THE BLOG |
follow along for tips and tricks for creative web gurus like yourself! |
So you think it is time to have a website. Maybe you have been led to take your story to the masses. Maybe you have created a new way of doing things or mastered an old way of doing things and the world simply needs to know so they can find you to do it! Whatever the reason, you have stumbled across this site, this blog and need some basic directions or simple instructions of what to do next to have that website. WHAT'S NEXT? The key before you start thinking design or colors or fonts is to decide "who is your audience?" Ask yourself, "Who am I trying to reach? Who will benefit the most by finding me?" You have started with your "story," your "service," or your "product." Now it is time to narrow your focus and define your audience. With that in mind, develop your title. Will you simply use your name? Or will you creatively promote your "thing" by your title? You decide. This may change 5 or 15 times while you are brainstorming your ideas about your website. While deciding what you like for a title, see if anyone else is using it out on the web. Do a little research. Once you are happy with your defined audience and your chosen title, then you pay for your domain name. This could be your title plus ".com" or ".net" or many other url extensions that have been made available by the web. If you need help with this step in the endeavor, don't worry. This is where I can be of help or other website designers can lend a hand. WHAT NOW? So now you are set to move forward. You have your "thing" identified, your audience defined, and your perfect title. Start gathering all that material you have acquired already about your "thing" and write an outline that will show how you wish to share what you know about it. Make the outline simple, don't include all the "stuff" or all the details. Write down your ideas and how they should flow so that you will see how you wish to have them placed on your website. From this outline, you can then share with me or another website developer/designer exactly how your ideas and material will be placed in your layout and your menu structure online. This will be your guide so you can communicate clearly with those creating your site. There are plenty of helpful tutorials available on web hosting sites and other resources that can walk you through how and where to place your information. Making sense of what you have to offer will only help you when you are looking at guides to do the layout online. KEEP IT SIMPLE You want to show the world what you have to offer from "your writing," to "your expertise," to "your newly improved product." But less is more when it comes to content on your homepage. Keeping your website clean and clear of too much clutter with plenty of white-space will only enhance what you have to offer your select audience. Each separate page you prepare from your outline should have one ultimate purpose and clearly defined priority. Don't overwhelm your audience. Save some of what you have to share by placing it on the site slowly, perhaps through a "blog" that is focused on your "thing." Whatever it is and wherever you are in the process of creating your website, take time to define the purpose of the site and define your audience. Develop your title and develop your outline. Make the most of your first impression by having all your homework done before your site goes live for the first time. But most of all be creative and keep having fun.
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A new year may have allowed us to start fresh and new, but the hectic schedule was still awaiting us as we stepped into 2019. The days are long and the years are short it seems as i find myself reminiscing days before my oldest is about to turn 24.
THAT IS SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE Where does the time go? How can I be in the world with two adult children of my own and two adult step-children? It is so exciting to see them go off into four different directions and find their way on their journey. They do wind back in from time-to-time, even my son who is no longer living at home and recently bought his own home with his wife. So occasionally we get to see what wonderful, exciting, stressful, flabbergasting things are going on in their worlds and hear about them. I am grateful for their ambition and independence. It is all very bitter-sweet, especially when the realization hits me that their aging - means I am aging. But with aging comes wisdom, wholeness, and the feeling of being comfortable in your own skin. I do love that part. The family, as a whole, was able to check off several ginormous things from our list from 2018, but we still have a wedding to plan, college classes gearing up for spring for the other three "children" and we hope to get our current residence on the market in the coming weeks. My head is spinning as I type that run-on sentence. BE STILL AND KNOW But God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. 2019
Do you have a word for 2019? Instead of writing a full list of resolutions for the new year, a few years back I heard the notion of simply coming up with a one-word theme for your new year-new you mantra. This word would be in a nutshell what you wish to accomplish for the next 365 days. You could apply it to many areas of your life, your home, your job, your quirks. I have enjoyed this concept and have done this each year since. CLEAN This year, my word for the year is "clean." Now this is most likely not what you first think of when it comes to lifestyle themes, but hear me out... or read on. 2018 was filled with lots of big moments. In October, my son got married and then he and his wife bought a house that I owned for the last 5 years as a rental. There were lots of repairs to be done when the tenants moved out and the newly wed couple chose to live there while the construction process was underway. At the same time I had my former residence on the market trying to get it sold which took about 6 months. So I was feeling the pressure of what became my short-lived experience of a real estate tycoon... well sort of. Prior to all this, my step-daughter graduated from high school, proceeded immediately to basic training for the US Army Reserves and then graduated from that training to move on to her Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon. She just graduated from that program in December. All the while my daughter got engaged during 2018 and she and her fiance finished their degrees from two different colleges. He graduated from NC State in December and she got her associate's degree in social science from the local community college. Take a breath. I know, busy is an understatement for 2018. But I needed to breath in and consider getting a clean slate going into the new year with many things "checked" off my list. Son married [check] Sold rental home [check] Sold former residence home [check] Graduations attended [check] Daughter engaged [check] But clean means more to me than just a clean slate for 2019. I want to get the current house organized. My husband desires to put it on the market by March of this year. We also have my daughter's wedding to plan for March. So technically, a clean break is what I need. Clean is also a reference for a clean heart before God. To be transparent before Him and to seek His face is my priority for 2019. So "clean" is my theme. It simply works as my focus word for the whole year. What is your focus word for 2019? |
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