Everyone with a blog raise your hand. Okay, What I should have said was everyone with a self hosted blog raise you hand. All the self hosted bloggers go chill out on another article. The rest of you don’t touch that mouse.
When most people think of a blog They think of a place that their friends and family go to check out photo’s and the latests news about them. People will just post random stuff that they like or think.
What most people don’t realize it’s a big marketing tool.
In an earlier article we talked about branding yourself like a movie star. The best way to do this is with a blog. Your Blog is your magic formula to building a relationship with your leads and prospects.
It’s what separates you from all the noise?
So the burning question is, Why can’t I just go to blogger dot com or one of those free sites and set up a free blog?
Well You could. But you whole goal and point with your blog is to position yourself as an expert and generate qualified leads for your business. To achieve this you have to look and act like a professional.
Not to mention blogging on a free site doesn’t give you the freedom and the virtual real estate you need to build a successful business online.
Other disadvantage include limited flexibility and control. Some blog services have a limited number of available themes (The “skin” that gives blogs their unique look), some do not allow advertising, and some do not have an easy way to back up your data. Ownership is another issue. While you own the content you have written, you do not own the domain – such as “brandonmorton.blogspot” –
Lastly, should the host cease to operate or randomly delete your blog (this has happened to many people), you are out of luck. To sum up, you are at the mercy of your blog’s provider.
Tools to start your blog:
While everyone has their preferences to the company they use to purchase their domain from.
I personally like 1and1. Many people now days are checking out godaddy Even though they are not my 1st choice you can check them out. Another popular one is Hostgator however I haven’t personally tried them. I heard they were good.
Once you have the domain in place you will need a hosting package. I personally use 1and1 for that also. I really have had good luck with their service. Again the above choices offer hosting. I have had a lot of problems with godaddy and I again I haven’t used Hostgator.
Another tool I use is thesis but I will be covering that in another post.
