Want to start up a blog? Do it today and save on hosting

I've talked about investing in yourself in the past, and one great way to do this is to start a blog (like this one).  Regardless of what interests you, if other people are interested in the same thing, you'll find an audience, and that audience can help you to build up a side income.  (Odds are you're an audience member of others, so maybe you see what I mean.)

The best long-term strategy for starting up a blog is to (a) register your own domain name that embodies what you want the blog to be about, and (b) register for web hosting that is separate from the domain name hosting.

• Why register your own domain name?  The main reasons are to build up your brand, and to control ownership of the traffic that comes to your site.  You could get a free site at blogspot, but that's sending traffic to blogspot, not you.  It's well worth it in the long run to get your own domain. (Most of mine are registered at NameCheap.com and I've been happy with their service.)
• Why register for web hosting separate from your domain hosting?  Again, there are free hosting packages, but ultimate control of the traffic goes to them, rather than you.  They may do what you want now, but they can change the rules at any time.  If you have your own web hosting, this is much more in your control.  Also, it's best to register your domain separate from your hosting (even if your host offers a free domain with a hosting package) again because of control — you don't want both your domain and your hosting tied to the same company if something bad happens.