One day, hopefully, I’ll look back on my humble beginnings as a blogger and fondly think of the free tools I used to help me start out. I will think, “Gosh, I can’t believe I used to have to squeeze in writing blog posts during nap time on my days off! I sure have come a long way from using a free blogging site with a cheap hosting plan. I’m so glad I have my own premium suite of themes and plugins now!”

Of course, that’s a long way off. So right now, I’m going to record the set up I currently have, for your information and for posterity. Upgrading (and writing better, more engaging content) will happen in stages of course, but for now, let’s talk about what all I’m using.

I have a gaming laptop, but you can use any computer or even a phone to blog. If you are a person who lives in the world in 2020 (hint: you are), then you already knew that. By the time I’m famous we will probably all have computers in our brains that project a screen in front of our eyes and we can do all this just by thinking it, but that’s got to be AT LEAST 10 years away. At least…

(As a quick aside right here, I went to Google a whimsical photo of a person with a VR headset just now, so I could add an image to my post. Like, I literally just did that in the middle writing this post. What I found was that without spending money to subscribe to a service or license professional photos, I literally couldn’t find any images. Nothing for free exists unless I take my own photos or steal someone’s copyrighted work. The internet is increasingly hostile to we free-to-play users. Remember that, though, because that means you can sell ANYTHING on here.)

As for what I do once I get online, I use BlueHost for my hosting needs. They make it easy to incorporate WordPress blogs and page templates. Bluehost does cost a little bit, but that is for the privilege of having your own domain. Since I wanted to have my own actual website, elijahcliett.com, instead of just using something like wordpress.com/yournamehere, I went for the actual hosting plan.

And then I just searched through the free themes and plug ins to get it looking like I wanted. It isn’t flashy, and one day I will want to upgrade with a premium theme and add some links, ads, and better social media integration. For now though, it works.

And my kids are all yelling and waking up from their naps, so I’m signing off. Remember: the key here is to do what you can when you have time. If you wait for the right moment, it will never come.