Where do I start?

Great question…not sure of the answer.  I always started with building a website.  Why? Because that is what I knew how to do.  I started designing websites by accident.  I did one for a friend because I had been learning how to code and that led to the next person and the next…well, you get the idea.

I became an accidental entrepreneur.

I did not intend to be a website designer.  I was self-taught and only planned on using my skills for myself.  However, sometimes we stumble on something we love and we are good at and others want it, too.  I designed websites for several years until the toll of having to chase people to pay me got old. You see, I am too nice sometimes because I love to help people.  The result is that I give away a lot of my time for free. Big mistake.

Do not give away your time for free!

People will be happy to take what you give away and are unwilling to give anything back.  It’s sad, but true. Both my husband and I have had this happen to us.  We are nice people who love to help others so we give of ourselves.  It got to a point where we noticed people were taking, but when we asked for help with something the answer was usually “no.”

The only thing I give away for free is my time volunteering for my church.  Yet, I still need to know how to say “no” in order to protect time for my family and my business.

Start with Branding

Many people start with branding. I think I did all these things in reverse because I just built a website and kinda picked a name.  I am using an already established blog name because I am building a debt-free company so it makes sense to use this one. But I have agonized over whether or not I should just use my name Anna Herring. Just make a decision! If you knew my personality (or maybe you already get it) you’d realize that I think and think until I make a decision then I stick with that decision. I am at a point that I cannot wait any longer…I just need to start. And so I did…

What do you want your brand to be?

Again, I do not know my product so that is why I just started by writing my process.  If you do know the “name” you want, get a domain name.  The cheapest place to get a domain name is GoDaddy.com. I have used them for several domain names, but I get my hosting from iPage.com.

Why the two different companies? Simple, I like to save money and I love how easy it is to navigate their site.  GoDaddy has the least expensive domain names and iPage has the least expensive hosting.  I use them both so I can recommend them with confidence.

Hiring a web designer is not cheap. I would know!

iPage has an easy one-step process to set up a WordPress site.  Once it is set up you get an email with a link to sign in.  You can then choose a template and start there.  If you do not know how to connect your GoDaddy domain to your iPage site, just pick one of those companies for both your domain and hosting.  They both have a one-step set up.  (Personally, if it were me, I would set everything up through iPage since their hosting is waaaaay cheaper!! A couple bucks extra for the domain is worth the savings on the hosting.)

Well…that is it for today…I’m off to catch up on some of my business mentor’s lessons!