This page is where I share the secrets of my success with you. I will make recommendations about the products/services/things that have made my life easier in recent years. They could make yours easier too!
Some of the links below may be affiliate links. What are affiliate links? If you don’t know, skip to the very end of this page and I’ll explain it to you.
Right then, imagine that you and me are in the pub together. The following are your questions to me:
How did you build this website?
I used wordpress to build this site. Building a website with wordpress is ‘easy peasy lemon squeezy’. If you want to build a decent website, without being a geeky programmer type person, here’s how:
1. Choose your ‘Domain Name’ – Note: I said choose, not buy! You can get a FREE domain name via my hosting provider (see below) When I want to buy a domain name to ‘sit on it’ for a while (I have quite a collection now as I have so many interests!) I get them from godaddy.co.uk
2. Choose your hosting provider – I use InMotion Hosting. They have a really easy-to-use control panel, fantastic customer support. I once ‘broke’ a website by tinkering with something I didn’t properly understand. I contacted InMotion to try to find out how I could undo what I did to get my site back online and within about 5 minutes they had fixed it for me! They also have market-beating services at tiny prices. (You may even get your domain name for free for a year, so check them out before you buy your domain). I wholeheartedly recommend InMotion as a hosting provider.
3. Install wordpress – With Inmotion hosting, anyone can do this in about 5 minutes. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how easy it is.
4. Plan out your website – Plan out your website on paper first. Write down all your menus and pages and get the structure of everything logical and clear before you start. You wouldn’t start building a house without plans would you?! Well, the same is true for a website – you need to plan it, before you start to build it!
5. Choose a theme – Now you know what your website will look like, and the structure you will have, you can look for a theme which suits you. WordPress comes with a pre-installed theme, which could work for some people… You need to pick a theme that: you like; your readers will like; google will like (SEO optimisation friendly). Time spent choosing your theme is time well spent. You can choose from one of the hundreds of free themes out there, or you can buy one. I personally recommend themes from Studiopress, which is where I bought this theme (Magazine Pro).
6. Install your theme – This can take about 5 minutes. There are tons of vidos out there which can walk you through the process.
7. Create great content! – ‘Content is King’, so the saying goes. If you write lots of great articles you will be rewarded. It takes time, dedication and patience. But there are lots of people out there making their livelihoods from their website. You could join them!
You’ve been working online for years now… What software would you recommend the most?
Good question [I know, that’s why I asked it!]
1. Open Office This is basically Microsoft Office, for FREE (my favourite price). 😀
2. Canva.com This is a brilliant online photo editor. I use it for all my YouTube thumbnails, the featured images on this website etc. If you use it like I do, (by supplying my own images and using free Canva elements for all design) it is FREE. 👍
3. iMovie www.apple.com/iMovie This is the software I used to do all my video editing for the first year or so. It is AMAZING! It costs something like £3.99 and is unfortunately only available for Apple devices. If you want to make videos, it is honestly worth switching to an iPhone just for this one piece of software…
4. Movavi. When I finally got myself a laptop capable of video editing, I wanted an easy to use editing software, with which I could ‘crack on’ with editing and uploading, rather than waste time getting my head around a new difficult-to-use software. Movavi is exactly what I was looking for! It is very similar to iMovie and I love it.
What are affiliate links?
Basically, if you go to the website in question via an affiliate link, and you end up spending some money on one of those websites, I may get a small commission, for having introduced you.
This is the modern digital equivalent of an age-old tradition. It’s exactly like me recommending a good car mechanic to a friend:
- My friend gets a good deal because he finds a good mechanic.
- The mechanic gets new business thanks to me. If the mechanic sees me in the pub, he might buy me a beer to say thanks.
This is exactly how I see affiliate marketing. And I consider you to be my friend. I would never recommend a bad mechanic to anyone (this goes without saying) and I will only recommend products or services that I believe in.
Many of the links on this website are not affiliate links. Many of the products and services I recommend are FREE! I’m recommending them because helping others is rewarding and I genuinely want to help you and I really love the products or services that I link to. These are the exact same recommendations that I would give to a friend or family member. My integrity is not for sale.
This page is a work in progress so please check back again soon for more of my top tips.
Cheers!
Chris 👍
This is just a quick note to thank you for being you here on my website. I appreciate you!