What Can an Artist Learn from Watching the Evolution of My Blog?

“Do not be afraid of moving slowly. Be only afraid of standing still.”  – Chinese Proverb

Have you been thinking about starting a blog or website to showcase your art, but have been holding off for financial or technical reasons?

I understand.  I did the same thing for a long time.

Getting a professional web design service can cost around $5,000.  Most artists who are just starting out don’t have that kind of money.   And the technical aspects of starting and maintaining a website can be overwhelming at times as well.

So I think a lot of artists out there are floundering with getting started on the internet.  If you are one of those people, just hold onto your hats because help is on the way.  All you have to do is emulate exactly what I’m going to tell you here about how I started this blog and what my plans are for it, and you can duplicate it and have your own free site just like I have done.

My Blogging Story

I started this blog on WordPress.com on July 1, 2011.  I really didn’t know much about blogging and I didn’t have a website.

I have always enjoyed and been pretty good at writing, but I’m really a visual artist and not a writer. I was (and still am) a landscape painter living in New York City.   I started with WordPress.com because I had been told by some very reliable experts that it was the best of the free blogging services.

So I jumped right into a WordPress blog not really knowing what I was doing.  At this writing almost a year later, I have posted 106 blogs in 11 categories.  I have been featured several times on the front page of Freshly Pressed, which is a big blogging honor.

I have 337 followers from all over the world.  Most of those (around 99%) who have signed up are still with me and still read my blog today.  If you are one of those who signed up last July, you may still remember my first blogs.

The Evolution is Just Beginning

So it’s been quite a blogging journey for me.  But really, it’s just beginning.  Why?

Because the next phase is going to be the most interesting in the evolution of this blog.  My plan is to go from being hosted by WordPress under their domain to creating my own domain with a paid hosting service.

There are many advantages and reasons for this.  Having your own domain name with a paid hosting service is the only real estate you can own on the internet.  As you build your brand on the internet, it will become very, very valuable real estate.

Having your own domain name and hosted site also gives you the most flexibility.  There is no other management agenda controlling what you can or cannot do.  It is totally yours, and you are free to add what content you like without restrictions.

Also, the search engines will rank you higher if you have your own domain name.  Search engine ranking and optimization is important for growing your brand.

And lastly, you can design your blog or site using whatever design resources you wish.  You can polish and give your site a much more professional look and feel.  This is the most important key to website success.

So Follow Me Along, I Think It’s Going to be a Lot of Fun

By the end of the summer, I plan to revamp this free WordPress blog into a much more polished and professional site. And so it will have a lot more to offer you.

I will let you know in future blogs exactly how I will do this. So even if you are not very technically oriented, you will still be able to follow along and create one for yourself if you like. It’s really much easier than you think.

If you haven’t started a blog for yourself, there’s no reason holding you back now.  With WordPress.com, it’s free and simple and you can grow it as big as you like.

Truly, the best is yet to come.

If you have a story about how you started with a free WordPress site and took it to the next level, please let us know and share your link in the comments below.