Original post from 8.17.14 WordPress.com site:
We all like fudge, right? It’s sweet, easy to eat, chocolaty, and oh of course – yummy. 🙂
Well this is not that type of fudge… You are all thinking but wait.. I thought this was a food blog and she was going to post a yummy fudge recipe. Nope not today, no recipes quite yet. But don’t you fret – there will be a post with my mom’s fudge recipe very soon. Until then, I hope the story about how I fudged up is enough to entertain that sweet tooth of yours for the time being.
So here is how the story begins.. This is how the original release date (8.24.14) of Yummy for the Heart was botched by the blog’s very own CEO… I mean creator, myself. Not just the lease day at that… even down to the official URL being temporarily suspended. Which is why my blog launched on https://yummyfortheheart.wordpress.com instead of www.yummyfortheheart.com.
If you go to the official site you will see this lovely page:
I think we can all admit that we would love to be on that exotic beach, soaking up the sun here at the tail end of summer, right? Guess that is everyone beside my little blog waiting to be an empty canvas for beautiful food pictures and yummy recipes to be displayed.
At this point you may be asking yourself- “Why should I continue reading? What advantage is this going to give to me?.” Ha – I have your answer and it is not just for an entertaining read. It is to gain some insight into how to launch a blog so you do not repeat my silly mistakes as a newbie to the blogosphere.
A few learnings and insights:
#1 – Before investing any money into your blog (theme, domain, hosting, ect.) take advantage of free trials, do your research, and practice to make sure your needs are met.
I had thought I had done my research in comparing Ghost vs. WordPress.. weighed in all the options and finally decided on Ghost since it was very straight forward and user friendly for those not super code savvy. I got excited and started investing money on themes and a new domain.. mistake #1.
Ghost is a great platform, super user friendly and I would recommend it to anyone. I do not regret trying it out..
What I do regret is not starting with a free theme as I was learning to build and create a blog. Free trials are KEY when choosing your blog platform– take advantage of the trial periods or simply start with a free service such as WordPress.com Just don’t let your excitement get away from your logic.
Ultimately it was a hard decision to leave Ghost as a hosting platform but it lacked two key things my food blog needed: export accessibility for recipes and image size regulation. Since those two components are such large cornerstones of a food blog and WordPress was well equipped for those features the choice was obvious..
A choice which lead to the discovery and learnings in #2 and #3. 🙂
#2 – If you buy a domain please know you cannot change the host of that domain for 60 days!
This seems very logical and simple, right? It is if you read the fine print and have a lot of forward thinking. Setting up your URL domain is a huge commitment – it is like skipping the courting period and jumping from a first kiss to marriage! Ok, maybe not that drastic but a 60 day timeframe is very impactful when starting your new blog. It is the amount of time needed to get into the flow of posting, gaining a readership, and start applying for blog advertisements.
You can avoid a very large headache by waiting to set up the host of your domain after you have completed your free trial period of different blog platforms and have decided which one fits the needs of your blog best.
So moral of the story is.. keep in mind that once you choose a host for your domain you are committed for 60 days.
#3 – Bluehost quotes all prices per month. The prices are listed by month but the payment is actually an all upfront fee for a three year time period.
This one I am very embarrassed to admit even more so than #2.. but again my excitement to start blogging and posting great recipes got in the way of reading the fine print. My father (the attorney) is going to be horrified when he reads this.
So yes- I typed out my credit card number and pressed submit order before realizing that was not a month by month commitment – it was a three year advance payment for my new hosting service.
Thankfully my best girl friend showed up minutes later to pick up her sunglasses from our fun dinner party the night before so I was able to blurt out my new realization with a shocked look on my face. She made the fine point – that the blog is now official therefore no excuses at this point not to make it spectacular.
So she, the blog- yummyfortheheart.com, maybe on some wonderful island right now getting a jealous worthy tan. Her content, recipes, and pictures will be posted on here in the meantime as we wait for to return from vacation at the end of September!
Hope you all enjoy the recipes and more “learnings” to come. 🙂
Cheers from the heart, <3
Madeline
(Feature Image from: https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/28655/easy-chocolate-fudge/detail.aspx)