms of service.

      If money's the issue, I have a suggestion for you. Start with a self-hosted Wordpress blog using the very reliable, advertising-free, well-established free hosting at Byethost.com. If you want to, later, you can decide to upgrade to their paid-for hosting instead, without having to move anything. Much easier!
      There it is. The reason not to use Blogger, and a free solution!
      Excellent!
      It's a regretful sinking kind of rage that will come over you when your blogger account disappears and you have to start over.
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442991].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Peter Gehr
    In my opinion, there's no harm in getting your feet wet with Blogger.

    It's free and offers an easy format for beginners and professionals alike.

    I'm all for making money on something that was free, as opposed to spending money on something you are likely to make mistakes with. If you make a mistake on Blogger, it's rectifiable, free and you learn and grow as you go.

    Once confident and you see traffic coming to your blog as a result of your keyword research and due diligence, then looking at paying options will just come naturally.

    Beware of the temptation to rush--will be regret it via $ lost.

    Nothing wrong with risk management, innovation, new ideas, new systems and products, but FREE has a magic ring to it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442306].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BobAlou1026
      Eventually you will want to learn how to make your own website because then you will truly understand your business.

      Not understanding how your business works is like raising a child without knowing how a human being functions.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442437].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Alaister
        My first every blog was a blogger. You can use it as a great learning experience. As you get more serious you would probably become more sophisticated and get a wordpress blog. It is a lot more flexible and versatile.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442453].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author gwedge
    Just get over to blogger and get something up there. Its far better to get something online and get going than to procrastinate over whether you should or shouldn't start there.
    Blogger is very easy to use and as has already been stated its owned by Google and therefore somewhat favored. Experiment a bit and see what you can do. As soon as you are ready though most would recommend your own wordpress blog and hosting. Its still very cheap and a lot more serious businesses are conducted using those.

    regards
    George
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442509].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    If you are beginning online it’s a good idea to start using a Blogger blog so that you may learn how to be a blogger. Blogger’s free platform is very simple. However, it’s dangerous to rely on Blogger because you may suddenly lose all your work.

    I lost 4 blogger blogs in 2009 because a hacker got my passwords and they were infected by Malware, a very common problem that affects many blogger blogs.

    I suggest you keep changing your password at blogger every month for ex, so that you may somehow protect your blog from hackers.

    Start using Blogger and keep your blog. It may help you in many ways if you’ll be lucky and nothing bad will happen to you. Many people keep a blogger blog for years and years without any problems.

    All the best!


    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442593].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author VOnline
    Eh.
    Just go and get started with blogger. No point wasting time now.

    When the time is up, you will want to change to something else.
    Good luck!
    Signature
    WardrobeStaples.com
    Pleasures of Effortlessly Receiving New Wardrobe Essentials Every Month


    Feel good about throwing out old clothes because you know there’ll be a new one waiting for you at the door.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442752].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MarkWrites
    If you are exploring internet marketing to see if it is for you, Blogger is a great place to do a no-cost study, as well as learn a little bit about both IM and yourself.

    If you have already decided that this is the direction you want to move towards, then if at all possible you should probably find a way to afford the $5-10 per month that a self-hosted site will cost you.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442757].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author rcritchett
    Great question. I think blogging is a great way to start any online venture, particularly because it gives the blogosphere an idea of who you are and what you're about.

    I use to underestimate the power of authority bloggers knowing who you are and then I built relationships with some of them. Needless to say, that helped me tremendously!
    Signature

    We do mail-in iPhone Repair Services, Nationwide in the US. LCD/Digitizer Glass Replacement And More.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442825].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nhieuphan
    That's for the advice guys. I think I'll just go with starting on blogger, then moving to the paid options, to get a feel before I dig in deeper.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442946].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MarkWrites
    Even when you do move on to your own sites, you can still use your old Blogger blog as a place to link to your new sites from.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3442966].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author asteria
    You should go with wordpress though, at least with wordpress you could use an autoblogger and it would automatically blog for you if you want. More content might increasing your chances of being viewed at lot more, but slowly though, it could even take months. It's better than nothing. If you want traffic and can pay a little for it'd recommend this way [on my signature] hope this helps.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3443003].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author haymanpl
    Blogger is one of the best free hosted sites to use when you start off however, you may consider wordpress.com as you will also learn the basics of wordpress which may benefit you if you decide to start your own wordpress.org self hosted blog down the track. Wordpress also offer a free import tool to transfer all your data from blogger or wordpress.com to wordpress.org when you are ready.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3443903].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author bigjara
    Blogger is a great way to get started. It's how I got started in internet marketing. It's free, easy to set up, and a great way to just learn your way around.
    Signature

    Want an uncensored look into the life of an internet marketer? Check out my blog The Chronicle of a Dropout

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3445101].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author irakly
    Actualy the blogger is best for starting

    Originally Posted by nhieuphan View Post

    Is it a good idea to use blogger for starting off? I was thinking about it, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make any profit from it. I was thinking starting on blogger, then moving to my own website and host later.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3445317].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author maxsi
    It will be a great thing if you buy a professional domain + hosting...

    Do not forget that your sales depend by your "Professional image" and Blogger can't give you this thing because it's free (people know it's a free service). However do not limit yourself about your content, create a powerful website and publish the same content on different platforms.

    In this way you will attract more people (receive more results) from the same content. It's simple.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3445482].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author myob
      I've told my story about blogger before, but recent events seems to make it a possible option. Years ago, before I knew any better, I set up hundreds and hundreds of blogger blogs, queueing them up for a year with not much more than slightly modified PLR articles. At one point I think I had nearly 500 blogger sites, LOL!

      Over the years they started disappearing for no explainable reason, until now there are only a few dozen or so left. Those remaining blogs, however, are still pulling in some hefty Adsense income and Amazon/Clicbank commissions. Nothing further has happened in the past 18 months, but there is no explainable reason why these blogs in particular have survived while so many others got nuked.

      But here's a twist. Just recently, my affiliate sales and Adsense income from these remaining blogs began increasing quite dramatically. These haven't even been touched for nearly two years, yet I just noticed they have skipped several pages higher in Google ranking. Again, there is no explanation why.

      Would I do this again? Probably not, for reasons cited above and by others. But yet again ..... ?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3446054].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author kayden57
    Banned
    Avoid Blogger at all costs! Go with a self-hosted WP blog. Make the $20 investment in a domain and some hosting. You won't regret it.

    This way, there is no chance of you waking up one morning to see all of your hard work in the toilet because of Google's extreme unpredictability.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3446555].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Blogger B
    Blogger has its place and can be a great way to learn some things. But you don't really want to start your business there. If your plan is to learn some things about the actual blogging process, but not lock your income into their system, then go and get started. It is a "real" blog and you can learn how to be a "real" blogger. But if you tie yourself to this blog, then you are in dangerous waters, because you don't own it and Google can just delete it for a violation that you never knew you did. And you have zero recourse if that happens. It may never happen and you could have great success with Blogger. But why risk it when Wordpress is dominating the market anyway, and there are options that are just as free as Blogger. Do both, they're free. That is the beauty of free. Testing and learning don't bleed you dry. Good luck.
    Signature
    To blog or not to blog? That is the question!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3446905].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author asteria
    What he said ^^^ use blogger if you're beginner and wordpress if you want to try something new. But seriously go with wordpress.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3447229].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    I'm teach blogger to my students and I find you need a little more research into your theory about that.
    Well I have done more than enough research (I mentioned that I conducted 30 day tests, did I?) to test my "theory" and I am pretty sure about it

    Now, I also used to believe google gives blogger more weight because I remember two blogger blogs ranking for "make money online" in google. They were ranked #1 and #2 respectively.

    One of the blogs was: Make Money Online and other one I don't remember but they both dropped and now they are no where to be found on the first page.

    Now I won't say google hates blogger or something like that but my tests have proved (atleast for me) that blogger isn't the best choice.
    Signature

    “The first draft of anything is shit.” ~Ernest Hemingway

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3447272].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author CyberSorcerer
      Originally Posted by Mohammad Afaq View Post

      Well I have done more than enough research (I mentioned that I conducted 30 day tests didn't I?) to test my "theory" and I am pretty sure about it

      Now, I also used to believe google gives blogger more weight because I remember two blogger blogs ranking for "make money online" in google. They were ranked #1 and #2 respectively.

      One of the blogs was: Make Money Online and other one I don't remember but they both dropped and now they are no where to be found on the first page.

      Now I won't say google hates blogger or something like that but my tests have proved (atleast for me) that blogger isn't the best choice.
      Yes, I know the blog you mentioned and I've even had it in one of my videos on my YouTube channel along with the other one your trying to remember.

      There are a few reasons he's dropped, along with the others, and I'm sure this latest Google update didn't help him much either. He doesn't post new content all that often, which is probably why he just has the time in his post and not the date.

      BUT!!! as I keep saying, I don't say Blogger is where you should base you business on. It's just a stepping stone for you to get some money so you can purchase a domain name and hosting and move onto better things. Blogger, and free hosting, will only take you so far and that's it. If you want to progress further you'll need to move onto owning your own domains and having a mailing list. Yes, hosting isn't an asset but your mailing list is.

      Also, after you get your own domain name and hosting you still don't have to bother with your Blogger sites. Just leave them along. I'm still making money from Adsense from blogs I've had on Blogger for 3-5 years now.

      But new person starting out will go with what ever person, coach, mentor, guru, what ever, etc that they are following. Guess what, if you have a teacher that doesn't believe in Blogger then your not going to be taught Blogger!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3447376].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Danervin
    Depends on if you plan on making decent money. I would use blogger if you are just starting and getting the hang of things. I would pay for a domain once you have a good plan in place.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3448658].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    BUT!!! as I keep saying, I don't say Blogger is where you should base you business on. It's just a stepping stone for you to get some money so you can purchase a domain name and hosting and move onto better things. Blogger, and free hosting, will only take you so far and that's it. If you want to progress further you'll need to move onto owning your own domains and having a mailing list. Yes, hosting isn't an asset but your mailing list is.
    Well I would say this sums it all up. ^^

    I just had a bad experience with blogger because I used it myself when I started out and it worked okay but the biggest problem I had was that I built a lot of content and backlinks to my blogger site.

    But when I eventually moved to my own blog, moving content wasn't a problem. The only problem I had was with the backlinks as you cannot place a 301 redirect (I think that's what it is) on a subdomain.

    So lost all of my backlinks and that sucked because that blog had over a 5000 of them.

    One year's work, gone down the drain.

    This and a hundred other experiences later, I decided that I should do my business "the professional way" the very first time and that's what I preach because I don't want people to make the same mistakes I did.
    Signature

    “The first draft of anything is shit.” ~Ernest Hemingway

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3449297].message }}

Trending Topics