After writing the post called Creating My Website: Introduction recently, I felt the first thing I should do is give you my reasons for even wanting to create a website.  There are many reasons I am sure I could come up with but the following are the most obvious to me at this point in time:

1.  Express yourself!

One thing the internet has done is allow anyone to be able to share their thoughts.  You can write about anything your heart desires.  How you go about doing it is your choice and will be what separates your website from the rest.

2.  It’s fun

It can be truly exciting when you are writing about the topics you enjoy.  You start to constantly think about what to write about next and how to improve your site on a daily basis.  To throw it all together it becomes “your baby” as you watch it grow.  It can actually become quite addicting.

3.  Helping others

Whether it be offering advice on a topic you are knowledgeable about or making people laugh from some of your content, knowing that you might have helped someone make it through their day is gratifying.  Offering a tiny bit of support is better than not offering any at all.

4.  The challenge

I will admit, it is not always easy…..but that is what is great about it!  It is challenging. Attempting to learn HTML code, amongst other things, is not the easiest thing when you don’t even know where to start.  It is like putting together a puzzle piece by piece, but I promise….it can be done!

5.  Memories

Writing your experiences on your own website can be looked at as a diary of sorts.  A diary that anyone can read.  I look forward to being able to look back on some things I have written well into the future.  Hopefully others might enjoy it too.

6.  The money

This is not an easy task to accomplish as some great websites fail to bring in significant dough.  With hard work and good content though, the money should follow.  My website, now a little more than a month old, has brought in only a couple of dollars thus far. (mostly from Google Adsense)  But I am hopeful and determined to see those numbers grow!

7.  To create

Just look at this website.  I may not be Michelangelo, but this is my Sistine Chapel.   It may not be much, but I really do feel proud about some of the smallest things about this website.  Take the image behind the title you see above as an example, I created that and am proud of it.

8.  Higher learning

Because of this website, I have done more research over the past couple of months than I might have done in a whole dazed-out year at college.  I feel like I am constantly learning something new.  I hope I can pass some of this new-found knowledge on to you.

9.  To network

As I have started this website, I have met a number of people through either direct or indirect conversations.  I am sure those numbers will continue to grow.  Who knows, some friendships might be struck or even new jobs be passed along.  I look forward to who I might meet next.

10.  The future

Lets face it.  The world, and inherently the job market, is changing as we speak.  A prime example can be seen in this video.  Don’t be left behind with no skills for tomorrow.  If that job comes between you and another applicant, having website building experience might be that extra edge to get you that job.

Now I encourage you to go start your own website for what ever reasons you may have.  When you do, stop by and say hello.

Over the near future I plan on talking about some of the steps I took to create this website.  You do not need to be a technology geek to do it either!  If you know how to search the web and can remotely follow directions, you too can create your own site.  It is just a matter of preferences after that. 

As I have been working on this website, I have noticed that most of the tutorials out there expect the reader to have a vast knowledge of website experience.  That is just not the case for me, and I am assuming many others out there.  I am hoping to be able to help people that never thought they could make a website do just that, make a website!

Through this process I will likely bring up terms that you have not heard before.  I encourage you to look up each term that you do not understand via wikipedia or some other source.  On the other side of the spectrum, I will still not know the proper term or phrase for one thing or another.  But I will try to describe it to the best of my ability. 

I am still very much a newbie to this whole website creation stuff.  I am not going to sit here and claim that I am a pro.  However, the fact that I am not a pro may be beneficial in helping to relate to those that might be looking for the proper advice.   A few months ago I knew absolutely nothing about creating a website, and I will guess that many of you do either. 

If there is anything special you would like for me to talk about, let me know.  I am not going to follow any type of step by step process.  I will just try to tackle each topic based on interest and relevance.

For future refence:  I will put all of this information in its own category, Website 101, so that you can easily find all the information you may need.  (Categories can be found on the right side of this website)