Why Did I Change To My Own Domain?

This week I changed from a WordPress domain to a self-hosted domain.  It was a big step.  And it still is a big step as I figure this whole thing out.  So why did I change domains?  That’s a great question, and I’m honestly still working through the answers to that question.  Here’s my answer so far:

1.  Having my own domain gives me an opportunity to try new things and add new things to my blog.  I like to play with the different widgets and gadgets.  The WordPress domain was limited in what I could add and tweak on my blog.  The new self hosted domain gives me more flexibility.

2.  Doesn’t jonstolpe.com sound better than jonstolpe.wordpress.com?  Maybe this is an ego thing, but it’s one of the answers to the question.

3.  I’ve heard that there is an opportunity to make money on my blog by switching to a self hosted domain.  This  brings me to answer number four.

4.  I want to do something great with my blog.  I’ve been wrestling this week with the financial impact of self hosting my blog.  Yes, there’s an initial upfront cost to getting this off the ground, and there will be a small fee associated with keeping it going, but I’m hoping that The Stretched Blog will start to make a little money.  So the question is what happens to this money.  I haven’t figured this all out yet, but my general answer is that I’d like to give it away to do something bigger – something that STRETCHES me.

Today at my church, I received some confirmation that this was the right direction.  Our pastor showed a video about the power of blogging and the power of doing something way bigger than ourselves.  Check out the video and let me know what you think.

Do you self host your blog?  Do you make any money through blogging?  If so, what do you do with it?  Finally, would you be game to do something big together through The Stretched Community?