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