Read time: 3 min 54 sec
Whatup Reader!
So right off the bat, I built a new website for my newest baby, ChatGPT Curious, a podcast for folks who are, well, curious about ChatGPT 🤷🏽♂️.
I stay telling my clients that if they’re promoting something they should say it with their whole chest and not bury it in a PS section, so here’ s me saying it with my whole chest.
The podcast officially launches on Thursday, August 7th, but the teaser is available on all players right now, and I’d love for you to give it a listen if you have any interest and 6 minutes to spare.
Ya’ll already know that I can find a lesson in pretty much everything, but this one was particularly easy to spot. Perhaps it was because of the sheer amount of time that went into getting this project off the ground, but either way, the lesson was screaming, so now I’m sharing:
Everything works.
You just have to figure out what works for you.
So this new website is actually my third website.
The first website I ever had I built myself using Squarespace. That was back in 2014, and I’m every bit as proud of it today as I was then.
My second website, the one that the majority of you are familiar with, I had built out for me in 2018 by the ever-incredible Joe Bergantine. I went with WordPress because I wanted more functionality (I needed to be able to run a membership, sell tickets to my in-person courses, and host a podcast), more customizability, and fewer platform limitations. I love that website, I still very much use that website, and I’m grateful for all the things it showed me that I preferred.
This time around after much deliberation, I decided once again to go with WordPress. Squarespace is a much easier lift (and what I recommend to anyone who asks what to use to build their website), but once again I wanted the functionality, the control, and the customizability. So I decide to self-host and do the Wordpress thing.
For my techies in the audience: I stayed with DigitalOcean for the server and Namecheap for the domain. I kept ConverttKit as my email marketing software. But I also changed some things. I picked a different theme. A new editor. I moved my file storage from AWS to DigitalOcean Spaces. I switched podcast hosts.
For my non-techies in the audience , here is a picture of Rupert, exhausted from his hard life that includes zero responsibilities:
Deciding what tech stack I wanted to go with was where I really got to see the lesson:
Everything works.
You just have to figure out what works for you.
I’m a big Reddit fan, but the majority of the time if you go on there looking for tech recommendations, you’ll get as many different recommendations as there are comments. (It will never not grind my gears when someone asks for a comparison between two things and the commenters weigh in with their fondness for a third option 😒.)
Yes, I absolutely did my research, and that was founded in what I needed, wanted, and was capable of implementing.
Everything could work.
I just needed to figure out what would work for me.
I think we forget that sometimes. Especially online, where everyone’s screaming about what’s “best.” What’s fastest. What’s the ultimate all-in-one. What’ll make your life easier.
It would behoove us to remember that folks are preaching based on what they like, what they’ve used, and what they need.
We’re in an era where most tools check most of the boxes. The question is no longer, “Will this work?” The question is, “Do I like using it? Does it make sense to me? Does it fit the way I think?”
I honestly think people feel they’re going to get left behind or miss out on something if they choose the wrong tech. Let me assure you that all of these companies are far too concerned with money to allow their product to become obsolete and irrelevant.
But perhaps what matters more than that is realizing that it’s not the bells and whistles and features that makes something great, it’s how well it solves your problems and if it does so in a way that you prefer.
I still use and love Pandora (ain’t nobody got time to be making a playlist). I still use and love Dropbox. I still use and love Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. I use Excel at least once a week.
All this to say, best is relative and subjective.
Everything works.
You just have to figure out what works for you.
And you don’t figure that out by polling strangers.
You figure it out by doing.
And paying attention.
And then simply having the courage to choose.
See you next Tuesday.
Hope you’ll tune in on August 7.
Happy Tuesday, Reader.
Maestro out.
Did someone forward you this email?
Click here to join the Maestro Mail family.
Do the thing.
I write differently over here.
Less advice, MOAR musings.
