Everything starts with a spark.
It’s 2008, and I’m sitting at my desk, fueled by nothing but black coffee and determination.
I’ve just decided to start my first online business, a blog. Revolutionary, I know.
I set up a domain, picked a design, wrote my first entry, and hit publish.
Man, was I in for a wild ride!
The “Good Old Days”
(Spoiler: They Weren’t That Good)
So there I was, young and naive, ready to conquer the world of online writing.
My grand plan?
A tech news website focusing on mainly Apple products.
Genius!
I was going to write 3-5 articles a week, cover some news, review some tech, the whole nine yards.
Sweet labor of love.
WordPress: My Frenemy
Like every other aspiring internet blogger back then, I turned to WordPress.
It was the cool kid on the block for building websites, and honestly, it still kinda is.
It was also one of the few solutions out there to get anything going quickly and cheaply.
But let me tell you, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Here’s what my to-do list looked like:
- Find a catchy domain name (harder than naming a band, I swear)
- Figure out hosting (what even is that?)
- Pick a theme (cue hours of indecision)
- Install a million plugins (because apparently, I needed ALL of them)
- Learn SEO (or as I liked to call it, digital voodoo)
- Constantly update and maintain everything (it’s like having a needy virtual pet)
And you know what the kicker was?
Instead of focusing on the stuff that actually mattered – you know, like building an audience or writing – I was spending most of my time just keeping the darn website alive.
It was like trying to run a marathon while also juggling flaming torches.
Not fun.
If that’s you today, I got you.
Fast Forward to Today
Now, let’s zip ahead to present day.
If you’re a solo creator looking to start an online business, you’re in for a treat.
The game has changed, and it’s so much simpler now.
No more need for a complicated WordPress installation. Not even a self-hosted blog.
If you’re starting out, you can easily focus on the important and neglect the technical side of things.
It’s brilliant.
Now, to preface this: I do still run a WordPress blog. I kind of love this software. I’ve gotten used to it so much, I know my way around almost anything, and I do think it’s a great platform to build a website, blog, online business, etc.
Also, if you love technical stuff, it’s fun to run a free WordPress.org installation.
But for all of you who want the easy way, here it is:
The Holy Trinity of Easy Online Writing
Here’s all you need to get started:
That’s it. No, seriously. That’s all you need to get going. And it’s all free (with some payment options, of course).
Now, if you’re into selling stuff too, you can add Gumroad to that list (another free option) and you’re good to go there as well.
You can be up and running in less time than it takes to decide what to watch on Netflix.
But wait, there’s more!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist the infomercial vibe there.)
These platforms don’t just give you a place to set up shop — they come with built-in audiences as well.
In the form of recommendation algorithms, boost, discover engines, and more.
All things that WordPress lacked back in the day, and still does, pretty much.
The Bottom Line
Looking back, it’s kind of mind-blowing how much things have changed.
We’ve gone from needing a degree in computer science just to get a website up and running, to being able to start a business with nothing more than a good idea and a few clicks.
So if you’ve been sitting on a brilliant idea, waiting for the “right time” to start: The right time is now.
The tools are simple and free, the barrier to entry is low, and the world is waiting for what you’ve got to offer. Mostly.
Just be nice on the internet. It’s kind of a requisite.
