What I like about this project is that I found myself being committed to it. I have already invested my money in this, and I’m not going to quit until I see results. 
I don’t know anything about html and I was pretty clueless about what to do next. My blog hopping showed many bloggers were using WordPress. Visiting WordPress’ website revealed that it is a publishing platform that you can install on your hosting and start publishing with the same ease as a hosted blog platform (e.g. Blogger.com), but with much greater flexibility of features and design. I discovered a huge community of people developing plugins and themes, and this is the support I thought I am going to need. Great!

Part of my strategy is to see what others do well and do the same, so, WordPress was going to be my platform.

When looking for a hosting provider, see if they have Fantastico among their features. I know that many do, and HostMonster is no exception. Fantastico is an auto-installer that can install many applications for you on the server. WordPress is one of the applications on the list and it takes under a minute to install.

At the time I didn’t know about this and was installing WordPress manually. This is not very difficult, but you have to create a database on your hosting, use an FTP client to upload the files, modify a .php file (I was really freaked out at this point), run the installation script and hope for the best. Each step took me about 10 minutes to figure out, so I was beating myself on the head with a frying pan when I found out (and tried) Fantastico.

Anyway, after 40 minutes of messing about with databases and php files (who would have thought) I was the proud owner of my own self-hosted blog.

Now I was out there.
Despite having only the default WordPress theme and the “Hello World!” example post, it felt good. It was like walking into a house you just bought, when it is a mess and smells really bad, but you feel on top of the world, because you know you this is now yours.
It felt really good.

- Alex

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Money Online, The First Steps – Establishing Net Presence (3)

Despite not having prior knowledge and experience, I was able to come to several personal preferences:

• I would need a Unix/Linux server. Just because these hosting plans are much cheaper, and I am not planning on doing any .net, c# programming or having a MsSql database to justify the additional expense of having a Windows server.

• I would rather have a hosting provider that allows to host unlimited domains. This will secure my future development and I will not need to purchase additional hosting plans for my other domains.

• I would need a provider that allows numerous databases and email accounts, to support my numerous domains.

• Customer Service is something that comes up as an important issue, but they all claiming to be 24/7, so until I try I won’t know.

A whole lot of technical information also comes up, but I don’t have a clue anyway. The only thing I knew for sure is that I would use Wordpress for my blogs, and, in the future, Joomla! for my sites, so I checked whether the final few choices have the necessary requirements.

One important thing to keep in mind. You will have to prepay your hosting for a year, or if available more to get the best price. The more you prepay the cheaper your plan will be.

Tell you the truth, I was a little startled by this, but after a minute I came to my senses: I am an entrepreneur! I don’t plan to quit after a month, so, why pay more in order to have an escape hatch after a month? And besides, most have money back guarantees. That way, you have a month, or sometimes more, to check if everything is as promised.

My final choices were:

Bluehost – $6.95/month

• First impression: presentable, business oriented design.

• Unlimited domains

• 600Gb of space

• 6,000Gb or transfer

• 2,500 email accounts

• Includes a free domain name, with free privacy option (doesn’t show your personal details on WHOIS searches)

• 30-day money back guarantee

Hostgator – $7.95/month

• First impression: nice, friendly design

• Unlimited domains

• 600Gb of space

• 6,000Gb or transfer

• Unlimited email accounts

• 45-day money back guarantee

HostMonster- $6.95/month

• First impression: friendly, but serious design

• Unlimited domains

• 600Gb of space

• 6,000Gb or transfer

• Unlimited email accounts

• Includes a free domain name, with free privacy option (doesn’t show your personal details on WHOIS searches)

• 30-day money back guarantee

Finally, after a follow-up research I went with HostMonster. Hostmonster offers a package that answers my requirements, can install Wordpress for you in a click of a mouse, it offeres a good price and a friendly (inter)face.

Give them a visit to view their full technical features.

- Alex

Happily posting useful content at Net-Entrepreneur.com
Current post was originally posted on:

Money Online, The First Steps – Establishing Net Presence (2)