Here is my comparison of two of the newest automated blog building tools, Viral Instigator and BlogSolution
It’s no secret that I love both of these tools. They are both virtually turnkey blog builders; incorporating building blogs with setting up the posting. So which is better? Well, you be the judge. I’ve reviewed both, built heavily with both, and this is my comparison.
Speed - Strong advantage BlogSolution
Hands-down, BlogSolution is quicker. Viral Instigator creates Blogger blogs hosted on Blogspot, and therefore requires one Captcha for each blog. BlogSolution will build as many blogs as you want to put on one domain in a couple minutes. Lets just say you want 100 blogs per domain. Including setup, VI will build these in about two hours, BlogSolution in about 20 minutes. Of course, you could put 5,000 blogs on that domain in the same 20 minutes with BlogSolution.
Setup - Moderate advantage to Viral Instigator
Both of these require you to set up a domain and hosting, of course. Since VI is hosted by VI, the only setup involves entering your server information and keywords into their system. BlogSolution requires a little more, but not much.
Included templates - Moderate advantage Viral Instigator
The templates provided with BlogSolution are horrid! Of course, that’s OK, you want people to leave anyway. And you should never use the standard templates that come with site builders! Viral Instigator comes with standard Blogger templates tweaked to insert your Adsense. No need to change them. Custom templates can be used, though.
Documentation - Slight Advantage, Viral Instigator
BlogSolution has somewhat weak documentation, but it isn’t a big deal? Once you get the setup figured, it doesn’t really matter. VI comes with a good plan, very helpful especially if you are new to the business.
Overall convenience - Moderate advantage - Viral Instigator
One of the things I liked about VI right off the bat was that you can come and go as you please. If you have ten extra minutes, log into their server and enter 15 Captcha’s. You can come and go from projects at will. This may not seem like an issue, unless you are one that works 15 hours each day, coming and going constantly. I would set up a VI project, and over the next couple days log in any time I had a few extra minutes.
Newbie factor - Moderate advantage, Viral Instigator
Anybody that can ftp to a domain can make VI work.
Flexibility - Moderate advantage, BlogSolution
VI is not very flexible, and it wasn’t intended to be. Although by putting custom templates in you can set up linked blog farms and such, you probably wouldn’t use this tool for that. BlogSolution is very flexible, in that you completely control the templates, the linking structure, the feed sources, and the organization.
Price - Strong advantage, BlogSolution
BlogSolution costs $197, until April 14, when the new version will be $297. Viral Instigator costs $79 per month (at the time of this writing) plus $50 setup, and the price promises to increase.
Money-making ability - Probable advantage, BlogSolution
I have to speculate here, because my BlogSolution blogs are too new. I know I can make a couple dollars per day on a block of 50 VI blogs, because I’m doing it. Plus, they are getting indexed within a week or so. There is no reason at all for me to think I can’t do as well with BlogSolution blogs. There is no discernable footprint. If they made the same amount of money per site, then BlogSolution wins this section hands-down because of the speed. I will post income results in future posts.
Overall recommendation - BlogSolution
Even with the current version of BlogSolution (1.0) I would buy it before VI. The upcoming version promises to be a great improvement. The only reason VI would be close is because they are Blogger blogs, which in my experience earn better, whether they are self-hosted or on Blogspot. However, you all know I like to diversify, and believe in using multiple income streams in this business, therefore I own both. My recommendation - Get them both. If your VI blogs aren’t performing to your standards, cancel after a month. VI is also promising an update, that will include the ability to run multiple accounts. If this happens, you will be able to create blogs faster, and can outsource.
Let’s go bloggin’!
David