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Free hosted blogsite as an affiliate website -Would this do?

tchbobby
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Sep 10
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Free hosted blogsite as an affiliate website -Would this do?

I want to be honest with you guys, I don't have the upfront money to buy a domain and host my own website but I'm working my way to get there. But for now that would still be the last on my list because there are more immediate things to spend on.
I started making blogs at blogger and along the way constantly searching and learning about how to make money online. Affiliate program is one promising way to earn from the internet. But with my very limited resources and knowledge, is it ok to start affiliate programs with these free hosted blogs or would it be just a waste of time and effort?
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gradyp
Posts: 848
Joined: 28 Jun 09
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Tchbobby,

I know my brother did use those types of blogs when he first got started. But you do have to be VERY careful, as a lot of the stuff we do with IM is AGAINST their Terms of Service. That means if they find out, they can shut you down. If you do ti for a short time, just to get some cash to do it the right way, you might could get away with it. But if you get caught, that account could get banned.

This is why it is generally recommended to get your own hosting/domain. It really doesn't cost much. $10/year for the domain and $10/month for the hosting is what I pay. If you look around, you might find a host that will include the first year's domain as a part of their package. The first month might have a little higher "set up" fee, but after that, $10 a month is what I pay.
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tchbobby
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Sep 10
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Thanks for the reply gradyp. I checked HostGator and Godaddy and yes you're right they charge $10 and they even have some packages that offer lower than that..But..you see I'm not from the US and $10 is a big chunk of money that will be taken away from my monthly day job salary...I'm not exaggerating but I know some would agree with this if you happen to live in the Philippines. I'm already among those few who are lucky to have internet connection at home^^ but anyways that's the reason why I'm wondering if using free hosted sites would be worth it, do they stand a chance to compete with those sites that are "hosted", would they rank well in search engines? I'm sorry I ask a lot..
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chettvq24
Posts: 56
Joined: 04 Jun 09
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There is no reason you can not get a free hosted site to rank with backlink building. As Gradyp has said there is risk attached as they can shut your account down at any time. If you do go down this route keep a backup of any work you do so you can use the content elsewhere if your account is shut down.

Have you considered providing some sort of service to people, setting up bookmark accounts, writing, backlinking, whatever. This could be a way for you to make the extra 10 dollars a month for hosting (just a thought).

Another option may be to post articles to article directories (some let you include your affiliate links like goarticles and articles base) and backlink these articles, you would want to select low competition keywords. This could be another way to start earning some money to help with hosting costs.
It is best as GradyP has said to aim to get your own hosting, as you then have full control.
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lupita
Posts: 4
Joined: 09 Apr 10
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As form me it is better to Find a free hosting and buy domain. You can install Wordpress CMS on some of free hostings. Then you can choose a good looking theme for your site e.g. free web templates. I prefer sites more than blogs
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PremiumMember
gradyp
Posts: 848
Joined: 28 Jun 09
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I'd be careful with free hosting, because you'll run into a lot of the same issues as you would with a "free blog". In addition to those issue, you will usually have code added to your code that FORCES their advertising on your page, either through adding banners, popovers/unders, and similar annoying sell techniques that can 1) lead traffic away from your site in a way NOT controlled by you OR 2) cause the visitors to your site to quickly hit the back button.
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Have questions about creating images? Want an image created for you? Check out my site at www.GradyPruitt.com/welcome-affilorama-friends
 
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jmpruitt
Posts: 3918
Joined: 19 Jun 09
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This is all true. I understand how difficult it can be. however, you can do a simple service. think of the things that you are doing online. someone would pay for it.

I started writing articles for $5 each. doing that, you would only need to do 2/ month to pay for your webhosting. or your could do bookmarking, create images, or whatever you are good at.

I have had people pay me to set up their wordpress sites for them. Pretty much anything that you could need to do for your sites, you could offer a service doing it for someone else, and people would be willing to pay for it.

This type of service could take off, and be making you more than that day job fairly quickly.
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faradina
Posts: 1895
Joined: 01 Jun 09
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Hi tchbobby,

There are some web hosting companies that let you have free hosting for a start and when your needs increase (in direct proportion to your income on your blog or site), you can upgrade you hosting account. Examples of such web hosting services are 000webhost.com and tryfreehosting.co.cc

If you are keen to work online you could sign up to become a provider on odesk. Almost all kinds of skills are required and offered there, and there's a lot of Filipino providers finding success on odesk.
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tchbobby
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Sep 10
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Thank you very much for all those who shared their time replying to my concern. Thank you for those information about free hosting and creative ideas on how to make money to cover for hosting and domain name.
I'm going to stick with my free hosted blogs for a while until I learn more about SEO, SERPS, how to monetize a site, and so on, before I will finally have my very own site.
Hope to learn more from you guys and gals. Thank you and more power!

I'm sorry my "thank you" came in late...I was busy lately ..
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Site Admin
mikeantiga
Posts: 753
Joined: 28 Mar 10
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Hi tchbobby,

Since you are in the Philippines, you might as well try local web hosting companies. There are hosting companies that offer hosting services for as low Php 600/year ($13). That's only Php 50 per month! Cheaper than a Jollibee or Mcdonalds value meal!
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milansangan
Posts: 55
Joined: 07 Oct 10
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You can use those free hosted blogs platforms for your affiliate site but I do not really recommend them because you will never have full control of your affiliate site. In other words, a free hosted blog can be canceled anytime without warning and ads can be added to your affiliate site whether you like it or not.
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michael025
Posts: 197
Joined: 07 Oct 10
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You can use it as your training ground. It's free, and you see how it goes. If your website doesn't make money, then no harm done, you didn't pay anything for it. But if it does make money, then I would suggest investing some of it into buying an actual domain and having it hosted. As mentioned by mikeantiga, there are some local webhosts who would offer it for very low prices.
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ismail
Posts: 5
Joined: 04 Oct 10
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hi tchbobby,

If you decide to get a web hosting service for wordpress blogs I recommend you check this out http://www.watchmequitmydayjob.com/web- ... ers-part1/ first ,recent experience:-)

If I were you I would try to find a way to buy my own domains and web hosting.In order to make money you need backlinks,I would not build backlinks on blogspot web sites as you will eventually abandon them.
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borry
Posts: 15
Joined: 17 Sep 10
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Thanks everyone for the valuable info. I too, was looking at going the wordpress route for a couple of reasons but was not aware that you couldn't "use" these as an affiliate in the full sense of the word. I was wondering why I couldn't find any links to sales pages etc on any of the blogs. Just curious then, why would Mark have suggested using Wordpress instead of Xsitepro in an earlier video, (which I viewed here on Affilorama) if this is the case?

So, I guess building my own website and registering my own domain is the way forward then. I would want to build a list, so would build a site with a squeeze page too, however I only really have one product that I intend selling in this niche at the moment. So, my uncertainty at this stage is whether I should include a sales page on that same site (doesn't that cause people to leave the site without opting in first) or whether I should rather promote the product through e-mails once I've built my list first. I'm sure there are probably other products in this niche but this is a really, good one with a good sales record.

Thanks
Belinda
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blogpressseo
Posts: 7
Joined: 23 Oct 10
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Ever heard of blogpress seo? This is a new wp plugin which builds backlinks on autopilot.
Now I have seen some awesome results when using this plugin.
You need to search for "blogpress seo" in google and you can get to there site.
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Automatic BackLinks - http://BlogPressSEO.com Wp Plugin always 100% FREE
 
faradina
Posts: 1895
Joined: 01 Jun 09
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Hi Belinda,

About Mark suggesting wordpress, please read my post about the two different kinds of wordpress sites.

Including a sales page on your site is not necessarily bad but it shouldn't be the first page that site visitors come upon when visiting your website as that would cause the scenario where they click away quickly. It is best to first build rapport with your site visitors by providing high quality, helpful content. By doing so, you can get them to trust your website and would then be more likely to buy or opt in.

It is also perfectly alright to promote products o the site itself, in addition to promoting through your newsletter. Just do not do it in a spammy way. Put in a banner and 1-2 promotional links for one product related to the content on each individual webpage and it would look natural.

I hope that helps :)
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Site Admin
michellerana
Posts: 1874
Joined: 05 May 09
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BlogPressSeo wrote:Ever heard of blogpress seo? This is a new wp plugin which builds backlinks on autopilot.
Now I have seen some awesome results when using this plugin.
You need to search for "blogpress seo" in google and you can get to there site.


I'm sorry but we don't recommend plugins that build backlinks on autopilot. Google doesn't like those link schemes. You might get your site banned from search engines if you participate in programs like these so it would be a good idea to remove this plugin from your site.
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Michelle
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This topic was started on Sep 12, 2010 and has been closed due to inactivity. If you want to discuss this topic further, please create a new forum topic.

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