Build your website & share your stories
How to create your "home base" online
We're nothing without our stories, how we became who we are. What interests us now, the mistakes we learn from, the highs we celebrate. This is how we connect - through our stories.
Who doesn't love a personal story? I believe sharing your experiences and what you learn in life can be helpful & inspirational for others.
This is why I interview people on my YouTube. This is why I write about my life on my blog. This is why I admire storytellers.
Everyone knows the story of Steve Jobs, but what about you? You are entirely unique in the combination of interests and experiences you have. You're an interesting person. I encourage you to share what you have to say.
I can't relate to my favorite rock star or athlete, but I can probably relate to you.
Bear Blog
I wanted my own “home base” online where I can share everything I make, organized exactly how I want it. A place where it can all come together - my writings, videos, links and regular updates on what I'm doing now.
I wanted my website to
outlive me
be easy to build (no coding)
be low-cost
have minimal & simple design
If you're looking to build your own personal website, I recommend Bear Blog. It accomplishes all of the above.
Bear Blog uses Markdown for writing simple posts & pages, HTML/CSS for styling, and it's open-sourced on GitHub. I hope I got that right, I'm not skilled in web tech just yet. I'm a newbie. Roast me in the comments.
Is it just for blogging?
Bear Blog was built for bloggers, but your site can be more than a blog. You don't even have to write.
You can build a landing page that links to your socials, your online store or your creative projects, like mine. Dig around, and you'll even find businesses that used this platform to build their company website.
Why build a personal website?
Let's say you have a handful of projects, but they're scattered on different sites across the web, and you're struggling to connect them all to one place.
This is what I mean by “home base” - a place where everything you make comes together. It's yours and only yours, and it feels like home.
A personal website accomplishes this. It's you on the internet, and it's more customizable and easier to navigate than Instagram or Facebook. It might outlive them too.
How long will it last?
I wanted my site to outlive me. So when I'm gone, the things I make will stay up.
There's no guarantee social platforms will last forever. I might put in years of effort writing on Substack, only for the platform to be replaced by another. Bear Blog was built with this in mind - it ain't going anywhere.
Why is simplicity better?
Remember when web pages were simple - just words, links and maybe a few photos? Modern sites are bogged down with too much design, color, movement and complex dashboards.
Other site-builders have too many options, buttons and menus hiding behind menus. They can also be slow to load and expensive.
If you desire simplicity and minimal design that's still pleasing to the eye, Build-A-Bear... Blog. Let's go back to our childhood, back to early internet.
How do I claim my domain?
Use Porkbun to find your domain name. The options are almost limitless, and it's a fun game to search for what's still available. Hello, new internet rabbit hole.
For example, if I wanted the name loganfart.com, that's still available. But I could also go with loganf.art ...
The little .art part that follows the dot is called a top-level domain (TLD). The ever-growing internet now has tons of options for this, with the most common .com still reigning as king supreme.
I chose a .com, because I think most people still automatically assume whatever comes after your website name is the classic .com. This avoids confusion.
Credit
I wouldn't have discovered Bear Blog without Derek Sivers, so credit to him. One of my favorite people on the internet who lives a unique life and writes fantastic books.
And the site wouldn't exist without its creator, Herman Martinus. Shoutout to these two creative makers.
Build your website.
Tell your stories.
Create and share cool things.
Build-A-Bear Blog!
Everything I make is here — loganletsgo.com
Enjoy my work? Buy me a coffee ☕
