Local Advertising Tips

Knowledge is potential power. The goal of my website is to provide knowledge that assists readers in making money online and learn from other people’s costly mistakes. I recently had some business dealing with Wordpress.com. I have decided to write about my dealings with Wordpress.com. Hoping that all readers will learn from my situation. This information should allow you to save both time and frustration.

Over the last few years, I have toyed with many different blogs. I have used several different blog platforms. When I became serious, about earning an income with blogging, I settled on the Wordpress platform. I created a hosted blog with Wordpress.com. Little did I know that decision was going to come with frustration and unanswered questions.

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. I already had experience with the Wordpress software

2. Wordpress.com advertised the availability of over 70 templates

3. Availability of plug ins and widgets

4. Daily stats can be tracked easily

5. Easy to market “xxxx.wordpress.com”

The relationship started out well. I signed up three blogs “emergencymgmt.wordpress.com”, “lifeofreedom.wordpress.com”, and “brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com”. I focused on brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com. I began looking for an appropriate template. When I went to the available templates, I found approximate a dozen templates. Access to the 70 plus templates requires payment. Not a problem, there were many free templates available online. I went and found one I really liked, only to find out that you cannot upload external templates. No problem, they had one I liked.

I started adding widgets to my blog. Wordpress.com did not allow me to upload my own template but Wordpress.com could be personalized through the widgets, right? Not at all, Wordpress.com offers a few widgets but is limited on the widgets that you can add. Wordpress.com also does not allow any javascript in their widgets. Wordpress.com’s rules about java script greatly reduced my ability to monetize. Java script is required to run ads from Google Adsense and 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.

I was expanding my knowledge while providing information to assist reader’s in their own business. My next move was to register with blog directories. I found a website that listed 50 high profile blog directories. I spent many hours posting to these directories.

The post that brought the blog down. I posted about Blogging for Dollars. A internet marketing course that provided ways to make money blogging. I had signed up with their affiliate program. I did this only after personally using the product.

The next day, my blog was gone. I attempted to check the number of site visitors. I was shocked to see the blog was gone. Gone! Not just could not login or it had been suspended…no it was GONE! There was a message from Wordpress.com on the screen. It read “This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service”.

Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I tried to figure out what had happened. I knew plagiarism would cause immediate shutoff. Every source was cited with the date, author, and a link to their site. That could not be the problem. I turned to Wordpress.com’s Terms of Service for some answers. Here is what I found:

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.

Every story has two sides. I e-mailed Wodpress’s customer service. I wanted to hear their side of the story. I was hoping that it was a simple misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that could be worked out. I was very polite in the email. Wordpress has the right to refuse service. It is their business. I waited for a response.

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.