My new blog’s here! My new blog’s here!

I’m excited to announce that my new blog is now active!

A Nod to Steve Martin

My excitement is similar to Steve Martin’s when the new phone books came out.

(Do you remember that scene?  If not, you should take the time to watch it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqqjVyOYmow.  Classic and hilarious!)

My Experience with Technology

I am the poster child for a person completely uneducated and overwhelmed when it comes to launching a new website.  I was trained in accounting and worked in project management for years, but for anything technically related to software, I gladly left to the experts.   When I decided I wanted to launch a WordPress blog, I was determined to learn it on my own.  I knew that I had a steep learning curve in front of me – take one look at the mountains of information available on WordPress and you realize that VERY quickly!

I also knew that I’m a stubborn person that never does anything halfway, and in the past that often has meant preparing for months, and after I have read (literally) books of information, I am sometimes so burned out (or overwhelmed) that I do nothing.   In other words, I’m a stubborn perfectionist, and I very often don’t ask for help when I should.

I am also very frugal (OK, I’m a tightwad) so I was (and am) determined to keep my start-up costs as low as possible.  I knew if others could do it, I could too.   (OK, I will not quote Jack Handey here.  “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough …”)

First Steps

I started reading blogs and the book, “WordPress for Dummies”.  During those first few months, I discovered Brad Dalton.   His  wonderful articles on his blog provide technical information written at a level that an extreme newbie like me can understand.  Articles include how to choose the best WordPress theme, how to set up custom sidebars for any theme, and how to change the height of a custom header in Genesis.    He also shares his best practices and provides blogging tips such as submitting guest posts (and why you should) and monetization of a blog.

Asking for Help

For a few months, I focused on educating myself, still determined to be totally independent, but I realized fairly quickly that I never would be totally confident with WordPress.  So I knew it was time to just jump in and get started.  I had the information available to do it on my own, but I still felt crippled by my inexperience.   What if I try, and I totally screw things up?

So I looked in the mirror and realized:  I’m a practical gal.   I learn not by reading theory or “how to’s”, but by doing.   I knew I needed to get started, and it didn’t have to be perfect on day one.

In the words of Nike and to paraphrase Miss Mustard Seed, I needed to “just do it”.

A Classic No-Brainer

I contacted Brad and spoke with him about his free set-up service, which truly is (amazingly) FREE, and truly a no-brainer for someone like me.

Within a few days, my blog had launched!

So, no, it’s far from perfect, and it’s far from pretty.  But, it will get there.  I hope you will join me on my journey and participate in my stories.