Writers, Poets, Authors

 

Today most everyone online has a blog hosted somewhere. I would guess the majority of non-professionals have one of the “free” blogs such as MySpace, Xanga, Blogger or similar. This is ok if you’re willing to put up with all the spam and advertising that is associated with using the free blogs. But if you’re a serious writer, author, or poet who needs a place to be creative, display your work and have control over what is displayed on your blog , then you really should consider your own website.

The costs of owning your own are minimal. You have the cost of buying your domain ( this is called registering your domain name ). This domain name registering can vary greatly but usually you are only talking $10 or less a year.

Once you have registered your domain name then you’re ready to find a place to host it. While this article is not a plug for The Megaphone Network you probably know by now that we have the best available price for writers since that is one of the segments of the market we cater to. But at any rate no matter what hosting company you select, you should be able to get a good hosting package that will provide all the space and tools you need to operate a small but professional blog for your writings for around $8.00 a month.

And that’s it! So for less than 100 bucks a year you can have your own site that you control. So what are some of the benefits that would justify spending $100 a year? Let’s take a look:

1. You will not have as much spam or unwanted comments added to your blog. Sure, you will still get some from the spam bots. However as the site owner with the controls at your fingertips, there are methods you can use that will help control that sort of site spamming and for sure you can keep it from reaching the public on your blog.

2. No advertising unless you place it there. So yes that means as the site owner if you want to join an affiliate program, google adsense, or any other program that might pay you to advertise for them in some way you’re free to do so. Many writers and poets are able to offset the whole expense of operating their site this way. Others even make a few bucks profit. The option is yours.

3. Your own email address. This is very important if you’re an inspiring writer or poet. Just imagine that you are a publisher and you’re reading submissions. Just how far do you think those who use email addresses such as hotmail, yahoo, msn, gmail, ect get? It’s simply not a professional look that you want a prospective publisher to see.

4. You have plenty of space to use. You can make drafts that never see the public eye. They will remain in your database until you delete them. So you’re always free to move on to another project when that “writers block” hits you, knowing you can return at any time to resume the project.

5. It’s your site. You’re paying for it so promote yourself. This you cannot do on any of the free blogs. Why? Simply because they have too much advertising and pop ups. Most publishers would not even think about going to a “MySpace” blog to look at your work or your resume. You can keep both on your own site. Any previous work you have done can be neatly and attractively displayed to blend in with your site theme. This is a professional way to request someone look at your work for possible submission.

There are many other reasons that would justify your spending the money to host your own site if you’re an author, writer or poet. I am sure if you think about it for a moment you will be able to add to the list.

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