Blogger or your own Hosted Blog ?

by The Skint IM

Posted: 16 years ago 33 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi Warriors,

I am new to posting here so go easy

For the past 9 months I have been researching "making money online / Internet Marketing" (90% of what I have learned is from this forum - thanks)

Recently I found myself in the position where I felt I was able to answer some posts from "newbies" and this motivated me to take action. All I have done is research, research, research and not implemented anything I have learned.

I decided a few days ago, now is the time.

I have wasted around $1000 on lots of rubbish promoted online to help you "make money online". It was money I couldn't really afford but I thought I was investing in my future. I have now decided to make a start as a skint IM - basically not willing to invest any more of my own money (not that I have much) on setting myself up as an Internet Marketer.

My plan is to earn what I can using free resources to start and then reinvest my earnings in websites, blogs, articles, etc.. things that will in turn churn a profit and not waste it on the latest Big Launch Product.

I have a question I hope you can help - Should I stick with my blogspot blog or should I invest my first earnings on a domain name and hosting?

I don't really plan to monetize my blog as I am only using that blog (in my sig) to keep a diary for myself of everything I am doing and as a reference for others starting out in IM with no money.

My starting plan is to setup websites for Adsense & Affiliate marketing (landing pages, squeeze pages, etc..) and promote them through backlinks and article marketing. To enable me to get the funds to start, I am offering my services to IM'ers needing various tasks done (again in my sig)

Thanks to all who can offer advice, I hope I am heading in the right direction.

#blog #blogger #hosted

JayXtreme 16 years ago

Your own hosted blog...

I use blogger and wordpress for many things, but never as a substitute for your own domain and hosting...

Peace

Jay
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Peter Adamson 16 years ago

From what you are saying I personally think you'd be better off with Blogger. You will get more visibility, crawled faster etc. If you build backlinks it will climb in the rankings faster than your own blog. Why waste the money? Create a blog on your own domain when you are ready to monetise.

PS Great name... Skint IM...
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patJ 16 years ago

Get your own domain. Who knows if blogger ever shuts down? Then all your work is for nothing. So, get a domain ASAP.
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Amy Bass 16 years ago

If you are thinking LONG TERM and want to build a BUSINESS instead of just an income I would go your own hosted blog route.
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The Skint IM 16 years ago

Thanks for the replies.

As soon as I get the first $100 I will invest in a domain and hosting.

Thanks again
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- Martin Luxton 16 years ago
  
  I think you'll find your answer here
  
  http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-fired-me.html
  
  Originally Posted by The Skint IM
  
  Thanks for the replies.
  
  As soon as I get the first $100 I will invest in a domain and hosting.
  
  Thanks again
  
  Don't wait for your first $100. Start paying now!
  
  Hostgator $7.95 a month (search for a coupon code which gives you the first month for 1 cent).
  
  Godaddy domain for $7.49 (search for "godaddy coupon code" to get up to $3 of the normal $10.49 price).
  
  Cost for first 4 months $31.35 (if you get the two discounts).
  
  Probably the best $31.35 you'll ever spend.
  
  Martin
  
  Thanks
  
  2 replies
  
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  Keith Kogane 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Peter Adamson
  
  From what you are saying I personally think you'd be better off with Blogger. You will get more visibility, crawled faster etc.
  
  Uh, no. A self-hosted wordpress blog will get indexed and crawled just as fast as a blogger blog because they will both ping ping-o-matic when you first start posting.
  
  Originally Posted by Peter Adamson
  
  If you build backlinks it will climb in the rankings faster than your own blog.
  
  Totally wrong. A blogger blog has an identical chance to climb the SERPs to any other website you're building links to.
  
  Originally Posted by Peter Adamson
  
  Why waste the money?
  
  If you're serious about making money online, investing in your own virtual real estate is NOT wasted money. Doing anything else is wasted TIME.
  
  Originally Posted by Peter Adamson
  
  Create a blog on your own domain when you are ready to monetise.
  
  If you create a blog on your own domain, most likely you will be getting traffic and rankings BEFORE you are ready to monetize, so when you finally do, you'll actually see some significant results right out of the gate.
  
  Originally Posted by Peter Adamson
  
  PS Great name... Skint IM...
  
  He's probably going to keep feeling that way if he listens to you - for real, dude - where do you get your information from?
  
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  NTN Banned 16 years ago
  
  I've never understood why people allow others to control their income.
  
  Always control your own destiny.
  
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bgmacaw

16 years ago

Originally Posted by The Skint IM

For the past 9 months I have been researching "making money online / Internet Marketing"

"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." - Bruce Lee

Originally Posted by The Skint IM

I have a question I hope you can help - Should I stick with my blogspot blog or should I invest my first earnings on a domain name and hosting?

Search Google for 'make money online' and you'll have the answer to many of your questions.

Thanks
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The Skint IM

16 years ago

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

Search Google for 'make money online' and you'll have the answer to many of your questions.

When I first decided to come online to try to make money thats the first thing I did and It cost me around $1000 and everything I purchased or signed up for was terrible. I signed up for one "system" which was nothing other than get others to sign up for the "system" and earn commission. There was no real product or "system" as such, just a weird sort of refer people earn commission.
I then found the Warrior Forum and lurked for 9 months.

Keith: Thanks for dissecting that one, it helps because I felt the info conflicted with what I have learned and as I'm not yet fully convinced of my "knowledge" I was confused. But thanks to the poster as I am sure his information was well intentioned.

Martin: Thanks for the info, I will do this. My first hurdle is getting the money together. My other concern was if I signed up to a hosting package for a year and spent great effort setting up a website, but then didn't earn enough to pay the following months fees. This is why I wanted the $100 to start, in order to pay for a years hosting up-front to at least give myself a chance. However I take your point on getting started asap and appreciate what you mean. Thanks

Thanks all

Thanks
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bgmacaw

16 years ago

Originally Posted by The Skint IM

When I first decided to come online to try to make money thats the first thing I did and It cost me around $1000 and everything I purchased or signed up for was terrible.

I suggest you do the search again and look very, very, closely at the ugly Blogger blog that's probably in the #1 position and is intended for beginners. I would give you the link but he has asked me to no longer post it here.

Thanks
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bluegold14 16 years ago

Since you've decided to take action why don't you join Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge? Your only investment will be in domain registering and hosting, but you can get free hosting at 000webhost, so all you need is around $10. ($8.81 at namecheap, with privacy protection)
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- barbling 16 years ago
  
  Free Web Hosting and Domain Name Registration Services by Doteasy.com offers free hosting as well. I've helped out at another site hosted there for 2 years and it does the job.
  
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bgmacaw

16 years ago

Originally Posted by John McEachern

So, what are your feelings on Blogger blogs? Are you for them? I liked them up until today when one of my blogs got flagged. I don't think I'm doing anything, but it was flagged just the same.

I have about 50 niche Blogger blogs and I've only had one flagged once.

The Blogger spam detection 'bot is rather aggressive in defending against automation attempts. This can sometimes include cut-and-paste posting or placing Javascript inside a post, especially on newer blogs. Just request a visual inspection and they'll turn your blog back on. They'll only delete it if you don't respond because a BH spammer wouldn't bother. Just make sure your content can pass a visual inspection.

Newer blogs seem to be under greater scrutiny than older established ones with consistent traffic and postings.

I do agree with the idea that its best over the long term to establish your own domain(s). However, I think that people tend to dismiss Blogger blogs too quickly and for the wrong reasons.

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bgmacaw 16 years ago

Originally Posted by John McEachern

Do you mind if I ask what you do with your blogs?

It was eBay EPN up until their recent rule change. Now I'm trying out a few different affiliates to see what will perform the best. Adsense isn't a good fit for these blogs since most would be 5 to 25 cent clicks.

Originally Posted by John McEachern

Do you set up different accounts for all of your blogs?

Blogger accounts? Yes. It helps me place them into distinct groups for easier management. It's unclear if Google has a particular number of blogs on one account as a red flag but they do keep a watch for this. Automated software is sometimes used to build a lot of junk blogs quickly so their anti-spam tools try to prevent this. By having just a few accounts per ID you avoid this.
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Shane Hale 16 years ago

Definitely stay with your own hosted blog you will have more control over it in the long run!
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Shana_Adam 16 years ago

For a short term strategy you can use free resources to build the cash flow. Then it is vital to have your own hosted website that you own.

Many of these free for all companies like squidoo can easily pull the plug on your hard work. Recently I have noticed many ezine authors with such high article views pointing to a squidoo lens and voila the lens is locked. I'm talking about 40K views in 3 months.

Also if your in the market to stay you need to be carving out your own corner, make a name brand yourself. Therefore creating long term sustainability. Internet marketing is the same as having an offline business you need to make a name and then multiply and multiply!
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David Walker

16 years ago

If you are serious about setting up a proper online business and not just messing about with a "hobby blog" then you MUST get your own domain and hosting.

You can get perfectly good hosting for less than $5 a month and a .com domain name will cost you less than $10 per year.

Not only will you look more professional and be taken seriously, but did you know that by blogging on a free service like Wordpress.com or Blogspot, you don't actually OWN your content? It belongs to the company that hosts your blog.

Incredible but true.

Plus, if a competitor wants to get shot of you, one spiteful email to Wordpress.com or Blogspot and you could be toast. No warnings. No backups. Just all your hard work gone up in virtual smoke.

It's not worth the risk. You may be skint start your business off on the right foot and spend a couple of dollars to secure the ownership of your own content.

David

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bgmacaw

16 years ago

Originally Posted by David Walker

but did you know that by blogging on a free service like Wordpress.com or Blogspot, you don't actually OWN your content? It belongs to the company that hosts your blog.

But did you know you were wrong?

Blogger: Terms of Service

"Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services."

Originally Posted by David Walker

Plus, if a competitor wants to get shot of you, one spiteful email to Wordpress.com or Blogspot and you could be toast. No warnings. No backups. Just all your hard work gone up in virtual smoke.

Your host or domain registrar could suspend your account for bandwidth usage, spamming, DMCA violations, TOS violations, etc. No warnings. No backups. Just all your hard work gone up in virtual smoke.

There's always a worse case scenario no matter where you host.

Incredible but true.

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David Walker

16 years ago

Judging from your response you are likely to be a keen user of such free services but even if you were hit by an unexpected account closure from your hosted blog, you have more control beforehand to make regular backups of your content.

A bit of due diligence doesn't go amiss.

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rlscott2 16 years ago

Always remain in control of your own destiny. You can only do that with your own blog.
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allsolution4all

Banned 16 years ago

[DELETED]

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HomeBizNizz

16 years ago

Originally Posted by allsolution4all

I will recommend you go for free blog which is blogspot sincence it is not for money making aim. But if you want to look professional then get a domain name and hosting and host your blog. In this case then you need to use word press blog.

Go for Wordpress.com
Gives you experience then you get your own hosted
Wordpress blog on own domain.
Easier transition. :p

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freddy smith 16 years ago

i use 000webhost, i found it good, until now, i not have any problem with it
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- Hyaku_Man 16 years ago
  
  You've been reading books for 9 months and taking no action? Holy s*it man. Get moving FAST. You haven't learned anything yet. Learning comes from doing, not from reading.
  
  Since you don't have experience yet, you need to get experience like RIGHT NOW so I would suggest you use free hosted blogger because you can get it up without delay. Set up a couple projects so you can get used to doing the keyword research, content building, and promotion, and monetize with Adsense (it's the simplest to get setup). Get the process moving. People are telling you to build your business, but I think you'll be spinning in circles if you start building a core business right off the bat (and you've done enough spinning already). You need some momentum.
  
  I make a decent amount of change on free blogger blogs (almost all my Adsense-earning sites, so probably $50+ a day from blogger blogs). Nowadays most of my new sites are on Wordpress, self-hosted.
  
  Everyone here seems to think that if you start with blogger you have to stay with blogger forever. :confused: It's just a good way to start fast, without wasting another 9 months sitting around.
  
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itcoll 16 years ago

Blogger blogs are cool - but the problem is the non-availability of a feature that allows unique meta descriptions and keywords.Anyway i use blogger blogs and iam fully satisfied with it.Go with a blogger blog if you do not want to spend money.
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- mikeyman120 16 years ago
  
  I just host my own blogs.
  
  Mike
  
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The Skint IM 16 years ago

Thanks everyone, your feedback has been very valuable to me.

Im still trying to get the funds together but when I do I think I will go self hosted.
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- barbling 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by The Skint IM
  
  Thanks everyone, your feedback has been very valuable to me.
  
  Im still trying to get the funds together but when I do I think I will go self hosted.
  
  At the very least, go grab your name site at Wordpress and Blogger - , ie
  
  yourname.wordpress.com
  yourname.blogspot.com
  
  It's free and that way, your name will start getting indexed in the search engines and you can start building your brand.
  
  Once you have enough to go self-hosted, you can use a redirect for your domain name and stay with that blog or (much better) transfer all the posts to your own self-hosted site.
  
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The Skint IM 16 years ago

Hi Ken,

Cheap?
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hhayman 16 years ago

Why not create a self hosted blog as your main site (so that you are in control) and then create a bunch of smaller Blogger blogs as feeder sites to your main site.

That was my first successful business model, as you take advantage of the Blogger traffic and exposure, but you have the flexibility of your own site to monetize it effectively.
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Zukario 16 years ago

I suggest you to stick with blogspot and if you are earning some profits then, you can think of hosting own blog.
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andymurray 16 years ago

Get your own domain and hosting.

I use Hostgator, been with them for ages and
am very satisfied with their service. They are
always available on live chat to answer any
questions.

I pay around $9 per domain with Namecheapa and
simply add that to my already existing hosting. No
additonal fees as the cpanel allows you to add on
domains.

Andy
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