How to decide if a free blog will work for you

Why should I pay for hosting when I can blog for free?

This page may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure page for details.

When I first started to get interested in blogging, I found a whole bunch of like-minded people who all claimed that paid hosting is the way to go. I’ll discuss the reasons why a little later, however, I wanted to share some of the things that weren’t included in the tutorials.

My goal was just to write, and eventually find a way to start a business in web design or even educating fellow Americans on navigating health insurance. The keyword here is business. This whole thing has to be an experiment for me.

Blogs have been a great resource on a wide variety of topics and have helped me to learn quite a bit. I wanted to share all the cool things I was learning as well. Contribute a bit to society as well while I enhanced my own skill set. If I can make a few bucks along the way I’d call it a win-win.

Blogging is something that takes quite a bit of time. Depending on what you are wanting to do, using a free blogging platform might work for you. I know the best time to start anything was yesterday, however, take a few minutes to decide for yourself how best to move forward.

Con’s of paid hosting:

Lots of Choices

Before I really learned about affiliate marketing I thought that everyone used Bluehost because they are awesome! Of course, I later learned that they offer the largest commission of the various hosting providers.  Granted I have had good luck with Bluehost thus far, I have seen people post about horrible experiences they had.

I feel that he is an equal opportunity for good and bad with any company, and for that reason, I encourage you to do your own research when it comes to choosing any hosting or another service. A little research goes a long way.

You Are Now A Wed Designer

Keep in mind that once you choose a hosting provider, you then have to set up the site. What to get an email list started? You’re going to need to choose a service. Some are free, but harder to use. Some you have to pay for, and as a result are much more user-friendly.

Not only do you have to decide on what service or plug-in to use, you also have to integrate it with your site.

I like this part as I’m interested in the technical aspects, however, this can be intimidating to someone who isn’t somewhat tech savvy. There are plenty of tutorials to help you get started, and some products have tips that can help you.

No Built-In Audience

Blogging on your own site starts at exactly zero people looking at your content. You have to go out an promote your work on social media and engage with other people. Not only do you have to attract views, but need to keep them coming back. Platforms like Medium come with people who are already reading others posts.

Site Security

It seems that hackers and spammers like to pick on WordPress sites. It’s pretty important to secure your site properly so you don’t lose all your hard work. Run scans frequently and pay attention to any changes that you didn’t make. Make sure you do regular backups and updates as well.

There isn’t a lot of work needed to maintain a site when you first start out, but enough attention is needed that it takes time away from moving forward in reaching your goals.

Pros for paid hosting:

Money!

Since you are renting space on a hosts servers, you can use that space to make money. There are several ways to monetize a blog, and the topic itself deserves another post. Pinterest is full of information on this. Some bloggers will even post income reports that show some incredible amounts. Some in the millions of dollars per year. You will also see these folks selling you a course on how to do it yourself.

Like anything in life, if it’s too good to be true, it most likely is. Blogging is not a get rich quick business model, and these folks have spent a long time growing their audience which can be extremely difficult.

You Get to Be a Web Designer!

I know I also list this as a con, but you have full control over how your site looks and operates. There are so many options that are both free and paid that can tailor your site to the way you want it. There are limitations on what can be done on other platforms.

Own Your Content

You are paying for what you post on your site, so it’s yours. If one of the free blogging sites decides to shut down one day, you might lose everything you have worked for. Not to mention your followers could go away as well. Keep in mind that you can always start for free and move to a paid hosting plan in the future, so there are always options.

It’s Not That Expensive

I don’t like to spend too much money without knowing that there will be a return later on. Honestly, paying for a year of hosting isn’t that expensive and in my mind, the benefits outweigh the cost. Shop around for a package that meets your basic needs, and upgrade later on if you need too. If in the end, you find that you hate it then you won’t be out much money. If you find that you love it, and become successful, you are already in a position to leverage the benefits of a paid site.

Final Thoughts:

In the end, you have to decide how you want to get started. I had a couple free WordPress blogs before I decided to start this one. Take your time and make the choice that works best for you.

There are a lot of ways to be wealthy, money is just one…

Why do you want to be rich?

I really don’t want to be rich. Comfortable would be nice though.

What good is money if you never get the chance to spend it? Like most people, I spend more time with my work family than my actual one. Putting my nose to the grind in order to provide a better life for the wife and kids.

Always looking forward to the next weekend, vacation, and paycheck. Spending the majority of my waking hours chasing dollars so I can try to buy back my time later. Trading the best years of my life in hopes of building memories when I can eventually retire. Hoping that I’ll be healthy enough to enjoy it.

That’s me now, but not always…

TV taught my generation that we all need to grow up to be lawyers and doctors. That we all needed big houses and several cars. That we need to be rich to have a full life. Kids today are learning that they need to be rich and famous to matter in the golden age of social media. At least that is the perception.

A change in point of view

After I left the army, I moved back home to Colorado in order to take a job with a local airline. Not making a ton of money, however, plenty of overtime pay filled my pockets.

After spending several years taking orders, I was ready to cut loose and live free as the wind! Make some of my own decisions for a change. Time to chase a passion and turn it into a career. Something I wouldn’t mind working hard doing.

The airline gig was a great job. I was outside loading bags onto planes. Work hard for about forty minutes, and chill out for an hour waiting for the next flight to arrive. It was on one of these lulls, that I shared my plans of moving to the Keys in order to become a SCUBA instructor. All agreed that it sounded great! Living on boats, and soaking up the island life. What could be better?

“Can you make any money doing that?” asked a coworker. I laughed and told them all that I was just going to be broke for the rest of my life.

One of the older guys chimed in and said, “there are a lot of ways to be wealthy, money is just one”.

I had to agree with him. I didn’t care about the money. After all, I was moving across the country to take up a profession I knew would never make me rich in a conventional way. This was in 2003, and people didn’t really talk that way yet. You hear a lot more of that now. Buy memories, not things…

Point of views change when you get older

Of course, I had to find a real job in order to support my family in a normal kind of life. House, car payments, and such… That’s not a bad thing and I enjoy what I do for a living. It still works though.

Keeping up with the Jones’ and wanting material things is something that I’ve struggled with more now that I’m older. Back in my early 20’s, I was seeking nothing but an adventure. Not a care in the world when it came to my checkbook. Now, what item can I get off Amazon will make life easier? What do the neighbors have that I like too? Like I have some imaginary hole that needs to be filled with stuff.

Is it so bad to compare yourself to others? Maybe. I always wonder if what other people’s material things make them happy. Do you really enjoy cleaning that huge house? Is it really worth it spending all that time in traffic away from your family?

I think that a better comparison is measuring where you are now compared to what you had to deal with in the last stage of your life. Everyone moves through stages. High school, early adulthood, marriage, family, professional life… Is life easier or harder now? Where are my struggles? What is standing in the way of happiness?

Life is never going to be perfect, and a fist full of cash isn’t going to change that.

How do you measure success?

High paying job? New car? Big house? Nice things? What about a nice family vacation once a year? How much in my bank account is enough?

You can always make more money, but time passes very by quickly. Especially when you have kids. Maybe someday we can buy more time.

It’s not the end of the world to be poor. I’ve been poor. Wondering where I would find my next dollar while crashing with a friend.  I’ve also been flush with cash, and very lonely because I was working so many hours I didn’t have time for a life. I can’t really say which one was worse… This must be that work-life balance thing people talk about.

My life is much different now, with a wife and kids. Money and stability is a priority.

I try to remind myself of the really important things in life while I’m trading my time for a steady paycheck. Making the time to spend together as a family. Memories that make your heart feel full.

There is no need to be bitter about what you don’t have, or worry about what other people are doing. Be happy with what you have for as long as you have it. Tomorrow is never a guarantee, so choose how you spend your time wisely.

All this is just my experience and opinion. It might be really nice to have a private jet. Pretty sure that I would be just as happy living with my family, in a van, down by the river…