You’ve got some family recipes you’d like to share, but don’t know how to set up a blog. Or it’s pictures of the kids you’d like to show the family, but their email keeps blocking it because the attachments are too big.
Heck, maybe you run your own business already and think that people should be able to find you online. (If that last one is you, stick around to the very end. I’ve got something special for business owners.)
Whatever the reason, you want to have a blog but don’t know where to start. I’ll tell you where: Right here. I’ll set up your WordPress blog and before you know it you’ll be able to … Wait! Hold on, WordPress? What’s that? Is it the same as a blog?
Boy, you really do need help, don’t you? Okay, one step at a time.
What is a blog?
Technically the word “blog” is short for “web log”. It’s a special kind of website that is designed to always show the newest stuff first.
So you upload some new pictures of the kids’ school play, call your elderly mother to tell her to go look, she goes to your web site and there are the pictures right on the front page.
No worrying about giving her some long address to have to type in. Trust me, you don’t want to dictate a long website address over the phone to someone with bad hearing. Or good hearing for that matter. It’s a total pain.
So a blog is your way to share pictures, video and the latest news with anyone with an Internet connection.
And WordPress?
Once upon a time, if you wanted to put up a page on a website you needed to understand a bit of code called “HTML”. It wasn’t really hard, but it’s definitely something not everyone wants to learn.
Then you had to use a special program to upload your HTML to a web server. And if you wanted to keep the newest stuff on the front page, you had to manually rename the previous page to something else. Total hassle.
Well, WordPress is a program that runs on the web server and takes care of all of that for you. You just open your browser, go to your web site, and click the button to add a new page. Click a button to add photos or video. Click a button to make text bold or italic.
Then when you’re done, just click “Publish” and whatever you typed shows up on the front page of your site. And the previous entry slides down below it. Very slick.
Is it really that easy?
Pretty close. But getting it all set up takes a little know-how. When I’m done, you’ll know how to log on and write updates, how to post photos and videos, and how to share it with friends and family.
How about selling my crafts? Can I do that?
Absolutely. It’s going to take a bit more work, but I’m here for you. Send me an email and we’ll get you set up.
I already have some things posted at Blogspot (or WordPress or Typepad).
Yeah, we can import that. It’s a bit more work though. Like I said, email me and we’ll work something out.
Can I keep my email address?
Absolutely. Although you’ll be able to create a new one if you like.
Bottom line it for me: What’s this going to cost?
That’s the cool part. For the first 100 people to sign up, I’m not going to charge one cent. And not two cents either. Nope, I’m doing this completely free.
Really? It won’t cost me anything?
Hold on there, I wasn’t done. I won’t be charging you anything, but you’ll still have to pay the web hosting company for the server it runs on. And yes, they pay me a finder’s fee for signing you up. That’s why I can afford to do this for free.
But you pay the same thing whether I’m doing the setup for you or you’re doing it all yourself.
I do this through Dreamhost. They charge $8.95 per month*, which is comparable with other hosting companies. They’re the hosting company I know and trust, and I’ve had fewer problems with them than with any of the other hosts I’ve tried. That’s why I host my own sites there. They’re not the cheapest, but they’re certainly not the most expensive, either.
(* The $8.95/month price is with a 2-year contract. If you prefer monthly billing it’s $10.95/month.)
Ready to go? Okay, click this button:
Use the discount code “first100” and you’ll get this thing for free. After the first 100, it goes up to $49. (Which is still pretty doggone cheap for getting a new blog set up from scratch, I can tell you that.)
Free isn’t good enough, can you do better?
Geez, okay. For the first 20 people to sign up, I’ll even provide a discount code good for $36 off the first year hosting. That drops your cost to $5.95 per month for the first year. And that’s it. Seriously, that’s as good as any hosting deal I’ve seen.
- $5.95 per month for the first year
- I do all the hard work for you
- I set up the hosting
- I set up the blog
- I show you how to change the theme (colors, layout, etc.)
- I show you how to post news, photos and videos
- You sit back and sip on margaritas and wait for an email saying it’s all done
Just don’t sign up at Dreamhost yet! Wait for the discount code from me, and I’ll walk you through the whole process.
Really, what more could you want? A money-back guarantee? Okay, fine.
Money-back guarantee
If you don’t like the blog I set up, just cancel the hosting with Dreamhost any time within 180 days and I will refund everything you paid me. And if you cancel within 97 days, Dreamhost will give you back everything you’ve paid them, too. (See their terms and conditions here.)
Fine print: If you paid anything for my services, I’ll do the refund after you cancel the Dreamhost hosting. So you can’t have me set it up, get your money back and still have the blog. That wouldn’t be fair, would it?
If you got this free, I won’t give you anything back. Just thought I should make that clear.
End of fine print.
Here’s that button again:
Remember, the discount code is “first100” to get it for free. And if you’re one of the first 20, you get an additional $36 off the first year of the hosting.
Good news for small business owners
I said up top that I had something special for you if you’ve already got a small business. You might not be interested in a blog, and that’s fine. You just want to put up some information about your business, and it’s not going to change all that often. I can set WordPress up to do that, too.
The front page will be whatever you want, and it will never change. (Unless you change it, of course.) You can get a “Contact” page with your phone number and email address, or even a form that lets people send you email right from the site. That’s right, customers sending you qualified leads. Awesome.
And if you start getting lots of feedback from the site, we can turn that into a mailing list so you can reach out to your best prospects whenever you have a special running. Obviously we’re talking about some additional work now, but you can start out with the basic setup and talk to me about more when you think you need it.
Go ahead and click, and use the “first100” discount code. Include your company name and I’ll know to ask about your business when I write back.
