The reasons why I have been MIA lately is that I’ve been caught up with creating my business website. I designed and created it from scratch by myself. (well, not literally ‘scratch’ like coding, I use Divi theme builder and just a little bit of CSS I found from Google). The domain name may sound not creative as it’s 80% very similar to this blog, just missing “W” and .wordpress.com.
By having this website, I nailed the wishlist and to-do list that I made in late 2018 and early 2019. The website is gonna be just pure business and unlike this blog, it’s gonna be full English and targeted content. I won’t talk as random as I am in this blog, because actually when I set this blog, I had no goals. Now this blog’s traffic has been increasing a lot (200 views per day, well for me that’s a lot) that maybe I should also give this blog more dedication and attention.
It took me long to decide things for the biz website, like what to name it, where to host it, what to put in the content, which one should go first, etc. I built the site on WordPress after thinking back and forth whether having it on drag-and-drop website builders like Squarespace, Wix, etc that’s very easy to use but expensive, or WordPress that requires a longer learning curve but cheaper.
I decided to have it on WordPress because it’s more powerful for the long run, and WordPress has much better SEO push if your business is based on content marketing. Actually, this is not the first website that I designed, I created my theater club’s website years ago and didn’t even use Divi, I forgot how at that time I managed to do that, sometimes I am surprised by the things I did in the past but was not aware of it as an achievement. LOL. Even though Divi claims as the ‘drag-and-drop feature for WordPress’, it’s not as easy as those in other site builders. Seemingly WordPress doesn’t want to make it too easy for everyone because otherwise web developers and programmers are going to be mad and lose their jobs.
It’s hard to learn in the beginning, and I’m still learning a lot, but as soon as I get the hang of it, I believe I can do it faster. And to be honest, the hardest thing to learn is not the technical issue, because you can google it. It’s the design aspect that’s the hardest and the price that people should pay more, because there’s no direct answer to present an idea into a design well, you can’t google it.
I’ve done three makeovers for the web in one month for both the design and content. My first design was just okay, I didnt really feel the click, but at that time I was getting myself used to the technical aspects of designing a website. What really made me stuck was the content, because in the beginning, I had too many services to offer and I tried hard how to connect all my different skillsets in one website, because each field has a different target market. And because I had many things, it’s hard for me to build the portfolio for each service, because my mind was scattered and always felt in a rush.
Until one day I had a free business coaching session from an FB group, there was a business and life coach–her name is Tamara–that was giving away limited free 1:1 calls for the launching of her business. I felt so lucky that Tamara chose to give the chance for me because really after the call, I got a clearer vision that I need to do one thing at a time, which one that can solve my current problem, solve that problem first then go to the next goal. Tamara also made a customized action plan for me that suits my situation and goals. After the call and limiting my focus, I’ve seen that I managed to do more stuff than I was before. You know what, I was 1 month stuck on the website and it was so far from ready. Meanwhile after that, it only took me a week to set it up like what it is right now, as well as getting paid projects for web design that I’m currently working on. I also managed to build my web design portfolio while getting copywriting for my website content done.
One thing that I also appreciate from the call was that Tamara reminded me not too overthink it too much and dont worry about making it perfect at the first shot because in your journey, just like everyone else, you will probably makeover your website (design and content) three times. Just focus on getting started. I now can’t afford a business coach like Tamara but I really recommend her to anyone who’s looking for assistance in getting their visions clearer and to get things done.
My website now is still far from perfect or the way I really want it to be, I’m limited to my knowledge in coding. Talking about coding, there’s good news. I’ve been shortlisted to the top 15 finalists out of 800 scholarship applicants from 23 countries for a web development bootcamp program in Bali!! I will have to make an application video to make it to top 5 and eventually win the prize. I really hope that I can win this scholarship because it’s gonna help me in my career to get life and lifestyle that I want! Please hold thumbs for me!