Of all the questions I may be asked on a given day, this may be the simplest.  I’ve always had an interest in website hosting, design, email marketing, general internet marketing and many more topics since my first exposure to the internet in the 1990′s. It took a few years to get to a point where I was ready to jump in and learn.  I wrote a post last week about this experience and using iThemes but I didn’t really say much about the effect it’s had on my progression through learning to create and modify WordPress websites.

I first discovered iThemes  in 2010 through a former coworker. I learned that they were based in OKC and was interested in Backup Buddy because I had several sites I would need to move to another host.

In the fall of 2010 I registered for Open Camp DFW.  There was a lot of information to absorb and I heard that the iThemes team was in attendance.  I sent a tweet to Cory Miller and met with the team.  Turns out their office was just around the corner from where I spent several years working with an IT consulting firm in the late eighties.

Cory answered the tweet, a turning point for my support of iThemes.  He offered to meet me in the lobby between sessions and we talked about a few Oklahoma things and the products (Builder, Plugin Buddy, Webdesign.com and more speak for themselves.)  I’ve been a client since.

I can get a more secure WordPress site up and running much more quickly. I trust their recommendations for other developer plugins as well as their own. I’ve learned a lot about the products and WordPress from the live and recorded sessions via webdesign.com.  Benjamin Bradley is very good at answering beginner questions as well as those from more advanced students.  He’s able to “read between the lines” and answer based on what the querent means rather than what they ask.  Along the line of “Do what I mean, not what I say.”  This balance isn’t easily achieved by all trainers.

Happy Birthday iThemes!  For my own selfish reasons, I hope you have another 5 x 5 x 5 x 5!

I didn’t know too much about webdesign so I found a host to supply a simple drag and drop interface. I won’t name them here because things have changed and I’m sure they are better now at what they do and at that time their practice was common. They provided me with an address which I know now is a sub-domain using their domain. I had no idea how to register my own domain or had no knowledge of HTML or anything else to do with web site design.

Eventually I found a new service with a national reputation. I could get my domain with them and it would point to my existing site. I was able to link to the industry website with a click yet have my own content.

My next choice for hosting wasn’t much better. The hosting was good but domain registration was expensive and I hadn’t learned enough to know that I didn’t have to host and register my domains at the same place. This host charged $119.95 per year for each domain/website. I could share the main email account with all of my domains but had to pay separately for putting up a site. And, it was also shared hosting. Domain registration without hosting was $35.00 per year.  I was again using the design templates controlled by the hosting company and their software.

Don’t misunderstand.  The templates systems are great for setting up one business, especially if you want a short learning curve and a static website.  They are becoming more flexible but when you need a hosting solution for multiple websites, this isn’t a good option.  I needed to learn webdesign using a tool I could buy commercially and have control to take it with me wherever I went.

Front Page, Net Objects Fusion, Coffee Cup or Dreamweaver?

I jump in! Let’s just say I tried all of them. I maintain a current version of Dreamweaver (for existing clients) and use some pieces of Coffee Cup software, especially their FTP. When I decided I was ready to leave my original service I ran into more problems than I could have imagined and basically built a new site before terminating the old service. They didn’t make it easy to move the site and I didn’t have the necessary skills to figure it out.

I was very frustrated with the learning curve for all four but little by little muddled through until I was finally able to create a basic website for upload. I used training videos to get the basics.

I began asking questions of people in the business and doing internet searches to find additional information. I soon realized I needed shared hosting with unlimited domains, unlimited email, unlimited sites and whatever else unlimited I could get. I found Dreamhost. I’ve had ups and downs with them but overall it’s been a good experience.

Then I discovered WordPress!

Over the years I’ve stayed in touch with former colleagues. One day I stumbled upon David North’s blog, North Ideas. David was discussing the virtues of WordPress and Artisteer for creating WordPress templates. I’ve always trusted David’s recommendations and respect his knowledge so I began using WordPress and Artisteer to create my website. Before long I had created my primary website using WordPress and Artisteer. I had several domains with no websites. WordPress was so easy, I got busy and created sites for several of my domains. I setup WordPress using the Dreamhost auto installer. I’ve since learned that I shouldn’t use an auto installer and I will write more about that in a future post. Let’s just say I now know how to install WordPress from “scratch” and take care of a few housekeeping details.

Site5

I continue to use Dreamhost but I recently learned about reseller hosting and I’m currently using Site5. I was using another provider but they were objecting to the use of Backup Buddy for WordPress sites and I changed on my terms. The sites were migrated last week and I’ll update my experience with them as time passes.

Once again, I’ve acted on a recommendation from a trusted source. Site5 is now the hosting company recommended by iThemes. I am an iThemes supporter and use Builder on most of my sites. The sites not running Builder just haven’t been changed but will in time.

Most hosting services are offering the same thing. It really boils down to up time, price and support. Shared hosting has the same issues everywhere. That’s why they call it “shared” but it’s important to be able to get answers when you need them.

When using social media you may be asked to find friends or acquaintances via your address book.  You give access to your address book and the social media site will look for friends whose email address matches those in your address book and may also send a request to join to the friends’ email address for which it didn’t find a match.

People often complain that they can’t find me on social media using my email address…with good reason.  I don’t use my normal email address to sign up with social media sites.

Everyone wants your email address.  Your email address has both perceived and actual value.  When you visit a website, the site owner wants your email address to provide you with information and to make future sales.  They want you to return to their site and will send you emails so you will return.  They use email addresses to provide specials and coupons.

Most websites which collect your email address will respect you in the morning.  They won’t sell your email address or share it with others.  The number of emails you receive will vary but hopefully they will tell you what you can expect.  Some will send emails almost daily which can be annoying if it’s not something of interest.  These sites want to provide good information or services and only desire to build a good reputation.  The emails you receive from the reputable website will have a valid “unsubscribe” option to remove your email from their list.  Read any opt-out or unsubscribe messages because there may be other valid uses where your email address may continue to be used.  Of course there is always the less than honorable email with an unsubscribe link which is only looking to have your email address confirmed.  It’s a roll of the dice but they’re probably going to keep sending to you anyway unless the email is rejected as undeliverable.

Some sites will collect your email address and share, share, share.  Your email address will be shared so many times you’ll feel like you’re standing in a downpour.  Email addresses are valuable to legitimate online businesses and marketers but to spammers and other less than honorable marketers your email is as good as gold.

You must be careful and it’s very important to have current anti-virus software installed on your computer.  AVG has a free version and we are resellers for AVG if you’re interested in a paid option.

Most ISPs (internet service providers) allow multiple email addresses per account.  The free email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL do as well.  Most of the new smart phones can handle multiple email accounts and you’ll probably get an email account with the phone.

I use different email addresses for different purposes, one email address for important stuff, one for social media and another to subscribe to email lists, etc. This way I can check the important email on a regular basis and view the other emails when I have more time to relax and concentrate on the messages.

Don’t misunderstand…I get lots of junk mail.  I spend most mornings deleting all of the junk email I received overnight.  I do however check lots of email addresses everyday because I manage several websites so I am not the average user.  I just believe that using multiple email addresses will make your life easier if you’re comfortable using more than one.  One email address which I’ve had since 1996 is almost entirely junk email.  I may get 5 out of every 100 which isn’t deleted without being opened.

Targeted marketing is helping companies personalize their emails and this is a good thing.  Email is like life, there is no free lunch.  When you give your email for something FREE, the price will be a full email box.  It’s true you don’t know what your getting until you get it but if it’s good, you’ll probably appreciate getting emails from that website.  There’s always something to learn and if you give us your email address, we don’t sell or share it with anyone!