As former teachers, one of our driving and enduring passions is — and always will be — education. Seeing our students (and now fellow photographers) have those “aha!” and “lightbulb” moments makes our hearts, right then and there, grow three times in size — like one of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters who almost stole Christmas.

But, last month, we ran into a problem: the free resources we'd created for photographers were getting lost in the shuffle of our blog, and we needed a central hub, a designated home, a starting place, just for photographers, where they could look at one web page and find what they needed instead of scrolling through blog post after blog post.

There were two problems:

1. We didn't have time.

We had less than 24 hours, from Saturday morning until Saturday night, to get a brand new website up and running. We didn't have time to create a vision board, hire a designer, go through the revision process, have the design coded, and wait for it to go live. We needed it like we need ice cream delivered in an IV. Stat. Fast. Or someone's going to get hurt.

2. We didn't want to spend money.

We tell photographers all. the. time. that as small business owners, it's better to be profitable than cool. Can we get an amen? It's better to be profitable than cool. So, to invest thousands and thousands of dollars into a custom-designed, custom-coded website, just wasn't for us, not that there's anything wrong with that! It just didn't make sense this time around.

So, without time and money, what were we going to do?

Answer: Create a Showit plus site, because it solved both of our problems.

Here's how:

1. Free URL

One of the best benefits about using Showit is the ability to create an unlimited amount of distinct plus sites within your existing URL. So, for example, we were able to take amyandjordan.com and create photographers.amyandjordan.com as part of our subscription without needing to purchase a new domain name. Can we get a “whoot whoot?!”

2. Free Hosting

In addition to the free URL, the hosting for our new plus site is included in our subscription. Another time and money saver.

3. Free Design

Showit comes with 24 unique style groups that have been designed by some of the country's coolest creatives. We found one we liked, turned it on, and made modifications (of course) to customize it using Showit's software that doesn't require coding (for people like us who couldn't code our way out of a paper bag!). We got the benefit of a semi-custom, professional design without having to pay someone for it — another huge benefit of Showit that we love and something we think more new photographers should take advantage of to take their brand to the next level overnight without breaking the bank.

4. Free Previews

Using the preview tool, we were able to double, triple, and quadruple check our new website before we made it live, and send a preview link to others to do the same.

5. Free to Publish

With Showit, there's no waiting around. When you're ready to go live with a plus site, you can go live in a few easy steps and the click of a button.

And, boom! Just like that, we had a brand spanking new website that didn't take months to build or cost us an arm, a leg, and our first baby. One of the many reasons we love Showit and are proud to be called Showiteers.

So, whether you need a second website with a distinct look and separate home for one of your other brands (like a different type of photography) or another branch of your business (like web design), a Showit plus site is the perfect place to start.

It'll save you the two things we wish grew on trees: time and money.

jihae watson

Hi! I'm Jihae Watson! I was born in Seoul, grew up in Toronto, Ontario and now live in Gilbert, Arizona. I love all three cities so very much as I have plenty of family, and favorite restaurants in all three locations.

I am married to a stud named Chris, and we have four fantastic kids. Together we love being a foster family, and we presently have the sweetest little foster babe.