Blueprints to build your website and presence by yourself
This is obviously the most unconventional thing I can say: build your website yourself.
In fact, I was uncomfortable when I first thought of including it. But I realize that this is where all this advice is heading.
I’ve divided this section up into blueprints for you to build, launch, and grow your own web presence. Don’t take on too much. And always be open to hiring an expert. Otherwise, have at it…
The Formula
You need:
- a website to land in search results
- a social media presence to engage with fans, friends, followers, users, customers
- a strategy for getting content from your site to your social networks
WEBSITE + SOCIAL MEDIA + STRATEGY = PRESENCE
Here are the blueprints for the first two items: Website and Social Media.
A word: I began this guide with a discussion about spending your money on the right things. Whether you are an artist or a businessperson, spending money on a professional service like Squarespace or Bandcamp is spending your money on the right thing. Whether you are an artist or a businessperson, using free sites (like those at Wix) that smother your site in ads or those that lock you into yourname.theirname.com represent you poorly. Be serious about your craft or your business: pay for professional services.
Here are my recommendations for getting your minimum viable website for several professions:
Musician
MINIMUM WEBSITE: Bandcamp
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter and Facebook Page
EVENTUAL WEBSITE: Squarespace (optional)
Writer
MINIMUM WEBSITE: Medium or Atavist
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter
EVENTUAL WEBSITE: Squarespace or WordPress.com (provided you pay for yourname.com)
Actors / Artists
WEBSITE: Squarespace (list and/or display all your work; remove extraneous pages)
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter and Ello
Restaurant
WEBSITE: Squarespace (put your menu in plain text on the site. NO PDF DOWNLOADS)
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter
Business that doesn’t sell any product on the web
WEBSITE: Squarespace
SOCIAL MEDIA: LinkedIn. Twitter and Facebook are optional. (If you use them, go through the proper steps to have a business page there.)
Business that sells products on the web
WEBSITE: Squarespace or Shopify (choose based on the features you need, specifically payment options)
SOCIAL MEDIA: LinkedIn. Twitter and Facebook are optional. (If you use them, go through the proper steps to have a business page there.)
Now you’re ready for a little bit of strategy…
“Seriously, do not start down to the path to a website for your small business until you read Todd A’s book.” — Amazon review
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Check out good.simple.open for more ideas about doing better work.
