The Basic Blog

So you want a WordPress blog, at your own domain name (mydomain.com, not mydomain.blogspot.com or something dumb), right?

And you don’t want to do it yourself, and you want it done fast… right?

That’s cool. You’re in the right place.

First, just so you’re not surprised, there is some fine print. Mainly, the given price applies ONLY IF YOU DON’T YET HAVE WEBSITE HOSTING. (I keep this service so cheap by sending you through a special affiliate link when you buy your hosting, and the hosting company sends me a commission. If you don’t get hosting, I work for too cheap. And that’s not cool.)

So if you don’t yet have hosting for your blog, AWESOME. Don’t get it yet. I’ll walk you through the right way to get it after we start working together. (If you have questions about what hosting costs, that info is here.)

If, however, you do have hosting? We can still work together, but you should read this.

(And if you have no idea what I’m talking about with “hosting,” it’s cool… just keep reading.)

So let’s talk about the service, shall we?

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What I’ll do:

• Install and configure WordPress software (i.e. “put up a blog for you”)

• Upload a theme of your choice (which determines your blog’s “look”) and make it active so that your blog looks all cool and pretty. (Want to check out some themes? Here’s a bunch, or you can Google “free WordPress themes.”)

• Install add-on software (“plug-ins”) that will give you more ranking with the search engines, allow people to subscribe to and follow comments left on your blog, and fight spammers. (For the geeks who wonder which specific plug-ins I’m talking about, read this.)

• Tell you how to get into the administrative area, where you can write posts, add pages, spiff it up, etc.

• Give you a video that shows you how to do most of that stuff — i.e., the most common blog tasks like adding photos, writing posts, making links, and so on.

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What’s not included

Because hey, we’ve gotta have some limits here

• Moving another blog’s content over
  The basic version of this is a “fresh start” service that will give you a blank blog, ready for you to fill with new, spectacular content. If you have an existing blog and you want posts, comments, and generally all of your old stuff moved over to a spiffy new home, then what you want is a blog migration — see the orange sidebar on this page for more info..

• Personal blog tutoring.
  Dude. I didn’t say I wouldn’t sit down with you and show you exactly what to do. I just said it wasn’t included. If you’d like some how-to or why-to, you might want to think about scheduling some technology coaching after your blog is finished, or — if your questions are more strategic — maybe some small-business consulting.

• Support.
  I’m a pretty cool guy, and if you have a question here or there, I’m usually happy to answer it. But you really shouldn’t think of this as “support,” as in “let’s call tech support.” If your site breaks, you can and should totally call the hosting company, but if you’re interested in learning how to put widgets in the sidebars, do search engine optimization, or figure out how to make some zany new plug-in work, I’m going to refer you back to that technology coaching that I mentioned earlier.

Don’t worry. WordPress is easy, and the video I’ll give you will show you how to do most of the basics. You WILL be able to use this site. It’s so easy that even those Geico Insurance cavemen guys can do it, regardless of whether or not that statement offends them.

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How this works

Interested? Ready to buy? Well, if you’re super itchy; you can go ahead and skip on down to the big BUY NOW button and click on it. But if you’d like a bit more detail on the procedure, here’s how we roll:

1. You follow an insanely easy step-by-step process I’ve laid out that will guide you through the process of buying your hosting (the site’s online “home”) and domain name (the .com or .net or whatever address where people can find it). (Wondering how much hosting and a domain name costs? Check the FAQ at the bottom of this page.)
2. You pick a theme, which is like a template that will determine your blog’s “look.” (How to do this is described at the end of that same step-by-step process.)
3. You email me the information I need, again as described in that step-by-step process. This will be the hosting log-in info, theme choice, and a bit more. (Don’t worry, I can’t get at your credit card info or anything with that log-in info. You should probably log in yourself and poke around to assure yourself of this.)
4. Within a few days, I set up your blog as described above.
5. I tell you how to get to the new blog and its administration panel, which is where you’ll write posts and all of the fun stuff. I’ll also give you an instructional video at this point that should help with basic “how-to” questions you may have.
6. You change your passwords so that I can’t get back into your stuff. (Not that I want to, but… you know. Security and all.)

So, ready to roll? Yeah. I think so.

Let’s roll.

Frequently-Asked Questions:

Q: What’s the deal with hosting? What do I get, and how much does it cost?

A: If you don’t have hosting, don’t go out and buy any until I tell you.

But after you buy the blog setup, I’ll direct you to a Hostgator plan that can cost as little as $4/month, but which is more commonly $7/month. (Please note that in order to qualify for the base price, you will need to pay for the full year (not monthly) and cannot use promo codes other than the one I provide.)

* (Note that if you already have purchased from HostGator before, you can’t use this option and still qualify for the base price.)

Domain names are around $10 per year.

Q: Can you still set up my blog if I already have hosting?

A: Yes, but because I won’t get the hosting affiliate commission that subsidizes the normal price, it’ll cost you an additional charge.

Q: How much extra is that “additional charge”?

A: If your hosting is on GoDaddy or any hosting running cPanel and offering Fantastico Deluxe or an equivalent (HostGator, DreamHost, BlueHost), then it’s $50. The upcharge is $75 for other hosting setups.

Q: Will you install premium themes like Thesis, WooThemes, or Headway, or Studiopress?

A: Yes! Check out the big orange sidebar on this page for more info.

Q: What plug-ins do you install?

A: These:

• wp-spamfree to fight blog comment spam
• All-in-one-SEO pack to help search engines better find your site
• Google sitemap generator, also to help with those search engines
• Subscribe to comments, which in my opinion is essential to encouraging conversation on your blog. It allows people who comment to be notified of people who comment after they do.

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