BLOGS.. well have become a way of life over the past 10 years.  The Blog-O-sphere has allowed everyone to stretch their virtual vocal chords with these simple to use and highly customizable publishing platforms. The evolution of the typical blog is as follows:

1. An individual has a passion for something and wants to share that passion with the world.
2. That individual opens up a free account at Blogger.com, WordPress.com, or one of the many other blogging services that exist on the Internet.
3. Our individual spends some time customizing the built in template/theme, and writes their first entry – Hooray!
4. Sadly, our individual never publishes again and the blog dies – eternally broadcasting their groundbreaking ‘Hello World’ debut post.

HOWEVER, occasionally there is an individual that is truly passionate about their subject.  It could be their children, a television series, their pets, or their vintage HAM radio collection.  These individuals will follow a different pattern:

1. An individual has a passion for something and wants to share that passion with the world.
2. That individual opens up a free account at Blogger.com, WordPress.com, or one of the many other blogging services that exist on the Internet.
3. Our individual spends some time customizing the built in template/theme, and writes their first entry – Hooray!
4. Said individual KEEPS POSTING, and eventually people that he/she doesn’t know personally begin reading his content.
5. More content is created and there is now an opportunity to take it to the next step – this could even lead to a little money for our individual’s effort.

This is where things get fun and there are several options that will take an amateur blog to the next level.  These all revolve around breaking free of those free services and begin hosting your own blog, with your own blog platform installation.  Here are the advantages of this setup:

• You will finally get a REAL domain name (not a http://xyz.blogspot.com name) – You could be just http://www.xyz.com!  Now, I know that these free services will sell you a domain name themselves, and it will then link up to your current site – but you are still using their limited installation, with their limited selection of themes and plugins.
• Fully customizable blogging installation!  I am usually always going to recommend using WordPress as the installation platform, and when you install it yourself, on your own hosting account, you will have control of everything about it.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of free WordPress themes and plugins available on the Internet; far more than the free services will have.
• The monthly cost for this setup is actually pretty cheap – I’ll give you one popular example which is Godaddy.com.  The total yearly cost to run your own site is only around $70 (~$5 a month for the hosting plan, and ~$10 a year for the domain name registration).  Believe me when I say that this is cheap.

The only tricky part about this setup is the actual installation of the WordPress software, and that is where I step in (if you don’t have a nephew/niece that can help you out) – I can do this for you!  Without going into much detail here I can get you up and running with your very own WordPress site that you will have full control over!  I don’t provide the hosting, or get any money for the domain registration, and can use whatever hosting service you desire – but can be your personal consultant throughout the installation process.  I can also help you get your site looking and working the way you want.  Get in touch with me and we can discuss your needs and I will can provide you with a free estimate.  Click here to send me an e-mail!

Take care!

Like many IT professionals, I rely heavily on the rest of the world to find, solve, and document solutions to any and all queries I may receive, and I have not been disappointed. For years you all have delivered to me countless solutions to problems I have never encountered and pray never to encounter again. However, should that happen, I know that I can always whip up a relevant Google search string and cash in on all of your hard work. So, I have decided to start giving back. This will come in the form of Tips & Tricks I am fortunate enough to pioneer or enhance, as well as product and service reviews for pretty much anything. I will retain my “Jack of all trades” mentality with the scope, and therefore won’t limit entries within the realm of “Computers and Electronics”. Hopefully these will be useful to a few souls out there in the ether. Happy New Year!