Create your own Amazon Hustle website

Action #1: Get a web hosting account and create your own WordPress powered Amazon Hustle website

Our first action is to create a WordPress website/blog. You have 2 ways of doing this:

• Option 1: Self-hosted WordPress Site. This means you will open a web hosting account, manage and maintain your WordPress site yourself. This is not hard at all and this gives you a lot more flexibility and control over your site. However, if you’re intimidated by this, then go to the option 2. A simple rule of thumb: if you have used FTP to upload files from your computer to a server before, you should be fine with choosing this option.
• Option 2: Get an account on WordPress.com. This is more straightforward but you have less control over your site. If you choose this option, go to WordPress.com to create your account and set up your domain name. Then, you should use step 6 – 14 below as your checklist — WordPress.com make some of these steps easier, but you should make sure you complete all of these steps.

If you choose option 1, do the following:

1. Go to bluehost.com
2. Click “get started now”
3. Choose 1 of the 3 web hosting packages. Any of them will work. Personally, I would use the “Prime” package because it offers Domain Privacy and SiteBackup Pro.
4. During the signup process, you’ll be asked if you want to register a new domain name, you should decide on a domain name and register with Blue Host. You can register a domain name with other domain registration companies, but to save time and effort, I recommend you to register the new domain name as part of the Blue Host signup process.
5. Once your account is set up, install WordPress. Blue Host has a one-click installation process for installing WordPress. Please follow the instruction.
6. (Optional but I think this is important): Purchase a new SSL certificate.
   1. Here is why this is important according to Google:
   2. Here is Blue Host’s step by step instruction on how to purchase SSL certificate.

7. If you have never used WordPress before, you should play around with WordPress to familiarize yourself with the features. It’s very intuitive. If you like more structured learning approach, here is a nice collection of WordPress tutorials.
8. Let Google and Bing know about your website
   1. Sign up Google Search Console account (this is formerly known as “Google Webmaster account) and add your WordPress website to the Search Console. This console allows you to tell Google search engine about your site, and it also let you see if Google has any issues to crawl your website. This is super important.
   2. Sign up Bing Webmaster
9. Sign up for Google Analytics
10. Sign up for AWeber. You’ll use AWeber to collect email addresses and send your email newsletters to your fan base. Note: I started with MailChimp but I soon realized it’s not the best decision. AWeber has better deliverability and more robust feature set. Go with AWeber.
11. Install the following WordPress Plugins – I have all of these Plugins on my own Amazon side hustle website. Here is the instruction on how to install Plugins.
    1. Akismet
    2. WordPress JetPack
    3. Hello Bar
    4. W3 Total Cache
12. Decide on a theme for your blog
    1. Start with Blue Host’s tutorial on installing a theme
    2. You can choose from thousands of free themes.
    3. Nowadays most of the free themes have a “buy” version with more robust features. Most A-list bloggers are using professional, paid themes. Below is a list of recommended professional theme providers:
       1. MyThemeShop
       2. Studio Press
       3. Thesis Theme

13. Use MyCorporation.com to set up a legal entity for your side hustle. This step is optional but recommended. You should decide if you want to incorporate or not. I set up a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Others prefer S-Corporation. I set up an entity because I want to protect myself from liabilities and I can deduct business expenses for tax purpose. But, I’m not an attorney. And I’m not a tax accountant. You should talk to professionals to get their opinions. I recommend the Incorporation Service provided by MyCorporation.com.
14. Make a few initial blog posts. Create About Us, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policy Pages on your site. You can use my NailYourJobInterview Amazon Hustle site as reference.