5 things I learnt from having a website
At the beginning of this month my little corner of the internet turned a whole two years old. Two, beloved! I would like to say getting a dot-com has been a rollercoaster ride but it hasn't really. It was nothing that exciting. But still, having one has taught me a few things about being a writer (artist), about life and about a great deal of things.
So here's five things I've learnt from starting a website.
1. Just start
In the not so iconic words of a not so sports brand - just start. That's it. Don't over think it. I had been wanting to get a website since Angasa suggested it to me all the way back in like 2019, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to begin until I knew everything was going to be right to the tee. I spent two years planning it in my head. Trying to figure out the design and content. I wanted everything to be up all at once and to be honest, that just set me back. (All the while Angasa just telling me I would figure it out as I go). The minute I started, things begun to fall into place on there own.
2. The things you love are also work.
I've never agreed with the statement, "do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life." What a load of horse manure. I think it's important to recognise that work is not play and you can simultaneously enjoy and love what you do while also acknowledging that it can be exhausting and hard. Starting and maintaining a website is fun but Jesus is it draining. Do you know updating a single plugin can cause your whole website to crash, or that sometimes you just don't have enough widget space to put a buy me coffee icon and these small simple tasks can take an actual whole goddamn day of your life? Do you know how hard it is to make a content? Do I completely hate all of this ? Sure. But do I also love it? Absolutely.
3. There are people before you. There'll be people after.
At this point this is low-key an appreciation post for Angasa, cause I cannot begin to imagine how I would have gone about this project without her. She practically taught me all I need to know. Honestly she fell on her face so I could backflip or however the saying goes. (That being said, sign up to her free blogging course here . In fact got through all the content she has on Creative Stopover.). At every point of a journey there's been someone who has done it. Someone to learn from. Someone who has cleared the path. There's someone before you. And by embarking on those footsteps, you make it easier for someone after.
4.You can't do it all
Asking for help is probably one of my biggest downfalls. I have this unrealistically dumb expectation that I can do everything pertaining to all my little jobs. The ridiculous thing is, I probably can. I know how to make designs in canva and write reports and schedule content and all that crap. However, the problem is, despite the fact that I know how to do these things, I can't do them all well and definitely not all at once or else something lags or overwhelms me. When I got an assistant in the first few months of starting a blog, as much as it killed me at first to delegate some of my to-do-list to her, I can't deny that it did relieve some pressure off me which evidently made it easier to work on more important things.
5. You're the first person that's supposed to show up for you.
I've always had an issue with promoting my own stuff. Which is stupid because sometimes external validation is actually quite nice. I wanted people to somehow find my work but was too scared (still am) of putting it out there and promoting it. My biggest running joke before I got a website was "you say I'm a writer but you where have you ever seen my work?" Having a website made me realise (more profoundly) that people just won't randomly stumble upon your work one day. You've got to tell people why they need to engage with it. You've got to show up yourself. You've got to be your number one biggest fan.
