Changing to self-hosted WordPress site from WordPress.com

Hi!

I posted in the wordpress.com forum asking advice on how to proceed with changing to a self-hosted site (as I am aware that there is some kind of service offered to make the transition easier… one that you have to pay for).

My questions were not answered in that forum and, indeed, the topic was immediately closed for discussion and the content is not visible now (although the subject heading is). I have no idea why!

I have been happy with WordPress but have been using a free theme which has fairly poor navigation capabilities and, rather than trying to customise, I am thinking of self-hosting and using a theme as close to what I want as possible.

I wondered a couple of things… and they might be dumb questions but:
Will I be able to maintain contact with those I am following? Will their posts still appear in my reader? Will I have a reader?? Will my posts still be visible to my followers? Will they still be my followers??

The community aspect is what I have loved the most, so I would hate to lose that at the expense of a snazzier looking site.

I also want to know what the recommended steps are for someone in my position (wanting to transfer content from a WordPress site to a self-hosted WordPress site whilst maintaining the same name… and same followers/blogs I follow).

Thank you!