Success stories moving from WordPress.com to .org

I currently host my humor blog The Mainland https://themainland.net on WordPress.com but am in the process of moving it to a self hosted server.

I am doing this for a few reasons. Namely I want a more slick looking theme and the ability to market merchandise related to the blog.

Most people on the .com side tell me Im making a mistake. I’d like to hear from people who have moved from .com to . Org and experienced success or if not what they would have done differently. My biggest concern is making sure I retain as many followers as possible. I plan to post ample warning ahead of time. I do have domain mapping so the URL of my site will not change when I move it over.

I hope to eventually turn this blog into something that can produce a decent revenue stream. But I want to feel like I’m not making the worst decision in my life by moving.

I participate regularly in the WordPress community and plan to continue to do so. I actively promote my blog as much as I can.