I am sure that I sound like a broken record to my clients about the value of having a blog. I often say the question isn't whether to have a blog (there's no reason NOT to have a blog), but how to blog. There are a multitude of options and choices - all of them good and each provide great search visibility. However, a honest consideration of not only desired results, but also one's working style, personality and technical savvy - are all things to think about before selecting a blogging service or software.
Before choosing a blogging option, I'd consider the following questions:
#1: Purpose: Are you looking to build a community with lots of comments and guest authors? Or are you just seeking a way to voice your opinion and showcase your knowledge?
#2: Service Provider vs. Self-Hosted: Do you like the ease and peace of mind of having the blog hosted and managed elsewhere? Or, do you prefer having the customization options and control of self-hosting?
#3: Cost: Are you looking for a free solution? Or are you fine with paying a subscription fee for a few extra bells & whistles that make blogging more convenient?
#4: Customization: Are you determined to have a fully customized blog that blends with the rest of your site (and are OK with paying for some development)? Or, are you looking to have a simple setup at minimal time and cost?
I have worked with every major blogging platform - Blogger, Wordpress (hosted & installed) and TypePad - the three big players in personal and small business blogging. They all have their strong points - and all are great choices. Based on my experience, here's the pros & cons of each:
Blogger
Blogger Pros:
- The utilitarian's choice... everything you need, nothing you don't.
- Free
- Instant setup - I recommend it as a starter blog
- Easy to use
Blogger Cons:
- The navigation bar at the top of the screen can't be removed
- I have experienced issues working with the feeds generated by Blogger - especially when attempting to display headlines on other sites.
- Limited customization options
Wordpress (hosted & self-hosted versions)
Wordpress.com (Hosted) Pros:
- No installation needed - it's hosted by Wordpress
- Free
- Great bells & whistles for a free service
Wordpress.org (Self-Hosted) Pros:
- Free
- Flexible - endless possibilities for expansion
- Loads of plugins, themes and access to CSS for ease of customization
Wordpress Cons:
- Self-hosted version requires installation on your webserver - with the attendant need for maintenance time
- Appearance - some themes look great - some are somewhat clumsy looking
- Requires a willingness to sometimes wrestle with it to get desired results
- Free plug-ins offer loads of options. However, many don't play well with each other and can unexpectedly break your blog for no obvious reason.
- No technical support - only a support forum of other users
Typepad (this blog is on Typepad)
TypePad 
Pros:
- Easy to set up, great support
- Visually elegant - Themes look great in any browser - easy to read
- Easy to add content and widgets that offer connectivity to other content
- Maintenance-free!
- Easy-easy-easy to use
- Terrific convenience features
- Upgrading to an enterprise-level blogging solution (Movable Type) easy.
Typepad Cons:
- Monthly fee based on selected service level.
- Flexibility comes at a price - access to advanced template and CSS customization options require higher-cost subscription levels.
Basically, any blogging choice boils down to flexibility vs. convenience. My previous blog is on self-hosted WordPress... and even I got tired of wrestling with it to get it to do something I wanted it to do (and I LOVE doing this sort of stuff). I ended up wondering if that was the most effective use of my time... so I switched to the TypePad format. Clean, easy & simple - for me, convenience won out.
If you struggle with juggling different IM networks and social media and all their applications running on your computer at the same time... do yourself a favor and check out Digsby. Digsby is a single application that delivers all the major IM networks: Google Talk, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ & Jabber - along with an email notifier AND Twitter, Facebook and MySpace alerts - all in a single interface. Digsby also announced today that it now supports Facebook chat in addition to notifications.
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