Richard Branson

Hence, Brannon has very strong leader-member relations. Second, task structure must be analyzed In a course of four 1. Can a decision be demonstrated as correct? Steps: 2. Are the requirements of the task understood by everyone? 3. Is there more than one way to accomplish the task? 4. Is there more than one correct solution? Based on the environment that Brannon has created at Virgin, assumptions can be made about situational traits. Brannon makes sure that he acknowledges his employees’ hard work.

That means when a decision Is correct, the appropriate staff ill be praised for making the correct decision. Brannon also encourages his management to continue to challenge employees to come up with new creative ideas to attack the present situation. This means not only will employees understand the task requirements, but they will also be encouraged to find alternate ways to accomplish the task as well as alternate solutions. Using the Graph below, when Richard Brannon keeps a situation at moderate control his effectiveness as a leader and fearlessness as a leader Is maximized.

If you have a demoralized staff your company will soon disappear” (Management Skills 1: leadership and motivation). Motivation is the process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. Richard Brannon has never lacked self motivation as a result of continuously creating and seeking new challenges to overcome. Brannon transcends his natural self motivation into his unique, hands off management style which emphasizes employee Job happiness and comfortable relationships.

Self motivation was never an issue in Abrasion’s career as an entrepreneur and business man. From starting Student magazine at age 16 to creating a dominant rower in the recording industry, Brannon always had a desire to seek out new challenges. This may have rooted from his parents because they did not view his learning troubles as a limitation and encouraged him to find and pursue his venture, Student Magazine, his convictions were the underlying motivator. Brannon wanted people to hear his views and was willing to exude hard work in order to assure this happened.

Brannon soon began to feel a sense of enjoyment and purpose–a major theme in all of Abrasion’s motivation techniques– which transitioned his efforts into the music and recording business. Of course, love and passion is not always a the best self motivator if success is never attained. Thus, Abrasion’s second key to self motivation is moving forward, rather than moving back. For example, in the wake of the U. KS recession of the sass’s Brannon had a choice to consolidate or keep growing.

In response Brannon bought two night clubs and invested profits back into his music industry in order to create success and limit losses. The third key for Brannon was to always have goals. Once current goals are attained, new goals must be formed. This is demonstrated as Abrasion’s goals were reddened from creating one of the world’s most respected brand to investing in large-scale philanthropic endeavors such as the creation of Virgin Unite. Finally, perhaps the most appropriate rule to Abrasion’s success: “Screw it. Let’s do it” (Brannon)!

When one man owns a record company, a soft drink company, and is pursuing space tourism there self motivation must never be deficient. Abrasion’s self motivation is an extension of how he motivates others. Despite running such an extensive array of companies, he takes on a very “hands-off,” management style. He says, “l don’t look at any figures or projections, if he [Patrick Ezekiel] wants to do it that’s fine by me. That’s very much the approach we take, there’s a lot of trust” (Management Skills 1: leadership and motivation). The trust he displays in his management demonstrates that Brannon is a Theory Y manager.

Theory Y managers assume employees can view work as being natural behavior and are committed to the objective. They tend to be less controlling and have a more hands-off approach. As a result, Brannon believes that his management can do their Jobs to the best of their ability without his constant supervision. In addition, Brannon has a knack for surrounding himself with a very capable staff and creating a work environment in which they thrive. ” Although Brannon is “hands-off,” he does create a particular environment that is very affective in motivating his employees.

He does this by participating in lots of direct personal communication with his employees. Even though he is a corporate leader, he displays compassion for all employees in the Virgin family and pushes them to become leaders themselves. An example of this is Abrasion’s involvement in public relations. Whether its extreme stunts or press leases, Brannon sets aside 25% of his time for public relations. He explains, “If your staff works enormously hard to create something they are proud of, it’s foolish if you don’t let the world know about it. This social involvement gives his employees the impression that Brannon greatly appreciates his employees’ success and hard work. Certainly an employee will be more motivated to work extremely hard for Brannon and Virgin, if Brannon is doing the same for that employee. Analyzing Abrasion’s motivational techniques more closely, Mascots Needs Pyramid comes to mind. Brannon looks past physical needs and safety needs, or at least assumes these will be taken care of. Instead, Brannon focuses his efforts most on social and esteem needs.

For example, Virgin attempts to fulfill employees’ social needs by holding a party employees, whether they are security guards or executives. This not only gives employees a chance to associate socially outside of a work environment, but also links employees regardless of social status. He also targets esteem needs. According to Richard Brannon, “Junior people are as important as senior employees. Staff should e praised, not criticized they know when they have done something wrong” (Management Skills 1: leadership and motivation).

RICHARD BRANSON’S VIRGIN GROUP —Problems— Although certainly notorious, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has experienced several problems. In the short-term, brand overextension has become a threat since the company has entered multiple markets. Brand overextension leads to damaging the comprehensive Virgin brand. Since the Virgin brand itself is the company’s greatest asset, protecting the brand image is critical. The Virgin brand image has a connotation of value and lifestyle. Due to many joint ventures, licenses, and alliances with other companies, the objective of the “Virgin experience” could be destroyed.

Furthermore, as Virgin becomes more global and more adaptive to individual cultures, the customer experience will certainly vary, again leading to brand overextension. For example, although the United Kingdom may condone Virgin’s racy and edgy advertisements, other parts of the world, as our group testifies, views such material quite explicit and even shocking. Thus, while Virgin enters different markets, negative impacts can arise, hindering Virgin’s brand. A second short-term problem is Virgin’s financial information that is fragmented, hard to locate, and even interpret.

With the company’s different alliances and joint ventures, questions about the financial health of the Virgin group were being asked. Thus after examination, Virgin faced financial challenges that led to negative cash flow. This was mainly due to the Branson’s approach of stand-alone basis where the most profitable company’s revenues financed new market entrances. Despite some profitable areas of Virgin, many did not generate cash. Therefore, as Virgin grows, a more systematic approach must be implemented to create synergies between businesses. Long-term problems also exist for Virgin.

First is Branson’s close affiliation to Virgin. What happens if the public tire of his exploits? What will happen to Virgin when Branson 1 leaves? An implication of these questions is that Virgin needs Branson. Virgin’s strong brand is fortified by Branson’s own personal values. A second long-term problem for Virgin is the company’s little formal structure and management system. Although this structure presently works for Virgin, allowing the company to be viewed as entrepreneurial and innovative, in the long-term creativity must be managed at Virgin. Company Analysis— After analyzing Virgin through various analytical frameworks including internal/external analysis, SWOT analysis, and value chain analysis, we have discovered the importance of Virgin’s strong brand and diversification strategy. In sum, Virgin’s strongest capability is the company’s strong brand. The brand’s foundations of entrepreneurship and eccentricity result in Virgin being a strong customer-oriented company. Since the Virgin brand is so strong, the company has been able to diversify into many new markets.

Diversification for Virgin is made possible by joint ventures and strategic alliances that are ultimately less risky. Thus the Virgin brand leverages Virgin’s resources. Furthermore, Branson’s values are revealed in the Virgin company. The brand image, which is the motor of the company, results in innovative start-ups that keep Virgin both successful and sustainable. —Alternatives— To continue Virgin’s success, we have identified several alternatives. First, Virgin could go public; thereby gaining additional capital that could be used to fund new start-ups.

The disadvantage with this alternative is that Virgin would be forced to abide by formal accounting rules, which Branson states he does not favor. Furthermore, Virgin’s brand could become diluted since the image would move towards a more traditional stance. 2 A second alternative is that Virgin’s management could designate Branson’ s successor and prepare that person to take on the task of CEO. The advantage of this alternative is that the fate of Virgin is not attached to Branson alone. This could help separate Branson from the Virgin brand that allows Virgin to flourish as a company, and not merely an extension of Branson himself.

Additionally, new leadership could prove beneficial for Virgin’s long-term success, and namely deciding Virgin’s structure. However, Branson’s absence could also weaken the brand in the short-term. Since the public easily identifies with Branson’s traits as loyal and fair, customers could perceive Virgin negatively. To thwart such initial negativity, Virgin could slowly implement the new successor, allowing him or her to also revel in the spotlight alongside Branson. Thirdly, Virgin could dispose of unprofitable companies.

This consolidation would result in money saved and the creation of a more formal organizational structure. Therefore, across the board, Virgin would be able to have a more uniform decision processes. Consolidation would also reassure investors since the corporate structure would be less complex and financial data more readily available. The motives for diversification are growth, risk reduction, and profitability. If Virgin cannot achieve those goals through the diversification strategy, then there are no reasons why Virgin should keep unprofitable companies.

Focusing on related industries would then give Virgin expertise; and thereby creating both value for shareholders and exploiting economies of scale. Furthermore, Virgin could allocate resources among the firms more efficiently, giving Virgin better future strategy formulations. 3 —Recommendations— One must analyze Porter’s essential tests that that include the attractiveness test, cost-ofentry test, and the better-off test, to determine whether a diversified strategy has a sustainable competitive advantage.

Because Virgin’s strong brand is firmly embedded in the company’s corporate structure, the attractiveness test reveals that many—though not all (example is the unprofitable Virgin Money)— of Virgin’s diversified companies are attractive. Secondly, costof-entry must be considered. For Virgin, many entry costs are feasible, because profitable Virgin companies support the new start-ups. And thirdly, the better-off test shows that new companies within Virgin must be profitable and add value.

Although many new companies do not add financial benefits, the new companies do add brand value. Thus the answer to the question whether Virgin is a successful diversified company is clearly yes. Overall the diversification works quite well. However, we do recommend that Virgin exit the unprofitable industries and consolidate. This would be beneficial in the short-term as capital immediately becomes available. Furthermore, this would also help Virgin in the long-term as only profitable companies remain, allowing Virgin to increase revenue.

In looking at Virgin’s long-term success, we recommend that Virgin continue its short-term strategy of further developing expertise in key areas. Thus, long-term market saturation would be avoided, while also maintaining Virgin’s strong brand awareness. Despite Branson’s strong presence, we also suggest that Virgin slowly implement a successor. Virgin’s brand is about personality—indeed the company needs a strong focal point. As humans are not immortal, the slow implementation of a new personality could also capture the public’s attention. 4 5

Sir Richard Branson is a renowned entrepreneur who is well known for having started from scratch at an early age of 16 years. Today he owns over 360 companies under the brand of “Virgin”. He is one of the richest people in the appearing in position 236 according to Forbes list of billionaires 2008. In his starting days, he initially ventured into music industry, an industry characterized by a lot of competition where he later excelled. As his Virgin businesses grew, he decided to venture into another industry where he had no initial experience and whose initial cost was so much.

The venture was that of starting the Virgin Airways. Much of his successes in business have been attributed to his leadership style and motivational skills. Most striking is his decision to venture in the airline industry by starting the Virgin Atlantic Airlines. This is despite the fact that he possessed no expertise in the field, finance stability; the field had a lot of risks and the fact that there were a lot of many previously established and already booming competitors like Sky Inc Airlines and other major airlines of the world. Branson states that he did not venture into business with the prime aim of making money.

Instead he ventured into it spurred by the desire to enjoy himself. His style of leadership has always emphasized more on having as much good time at work as at home. He has therefore put it a priority to ensure that his employees are comfortable and are enjoying themselves in each of his Virgin businesses. To this effect timely and effective communication between him and his subjects is ensured. This communication takes the module of using staff letter through which information on what is currently going on in their respective businesses is relayed.

As part of his style of leadership too, Branson always welcomes ideas from his employees an exercise which he highly encourages. This does not only expands the base of his information but also motivates the employees and helps them feel part and parcel of the Virgin businesses (Deresky, 2007). Another thing about his leadership style is that he appends a lot of importance to happiness of his employees outside the work circles. He perceives logic in this as according to him work should be fun to engage in.

the dream of every employee is to work in an environment where he is comfortable and where he feels that his presence is appreciated as well as the value of his services. Branson has well met such expectations through his leadership styles and this succinctly explains why he is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in today’s world. The other thing about Branson’s style of leadership is that he does not rely a lot on external ideas which may be generated through consulting in making his decisions. Instead he prefers to make his own instincts in making his business decisions. Question 2

Having started as student magazine being led by a 16 years youngster Virgin Group is today one of the largest business in the world. Over the years it has undergone a lot of transformation where it has undergone a lot of diversification by venturing into many kinds of businesses. In its early days, Branson’s business diversified to music industry where he started a label dubbed Virgin Records. This is the record label from where popular musicians like Phil Collins recorded some of their songs on their way to fame. In this was in the year 1973 just five years after is conception.

In the year 1984 the Virgin Atlantic Airways is founded and in the same year it acquires its first hotel interest. In the year 1991, Virgin Publishing was formed where in the same year the new publishing firms generated over $2 billion sales. In the year 1993, Virgin Radio was launched in the United Kingdom which at the time was the first national commercial rock station in the country. One year later (1994), the company ventured into the drinks market when the Virgin Cola Company was formed. In 1995, the company ventured into financial market by starting Virgin Direct.

In 1997, it ventured into rail transport after the acquisition of two rail lines forming Virgin Rail group. As it can be perceived from the above history of transformation, Virgin businesses has highly diversified into many business where many of them are not related or complementary to each other. These leaves the world watching and alert on the next move Branson is going to take as he had stood up as a person full of surprises in his business dealings. In the global market, Virgin is expected to still emerge as a force to reckon despite the harsh financial times being experienced in the world today.

This will be boosted by the current trend where Virgin is seeking to have partnership with major operators and realtors. Under the leadership of Branson who is such a visionary leader and a risk taker, Virgin is set to achieve more in future and even though the external environment may pose several challenges, the Group definitely has what it takes to overcome them. This means that I absolutely agree with his overall strategy of running the Virgin Group. Question 3 Sir Richards pledge towards renewable energy sources is a very strategic move in the world of business where strategy is always a key word.

This will be achieved by building ethanol plants which will replace the corn to ethanol plants. The former are cheaper and greener compared to the latter. His move is likely to challenge other world businesses icons to follow suit. This also comes at time when global pollution is a widely debated issue and cost of fuel is escalating. On the businesses circles being a pioneer is always an advantage in improving ones business image which has a direct impact on the business performance. The move by Branson is not primarily spurred by charity concerns.

In it, one can perceive a strategic move of enhancing the image of his business which is a wise move by itself. This is particularly because some of his businesses are directly concerned with fuel, example transport. The requirements to come up with environment friendly business strategies has also triggered this move which is despite the fact that it will dig deeper into the Group’s finance. Reference Deresky, H. (2007). International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures: Texts and Cases. New York: Prentice Hall.

When you attempt to envision a “writer,” I’d posit most of you see a quirky recluse, hunched over a desk in some cabin, crumpled paper strewn about as they obsessively work on the next great American novel.

To me, writing is so much more than that. Writing is thought put to page, which makes all of us writers — even if we don’t have the chops to spin beautiful prose.

I know, I know. Here’s someone who blogs regularly talking about the benefits of writing. And not a hint of bias was seen that day!

It’s true that I owe a lot to writing.

Many of you probably know me from my “business” writing for my startup, like my piece on (read the 3rd one, it will warm your icy heart).

Truthfully though, writing isn’t really “my job.”

It is a key part of what I do, and I get just as much out of writing in my personal life as I do at work.

Personal and non-fiction writing is such an interesting topic to me because I get the sense that many (financially) successful people are secretly regular writers:

• Warren Buffett has described writing as a key way of refining his thoughts (and that guy reads and thinks ).
• Richard Branson once said “my most essential possession is a standard-sized school notebook,” which he uses for regular writing.
• This one is more for fun, but I find it hilarious that Bill Gates  (do you think it’s really him?).

There are obviously many more examples, some of which are beautifully highlighted in the book .

In these cases, writing has just become another tool for thinking, expression, and encouraging creativity; cabin dwelling novelists be damned.

So, should people who don’t consider themselves writers bother with trying to make writing a regular habit?

You folks already know the goals I have for this site, and you can probably predict my answer: “Maybe.”

Writing can be an incredibly useful outlet for many people.

But let’s look at some of the research on how writing can affect the mind, and you can make the decision for yourself.

Writing makes you happier

It seems much of the literature on the benefits of writing deals with “expressive writing,” or putting what you think and feel to paper (or, let’s be honest, to the keyboard).

For instance, one form of expressive writing might be thinking about and writing out your goals in life—an activity that is beneficial for motivation.

Even blogging “” to private expressive writing in terms of the therapeutic value.

Expressive writing has also  improved mood, well-being, and reduced stress levels for those who engage in it regularly.

 shows that writing about achieving future goals and dreams can make people happier and healthier. Similarly, there’s  that keeping a gratitude journal can increase happiness and health by making the good things in life more salient.

And  that when people doing stressful fundraising jobs kept a journal for a few days about how their work made a difference, they increased their hourly effort by 29% over the next two weeks.

Many people shun expressive writing because they don’t fully understand what it means. Stick with me through the rest of this post, see the other benefits of regular writing, and I’ll break downwhat expressive writing really entails and how you can get started.

It doesn’t necessarily mean spilling your guts in essays starting with “Dear Diary,” so don’t knock it until you let me explain it!

Moving on…

Writing leads to better thinking + communicating

Laziness with words creates difficulty in describing feelings, sharing experiences, and communicating with others — especially true when it comes to persuasive messages.

Constantly having that “” feeling, or being able to flesh out thoughts in your mind only to have them come stumbling out when you speak is very frustrating. It paints an unfair picture of you, and regular writing can keep this from happening.

In both emotional intelligence and in “hard sciences” like mathematics, writing  to help people communicate highly complex ideas more effectively.

This is just my personal hunch, but I would say it is because writing helps elminate that “it sounded good in my head” syndrome. It forces ideas to be laid out bare for the thinker to see, where it is much less likely that they will be jumbled up like they are in your head (hey, it’s crowded up there!).

Is writing an outlet for handling hard times?

The connection with expressive writing and traumatic events is quite complex.

On one hand, I’ve seen a study or two that shows especially stoic people tend not to receive many benefits when they write about their troubling times.

On the other hand, there are some pretty amazing studies that conclusively show writing about trauma is a powerful way to come to terms with what happened, and to accept the outcome.

In one  that followed recently fired engineers, the researchers found that those engineers who consistently  were able to find another job faster.

The engineers who wrote down their thoughts and feelings about losing their jobs reported feeling less anger and hostility toward their former employer. They also reported drinking less. Eight months later, less than 19% of the engineers in the control groups were reemployed full-time, compared with more than 52% of the engineers in the expressive writing group.

Interesting, right?

In an , writing about traumatic events actually made the participants more depressed… until about ~6 months later, when the emotional benefits started to stick.

One participant noted: “Although I have not talked with anyone about what I wrote, I was finally able to deal with it, work through the pain instead of trying to block it out. Now it doesn’t hurt to think about it.”

It seems that timing is critical for expressive writing to have an impact. “Forcing” the process to happen may only worsen things, but if it is an activity that is engaged in naturally, the benefits seem to be clear .

Writing keeps you sharp with age

Writing is a thinking exercise, and like physical exercise, it can help keep you “in shape” as you age.

While the only research that  mentions hand written ideas as a good cognitive exercise, I don’t think the leap to typing is all that far.

Just like how friendships help keep you happy and healthy through their ties to social interaction and dialogue, writing seems like the private equivalent — it keeps you thinking regularly and helps keeps the mental rust from forming.

Writing leads to increased gratitude

Counting your blessings is an activity that is proven to enhance one’s outlook on life.

As the authors noted , subjects who reflected on the good things in their life once a week (by writing them down) were more positive and motivated about their current situation and their future.

The thing was, when they wrote about them every day, the benefits were minimal.

This makes sense. Too much of any activity, especially something like reflecting on one’s blessings, can feel disingenuous and  if it is done too often.

In spite of this, it is interesting to me that writing about the good things in your life has such an impact. Perhaps because it forces you to really look at why those things make you happy.

Writing closes out your “mental tabs”

Have you ever had too many Internet tabs open at once? It is a madhouse of distraction.

Sometimes I feel like my brain has too many tabs open at once. This is often the result of trying to mentally juggle too many thoughts at the same time.

Writing allows abstract information to cross over into the tangible world. It frees up mental bandwidth, and will stop your Google Chrome brain from crashing due to tab overload.

Although I’ve  that the information age might be making memories worse, I’m inclined to cite the quote about Hemingway from that very same article:

Hemingway’s words came from experience. When his wife lost a suitcase that contained all existing copies of his short stories, the work was, to his mind, gone for good. He had written himself out the first time around. He couldn’t recapture it–whatever it was–again.

Getting important ideas down alleviates the stress caused by anticipating this dreadful outcome. I’ve personally never felt inclined to not work on something just because I “archived” the idea with some notes or an outline—in fact, I’m more likely to work on it since it has already been started!

I’ll close out this section with one of my favorite Mitch Hedberg jokes.

I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that’s funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Writing leads to better learning

Learn as though you need to teach.

The concept of having a “writer’s ear” never fully clicked with me until I started blogging regularly.

There’s a certain discipline required to create interesting articles that demands the individual be receptive and focused on finding new sources of information, inspiration, and insight. I’ve read books, listened to podcasts/radio, and watched videos I may have normally put off in order to learn something interesting that I might write about later.

Simply being a curator of good ideas (which blogs tend to be perfect for, like ) encourages deeper thinking, research, and “heading down the rabbit hole” in order to find unique takes on topics that matter to you.

Committing to creating a volume of work also allows you to tackle big ideas more effectively.

From humble beginnings, writing around a certain topic for some time will allow you to build off of older thoughts, utilizing what you’ve already written down to develop ideas on a grander scale (I’m sure many writers have had a paragraph lead to an essay, which lead to a series of articles, which lead to a book).

In this way, writing encourages a specific style of personal development. You’ll begin to want to build on ideas, which will lead to a further exploration of your interests and a better understanding of your subject matter as you push onward into new topics and angles.

Related:

Writing is leadership at scale

I’m borrowing this phrase from my man , as it is a smart way of looking at publishing your writing online.

Despite the fact that the world is now being suffocated by ‘new media,’ there are obviously a lot of interesting opportunities that an “anyone can publish” world brings about.

The ability to leave an impact at scale through your words alone is a pretty amazing concept.

I’ve had people email me saying that what I’ve shared “saved their grades,” improved their life, and one person even credited me for landing their dream job! That’s insane.

I imagine writers like , who has helped thousands of people finally get their finances straight, or , who has forever changed the outlook many people have on life (including me) probably feel the same way. It is exciting, and humbling.

Is a cited study even necessary here? Without a doubt, the positive feedback for this “leadership at scale” leads to increased happiness for the writer.

Even in the face of criticism (which is guaranteed online), writers learn to build thick skin like few others. And believe me, criticism, even unwarranted criticism, is the breakfast of champions.

A Simple System to Encourage Regular Writing

From where I’m standing, personal non-fiction writing will generally fall under two main categories: emotional writing (the personal writing about trauma, described above) and educational writing, which is the “personal development” style of writing that focuses on learning.

Given the medical nature of ‘emotional writing’ (meaning, you should talk to a psychologist/psychiatrist first), I’m going to avoid discussing it.

I’ll instead focus on the educational writing aspect, which is something everyone can engage in.

One of my favorite templates for educational writing is the following article from Buffer CEO Joel Gascoigne.

It is a , and demonstrates what I believe is a frictionless approach to getting started with non-fiction, educational writing. Notice how approachable it is for writers of all skill levels.

• It focuses on learning a single important concept.
• It utilizes quotes to “stand on the shoulders of giants” (including thoughts of others).
• It emphasizes a concise writing style that forces quick thoughts and quick sentences.

As a regular writer, I have no doubt that Joel wouldn’t even consider this one of his Top 25 written pieces.

But that’s okay — Joel is a regular writer with 100+ published articles. I chose this piece because the structure is one that even the newest of writers can duplicate in their first couple of articles.

You’ll find that sticking to a “500 words a day” regiment is much easier when the entire process is focused on sharing what you’ve learned through a handful of carefully chosen words. You can work your way up to 2000+ word articles down the line.

The first piece I ever published online was called 5 Life Lessons from The Wire () — I no longer have a copy of it, and it was almost certainly awful, but hey, at least I took some input and turned it into writing!

You’ll need to find your own voice as a writer, and I simply encourage this style because it generally results in a good give-and-take. You’ll find yourself giving experiences a special sort of attention in order to write about them later, and you’ll find that the “writer’s ear” will start to form.

If you’re just looking to jot down personal thoughts by hand, definitely look into getting a . If you prefer to type, but never want to publish, I really enjoy , or plain ol’ Microsoft Word.

If you want to publish your writing online, you can do it with the following tools:

1. If your budget is between $0 and zilch… No problem! You can use a platform like Medium (which Joel uses above) or Svbtle, which are my two favorite free platforms at the moment.
2. If your budget is between $3-10… You’ll find that you have more control here, as the free platforms above don’t let you do much at all (and actually own your content, yikes!). The most reasonable choice here would my preferred setup for new writers, WordPress + Bluehost, which sets up with one-click and includes a free domain for $4.95 (referral, my thanks if you use it).

A first appeared at SparringMind.com.