In the 1971 epic film “Diamonds are Forever” James Bond is faced with a slight dilemma – his villain comes in two versions.
Bond must kill one of them to avoid a global oil crisis and millions of dollars in diamonds lost forever. Cleverly, Bond kicks the cat to determine the rightful owner. The only problem? Bloefeld’s other version is just as powerful.
You might feel like James Bond starting a blog – preparing your niche empire to make lots of money – then you see there are two versions of WordPress.
WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO US?
It just means more reading and more research, and most of us get bogged down right away.
To clear things up, and because “Whats the Difference Between WordPress.org and WordPress.com” is one of the biggest questions I get in my inbox each week – I made a you video.
I want you to answer the question this time though.
I’ll highlight 3 other bloggers who use WordPress in highly attractive ways, show off their blogs, and talk straight WordPress. Then…your turn.
And speaking of missing details: I’m not perfect; my videos are “works in progress” at best and I’m definitely going to miss some points. All you WordPress secrets agents out there better tell me what I missed, or this is going to be one lonely case study! (Thanks in advance)
What are the Core Differences?
Let’s get the basics out of the way first – business before pleasure.
WordPress.com – a blogging website
WordPress.com is a free blog-host site; you login and find your blog where it’s safely stored on WordPress’ servers. It’s a lot like having a Facebook profile, but a blog.
WordPress.com hooks you up with:
- Community
The homepage at WordPress.com always features lots of niche blogs that are just so good at being good! I remember it was my (hopeless) goal back when I began to get featured here. - A Blog
Yes, WordPress gives you a ridiculously fun blog. Don’t you agree? - The World’s Finest Post Editor
Possibly the most useful yet under appreciated little facet of WordPress is the post editor, and we often forget how many hours upon days and months the developers put in to make this thing actually work (and how mad are you when it doesn’t?) - Your Arsenal Includes…
Blog posts, images, video, links, colors, and what else?
WordPress.com holds an increasing 60 million blogs, and 100,000+ new post go live each day (!) Can you even wrap your mind around how much blogging that is? If you’re new to all this – hope that gets you fired up!
Time to Refute the Other Fluff
WordPress.com is not a limitation – it’s a blessing. It changes lives, it expands networks, it creates businesses and gives people a reason to wake up (and rush right to the comp). And as we’ll see in my video – WordPress.com blogs can totally dominate with the two things any blog anywhere needs to live a good life. Wondering what they are? Guess you’ll have to watch the video to find out.
WordPress.org – a blogging software
WordPress.org on the other hand is a software. You host the software somewhere like HostGator, who also gives you a domain name. By now you should know I’ve got a video on all that – it’s the method I use here, trust literally with my life (which is blogging), and something I spend hours and hours on each week happily helping newcomers.
WordPress.org hooks you up with:
- Community
A currently snowballing mass of bloggers, developers and small to large business owners that love telling people they power nearly 20% of the whole web. - A Blog and a Website
Yep, after you setup WordPress.org your site comes in blog format with the new Twenty-Thirteen Theme. You can change this as you wish. It’s the themes that make your little shop a blog or website, ya know, like the NYTimes? - The World’s Finest Post Editor (on Steroids!)
If you’ve ever dabbled in WordPress.org, you may have felt the power at your fingertips. You can brainstorm and create viral posts while harnessing the power of your plugins from one centralized screen. It quickly becomes home; I currently write anything from code to short stories inside post editor. - Your Arsenal Includes…
Blog posts, images, video, links, colors, coding, advertising, plugins, themes, premium themes (read about the theme I’m running here), and what else?
You get the complete blogging experience that your favorite blogs probably run. Plus, it’s used by Katy Perry, and Snoopy Dogg so it’s cool 😉
Time to Refute the Other Fluff
Personally, I’m not much for the term “self-hosting” – it sounds right off the bat like more work. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that term alone scares most folks away because it sounds like you’re going to have to buy a freaking server and climb through wires and mainframes in your living room each time you want to write a blog post! The reality is quite the opposite; getting your domain and hosting out of the way is little more work and a small hit to the wallet but it’s all upfront costs. You don’t have to maintain anything, learn code, or deal with any sort of hassle.
So, Should We Compare?
Like I said, we’re doing this a bit differently! Also – at your requests I’m making (hopefully a LOT) more videos – so I’d really like your criticism on this one! Please be brutal! I know the laptop got a bit biffed in my Adobe After Effects rendering (just take it as a nice prompt to subscribe!)
Over to The Community
Hopefully you watched the video above and saw the simple attractions at Lorraine, Ashley, and Glen’s blogs. They are bloggers to watch – to say the least – and it’s no wonder they all get their share of comments each time they open their mouths.
Now, I’m keen to know a few things from you!
- Are you considering WordPress?
- Which version do you run?
- Lastly, brag a bit and tell us what theme makes your WordPress blog amazing.
I actually can’t wait to hear all the WordPress gripes and complaints you guys have – let them loose right here. As I mentioned here every comment posted means this post ranks a bit better, which in turn means more views on your comment.
So, being wise helps you be more wise? Very meta 🙂