- Learning this one thing changed my entire life.
Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake of robertoblake.com
helping you create something awesome today.
So those of you who are familiar with me
know a little bit of my backstory.
You know that 19 years ago,
my family got its first computer.
It was something my grandmother invested in.
And we were able to finally get online,
use AOL 6.0, dial-up,
and it was a tremendous experience.
I learned in that first summer
how to code in html and build my own websites.
The Internet was a really different place back then.
You didn't have YouTube tutorials to help you.
The websites were really primitive
and there wasn't a lot of information out there.
In fact, web design wasn't even considered a career,
if you can believe that.
There was no on who thought that there was any money in it.
And so in Microsoft Notepad,
I learned how to build and code my first websites.
I don't think that that's practical for everybody.
One of the things that I really pride myself on
in doing this channel
is meeting you guys at your level of understanding.
Not all of you are going to have the time
that I spent to learn html code.
Whether you're a business owner
who just needs something up and running right now,
whether you're a graphic designer
just getting out of college,
you need a portfolio that's going to help you
land a real job immediately,
or you're a photographer that needs to just have
an easy way to showcase your work
and be able to upload pictures and just have it done
and showcase that gallery of work
so you can get paying clients,
there needs to be a practical solution for you,
and there is.
While I still believe in coding websites
and having that control,
that's what I'm capable of doing and that's my skill.
And the thing is, sometimes I'm frustrated
with how long it takes for me to get something
that I'm satisfied with.
So our friends over at Wix are sponsoring today's video
and they are a practical solution
for people who are in that situation.
When I was 13 years old, learning code really was something
that gave me an advantage,
but also having the ability to build an online presence
is going to give any one of you an advantage today,
and you don't need to learn how to code in order to do that.
You have a simple drag-and-drop interface
that anybody can use,
with hundreds of templates and dozens of tools
that will allow you to make a functional, beautiful website
that can get the job done for you.
As a creative, sometimes I just want to do something
that's not technical.
I just want to be able to create my art,
put it up online, share it with everyone.
That's what I love about social media.
But social media is not my platform,
it belongs to someone else.
With wix.com, I can have actual webposting,
including an email address and a domain name that's mine.
And so that gives you more control.
I've been thinking of using this either to do some more
stuff with my photography and my artwork,
stuff that allows me to share with you guys
that I'm in fully control of
and I can customize to my heart's content
and not need to open up more complicated tools.
You know, tools that I love, but they just take up time.
So when I'm traveling on the road,
if I really just want to be able to take some of that stuff
and not share it in Instagram and Facebook
and do something a little bit more
interesting with it for you guys,
this gives me an outlet and a way to do that
with a fun, engaging, beautiful website.
So if that's something that you're looking for,
then I encourage you to go to robertoblake.com/wix
or use the link in the description or the annotation up here
and go check that out.
If I were a young person on YouTube right now,
this would be the platform that I would
definitely use right away
because at $10 a month, you can afford it
and it's something that can give you an online presence
that a lot of other people don't have
when they're starting out,
and that can really mean the difference
between growing your channel.
If you're a graphic designer
and you didn't learn web design in college,
you were someone that focused more
on typography or on photo manipulation,
then this is something that is really going to help you
not feel intimidated and overwhelmed.
So if you want to build your own website without coding,
wix.com is a great solution for you and it's affordable.
Our friends over at Wix were actually generous enough
to hook me up with an account that I can use
to teach you guys and show you what
I'm gonna be using it for.
So in the coming weeks and months,
I'll have those tutorials coming up
and show you how I'm using it
and how you can use these tools to your advantage,
mess with templates and make simple changes
and updates to your own website.
I'm planning to cover more free and affordable tools
on the channel here because a lot of you guys have said
that while you love all the stuff that I'm doing,
you can't afford some of the software
and some of the solutions
or even some of the tech that I'm using.
So I'm trying to be more budget-friendly in the future.
I'm trying to meet everybody at the level
that they're at right now
and give them something that can help them.
In fact, I have a poll running right now,
so make sure you're voting in that
in terms of some of the future videos
around free software and budget solutions.
Let me know what you're the most interested in.
Also, I'd love that kind of feedback
in the comments section.
What kind of budget solutions,
what kind of free software would you like me
to cover in the future?
Thanks again over to our friends at Wix
for making this video possible
and for sponsoring the channel
and some more cool and creative things from me.
Anyway, like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the other awesome content on the channel.
Remember, graphic design videos are usually on Mondays.
As always you guys, thank so much for watching
and don't forget: Create something awesome today.
Maybe build a website from our friends at Wix.