#BrandMance: Squarespace

So this is a little strange... I'm writing a blog post about Squarespace, and yet my website lives on SnapPages...

But at the end of the day I think both platforms will be just fine. I'm simply expressing that I do have a #BrandMance with Squarespace.

I've used the platform off and on since it first came out. And one of the only reasons I stayed away from it, was that I was afraid of creating hundreds of blog posts in Squarespace, only to want to move to Wordpress at some point... Both for my personal sites, and for freelance clients with a growth mindset.

But in the past few years I've had more and more clients come to me asking for a Squarespace website. So I've become very familiar with the platform, templates, and helpful integrations.

I recently took the plunge myself, when I began contemplating what it would look like to start a podcast. My first thought was to throw up a Wordpress installation with a simple theme, and then add a podcast plugin like PowerPress or Seriously Simply Podcasting to handle the podcast functionality and RSS feed creation.

But instead, I decided to see if I could do it all using Squarespace. And here is how that went:

• Website: Super simple to create and less than $20/month to operate
  • https://transcendhuman.com 
• Template: One click to install
• Styling: A bit limited in what you can do - but this also keeps you (and clients) from going crazy and seriously messing up the beautiful website you started with
  • When I style a Squarespace website I create a "Brand & Style Guide" page as the first thing I do
  • This page has all elements visible on it. Text blocks, H1, H2, H3, quote block, various image styles, the three button sizes, etc. I also do this on a panel with a dark background image - as most elements change to a lighter version when overlaying something
  • Next, I go to the Design >> Site Styles section and go to town styling the various elements on the page. I find that this is the fastest and most consistent way to style the entire website to match the brand requirements
• Blog: I'm able to create traditional blog posts
• Podcast: I was able to create another blog page - but tell Squarespace I wanted it to function as a podcast instead. After that, it walks you through the iTunes metadata requirements, adding your cover art, etc. And that's it! Submit your feed to Apple, Google, iHeart, Spotify and you're ready to go
• eCommerce: I haven't turned this on yet, but have products set up and ready to go in the future. I connected Squarespace to Printful (Integration Explanation) in order to create branded products and have Printul drop ship as needed when purchases come in
• Marketing: I haven't turned this on either - but Squarespace can accept signups through a simple form - and build your customer list for you. Then you can sign up to do email campaigns similar to a MailChimp or Constant Contact (additional cost for this)
• Scheduling: I haven't turned this on either - but if I were to start doing consulting or coaching online, I could use this feature to let customers schedule slots on my my calendar - and I believe pay for them up front...

As you can see - that's a lot of digi-webby-goodness all wrapped up into one platform.

Next time you're looking to start a new venture, blog, podcast, simple store, online coaching practice, etc. Check out Squarespace and see what you think!