Hey John

I'm going on three years with my blog... so I guess I'm a "seasoned" person now. I remember when I was a "newbie" myself. So welcome to our Tribe. It's not what it once was, but it's still here.

I started my blog on Blogger.. ran it there for a year, then downloaded WordPress, created a template from scratch (which someone helped me code, since I'm not the best with that kind of stuff), and hosted it on my own domain that I had bought and owned for at least 4 years before I did anything with it.

In that time, WordPress came out with its own hosting site (wordpress.com), which is now sorta similar to Blogger.

I would honestly recommend going to Wordpress.com and set up an account there. It's a really wonderful program and is full of some great features. Blogger is good, too, especially if you are not all that adept with the functions of a blog.

These days it seems that most people are going toward this method and sticking with it. In a way I wish I had done that. I love what my blog is now, but the headache of transfering everything over-- including any and all traffic I was getting at my old address-- was nothing short of a nightmare. In some ways, my blog never really recovered from it. I had a great readership before I moved, and it dropped off sharply after the move.

As far as your last question, I'm not the best person to ask. My blog is pretty much a personal journal of sorts, with other stuff thrown in the mix. It's a hodgepodge really. I'm not sure what your goals are, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be the next "big thing" in blogging. If you're willing to put forth the effort, you'll do it. Otherwise, just enjoy yourself and, most importantly, BE yourself.

Hope that helps somehow.

"RcktMan" Rick
www.rcktman.com/blog