Why you should have a website

In this day and age, having any type of business is the main reason why you have a website. No matter who you’re trying to attract, one of the first places they will look is online. Even if you don’t have a business, if you’re trying to create an audience, then a website is still important.

Why you should have a website, for reals

Having a website is important because you own it. You get to decide what to post or sell. It’s your own headquarters and you can build a community on it. If you’re thinking that’s what you use social media for, well think again.

Building your own community

Even though you have a community on social media, there’s only so much you can do on it. You can’t post what you want all the time on there. Plus it’s ever-changing. It’s getting harder and harder to start a community because all they (the social media giants) care about is making money now. If you were one of the first people on social media, that was fine, and you probably have lots of followers, but that is not the case now.

You can’t collect emails from social media. What if later down the line you want to start selling products or services or what if you want to start blogging or vlogging? You need a community or a loyal audience for that. Not everyone on social media will want to be a part of your community, but your fans will visit your website and sign up for your newsletter.

A newsletter will help you create an awesome community that is interested in the topics you want to blog or vlog about. They will also be interested in buying products from you because you would have built trust within your community. The easiest way to get people to sign up is through your website.

I’m looking at you, YouTube

I love watching videos on YouTube. I’m one of those people who becomes a super fan when I like a vlogger. The first thing I do, after I binge watch all their videos, is go to their bio and look for a website.

My biggest pet peeve is when they don’t have a website. You have all these followers who adore you and you don’t have a website? That’s crazy. I’m practically ready to stalk your website and buy all the things you like, but nothing.

The craziest thing is YouTubers already have followers AND content. Which means having a website for them is literally easy for them compared to someone with no followers or content. All you have to do is put your YouTube videos into your blog post and then add your affiliate links there. Then, just add your website to your Youtube page and other social media channels.

As your YouTube followers increase, you’ll want to expand your brand. A website is perfect for that. You might want to start creating your own products and services, and creating your own community on your own website will help. I don’t know what the future of YouTube is, and I doubt it’ll change, but it’s best to have your own headquarters for your business.

Look legit

Getting a domain and host isn’t that expensive. I pay $10/year for my domain and I paid about $80 for 2 years for hosting. This was a special deal, but most hosting sites have deals for first-time buyers.

When you get a website, make sure that it looks legit. Don’t have a website that looks like spam. You know, those websites that look like all your information will be stolen if you click on anything or input any information. No one wants to visit a website that looks like it will scam you and steal all your personal data. Create a professional website.

Non-designers, I’ve got you covered

If you’re not a designer, you can hire a designer to build your website. You can check out my services here. Not everyone has the money for that though. I got you covered, or should I say WordPress and Squarespace have you covered.

Both WordPress and Squarespace have themes that you can choose from. WordPress has free options, while you have to pay for Squarespace. If you have no design skill and no technical skill at all, you should go with Squarespace. I say that because Squarespace themes aren’t as customizable as WordPress themes, it’s harder to make mistakes and mess up your website.

WordPress is more customizable if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t then WordPress is still a great option. You can still add all of your content. The only thing is you have to upload WordPress to your host if you’re doing everything yourself to save money. You can read more about WordPress here.

If you build it, they will come

After you launch your website, link it to all your social media accounts. Social media is a great way to market yourself for free. If you already have lots of followers, you can create content that links to your site so your followers can check out your site. You can create a newsletter and keep your audience updated with what you’re up to. I love getting newsletters and keeping up with what people are doing.

Having a website is the easiest way to have a business. You don’t have to pay rent at a physical store and you can test to see if your products will sell well before you dive too deep into selling it. It doesn’t cost a lot to start. You can start off by creating a service that you’re experienced with and then branch off. All you need is enough to pay for a domain and hosting. That’s not bad for investing in your dreams.

If you don’t have a website, what’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments below.

-Paigon | Natasha Lane Design Co.

Tools · Video

HOW TO RECORD YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN USING LOOM

August 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Learn how to record your computer screen using Loom.

In one of my previous videos, I listed the 3 free tools you can use to record your computer screen. Loom was one of them.

As I mentioned in the previous video, Loom is great because you don’t have to download it. It’s actually web-based. You use a chrome extension to use it. It’s perfect for sending quick videos to clients or to team members explaining how to do things. I’ve seen some people answer questions in facebook groups using it too.

HOW TO RECORD YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN USING LOOM

First, go to Loom.com. In the right-hand corner, you see the blue button that says ‘sign up for free’. You need either a Google account or Slack account to use it.

I use my Natasha Lane Design Co account which I use through Google Suite. You can log in through Google, but it’s all through your domain name. Click here to find out more about Google Suite (this is an affiliate link).

Start recording

To record videos, you have to have the Chrome extension. Once you click the Loom icon on your Chrome bar, you’ll see the record tab on the right-hand side of the screen. You have the option to record the screen + camera, the screen only, and the camera only. We’re going to choose the screen only and hit the ‘Start Recording’ button.

Business

How to Create Your Business Name

May 16, 2017March 8, 2018

Creating your own business is hard. One of the hardest parts is creating a business name. Here are the steps I went through to create my business name. Read More “How to Create Your Business Name”

Branding · Design Process · Graphic Design · Productivity · Web

Inside look at my Brand x Web Design Process

September 25, 2017June 15, 2018

Below is an inside look at my brand x web design process. This is an update to my previous blog post on my design process. In this article, I will outline my step by step design process. This doesn’t include my client process, but in the future, I will post a separate post on my client process. Read More “Inside look at my Brand x Web Design Process”

Productivity

Tips to Preserve Your Eyesight: Don’t go blind doing what you love

August 22, 2017July 26, 2017

I’m not going to lie, I am blind. Without my contacts or glasses, I can’t see anything. It doesn’t help that most of my past jobs required me to stare at monitors, camera screens, or computer screens. Now as a designer, I’m always on the computer creating websites or designing projects in Photoshop or Illustrator. So, how do I save my eyes? Read More “Tips to Preserve Your Eyesight: Don’t go blind doing what you love”

Business · Content Marketing

On Wednesdays We Go Rogue

June 18, 2018June 15, 2018

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I scrapped my old newsletter and decided to make a change. So now, On Wednesdays, we go rogue! What does that mean? Every Wednesday, I’m popping in your inbox to give you updates and tips that’ll help your business. Not only that, but the resource library is going to be a membership extension to the newsletter. It’ll be called Go Rogue Library. It’ll still house all your resources, but they will also be released in my emails so that you won’t have to keep signing up every time for an opt-in.

What you can expect

On the road to domination

If you’re not learning then you’re not growing! In this section, I’ll shine a spotlight on the things that I’ve used to grow my business. This will be freebies, videos, products, courses, or tools that I’ve actually found useful for my business. Just think of this as professional development. You should be doing that at least once a week anyway.

There’s definitely rest for the wicked, the wickedly awesome that is…

The #1 thing I regret about starting my business journey, is that I was 100% about my business. So much so, that I’d get ill and had no time for the people around me. Most people start their own business because they think they’ll have time to do all the things they want, like hanging out with family and friends, having hobbies, traveling and so on. If you’re hustling 24/7, then you’re doing it wrong. In this section, you’ll get a peek at what I’m doing on my downtime.

Get weekly YouTube, branding, Wordpress, and business tips and VIP discounts and promotions delivered straight to your inbox along with access to the Go Rouge Library.

Read More “On Wednesdays We Go Rogue”

Business · Productivity

How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

September 24, 2018September 19, 2018

Before I get into how my wrist injury helped me revamp my business, I want to give you a peek inside how I was living before my wrist injury happened. I was working more than 12 hours every day. Since I was working so much, my health took a back seat. I already gained like 30 lbs because I started eating foods that were more convenient to save time. Not only that, but I was exercising less. I use to exercise 4 to 5 days a week for about an hour a day, but now I was exercising for 30 minutes for 2 or 3 days a week.

I had the mindset of ‘If you’re not hustling, you’re not succeeding’. My butt was in my chair all the time and my family was definitely annoyed because I was spending less time with them. Then, one day, I was doing a wheel pose after a cool down, and I hurt my wrist. I didn’t really know until the next morning, but I brushed it off and kept working, so the pain increased. It got to a point where I couldn’t do anything. I had to quit working.

I’m a failure

Not working, made me feel like a failure. This was the lowest point in my life because I had to depend on everyone to do everything for me. Not only wasn’t I working, but I couldn’t do any household chores or cook. I was useless. All I did was sit around the house feeling depressed while watching TV. To make things worse, I gained another 20 lbs.

While I was in my depression, I realized I needed a change. I started hanging out with my family more and I was becoming more of a human being instead of a robot who was always working. I also decided to work on some courses that I bought, but hadn’t finished.

During this time, I had an epiphany. There were so many things that I wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was always busy working. What’s the point of working all day, every day if I wasn’t happy? Because of this, I decided I needed to work smarter not harder to create a balance.

How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

It’s all over

The first thing I realized after my wrist injury was my business is nothing without me. I couldn’t do any work without my wrist. If I can’t work, I can’t make any income. This was an eye-opener for me. How can I take days off, have sick days, and so on if my business can’t survive without me?

At this point, I can’t say that my business will survive without me, but I have systems in place so I don’t have to work as hard as I did when I first started. Read More “How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business”

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