I know I’ve posted in the past about owning your online home and talked about how you should build a list and how I recommend building your website on WordPress.org supported by a proven hosting provider*(affiliate link). Today I’m sharing a story as a real-life example of why it’s important to own and control your website.
Over the weekend I received an email from a very trusted and reliable designer/marketer that I look up to. She offers courses in branding by way of videos hosted on her website (which is on self-hosted WordPress.org, so she owns everything on her site and pays for her own hosting, unlike SquareSpace and some others, where everything is bundled together).
She was reaching out to her list to let them know what was happening with her site and the courses she offers. I wasn’t expecting to ever see an email like this from anyone and could only imagine the reaction she had after she read her email that morning.
See, that email she received was from her host saying they were closing up shop. (Highly unusual!) Here’s the kicker: she had one week to find alternative hosting.
Was she panicking? Yes!
Was she in a position to handle this? Yes! For two reasons:
First, she owns and has complete control over the content of her website because she built her business a website on WordPress.org. She owns and can control it all. Not just the words and pictures, but also her domain, the theme she used to layout her website, the plugins that help make her website function, and the fonts, images and icons that convey the whole look and feel of her website. She even has control over where she hosts her site.
She can control all aspects of her website and can download it in a nice neat package and take it to a new hosting provider. She isn’t scrambling around trying to find a new host AND set up a new website because she built on a platform where everything wasn’t tied to the platform. She built on WordPress. org, where she has control.
Second, she owns her list. Her website’s overarching goal, other than being a tool to draw people in and educate them, was to build her email list. She used her list to nurture and woo readers to buy from her, to sign up for the courses she offers. She was able to send out an email explaining what was going on, even if she was panicking because no one wants to find out their website is in jeopardy even when they can do something about it!
What if this happened to you?
Would you be in total panic mode if you received news today that wherever you call your online home is closing? Or would you be prepared and able to keep your list informed, switch gears and get back up and running in no time?
Take Action
Taking the extra steps when you’re setting things up can avoid huge headaches if you encounter hiccups like this person!
If you’re not sure how, or if you are set up to keep going, reach out! I’d love to talk and help you prepare!
