An easy guide to purchasing a domain name & hosting

Filed Under: Blogging, Tech Tips, web design, Wordpress 2 Comments

I’m sure you’ve heard me mention more than once or twice that I use Afrihost for all my domain name and hosting needs. Now I’m not saying that you absolutely need to go with them because at the end of the day it really is your choice but I do highly recommend them and the main reason for that is because their support services are amazing and they are based in South Africa. No international time differences and call charges to worry about!

Ok so today is a two part tutorial guide which is a follow on from yesterdays ‘Which WordPress is right for you’ post. In my opinion I think a lot of people choose the WordPress.com version because they think the WordPress.org version is way too complicated but I’ve created this two part guide to show you that it honestly isn’t!

This is a step by step tutorial guide on how to buy your domain name & hosting with Afrihost. You’ll notice that most host providers have the same layout so some of these steps may also apply to the likes of Go Daddy or Hetzner.

Which WordPress is right for you?

Filed Under: Blogging, Tech Tips, web design 2 Comments

WordPress.org or WordPress.com?

How do you decide which is right for you?

It’s a question I get asked on a regular basis and although it’s a blogging topic that has been covered about a million times my clients and many others still don’t know what the difference is. So if you’re still wondering what the hell the difference is or deciding which is right for you then perhaps you may want to run through the below…

Is this you…

I’m looking for non-commitment and a little fun!
Yikkees all that boring tech speak scares me!
I’m a lady that needs protection and security.
Free, yes please I’ll have that!
Meh not really bothered what it looks like, just get me online so that I can share my thoughts with the world!
Domain address? More boring talk! I just want to get online honey!

Yes to all of the above? Then WordPress.com is for you!

WordPress.com is mainly for bloggers looking for non-commitment and a little fun! WordPress.com gives you an inexpensive way of sharing your thoughts, images and content with the world. At the outset WordPress.com is free, you’re given a domain with the url .wordpress.com and several basic layout templates to choose from. If you pay a small price you can get a custom domain name, have access to the css files and the ability to remove any third party ads. The main pro about WordPress.com is that it comes with a built in spam protector, automatic backups and great security.

Not what you are looking for? Then maybe this might be you…

I’m looking for serious commitment!
The world & the interwebs better take me serious.
I’m looking for a little fancy thingie here, there and well everywhere!
I want to be in full control.
Pink? No ways I want all shades of grey, my logo and some pretty butterflies.
A few dollars bills every month won’t harm the bank.
Ooooo online shopping, now that’s a good idea!
The Sky is the limit!

Yes to all of the above (or some)? Then WordPress.org is for you!

WordPress.org is a self-hosted Content Management system, the software is free to download form wordpress.org however you will need to purchase a domain name and hosting from any of the many providers out there. With WordPress.org the sky is the limit, you can modify your core PHP files, add fancy jquery elements, choose from thousands and thousands of nifty plugins and install any theme you like! WordPress.org is your go to if you are looking for an online shop or the perfect professional online space for your business. The down side to WordPress.org is that you may need a little more techie knowledge, have to invest in web designer or developer and pay the monthly/yearly domain name and hosting fees but honestly they are minimal and worth it.

Still confused about which is right for you? Why not drop me an email on and I’ll happily help you out!

Friday Finds 16.01.2015

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Friday Finds 2 Comments

Wow Friday already but my oh my has it been a fabulous week!

This week kicked off with a creative re-branding meeting with my first ever client, Tous Les Jours. This beautiful pyjama company is in for some awesome changes and who better to work with me on this project than my good friend Andrea Barras. So excited to have her joining me once again!

Next I did the one thing I’d been putting off and went to see an accountant, yes one cannot ignore the boring side of your business. It just had to be done, otherwise in the words of my accountant the monkey could turn into a gorilla! Once I have that side of life sorted I will definitely be sharing it with you on here.

A mid week meeting with Hannah from The Ruby Orchard got me inspired to learn a few new coding tricks and put them into action on their soon to be launched website. Yay for learning new things!

The first three days of the week kinda knocked me and I woke up exhausted yesterday but I still managed to secure a really challenging project. This one I can feel is going to be a whole load of fun!

Phew it’s been a busy one but luckily for me while your reading this I’ll be getting some much needed massage love from the delightful Colleen of Midlands House of Healing.

Have a lovely weekend & I hope you enjoy my Friday Finds….

CREATE CONSISTENCY I cannot say enough about consistency when it comes to blogging. If you’re not sure why your readership isn’t growing, you’re not getting a lot of comments, or no one seems to be interested in buying ad space, you can generally start with looking at your consistency!

A tip from Kory Woodard I’m trying to implement this year

After a meeting with my accountant I read Erin’s income report and thought wow that’s bravery! I love how open her business is and how will she is to share it with her readers.

How can you almost always instantly spot the owner of a business?

It pays to be different, here’s how The Ruby Orchard are doing it. Look out for some more informative business blog posts from them in 2015!

10 Free Image Resources to pretty up your blog

Filed Under: Blogging, web design 4 Comments

A picture speaks a thousand words and can instantly transform any post from boring to a yes I actually would like to spend my precious time reading what this blogger has to say. There seems to be a growing trend for beautiful stock photography at the moment which is awesome as my free image resource list seems to be growing by the day so if you’re no photographer this list of free image resources may just come in handy for your next blog post!

Little Visuals

Sign up to get 7 hi-res images zipped up in your inbox every 7 days. Use them anyway you want.

Lime Lane Photography

Lime Line Photography is run by Kellie ~ a blogger, photography, mum, wife and journalist. The site is primarily about photography and providing a free stock photography service specifically aimed at bloggers and their websites.

Gratisography

Free high-resolution pictures that can be used either for your personal or commercial projects. New awesome pictures are added weekly!

Unsplash

Free (do whatever you want) high-resolution photos. 10 new photos every 10 days.

Death to the Stock Photo

A fresh pack to your inbox each month, with awesome stories to match.

Pic Jumbo

Totally free photos for your commercial and personal works.

Superfamous

Folkert’s photography is available under the conditions of a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. This means that you can use the work for your own purposes — including commercial use — as long as credit is provided.

Morgue File

Looking for high resolution stock photos for your illustration, comp or design needs? Morgue File has every image whether you’re an illustrator, art director, instructor or looking to add a defining visual to a presentation.

Stokpic

Use these high-resolution pictures for personal and commercial projects for free. All pictures on stokpic.com are free from Copyright Restrictions (CC0 1.0 Universal).

Photopin

free photos for bloggers & creatives

Getting email smart with Boomerang

Filed Under: Blogging, Business Leave a Comment

I have to confess (and blow my own trumpet here), I’m pretty good at keeping my inbox relatively empty. In my job in the UK I had a rule that I couldn’t go home until my inbox was completely empty and it worked; I’d leave the day with a sense of achievement and come in the next morning fresh and ready for the new day! Now that I work for myself it’s another story, without the set hours and glaring eyes of a boss it’s easier to leave emails until the next day BUT it’s the beginning of a new year and that means simple NY resolutions of keeping my inbox clean are in place… cue in Boomerang

Boomerang is a browser add-on available for Chrome that allows you to (1) send emails at a later time, (2) to get notifications when someone hasn’t responded to you and (3) to track your emails. It’s the perfect tool to keep your inbox clear!

Here are some smart ways on how Boomerang can help you organise your inbox.

Boomerang helps you set Office Hours
I’m often on my computer way past bed time and on weekends which isn’t always something that I’d like to advertise to my clients (oh well I guess they now know). With the use of Boomerang I can draft my emails at ungodly hours and use the ‘Send Later’ feature to make them land during more office like hours. This way I’m setting my working hours to the normal 9-5 which does make me less available but my clients respect that.

Make sure you’re getting answers to your questions
How often do you send out beautifully curated emails to potential clients only too often to forget who has and hasn’t responded? Or how often do you send emails to several of your clients looking for answers and don’t get a reply? The fail safe way to ensure that you get your answers is to mark each email to “boomerang” back to your inbox if it’s unanswered. Often with potential new clients your first email can be over looked or forgotten about but by sending a follow-up email you can increase your response rate! I wish I’d had this tool in my UK Insurance job, would have worked wonders when sending out quotations.

To give you some R&R
Looking for a little peace from your inbox for a while? Clear your inbox, set your emails to boomerang back at a more convenient time for you and then go off and enjoy some rest and relaxation. This can also work if you’ve got a BIG deadline but you are compulsive email checker.

Give yourself some more time
Often times I email my clients and I get an immediate reply which then compels me to respond right away, which I want to do, but this doesn’t really give me the time and space that I need when coding my websites so the way that I solve this is by drafting the email and setting my email response to send in several hours. This gives me a few hours to crack on (safe in the knowledge that their email has been answered) and scratch more off my to-do list.

I’d love to know if you use Boomerang? And if you’ve got any more tips on how you use it?

Friday Finds | 09.01.15

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Friday Finds Leave a Comment

A belated Happy New Year to you all, here’s hoping your first week of 2015 has been a productive one! I have to say this week has been amazing, I jumped back into work with bags more energy and worked on possibly one of my best projects to date. I am so excited to show case this website to you, here’s holding thumbs I can do that before the end of next week.  Anyway every year I set myself a mega long list of things to achieve and with the bar set so high and list so long I never quite achieve what I want so this year I’m simplifying things and so kicking of with simple is a list of blogging & business posts that I’ve found interesting this week. Enjoy!

I really love this The Making of series that Kelly created for her new self-titled website. It’s so inline with her blogging goals as it has definitely given me a inspiration boost.

Over and over again I am blown away by the amazing freebies that Skillcrush keeps dishing out and this Roadmap to learning WordPress in 5 simple steps is no exception. Trust me if you’re a freelancer, designer or developer and you’ve got a spare few minutes this is one of the best websites around for trusty information.

“Envy or jealously are such wasted emotions. It also leaves a nasty feeling in your heart (life is way too short for that nonsense). My personal experience has led me to rather use my emotions as fuel. Instead of comparing I suggest exploring why others are successful and use it as fuel to lead you to new heights in your own career. Admiration leads to inspiration! Jealously shuts your heart and mind down and nothing useful ever comes from that.”

A beautiful reminder from Nadia VdM 

Looking for some FREE images? Perhaps this list from Ciera may come in handy.

I’ll admit blogging isn’t my strong point but I’m feeling inspired to try out some of these different ways to vary my blogging content to create the best content for you, my dear readers.

And lastly, no you don’t have to speak French to live in France to succeed.

Have a lovely weekend!

Keeping & Staying Creative

Filed Under: Blogging, Business 1 Comment

Freelance life comes with the ebb and flow of creativity and this evening when I sat down to blog about the phenomenal success of our Midlands Networking event absolutely nothing seemed to be flowing, urgh why?! Anyway I’m off for some healing tomorrow with my darling angel Colleen so lets hope tomorrow is a better and more creative day but in the mean time I’m off try one of these tips to spark some creativity.

834dd1ac2b6554a21dfc468a6c7afaae

Site Crush #2

Filed Under: web design Leave a Comment

Happy Monday! It’s time again for another 2 websites that are rocking my online world….

First up is Typo Boutique, a website built by one of my favourite developers - Zoe Rooney.

Typo Boutique is a custom stationery and design studio based in Richmond, Virginia, specialising in luxury invitations, announcements and greeting cards.

Ok so why do I lurvvvv this site?
#1 This website ticks all the simplicity & white spaces boxes – something I am completely obsessed with at the moment.
#2 I love the ‘I’ve never seen it before’ numbered menu. It’s different yet so utterly cool! Love it!

Next up is The EveryGirl – A site which needs no introduction! I’ve been obsessed with this one for a very long while and love everything about it!

What do you think? Have you spotted any inspiring and amazing sites around? If so please share them in the comments below I’d love to feature them on my weekly series.

{Free Printable} What’s my login? Password Tracker

Filed Under: Blogging, Tech Tips, web design 3 Comments

If you had to ask me what one of my biggest freelance frustrations is it would probably be the gazillion passwords I have to keep track of! It ranges from my own passwords, to FTP, WordPress, Hosting and Email details for ALL of my clients and let me tell you it’s tough remembering them all!

Domain Names + Hosting

Filed Under: Blogging, Tech Tips, web design 3 Comments

Today I’m bringing up one of the topics that comes up rather frequently and causes lots of confusion – domain name registration & hosting.

Domain Names
Your domain name is one of the first things you’ll want to look at when starting up your website. Essentially it is the unique address that your website can be found at, for example mine is nicolatweed.co.za. Another name for it is your URL (Uniform Resource Locator) but that’s just geek talk that you don’t really need to know. A domain name ends in .com, .co.uk, .co.za etc