A blogger emailed me telling me "I want my own blog" so I decided to make a post about it. If you're using a free blog service to blog, and want a blog of your own, i.e. a blog with a domain name, I recommend the 'Affordable Website Plan'. Alternatively, you can purchase a domain name and point it to your free blog. You can do this with Tumblr, Blogger, Webs, Weebly, Yola, Google Sites, WordPress.com etc.

Setting your free blog up with a custom domain means you will have a custom unique domain name, but you still don't have your own web hosting account. Without a web hosting account, you are still limited by the amount of customization you can implement, or have a developer implement on your website. It also mean you can't download your website's file as backup or to transfer to a different hosting company. If you decide you want a web hosting account along with a custom domain name, I recommend switching from whatever free blogging service you use to a WordPress.org self hosted website. A self hosted WordPress.org website is currently the most popular, SEO friendly, versatile website option on the market.

The best looking WordPress.org self hosted themes available can be found on themeforest.net.

I would also recommend a professional logo. You can never start branding your website too early, but you can start branding too late. Here are some of the best logo designers available.

I would also recommend an email list to help you keep track of your blog's serious readers and give you the capability to notify them of any new products(ebooks) or sales you may eventually offer. For an email list or newsletter service, I recomend Mailchimp.com (rates and plans)

The Affordable Website Package includes a logo, and an email list of up to 5,000 subscribers(sending limit 5000 emails/month). The Affordable Website Package also includes unlimited support to help you master your website and email list admin.