To Change and Grow Your Business
When I started my business ventures I did all the work myself. I did the research. I wrote all the content. I had to learn about SEO, link building, passive voice and everything associated with building a blog. I fell in love.
It was fairly easy putting the pieces together. I didn’t find any complications in building my business and I think it was because I was passionate about the art of design and so from there things seem to just flow for us. I was driving tons of traffic to my site through the high quality effective content I was sharing with my audience at first, but then things changed. My website traffic began to slow up and I knew I had to do something different. You know how it goes; if you want different results you have to do things differently so I began exploring other options. I decided to look into WordPress because I had read great things about this unique website/blog building platform. I was using Freewebs before and was getting massive traffic to my sites, but they changed and I didn’t like the layout of their websites.
WORDPRESS, PLUGINS AND ALL ITS GOODNESS
I decided it was time for me to give WordPress a try after hearing about it from the very brilliant, Amy Jo Garner, my dear friend, Business Owner, Professor, Artist and lover of nature. Amy Jo has always been willing to share her wealth of knowledge of WordPress among other things with me. She was kind enough to send me her ebook on how to master WordPress, but for some reason and I guess it’s because, and I’m not ashamed to say, that sometimes it takes me a little longer to figure things out. I must say, however, that I am pretty good at mastering anything that has to do with software programs, which is how I became a self-taught graphic designer. I am also pretty tech savvy and I really do appreciate the knowledge God has blessed me with.
Okay, now back to WordPress. When I started blogging with WordPress, I could not, for the life of me figure out how to work the menu feature. I had the hardest time and then one day out of the clear blue sky, quiola, I got it. It was like the brightest bulb had lit up in my head and I was ready to take on WordPress full throttle. Now, I’m an expert on how to use WordPress. I thought it was beyond difficult to use, but once I was able to figure out how to setup the menu, it was then that I said to myself, “wow, it was really just that simple!”
When I began using WordPress I was able to change the structure of my business in terms of my website. My business took on new meanings. I was also using various marketing tools and strategies along with social media from Facebook to Twitter, but for some reason people were confused about what I was marketing. Potential customers were filling out the information form on my website asking me to create and design logos for them. This was not my initial plan. My plan was to sell my graphic designs as wall art and on tee shirts, mugs and other merchandise. My graphic design business was a huge success from the door, but that was not the vision that I had for myself. Even though I love to design my goal was for my designs to enter into homes through the hearts of my customers. In all the years that I’ve been designing i sold tee shirts and key chains along with one single masterpiece framed as wall art. After being beyond discouraged I let Cyndi’s Light work Designs sit dormant for a while. So I went into deep prayer asking God to guide me with the very thing I have been so deeply passionate about. I didn’t know which way to turn but God did not give up on me. He knew that making designs for other people was not in my future. Finally and with God’s direction I started over. I consulted a professional website designer who was kind enough to look at my site and tell me what was wrong with it. She told me that it was great actually, but in looking at it she was unclear what my designs were. She gave me a few valuable pointers. I incorporated her suggestions and my website is just now starting to really take off.
If you want to really grow your online business so much so that you never have to worry about your finances again here’s one thing you may consider doing:
Revisit your website and think about utilizing WordPress. Here’s the best way to get up and running successfully, not easily, but prudently.
Whether you’re a well-seasoned entrepreneur still trying to earn your next one thousand dollars weekly and your current website just isn’t working then here’s the answer.
Go to Bluehost and open an account. You will have to pay a small monthly hosting fee, but it is well worth it. This is gold. Pay for your hosting. Bluehost, Hostgator or whatever your choice.
Build your blog using WordPress. They have an enormous selection of themes. Make one of them your own by customizing it with your own header and other graphic designs. Go to appearances, themes and scroll through their selection of themes. You can even filter the themes to make it easier to find the perfect theme for your website/blog goals.
Write useful content that will keep your audience coming back on a regular basis. Be honest and give them what you yourself needed at one point that has changed your life and will impact theirs. Write and never stop writing.
Think of something really different that no one has ever done nor have offered to potential clients. The possibilities are endless. You just need to take time to think about what the something different could be. Trust me it makes a difference. You are unique so it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with the perfect solution.
Learn SEO in an effort to drive tons of traffic to your site.
Go into your settings in WordPress and implement your SEO features to your advantage. If you get stuck or confused there is a link in the settings area that you can click on to gain access into the information needed to drive traffic to your blog.
Be sure to add your Social Media icons. This is important.
Also be sure to use a static page and not a post.
More on WordPress coming soon!
