Free Blogging Platforms: A Few Pros and Cons




To start blogging

For first time bloggers, a free blogging platform is a great way to get started in the blogosphere in the sense that, popular free blogging platforms like Live Journal, Blogger or Eponym allow users to set up and host a blog without paying any fees at all. This encourages people to start blogging, because the fact that one of these sites can provide you with all of the tools you’ll need to get your blog up and running without spending any money means that you have nothing to lose by starting a blog. The fact that it is so easy to find a way to blog for free is one of the reasons why so many people who have never had any other kind of web presence before find themselves drawn to blogging.

By signing up with a free blogging platform, you may find it easier to get listed in search engines than you would if you were starting your own blog from scratch. For example, Google runs a free blog hosting site known as Blogspot and crawls its pages on a regular basis looking for updates; so if you have your blog hosted by Blogspot you are almost guaranteed to be listed on Google’s blog search engine. This easy access to search engines can take some of the work out of promoting your blog, and can help you gain a following with a minimum of marketing effort.

So utilizing the tools and resources provided by established free blogging platform to do your personal blogging will provide plenty of advantages; for the blogging newcomers as well as some seasoned bloggers who started with such a platform and find no reason to move. Keep in mind also, that platforms which host many different blogs often provide very useful tutorials about building and updating a typical blog, and most newcomers to blogging will likely encounter very user-friendly software interfaces at most of the established blogging platforms like those mentioned above. In addition, these platforms provide a kind of instant community of fellow bloggers who are capable of providing advice, insight, and feedback.

Advantages and challenges

Furthermore, some of these free platforms often keep directories of their members, a practice which can be of great benefit for your traffic logs since it means that other bloggers on the platform will find out about your pages and probably take steps to learn more about your topic (or niche), your writing style and your personal views, among other things. In short, users of that particular blogging platform will want to get acquainted with each other and improve relationships, thereby strengthening common bonds and making the platform stronger and better while supporting each other as well as the overall platform.

That having been said, it is important to understand that participation in one of these blogging platforms, while advantageous in most instances, can also present some challenges which often come with linking up with any large blogging platform. One example of such challenges is, posting within existing templates of a platform like Blogger, would likely result in an individual blogger – presumably like you if you are an active blogger – running the risk of having your blog look and feel like that of every other blogger on the platform, so that we lose some of the uniqueness and individuality which would otherwise identify your specific brand on a platform of our own creation if we possessed the skills and resources to create it.

Deciding when to move

In other words, if your blog attracts a large readership, you may want to consider moving your site. In fact, you might agree with those who feel that being hosted by a free blogging platform gives a blog kind of an amateur flavor that is fine for a new member of the blogosphere, but is not appropriate for a high-profile blog, and if so that maybe even more incentive to move. Having your own domain can help you make your blog sound, look and feel professional, and finding a company that will host your domain is not difficult or expensive. Once your blog takes off, you will probably be able to sell enough advertising space to be able to financially afford a domain and pay for a hosting package, and still have money left over. However, it does not make sense, in most cases, to invest in these glossy luxuries before you have a sizable readership.

It is no secret that the blogging movement is very much about the creation of distinctive sites which feature, represent and promote the development of individual voices, so it makes plenty of sense that many bloggers would shy away from so-called “cookie-cutter” look and feel that blogging platforms like Live Journal, Blogger or even WordPress (the non-self-hosted variety) often promote. Many bloggers feel that the content of a blog is what makes it distinctive, not the look of the blog, but many members of the blogging community feel that the visual impact of a blog should match the originality of the writing and individuality of the writer.

The fact remains

Nevertheless, starting your blog on a free blogging web site is a great way to build a following before you spend any money on your blog; but if and when your blog becomes popular and you are ready to take the next step and purchase your own domain, your readers will follow you to your new home. The fact that it is possible to use a free blog host like any of those mentioned above, or one of the many o0ther platforms available on today’s Web, as a kind of incubator for your blog is great news for bloggers everywhere.

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Elements of a Responsive Subscriber List

Reaping rewards

Every online business that provides great service to generate satisfaction among its customers will likely reap rewards from the time, energy and dollars it invests in such an effort; because as each and every customer derives satisfaction from products and/or services provided by a particular business, there is a very good chance the customer will become a returning customer, buy again and, in many cases, recommend that business – your business if you provide the satisfactory product or service – to other people which, in most cases, could generate additional business for you and your site.

And as more traffic is driven to your site, you will certainly have the opportunity to entice many of them to subscribe to your mailing list (opt-in or subscriber list). This is the type of list that invite website visitors to participate in free information and product campaigns in exchange for their agreement to receive promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and other such materials designed to keep them updated about your site or your product niche. Such promotional materials are sent via email to list members at different time intervals.

When using email as the vehicle with which to market and advertise your products and services, as well as your brand, you eliminate the need to incur high costs and expenditures, because – let’s face it – mail is free, and if you can manage to create your own promotional and advertising messages you can also save a bundle of money. With an opt-in or subscriber list, you can be pretty sure that what you are sending out is received, viewed and read by subscribers and not simply deleted. Since they have signed up for service and have consented in receiving it, you should have no problem getting them to open and read your email messages.

Promote to a captive audience

This also means that there are constant reminders to your subscribers about the products and services you offer, as well as any new products, promotions and special-deal campaigns you are having. Of course there is always the increased chance that existing subscribers will forward your new product and special-deal information to other potential customers as they tell their friends and families about you and your site. Keep in mind, though, that a subscriber may unsubscribe when they feel that they are not getting what they signed up for or expected. So it is important to insure that they are satisfied with your opt-in marketing strategies while you keep them excited in receiving your newsletters and catalogs.

In the following paragraphs we discuss a few ideas that could help you build a list of subscribers who might just be as eager to receive your promotional material, as you are eager to send it to them.

Make your promotional materials interesting and fun while trying to use a little creativity; but not too overly artsy; but build around what your product/service is about. For example, if you are selling car parts, put some pictures of what is new in the auto parts world, a new wing door possibly that can fit any car and make it look like a Lamborghini.

Try to research what people are looking for; this way, you can stay one step ahead of them all the time, and you will be their bearer of new (great) tidings. They will be eager to receive what you are sending them because they know you always have fresh and new things to share with them…

…More list-building ideas

Write good articles that can be very informative , but light at the same time. If subscribers enjoy your articles, they will go to your site by clicking the links that you will put in your newsletter to read some more; and you can also provide articles designed to connect with many people. Be diverse in your articles. Put something humorous, then put something informational, then put something which consists of both.

Are you wary about quality articles because you don’t like writing? No problem, because there are many professional and experienced article writers that can do the job for you for minimal fees. They know what they are doing and can provide the need that you have for your newsletters. The money you pay for your articles are will be justified by the many sign-ups and the potential profit from sales you will get.

Create and send an ebook to your customers about anything that is related to your business or site. Use your knowledge and expertise in the field you have chosen to help other people who are similarly interested. Offer this e-book for free! You can write about anything informational and helpful to your subscribers; things like manuals and guides, for example, among many other things. This ebook could be used as a reference for many of your subscribers.

Share this ebook with everyone; even other sites. But just make sure that they don’t change the links in your ebook that were created to drive traffic to your site. If you want, you can always get others who specialize in article writing to write them for you just like they were your own articles. Your investment once again will be justified by the great marketing this will generate.

The eCoupon discount

Add ecoupons to your newsletters that will give them access to special discounts; and put a control number in your ecoupon so that they can only be used once. When people get discounts that can be found in your newsletters, they will be eager to receive the newsletter in anticipation of what you are promoting next.

All that having been said, if your subscribers can derive benefit(s) from your newsletters, they will be very eager to receive them. Just don’t flood your mailing list with promotional messages, links and banners that will annoy your subscribers.