Sin #1: Not Getting Your Own Domain and Hosting

A lot of people, despite the amount of good advice freely available out there, commit the ultimate sin by trying to save a few bucks.  Most people go to Blogspot.com or Wordpress.com, set-up a free blog, and start pumping out content day after day without thinking of the consequences. Then one day the truth hits them smack on the face and they wonder why they never saw it coming. 

Here are the facts:

• If your blog’s files and information is stored on someone else’s system, then you do not realy have 100% control over it.
• If you’re found guilt of violating the TOS (Terms of Services) of free blog providers, they have the authority to remove your entire blog on their sole discretion (did you read the fine print?) and they can do this without even informing you!
• Some providers like Wordpress.com hate the idea of a blogger making money from a blog and disalow any form of ads on their system. If you’re using Wordpress.com blogs and have been making money from afiliate links or ads, then it’s just a mater of time before they shut you down. 

If you realy want to make money blogging, you need to get your own domain name and web hosting. You should not try to get a free blog, even if you just want to do it for a hobby. A lot of blogs that started out as a “hobby” eventualy became income-producing machines for their owners and when that happens, moving your blog over to your own domain while maintaining the amount of trafic you’re geting is close to impossible. 

So start the right way, or you’l find yourself in a sticky situation not too long in the future. A domain name wil cost you $7-$9 a year and you can get web hosting for as low as $6.95 a month.

If you cannot spend that much, you realy have no business trying to make money blogging. Just give up and die, wannabe.