I love what I do and I trust that it shows…Watch the video to see what’s new with WordPress 3.0…more at the end of this post…

WordPresss Experts

In the past few years, I have guided many artisans and indie entrepreneurs through the installation, set-up and customization of their WordPress websites and blogs with my WP & Blogging Training & Coaching Programs. I take great interest in every site and treat it as I would my own. We develop a mission, a look and feel and more importantly a place to proudly display your artwork.

We offer a variety of technical support and services for the artisan blogger – from 1st timer to experienced, from casual blogger to pro blogger. We can help you set up your site, teach you how to use WordPress and/or a custom theme, design a look and feel for your blog, teach you to use PhotoShop for blogging, plus we can arrange for you to Fire Your WebMaster and take control of your website with the powerful WordPress Content Management System (CMS). If you don’t see what you need, just contact Rebecca with a request.

WordPress Self-Hosted Blog vs. Free WordPress Blog

I am a BIG fan of WordPress and have been using it for years and, when i discovered all that can be done with it, i became so passionate that i began teaching it and coaching others in it’s many uses … so let me see if I can explain it to you…

WordPress is the most preferred blogging platform today. Whether you want to start a new blog or transfer the older one, bloggers are choosing WordPress as their blogging platform because of its many features.

WordPress has 2 divisions which confuse many people…One arm is WordPress.com which is a FREE blogging platform hosted on WP’s servers (your blog would be named ME.wordpress.com) with lots of structure and rules on selling things from your blog (Blogger is another free one) …the second arm is WordPress.org (self-hosted stand alone) which is the software you load on your own domain (your blog would be ME.com)

Self-hosted stand alone WordPress…it is a fully customizable FREE software and there are many themes, plugins, widgets, etc. to make it completely your own… Almost every blog you see on someone’s domain is powered by WordPress software…it is so popular that web most hosting sites offer it as a quick install option… (under 5 minutes with one click)

The reason I think it is so popular are the Plug-ins…mini-programs that allow you to do many things with your blog. You can add galleries, slideshows,  sitemap, bookmarks, SEO options, polls, video playlist and many more functions with the click of a button. There are nearly 6,000 plug-ins available for WordPress which are free to download and use on your website and blog.

Even better… It is way more than a blogging platform as it has a powerful CMS (Content Management System) which allows you to design and run an entire website, not just a blog….that means you are in control of your website, no more playing the ‘web master in charge game’ and waiting forever for them to add a photo or change a sentence...so you can fire your webmaster once you learn the ins and outs of WordPress!

and it is fairly easy to learn, especially if you have been blogging for a while…if you want extra help, I offer WordPress Coaching and Training.

What is so cool is if you have an existing blog on a free site, you can import all your posts, images and comments directly into your new WordPress blog (on your own website) with the click of a button…

from wordpress:

WordPress.org is free blogging software. With WordPress.org, you can install themes and plugins, run advertisements, edit the database and even modify the PHP source code. WordPress.org is the home of this software. Anyone can download the software for free but it must be installed on a web server before it will work. Web servers are generally not free. Hosting your own WordPress software can be fun and rewarding; it also places full responsibility on the blogger. If you mismanage your web server, you can lose your entire blog.

For no charge, WordPress.org provides community support forums, documentation, and free themes and the great plugins.

You Have Unlimited Potential & Control

Once you will have self-hosted WordPress website/blog, you have unlimited control of your website. You can install your blog on a separate folder rather than root directory and keep the root directory for your main website. You can install as many WordPress blogs as you want on a single domain by creating different sub-domains. I have two (a magazine and this blog) on Cre8tiveCompass.com so far.

My Best Advice

I usually recommend new bloggers to go with a free blogging platform like WordPress.com for the initial 30 to 60 days and then transfer that to self-hosted WordPress.org platform. By doing this you can decide whether you are serious about your blogging effort, if you like doing it, have enough to say and enough time to do it…if not, you can change your mind with no harm and no investment of $$$ on web hosting or domain registration.  However, if you decide you like it and you are sure that you will keep doing it for the long term, you can create a unique domain with self-hosted platform, transfer your files easily and, the best part…you have learned how to use the basic software of WordPress.

New WordPress 3.0 Features

So I am excited about the super features and possibilities that lie within this new version of WordPress. I will be teaching with this new version starting this week…are you ready to fire your webmaster?

Some of the highlights of WordPress 3.0:

• a super loaded new default theme called Twenty Ten
• the ability to easily customize your site with custom backgrounds and headers
• improved nav menus and post types, etc.
• better security for admin functions
• multi-site functionality which makes it possible to run one blog or ten million from the same installation

and much much more…

If you would like help creating your website or your blog, WordPress Installation, customized headers or backgrounds for your website, FaceBook or Twitter, Search Engine Optimization review of your current website, Competitive Web Site Review, Social Media Marketing Training, Business Strategy Coaching and much more…sec our WordPress Training Programs, our Other Tarining/Coaching Programs or contact Rebecca today!