Free WordPress Install

Hey;

As many of you know, I am traveling to Asia this week. No, I am not going to the Olympics to compete in Diving, as has been rumored. So, I will be posting from there and trying to add in a few pictures as well this week.

Before I get on the plane, I wanted to tell you about a phone call I got from a reader. The reader was asking me about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. He was frustrated becuase he had a WordPress.com blog and could not monetize it the way he wanted to. He was not aware of WordPress.org.

The Difference Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org

What's the difference? Well, WordPress.com is a hosted platform that allows you to have a free blog. You can register and WordPress.com and they will host your blog on their servers and you have to follow their rules. Your blog is hosted on the wordpress.com domain, and will have a name like momsblog.wordpress.com. This is great for a lot of people that just want to try blogging for the first time to see what all the buzz is about. It is not great for people who want to make money blogging. It is very hard to take a business seriously that is hosted on a free platform.

WordPress.org, by contrast, refers to the site that hosts the free WordPress platform software (note that free software is not like free beer — there is a license, but you do not pay a penny for WordPress). You can take WordPress and modify it however you want. You can even package it as a product and sell it (with certain restrictions). You can certainly do things like add AdSense ads and other monetization strategies (thing that are restricted on WordPress.com).

What's The Catch?

The catch (if you want to call it that) is that you need to provide your own domain and hosting for your WordPress.org blog. WordPress.com takes care of that for you (and hands you some restrictions in exchange). With WordPress.org, you are on your own. This is overwhelming for a lot of people that “just want to blog.”

The Solution — Free Professional WordPress Installation

For a limited time, my buddy Garry Conn is running a special deal. If you sign up for your hosting through Garry's special relationship with HostGator, Garry will personally help you install your blog and get up and running. How cool is that. HostGator is already really inexpensive, but Garry has even arranged for a special coupon code that will get you your first month hosting for a penny.

So, head on over to Garry's blog an read all about it. I gotta catch a plane.

Regards,
Mark

8 Comments

Garry Conn on August 16, 2008 at 12:48 am

Hi Mark,

Thanks so much for sharing that experience and mentioning my special promotion with HostGator.com. These guys are great. I remember years ago when web hosting was expensive. One of my first sites was on GeoCities — I am not sure if that still exists, I think Yahoo let it die on the vine — and at that time, I had to make a serious investment decision to purchase a domain name and sign up with web hosting. At the time domain registration I believe was around $50 dollars?? Heck, it might have been $99. I really can’t remember, but I know it wasn’t between $5 to $15 dollars like it is now. Web hosting was very expensive too. I clearly remember paying $49.95 / month for hosting.

Today things are much different. Even without special promotions such as the one I am running, a customer can close a deal on landing a professional domain name and a month of web hosting for under $20 dollars. In many ways, people have it easy compared to how things were years ago. People have it even easier when they take advantage of offers such as the one I have available.

HostGator.com does compensate me for referrals; however, I am one who always tries to do things differently. While I do indeed appreciate being compensated for a referral, in many ways that doesn’t entirely help the customer. Granted, HostGator.com is awesome, but what happens after the deal is closed? The result is typically a customer who doesn’t know what to do, or where to get help. In due time, that customer will figure it all out… but by then many months are wasted. So, my thoughts are to help the customer with doing a few things that will only take me a few minutes to do, rather than sit back and watch the customer invest months into learning and doing it on their own. I look at it as a way to really earn my compensation.

Thanks again for writing this post. I really do appreciate it.

Best Regards,
Garry Conn

Internet Marketing Blog - Justin on August 17, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Hey Mark,

I couldn’t agree more with Gary, I use Hostgator.com too and they are fabulous! I recommend them to all of my readers as well. They have some great support, awesome prices, and even allow for unlimited domains. Keep up the great working and I love the blog. I’m an avid reader and can’t wait to check out all hte other helpful information that you have. Thank again for posting this. Gary, thanks for the Hostgator info, really a great hosting service.

Justin