How To Design A Custom Blog Without The Custom Price Tag

Call me Mompreneur, Entrepreneur, or just plain crafty, but one thing remains constant. In my world being an entrepreneur means finding creative ways to get what I want for the price  that I want. I thought I ‘d share with you how to design a custom blog without the custom price tag.  I get a lot of compliments on my new website. I wish I could take all the credit but that belongs to the theme designer.  I did add a few suggestions but I still didn’t implement most of those they were carried out by my web guy.

When I first made the decision to switch from Blogger to WordPress I started immediately thinking about themes, how to switch, how much it would cost, and how complex the entire process would be. I can do some techie things but it’s really not my deal so I have to rely on others for all things technical.

There were some deals that I saw on the internet at the time ” Transfer from Blogger to WordPress for just $89″ or “$100 to transfer your site.”  Those prices don’t seem that bad until you realize that WordPress has a plugin that does it all for you- FREE. If you don’t know what  a plug in is do my favorite thing right now and Google “What is a WordPress Plugin”.

I knew that it shouldn’t be that difficult to transfer everything over but I still did not want to risk doing it myself so I went on the hunt to find a person who could help.  I started with some designers that were recommended and received few bids.  Here is the thing with designers,  they will quote $4,500 and some will quote $350, some even less.  I know you’re thinking ” You get what you pay for.”  Let me help you out- sometimes you pay a lot less and still get something amazing. I’ve done it over and over and over again. Why? Because I really don’t like wasting money on inflated prices. So I don’t . Am I cheap? No. I would rather buy Matilda a new pair of shoes,  a dress or get my hair done then waste an extra $3,000. I know that most of the time I can get the same thing done for under $500 bucks.

I have a ton of secrets that I’ve used to save money blogging and get  my projects completed. I list those in my upcoming eBook Get Famous. Which yes will finally be out in a short while. I”m waiting on a few more  last minute details and then it will be ready. I’ll share more about that whole process later.  Anyway please let me share a few quick tips with you on how to get custom designs without the custom price tag.

• Post ads in Craigslist.  You’ll have to filter through your responses but I’ve found some of the most talented designers, artists and more via that website. I’ve also saved over $3,000 by using this method.
• You can outsource using Elance or Odesk. Both sites have people that will bid on your job.
• Go to LinkedIN and post questions. You’ll be amazed how many people will share with you their resources and some may even offer to help you for little to no cost. I have found and used a manufacturer for my baby product and they made the prototype FREE!
• Tweet your needs. I’ve done this numerous times and people almost always respond with a referral or they say “I’d love to help” Twitter can be a great tool.
• Ask on Facebook. Someone always knows someone else who is willing to help.

If I had a motto for my blog it would be ” Never give up and never get discouraged “  Sometimes if you have a project and everyone is quoting high prices that would be equal to  a down payment on your baby’s college fund, you can be tempted to give up. Don’t.

I had a girlfriend who told me once that she would always look at something and think,” OK that’s not the way let’s try something else.”  She didn’t get mad, she didn’t quit she just tried something else.  And that’s what you need to do.  Whatever you need for your blog or your business there is always a way. Just keep asking. Keep pursuing. Keep working at it and you will find a way.  By the way in my book  Get Famous I will reveal exactly how much this blog cost to design and the exact method I used. It was a deal you can’t imagine. Is that a shameless plug? You bet. Because I don’t believe in shame. So go make your dreams happen and if something is too expensive find someone else to do it for a price you can afford. It’s possible and  I know you can do it.