One of the biggest challenges that I have had to overcome with my www: Wonderful Worldwide Website or my online presence that you see here before you, is constructing the site itself, in a way that was easy (not being a computer geek), cost effective (I didn’t want to look back and think “Gosh! that cost me so so much and I’m not even happy with the result!!!”… and wanted to have control over how much and what I was spending my money on), loads of flexibility (being the creative control freak that I am) and a product I could be at least a little bit in love with. Yes, that was possibly the longest sentence ever written.
When I first started sharing my musings publicly, I wanted my own, free-standing website (not linked to blogger or tumbler or the like though they are all very worthwhile in their own way) and I knew that I wanted to use my name for the site, so that I have the freedom to change the content as I saw fit without having to rebrand too radically. Being an expert on myself, I acknowledge the necessity to allow room for change in my world. So I bought the domain name viendamaria.com, downloaded WordPress and then just started using one of their free templates. I didn’t have an exact plan for what my site would be about or which direction I was planning to head. I had been writing for over 10 years and so many friends said they wanted to read what I had written about certain things so, instead of sending everyone a group email, having a site where I could share my thoughts was clearly the perfect solution.
Truthfully, (eeep! it’s kind of embarrassing!) when I first started writing online, some of my headings and even topics were a little lack-lustre, my layout was unremarkable and it took at least 6 months of consistent publishing to begin to find my groove.
I learnt how important it is to be consistent, why blogging is an extremely valuable tool for any business and why it is critical to carve your niche by using your unique point of view and personality.
As well as posting regularly and finding my voice, my passion and discovering insights in which niche much of my written work was lying, I spent endless hours immersed in the depths of Google learning about SEO Search Engine Optimisation and trying to figure out how to customise my template and learning how to code in certain elements which I wanted to include on my site to give it a more distinct and personal look and feel. I wanted “me” to be recognisable in the branding and the feelings that visitors had upon reaching viendamaria.com.
This certainly wasn’t easy for me! I am most certainly not a whizz-kid when it comes to online adventures and it was an incredibly time consuming and daunting task. I managed to get my lovely little WWW presentable but was never entirely happy with it. I continuously researched problogger forums, advice articles and websites for systems and products that suited my need to have creative control over my site whilst making it easy for me to do what I wanted to do, when i wanted to do it. Be it at 5am on a Tuesday morning or after Sunday brunch when I am still in bed.
All of this knowledge and experience garnered over many months of research, experimenting and testing many different systems resulted in a byproduct where I am putting all the most important elements together into a guide on how to build your own business blog website from scratch in 1 day. I am currently writing the copy and designing the template so that I can share all that I have learnt with you, in a digital format easy for you to download and use, complete with links and inside tips and advice.
It will include:

☮ A step by step guide on getting your site set up.

☮ How to start building your own site from the very beginning.

☮ The art of copywriting.

☮ Basic SEO and marketing

☮ What products and resources I used to create what I wanted.

☮ Loads of additional fun tools and quips along the way!

This will be a very simple guide for beginners who, like me, are clueless, non-geeky types but are passionate about the internet and have the commitment as well as see the value in having an online presence to share their work, talents and insights. The truth is, nowadays, if you don’t have a place where you can be found online, people will quickly forget about you, as well as question your credibility. If you have something to share, whatever it may be, and you’re not online, you are seriously stunting your capacity of having a successful, flourishing identity, business or brand.
The  digital guide that I am currently working on will probably be called something cheesy like Zero to Cyber Space Hero ~ A Guide to Creating Your Own Business Blog in 1 Day. Ok, so I haven’t totally decided on the title yet, but that’s one of the final things I need to do. I’m still working on it. If you have any great title ideas, please DO feel free to share them with me! Put your ideas below in the comments section below or email me studio@viendamaria.com or on Twitter or Facebook. Whichever medium you prefer works.
The guide will be your fast-track guide past of the trials and tribulations that I went through in order to create the site that I have now. It will help you develop a website that you love, all on your own terms at extremely low costs in just a few super easy and simple to follow steps.
After all, if I can do it, so can you! Look out for the digital guide to creating your own business blog launch in early June.
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