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Ghost Of Winter

Test Pilots

Ok, how many of you folks have heard that "free host are bad!"? Well we ALL have, but I am going to let you in on a little lesser known secret. Not ALL free host are bad. I use Free hosts on a semi-regular basis and here is why. I use them to experiment and try new ideas that might break the bank if they fail miserably.

I have been recently thinking about getting into the TGP game. By that I mean I have been considering submitting TGP galleries. Now I don't know about you folks, but I am not TOTALLY sure I have the marketing down pat. So to help me ease that fear of the HUGE bandwidth bill and little or not enough profit to cover it I think I am going to try the free host route.

Let's look at the Pros and Cons of a free host shall we?

Pros for a free host:

• First thing about a free host is no bandwidth bill.
• The second is you can burn as much or as little bandwidth and it costs you the same thing, Nothing.
• No need to worry about .HTACCESS or hotlinking

Cons for a Free host:

• They take the header and footer of each and every page you put up for their banners.
• The service is lacking to say the least. You lose all the little added extras like SSI, and PHP and things like that on some free host.
• NO real stats on where your traffic is coming from except through the use of some external counter of some sort.

Now these are just a few of the MAJOR Pros and Cons of a free host. I think that the decision to use a free host or NOT to use one is a personal decision. If you know going in what the pros and cons are then you can make an informed decision. I hear folks saying Freehosts are BAD…Freehosts have no PLACE in this business. But personally I see where they can be useful and I intend to use them as a part of my business. Not as the entire thing mind you. I would be a FOOL to put ALL my stuff on a freehost, but why not utilize them for what you can? Ok, that is it for this installment of my weekly article for the Lounge. If you have something you would like me to think about or discuss then drop me a line at ghost_of_winter@yahoo.com and tell me and I will see what I can dig up for you.

Ghost Of Winter