Very cheap hosting will always be better than a free one but usually still not good enough. Cheap hosting providers generally don't have stable and reliable servers as well as skilled customer support staff. If somebody offers you unlimited space with unlimited bandwidth for 1 or 1.5$ per month something will usually be wrong. Prices of reliable unlimited hosting plans start from 3$/month.
It is a good way to expand your business. By doing it right you can experience more growth with time. You might consider using a small business web A2 Hosting to support your trade.
99.9% up time guarantee is another feature that should be in the hosting company you are going to choose. Up time in the term of hosting services means that the amount of time your website will be up and running. There are tons of services out there which promise 100% up time guarantee, but believe me that only one or two out there really fulfill their promise.
The free hosted blog does not belong to you and the company forbids you from sharing, selling or transferring it to other person. Officially as per terms and website conditions, your blog on free host cannot be sold. For instance if you sell your blog to others secretly and if free blog host comes to know about that then the company has authority to close your blog and will not figure in search engine results.
When it comes to price, you will find that for basic service which is all you will likely need when first starting, out to be most reasonable. In some cases you can even find free hosting but the services offered are usually quite limited.
It is always necessary to register your domain with the right hosting company, so that in long run you don't have to repent. If you are serious about blogging on internet then the best way to have online presence without hurdles for long is to avoid free web hosting and search for better web hosting companies.