I am Tech-challenged.

By that I mean  anything more than hitting the Send button and using Copy-Paste sends me into a tizzy.
No, truly.
And yes, when I learnt to download and play games on my mobile, I felt like I had graduated from MIT.
Yes, THAT tech-challenged.
Now that you’ve got the picture, do keep it in mind as you read further.

I have been blogging since 2004, with a steadfast loyalty to Blogger all through. The thought of moving to a self-hosted blog did cross my mind, many times. But apart from being tech-challenged I’d heard enough stories, about how painful migrating to a self-hosted blog  is, to put me off. For life.

One afternoon, in the midst of a blogging challenge with BlogChatter I came across Modern Gypsy’s post where she described her experience of moving to a self-hosted blog. Honestly, the first thing I did was, I searched to see if it was a sponsored post. It wasn’t. I retweeted her post and thanked her, mentioning I read the post at the right time and I was tempted to contact Host My Blog(HMB) after reading her wonderful experience. But then I remembered that I am tech-challenged.

Within 5 minutes I got a DM on Twitter from the HMB team telling me they would be happy to help. I replied saying I would think about it.

After thinking about it, asking Blogchatter if it was ok to shift mid challenge and getting their go ahead, I contacted HMB and asked them which of their 3 packages would they recommend.
They asked me only 2 questions, (How many posts did I have on my blog and how many images. Did I want to transfer them all?) and suggested a package. Seeing the numbers of which my jaw dropped.

Rs 999/- all inclusive was the annual amount. (This was in September 2016. Do check for updated packages)

Cynical questions reared their evil head immediately . Why were they so cheap? What was the catch?

While I was thinking up wild theories to my questions they informed me that they would have my blog up and running in 3 hours. Really? 3 hours! What about those painful stories of blog migration  I’d heard? Of the process taking days, even weeks and of people losing their content too? It was because of these stories that I quashed the thought of moving?

I decided to warn them that I was tech-challenged. They said it was ok.
That kind of made me believe in them a bit.

After thinking some more I decided to go for it and paid up.
All they asked me was for the login and password to my blog and asked me to ‘sit back and relax’.

I lazed around, made myself a cup of tea and was halfway through sipping it when I got a Twitter dm from HMB saying ‘It’s done.’
‘Are you kidding me! It’s only been 40 minutes!’ was my response.

But they gave me my login details and I gingerly logged in. Lo and behold, it WAS done. I was speechless, and still tech-challenged.(P:S:I had about 250 posts on my blog. The more the matter you need to transfer, the longer it will take, is my presumption.)
This change took place on the 10th of September and ever since then HMB is literally hand-holding me as I learn my way through managing my blog.
They are available 24*7. No kidding. They are. Extremely prompt with responses and patient with all my queries.

And I’ve realized the difference moving to a self-hosted blog makes. As fellow, and very prolific, blogger Jaibala Rao put it aptly, it’s like moving into your own home from a rented apartment.Thanks to HMB, I now have my own home, and they are helping me set it up.
So if I, being tech-challenged, can move to and maintain a self-hosted Blog, so can you. Ask Host My Blog  to help you, and you won’t regret it. Click To Tweet
And, this is NOT a sponsored post, just one full of gratitude.

Thank you, Host My Blog. I wish you great success and all good things, now and always.

(Edited to Add: I have no ‘setting’ and get no ‘commission’ to promote Host My Blog. I have always paid them for their excellent services. I am someone who can’t keep a good thing to herself when she finds it. After struggling for so long, and coming across so much misinformation, when I discovered HMB I thought this is something I should share with my fellow Bloggers who are looking to go self-hosted)