I have decided that I was going to start making videos over on youtube recording and tracking my progress as I grow my podcast and work towards a few of my personal goals of launching a brand. In this first video I go over some of the tools that I use to build websites and that I have even used to build the website for my podcast, Wellfed.

I produce a podcast called Wellfed. It was a project I started a year or so ago and I already completed the first season. It had eight guests and for the second season, I've decided I was going to double the guests, redo the web site and all that other good stuff. There's a lot of different tools that I use that I think can really help when you're considering how to build your next website. If you go to wellfedpodcast.com, you'll get to see what the website looks like. Everything on this website I've designed, there's nothing that was made from a template. That has been the really fun part for me as a designer. It can get really complicated sometimes. And if you don't have the right tools you can really get yourself in the weed trying to figure out what code to use and things like that. For the Wellfed website, I haven't really had to do any sort of unique code or anything. It's all been through this wonderful tool called Webflow.

Webflow

Webflow has been great for that. I am able to come up with a design, whether it be in another program or on paper, and then I can begin to start building it right  in the browser. I can add sections or divs within the web page that contain the content and information that you need to build a website. This means that I am able to fully customize everything whenever I want without the help of a developer.

Another really awesome thing about Webflow is that you're able to design across multiple device screens. I can go from desktop to tablet to mobile really easily. And I think that is also why I chose Webflow over something like WordPress or Squarespace. In the back end of Webflow, it provides me a full CMS, so I'm able to update podcasts episodes, add articles, and any other content that I create within the CMS of Webflow. Overall Webflow has just been a great tool to use. I've also used it outside of my personal projects for client projects and work.

Most of all it really helps me move quickly and efficiently. You can check out and try Webflow here.

Adobe Xd

Another tool I want to mention is Adobe Xd. This is more for designers, people that are in the creative industry that are looking to build websites and mobile apps. Adobe Xd is a free tool from Adobe. If you don't already have it, you can download it. Just go check out the Adobe website. It's part of the creative suite, but Xd is such a new program that they are letting people download for free at the moment. This is another great tool that helps me get my ideas out from my head onto the screen so that I can start building them as quickly as possible. In my Adobe Xd files, I have all of my ideas that I started when I was first starting building my podcast website. I'm able to jump back and forth between designing for desktop and mobile. You can actually prototype as well in Adobe Xd, which is really great.

Sometimes when I am designing, I tend to get hung up or in the weeds with design ideas and end up letting things sit for a while. You want to avoid this especially when you are trying to get things out there and in front of people to test and get feedback. Adobe Xd actually helps me move through that process quicker than than I used to. I definitely love Xd and I've switched over from other programs like Sketch and Figma. They all do the same thing in my opinion, but Xd happens to just be part of the creative suite, which I already pay for and that is really convenient.

You can sign up for a free trial here.

Anchor.fm

The last tool that I'm going to talk about is Anchor. Anchor is a podcast platform that lets me publish my podcasts on all of the platforms. This includes Spotify, Apple music, Google, Stitcher and many more. Basically, if there is a platform that host podcasts, Anchor puts it there and this is great. It hosts every podcast episode for free and is actually owned by Spotify.

Before I hosted my podcast with a service that charged you. After a while, it felt like I was going to have to figure out an altnerate solution and change providers because of the cost. Thankfully, Anchor came around and their service is completely free of charge. It has been great so far and I have had no problems with it whatsoever. It is super seamless and helpful and I would recommend it to anyone if you're starting a podcast to definitely check out Anchor.

 

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any other tools you find super useful feel free to tweet or DM them to me. Also if you like this sort of content you can subscribe to my youtube channel or signup for my mailing list here.

 

Check out my free logo guide here.

If you like Amazon Alexa, I prototyped an Alexa skill a while back here.