The Internet is where you spend so much time of yours. And going forward, it’s going to be the place for many of the things you do offline. Be it your portfolio for the job, sending invitations to weddings or having a peer group.
Here is a beginner’s guide for you to set up for your success.
Get a domain
A domain is an address for you at the Internet. For example, my domain is rohanbhardwaj.com. You can use it for anything you like. But if you have a domain you can point at – it’s nice. You can add a blog, portfolio, contact information or anything you like.
You can use Namecheap, Gandi or any domain registrar.
Few tips:
- Try to get a .com domain. There are many extensions available. However, .com is still easy to share.
- Use your name in the domain. Some examples are your first name last name, your name and profession or some catchy name which defines you.
- Make sure you have an SSL certificate, or else it might an insecure domain.
Get an Email
To communicate on the Internet, the best thing is an email. Gmail is quite popular but it ain’t the only one. You can buy one with your domain or use Gmail or something like proton mail.
It depends on your choice. You can have multiple for multiple uses or have one for all things. You do – but get an email because all the Internet communication lands up here.
Build your Portfolio
A portfolio is something which you can point to your potential employer to show what projects you have done. Once you wander on the Internet, you will find different ideas to build your portfolio.
But for now, you can simply list the projects are you working on, what have you achieved and what challenges you have overcome.
It can a blog about how you are learning, applying and growing in your expertise. And whenever an opportunity arises, you can point to this blog/portfolio and boom the potential employer will be impressed. Also, it acts as a stimulant for you to keep updating and thus keep learning.
One social media
There are perhaps hundreds of social media. And it’s easy to get lost in each one of them. Partly because it’s fun and partly because it has been designed this way.
You can use social media to your advantage. Find the social media where your peers hang out. For example, you will find that dancers are on Instagram and writers are on Twitter. And as such, if you put all your energy into one social media, you can build an audience, and connections and eventually get the clout to get earnings from it.
Too much social media and your energy will be scattered and might not generate the outcome you desire. Sure, have a presence on other social media but put all your energy into your main social media.
Feed reader
No matter what you do, reading a newsletter is perhaps the best way to be on top of your expertise. Or to broaden your perspectives. And you can subscribe to them by email.
But if you are subscribing to a lot of them, you can add them to a feed reader like Feedly. They will have all the newsletter articles and you can read them on their app or browser. This way you won’t have unread emails but you can read all your articles when you do have time or want to.
One fun hangout place
Find one hangout place where you will spend time and do timepass. It’s an important thing to do because all work and no play isn’t good.
Depending upon the kind of person you are, it might be YouTube, Reddit or Facebook or something entirely new. But put a reminder to have a stopping time. For example, only spend 1 to 2 hours per day. Or else, you will end up wasting all your time.
One community
Also, find where your community hangs out. Sure, dancers are on Instagram but they might have a discord group or a Facebook group. FInd that out and then do your community job to get the invitation to join.
This is where you will find the behind the scenes of your niche. Learn, contribute and connect.
This is the beginning of your journey in Internet. If you want to grasp everything I have learnt in the 10 years of being on the Internet then click below to get my ebook. It’s crisp, smart and a superb fun guide. Get your copy now by clicking below:
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