#001 - Tuesday Takeaways

Author

Summer Hamilton
March 05, 2024

Happy Tuesday!

Last week, I launched a blog in 48 hours.

I have been thinking about launching a blog for years. There has always been an excuse as to why I haven't done it. I'm not a good enough writer. I think the free blogging platforms look cheap, so I need to learn HTML and CSS to create my own blog. Turns out I need to learn Javascript too, if I want my sight to be interactive! Now I need to learn frameworks like React or Vue, because that's what "real" web developers do. I don't know what "niche" my blog should be about. Who's going to read my blog other than my mom? I don't know anything about SEO.

I could list more, but that's not what you're here for.

Last Thursday, I started a new job, with a two hour commute each way. So I download Noah Kagan's 'Million Dollar Weekend' on audible, and finished it in a day. One of the key takeaways I got from the book was that the biggest barrier to launching your business is fear. I made up all those excuses about why I wasn't "ready" to launch my blog out of fear. That the blog would bed bad. That no one of read it. But, so what if it's bad? Then I'll try some else. So what if no one reads it? So this week I decided to follow through.

Day 1

As you could probably tell, a lot of my procrastination about launch my blog led me to learn to code. So I do have a basic knowledge of the following coding languages:

  • HTML

  • CSS

  • JavaScript

  • Python

I also have identified some favorite Software Dev YouTubers. So I started by looking up Traversy Media's channel, and decided to follow his video about creating an SSR Blog using the Astro framework. I followed along with his 3 hour long video and created the sample blog.

Day 2

The sample blog in the video was for a media company writing about technology trend. That’s not exactly what I am looking to do so I needed to make some modifications.

I started by defining what purpose I want my website to serve.

  1. I want to share my knowledge of business analyst

  2. I want to start a newsletter sharing my journey “learning in public”

  3. I want to have a landing page where I can start an email list

With this in mind I updated the site with the following:

  • Branding: My name, my 'colors’, a logo I got for $20 on fiverr

  • Replaced the sample article with a few I had written about Business Analysis

  • Add a subscribe box for my Newsletter generated by Beehiiv at the top of the page

  • Updated and simplified the footer with my name and social links

Once I was done, I deployed the site using Vercel and connected my domain.

Day 3

I initially launched the site at my domain summerzhamilton.com, which I had bought some years ago when I initially had the thought to start a blog. Then I started to wonder, why didn’t I buy the domain without my middle initial? It turn out, it’s because a lovely woman who shares my name has already bought and is using that domain. Unfortunately, her market as a “private model and entertainer” does not match my target market, so I decided to move my site to the domain summerlearns.com to avoid any confusion!

So that’s how I learned to create a blog in 48 hours. But, actually I learned to just launch something. I am a bit anxious because the site is not exactly a designers wet dream. But from now on, I wont wait for perfection.

Tuesdays Top 3

This is the section where I share three things I enjoyed and/or learn from in the past week.

1. YouTube: 'Zero To $1 Million As A One-Person Business' - Dan Koe

2. Book: Million Dollar Weekend - Noah Kagan

What tools have you used when kicking off your blog or newsletter?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

-- Summer