After installing Genesis, you can start customizing your Genesis Child Theme. I am using the Metric Child Theme in this tutorial but I think you'll find this video helpful regardless of the child theme you're using.
The advantage of a paid-for theme is that you get support. For Genesis, you get access to all the support forums and you are free to ask whatever you want! Each child theme has its own forum where you can find theme-specific tutorials and previously-discussed topics and answered questions. It really is a wealth of information and the forum moderators are very helpful.
There is a learning curve with Genesis, however, once you start working with it, I think you'll find it will make sense fairly quickly. And if you can't figure something out, don't be afraid to ask in the forums. That's what you paid for!!
Can't see the video? Watch it here.
Disclosure: I am compensated for purchases made via the referral links in this post.
Here at BloggingWithAmy you'll find tips, tools & tutorials about blogging and websites. In plain English. Want to 
Amy, once you buy a theme, do you own the right to use it on more than 1 sight? or I am wondering if the pro package would be a better deal if you were wanting to use a Genesis theme on 2 different websites.
Yes, you can use the Genesis Framework and the Child Theme as many times as you'd like. If you want to use a different child theme, you'd have to buy that one (by themselves, they are usually about $25). If you think you'll use a lot of the child themes for different sites, the developer option might be best.
Its Very Very Nice Tutorial. I Love It And Thx For Upload……… Could You Please Tell Me How to Add DropDown Menu With Menu You Created ?????????? Highly Appreciated In Advance……….
Just use the Menus feature under "Appearance" in the left column. Also read this post. Hope that helps!
Hi Amy
Love the video.
I've just bought the Genesis Pro Plus package and I'm looking for info on customisation.
Have you done any videos / posts on using hooks to change the appearance of the home page?
BTW – love your customisation of the Midnight theme – looks brilliant.
I haven't done any posts about hooks, but the Simple Hooks plugin for Genesis is great and the Genesis forums have a lot of tutorials you might find helpful.
Thanks Amy.
I'll take a look.
Keith
Hi Amy
Sorry for second comment but I just noticed that you have a "speaking" menu item.
I run a Public Speaking blog, so if you get a minute, I would love a comment from you.
Amy, this came at just the right time. I had been seriously asking myself if I could 'customize' a child theme. I see somethings I like on one theme that aren't on another and I'd like both (I hope I can do that.) I can't afford to pay for a designer, and I have a very wee bit of graphic background, but no web knowledge at all. In fact I was surfing around looking to learn if I could take a child theme I liked and make it mine. And you helped confirm that today. I had also discovered the sale today too! And Blue Host also has a sale.
I do have another question regarding domain name. Have you discovered that it matters whether you are .us or .net or anything else if the .com is unavailable? And is it best to get the domain name through Blue Host?
Thanks for your generous sharing.
Much success!!!
One more question…. what suggestions do you have for evaluating child themes? I would never have guessed that yours is the midnight theme.
And one more thing. What about fonts. I've seen some really nice ones. Do you think that any fonts can be used on any child theme?
You do have some flexibility with fonts but not a whole lot. If you're looking for something super fancy, you might try a service like typekit.com (I use them).
Find one that has the layout you like best. Try to look past the design at first (i.e. what it looks like, color scheme, etc.). You'll have to do a lot less customizing if you can find one that has the page elements in basically the spot you want them on your site. So, make sure to browse through the demos of the child themes and look at all the links in the navbars etc. For example, a photography site would probably want a child theme that had a large image front and center. A regular blog, on the other hand, might want a magazine-type layout instead. My theme is indeed Midnight, but if you look at the MIdnight demo and click around, you'll see the similarity. It doesn't look like the screenshot simply because I'm not using the front page that comes with it. It's all quite customizable.
I would do whatever I could to find a .com name. That's only because people assume .com and so you'll be much easier found that way. So, if the name you want doesn't have a .com available, I'd get a bit creative with the name if I could before going with .us or .net. If you absolutely can't find .com, I'd go with .net as it's the second most popular extension. And yes, you could absolutely get your domain via BlueHost.
Very good article, really helpful. Thanks Amy.
Hey Amy!
I purchased Genesis and a Child Theme back in October. I have been using blogspot for my website.
However, I froze (yelp for over 5 months) after not understanding how to use WordPress, Genesis and the Child Theme. I am back attempting to figure it out, but not with much success. I am logged into StudioPress and I want to read the Child Theme support/ forums. However, it keeps saying I do not have access to any of the forums.
Do you have any suggestions? Insight? Recommended video tutorials I watch to help me understand- how to set up the website using the Child Theme (I am a visual learner and love step by step guides- I bought News Child Theme).
Thanks for any suggestions!
I would absolutely contact them and ask what might be the problem (i.e. why you can't log in). They've always been very responsive. I hope they help you figure it out!
Also, did you see this printable guide for Genesis beginners?
Thanks. No, I had not seen that post. I will read over it.