I started with Live Journal and moved to VOX because it is far more flexible, allows more things to be done and is continually improving what it offers. I do have a blogger account, but have not implemented it.

What I would like in a hosted blog is the ability to have multiple authors writing articles with me having control of who can post articles.

A lot of people have mentioned that the skills needed to run your own website is a barrier to going it alone.

One thing that helped me before making the plunge to my own self-hosted domain was to be hosted on someone else’s server. This gave me time to learn more about setting up blog platform, understanding about FTP and other things.

If you have a friend who can has extra space to spare, why not have that kind of hosting.

New bloggers, don’t hesitate to use a hosted service because you can then concentrate on what is important – getting your writing out there. But also take the time to learn more about what you need to manage a blog by yourself because the time will come when you will want more freedom.

* What would you recommend to a new blogger?

Is it for personal journal, nothing more? Then host it on blogger or wordpress servers, no need to pay for it.

but if it is a marketing or money making blog, you’ll need to use your own domain and host.

Wordpress terms and conditions won’t allow their free hosted versions to be of a commercial nature and will turn off sites, that are focused on money making options.

Bottom line, it comes down to your purpose of blogging. As I have read everyone’s comments, it seems most go for self hosted sites, cause of the freedom, customizations, flexibility, and non-regulation on what goes on there.

Jeff Mills
http://www.jeffmills.com

Do you wish you’d made a different choice when you started?
Yes! I started on the Blogger platform and found it extremely difficult to get my readers to switch after I found that the platform did not meet my needs.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two options?
Preset hosted, like blogger, are easy to set up, but hard to develop into a unique experience.
Stand alone is more difficult to set up, but easier to accomplish what you have set out to do. The difficult thing is the management and maintenance of you blog.

What would you recommend to a new blogger?
Prepare. Lay out your goals and really look at what each has to offer. After you know what your goals are, you can see which will best suit your needs. Blogging for business entails a commitment that needs to be addressed. Will Blogger be able to provide for long-term use and growth, or will I have to set up my own platform?

In the year I have been using Wordpress, at least five different updates have been released! Installing these, and responding to subsequent problems with incompatible themes/plugins/etc has been a real drain on my limited blogging resources.

If I had chosen a hosted service, someone else would be handling this problem for me.

Blogger for the topics that I’m passionate about and that are more a labor of love.

Wordpress for the blogs that earn my living.

I see clearly where the difference is between the two each month when the money starts coming in.

Do you wish you’d made a different choice when you started?
Nope, I choose standalone for a reason. I wanted to control everything about the site and that was the best way to do that.

What are the Pros and Cons of the two options?
I like the idea of Hosting for a beginning blogger or someone without the time or know how to have their own site.
However, for future portability, flexibility and long term Standalone is the best.

What would you recommend to a new blogger?
If you can at all afford the $30 or $40 dollars a year + the domain name which can be had for as little as $9 at godaddy.com then go ahead with stand alone. If you can’t afford it or want to test the blogging world go with wordpress.org or blogger.com.

C

I think it’s way out in front of the other blogging packages, not least because it’s free, but mainly because of its almost unlimited flexibility.

Blogger serves a purpose, but really it’s just horrible to use and interact with-it’s whole commenting system sucks.

Throughout this period I set up blogs (hosted) on Blogger and on Vox. I didn’t like the look and feel of a hosted blog because, let’s face it, you get what you pay for. I found that if I wanted to be taken seriously and have a “brand” that it could not be hosted on a free service like Blogger or Vox.

So I deleted my Blogger and Vox account, bought a new domain name (because I wanted a fresh start) and made the switch to Wordpress. I can’t say enough GREAT things about Wordpress. I hear people rave about it but until I started using it, I now know why it’s so nice. Powerful, yet deceptively simple.

I am much, much happier now with my standalone site now running Wordpress. :)

Cheers!!