Get Money Maker

WordPress has become one of the largest blog platforms. WordPress.org allows bloggers to download WordPress and use it at their hosting account. WordPress.com is the service that allows bloggers to create blogs and have WordPress.com host them. Is WordPress.com affiliate marketer friendly?

I began blogging with three blogs hosted by WordPress.com. I have used many blogging platforms and found WordPress to offer a large number of features, while being user friendly. One of my first blogs was Bruce’s Money Rants. While Bruce’s Money Rants is still available, it currently is in its second incarnation. My first blog was squelched by WordPress.com.

WordPress.com shares the same creators as the WordPress blogging platform (WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, n.d.). Several features of WordPress.com invited me to choose their hosting.

1. My experience with the WordPress blogging platform

2. Stated that they had over 70 templates available

3. Ability to add widgets and plug ins

4. Ability to track daily stats from your main dashboard

5. Having an address of “xxxx.wordpress.com”

At first, I was enjoying WordPress.com. I created “emergencymgmt.wordpress.com”, “lifeofreedom.wordpress.com”, and “brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com”. My main blog was on money making. My plan was to develop the other two later. My first surprise came when I chose a template. I had about 12 templates available. You had to pay to access the 70 templates. Next, I found out you cannot upload external templates.

I was not concerned. I could still personalize through widgets, right? Not so fast, external widgets are not allowed. You are limited to the widgets WordPress.com makes available. WordPress.com also does not allow java script to be inserted in Text widgets. Greatly reducing a person’s ability to monetize their blog.

WordPress.com does allow some monetization. Small banner ads can be utilized by placing HTML into widgets. There are some downsides. Changing the ads requires manually changing the code. Not a deal breaker for me. I loved the ease of WordPress that much.

I reached a point where I was happy with my blog’s look. It was not perfect but was the best I could reach without paying WordPress.com extra money. I was not trying to get something for free. I was more than happy to pay for WordPress.com’s extra services. I just wanted the blog to be self sustaining. I began posting links in different blog directories and posting everyday. Within a week, I was seeing some results. My WordPress.com blog had a high day of 12 unique visitors and was already indexed in Google.com. I was pretty pleased.

I began focusing on writing posts to assist readers in making money online. I wrote about making money blogs and resources that I found useful (i.e. ZacJohnson.com and e-books). I also wrote about products, courses, etc. that had helped me learn about internet marketing.

My next move was to register with blog directories. I searched the web and came across a listing of 50 web directories. Each directory required you to register to submit your site. I spend two days registering the site.

Then disaster hits. I posted a review about Blogging for Dollars. It offered quality information and a 30 day all access preview for $1.97. Readers could cancel within 30 days and pay nothing else. I had signed up with their affiliate program after I had purchased the product. I am happy to show a receipt.

The next morning, I woke up and tried to check my blog’s statistics. It was a surprise to find out, there was no blog. There was only a WordPress.com error message stating “This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service”. No explanation, no notification to me, no warning, just gone.

I did not write anything bad. Every time I quoted someone else, I stated the author, site I quoted, and linked to the source. I reviewed WordPress.com’s Terms of Service. Of course, WordPress.com’s Terms of Service is a couple of pages long. I was looking for restrictions that could be relevant to the posts I had made. Here are the ones I found:

1. “the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party”

2. “you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms”

3. “the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing)”

4. “your blog is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company. For example, your blogs URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or company other than your own”

There was the culprit. I had included affiliate links in my reviews. So I could tell people about products, whether or not I had used the product, as long as I was not an affiliate. It did not matter that I had bought the product, offered proof of the purchase, and had found it useful.

It is important to hear both sides of any story. WordPress.com has the right to run their site and business however they see fit. I sent a note to their tech support. All I was asking for was an explanation, nothing more. Again, it is their business. But, it would be good business to offer customers an explanation. Patiently, I watched for a return email.

I went to my World’s Dumbest Criminals blog to check my statistics. The WordPress.com statistics widget now showed “account suspended”. I went back to WordPress.com and attempted to login. I could not even login now. I guess this was the answer to my support e-mail. Do not answer my e-mail just shut off the account.

I am not writing this article out of revenge or spite. My goal is to allow other budding affiliate marketers the chance to learn from my story. WordPress is a great blogging platform. Affiliate marketers only need to be careful when trying to make money. It appears that WordPress.com wants to provide a great blogging platform…as long as you are not trying to make money.

Tags: advertising, affiliate marketing, article marketing, blogging, blogs, business, home based business, how to make money, make money, marketing, monetize, money, terms of service, WordPress