premium theme

Bloggers have many potential platforms to choose from. Wordpress is one of the most popular. Bloggers can choose to either download Wordpress (Wordpress.org) and host it themselves or have it hosted at Wordpress.com. These sites have similar names but their value to affiliate marketers is completely different.

Brucesmoneyrants.com is the second incarnation of my making money blog. My first attempt was hosted at Wordpress.com. I chose Wordpress.com because of my past dealings with the Wordpress software. I had tried out software from Blogger.com and several other sites. Wordpress has several features that drew me in. Wordpress allows users to easily extend their blog’s functionality through widgets and plugins.

I started looking for a hosted Wordpress solution. Wordpress.com was built by the same people who worked on the Wordpress software (WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, n.d). Wordpress.com offered many inviting features including:

1. My experience with the Wordpress blogging platform

2. Wordpress.com stated they had over 70 templates available

3. I could add widgets and plug-ins

4. Ability to track daily stats from your main dashboard

5. Having an address of “xxxx.wordpress.com”

At first, I was enjoying Wordpress.com. I created “emergencymgmt.wordpress.com”, “lifeofreedom.wordpress.com”, and “brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com”. My main blog was on money making. My plan was to develop the other two later. My first surprise came when I chose a template. I had about 12 templates available. You had to pay to access the 70 templates. Next, I found out you cannot upload external templates.

I also was limited in the widgets available. Wordpress.com does not allow external widgets to be uploaded. They do offer some widgets. Users also are not allowed to add java script to their widgets. Java script is required to monetize your blog through Google Adsense or Amazon.com.

HTML allowed me to put small banner ads into my sidebars. Not the same as Google Adsense because they only pay when someone actually made a purchase, however, it was better than nothing. Using HTML, I was able to reach a level of monetization with my blog. My issue was that these ads would not change without me manually changing the code. That was going to take extra maintenance time. I continued because I did like the Wordpress software.

I created my main blog. I could not get the exact look I wanted, however, it was acceptable and looked good. My plan was to get the blog generating an income and then add Wordpress.com’s pay services. Allowing my blog to be self sustaining. I began advertising by placing links and posting everyday. I began seeing some success.

My posts focused on resources to help readers make money. I only wrote about things that I had found useful or resources that were helping me (i.e. e-books, Zac Johnson.com, etc.). I included reviews of products or courses that had helped me.

My knowledge was growing along with my readers. My next step was to continue advertising. I obtained the addresses for 50 blog directories. Over the next two days, I registered with these directories.

Doomsday soon came. I signed up with a internet marketing course called Blogging for Dollars. In my view, this course offered some very useful tips. I believed readers would find it helpful. I wrote a review post about my experience and posted it.

The next morning, I woke up and tried to check my blog’s statistics. It was a surprise to find out, there was no blog. There was only a Wordpress.com error message stating “This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service”. No explanation, no notification to me, no warning, just gone.

My mind whirled with potential explanations. Did I plagiarize? No, I was extremely careful to cite each and every one of my sources. I had not posted anything vulgar. Well, there was only one place to look….Wordpress.com’s Terms of Service. I found a few lines that offered some insight:

1. “the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party”

2. “you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms”

3. “the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing)”

4. “your blog is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company. For example, your blogs URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or company other than your own”

I only saw one potential problem. I had posted about products where I included an affiliate link. My recommendations were not meant to cause anyone pain or harm. They were products that I had found useful and wanted to share them with readers. My review included an offer to prove I used the product.

It is important to hear both sides of any story. Wordpress.com has the right to run their site and business however they see fit. I sent a note to their tech support. All I was asking for was an explanation, nothing more. Again, it is their business. But, it would be good business to offer customers an explanation. Patiently, I watched for a return email.

Throughout the day, no answer from Wordpress.com came. It was not in my spam filter. Nope, no answer there. In checking my other two Wordpress blogs, I realized that my login was now suspended. Well, I guess Wordpress does not believe in customer service. Just shutoff your account with no explanation. They have this right but a little customer service might avoid articles like this.

For all budding affiliate marketers, be leery of hosting a blog at Wordpress.com. If you do not want to make any money, only impart information to the internet then Wordpress.com hosting is for you. Affiliate marketers, I would suggest sticking with downloading the Wordpress blogging platform to your own web hosting. i am happy to discuss this situation with anyone. You can find me at Bruce’s Money Rants.