Like the rest of the world, COVID changed my life. I was house sitting and traveling around Oregon and Washington deciding on my next adventure when the world turned upside down. I’d been traveling for almost a year rarely staying in one place for more than a week. I was looking forward to some amazing adventures this summer. The universe laughed at me. A week later I was moving back to the house where I used to live, not sure which direction to take next. Last summer I had started a tech support business while I was on the road. I thought it would be a great business, but I was having too much fun traveling to get serious. And now I had all the time in the world to get serious. After a few weeks of moving in and getting used to being in one place again, I decided to create this website and build the business I’ve dreamed about for so long. You can learn from what I did right and wrong along the way.
The first thing you need to do when starting is to decide on the goal of your website. Is it about selling something, connecting through a blog, growing an email list, or something else? Each of these might be part of your website eventually but when you first start it’s a lot easier to have a single goal to work toward. You don’t need everything in the kitchen to make a sandwich. Don’t buy a blender when you just need a knife. I know I’m guilty of shiny object syndrome. That’s when every new thing looks exciting and you just have to have it. There are lots of shiny objects when you start building your website. Take your time and decide what you absolutely need to get started. Don’t do anything else. It’s important to make a very small list so you don’t get distracted. My goal for this website is to grow my email list. I put all my energy into learning about email list software and finding resources to help me create a website to do that.
Maybe you’ve decided that you want to create a blog. Do you know what you are going to write about? It’s important to have a niche. The more specific the better. I started a blog a few years ago with an extremely specific niche. I still have people that connect with it. One thing that surprised me was that some people who connected with it were interested in it for reasons I hadn’t anticipated. When I learned why they were so interested I added more content to meet their specific needs. So, my niche became an even more specific niche. The more specific you get the better. Your readers want what you have to offer because you are talking to them.
Are you ready to create your website? Do you know what niche you want to focus on? What’s your biggest obstacle to getting started? Let me know in the comments below.
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