Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - How to Build a Successful Online Business (Blog)

Steve Pavlina · 02-13-2008, 04:23 PM

I appreciate the feedback, although I simply don't agree with the jaded outlooks. I happen to know better because I really did my homework on this one. SBI is a truly great service for the right people.

I stand by my recommendation for SBI and have absolutely no regrets about recommending this service, especially once I saw first-hand how much their own customers love it. Their private customer forums have over 400,000 posts -- about triple what we have here. Those people really encourage the heck out of each other, and they share some interesting business ideas I haven't seen elsewhere.

It's great to see that a number of people (double digits) have already signed up for it -- I hope you'll keep me apprised of how it goes for you. My first recommendation is to join their members-only forums and introduce yourself as a new member. I think you'll find their people very welcoming and supportive. And be sure to tell Ken I said hi.

I like the idea of writing more articles about the reality of an online business. I was thinking about doing a series on that topic before recommending SBI, but I want to focus on the tactical/strategic side, not the techie side.

I've been getting a lot of positive feedback and questions about SBI via email. The critical posts here in the forums tend to scare away the more enthusiastic people -- a pattern which occurs whenever I recommend something with a price tag -- so those who are really interested usually just email me.

What some people overlook is that a blog is not a business. Anyone can start a blog, and SBI would be overkill if that's all you want to do. There are plenty of free or very cheap alternatives. SBI is for people who actually want to build profitable online businesses, not merely start an online journal.

Some of you who've already mastered online business on your own might scoff at the idea of a service that puts together a suite of tools, education (including video tutorials), and ongoing mentoring/coaching for people who want to start an online business. But I can assure you there are people for whom this is the perfect solution, and for $25 a month, it's an incredibly compelling deal for what you get. Consider how much time it took you to even find all the tools you use... or even to know which tools are important. The average person becomes quickly overwhelmed trying to figure it all out.

Would you teach someone how to build a successful online business from scratch; install, configure, and constantly upgrade all the tools they'll need; teach them how to use those tools; provide the means for them to create and manage the site w/o requiring them to learn HTML or use FTP; host the site for them; help them analyze their logs and suggest new content to add to their site; send them a free newsletter with tips and techniques; and continuously mentor them for $25/month? I certainly wouldn't. But I'll tell you that if a service like that was available in 1995 when I was just starting out, I'd sign up for it in a heartbeat. I'd have to be a real hardass to think that spending countless hours figuring all of this out on my own would be worth saving 82 cents a day.

Even Ken Evoy's teenage daughter uses SBI. She runs the site AnguilaBeaches.com and generates thousands of dollars a month from it. You'll see her site as one of the real-world examples in the video tour. I'd certainly love to put my own kids in the position of being able to support themselves from their own online businesses. But then I'm the kind of father who would say to my kids, "You want a job??? Are you crazy???"

For those who suggest this can be done for less than $25/month, I'd really like to see you teach a teenage girl to build a profitable online business within six months for that price, including providing all the tools, hosting, and ongoing support she'll need.

I'm a programmer. I don't need SBI. But I recognize it's the perfect solution for a lot of people who aren't as comfortable with Internet technology as I am. I think I'm being far more helpful to most people by recommending they use an all-in-one package like this, backed by a company I genuinely respect and trust vs. suggesting they invest hundreds, if not thousands, of hours mastering technology that's eventually going to become obsolete.

It's often possible to substitute sweat for money, but paying $25/month for a service that provides everything you need -- to build a profitable business, not merely publish a web site -- is a far better option for most people than the sweat alternative.

02-13-2008, 04:23 PM	#26 (permalink)
Steve Pavlina Administrator Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 3,871	I appreciate the feedback, although I simply don't agree with the jaded outlooks. I happen to know better because I really did my homework on this one. SBI is a truly great service for the right people. I stand by my recommendation for SBI and have absolutely no regrets about recommending this service, especially once I saw first-hand how much their own customers love it. Their private customer forums have over 400,000 posts -- about triple what we have here. Those people really encourage the heck out of each other, and they share some interesting business ideas I haven't seen elsewhere. It's great to see that a number of people (double digits) have already signed up for it -- I hope you'll keep me apprised of how it goes for you. My first recommendation is to join their members-only forums and introduce yourself as a new member. I think you'll find their people very welcoming and supportive. And be sure to tell Ken I said hi. I like the idea of writing more articles about the reality of an online business. I was thinking about doing a series on that topic before recommending SBI, but I want to focus on the tactical/strategic side, not the techie side. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback and questions about SBI via email. The critical posts here in the forums tend to scare away the more enthusiastic people -- a pattern which occurs whenever I recommend something with a price tag -- so those who are really interested usually just email me. What some people overlook is that a blog is not a business. Anyone can start a blog, and SBI would be overkill if that's all you want to do. There are plenty of free or very cheap alternatives. SBI is for people who actually want to build profitable online businesses, not merely start an online journal. Some of you who've already mastered online business on your own might scoff at the idea of a service that puts together a suite of tools, education (including video tutorials), and ongoing mentoring/coaching for people who want to start an online business. But I can assure you there are people for whom this is the perfect solution, and for $25 a month, it's an incredibly compelling deal for what you get. Consider how much time it took you to even find all the tools you use... or even to know which tools are important. The average person becomes quickly overwhelmed trying to figure it all out. Would you teach someone how to build a successful online business from scratch; install, configure, and constantly upgrade all the tools they'll need; teach them how to use those tools; provide the means for them to create and manage the site w/o requiring them to learn HTML or use FTP; host the site for them; help them analyze their logs and suggest new content to add to their site; send them a free newsletter with tips and techniques; and continuously mentor them for $25/month? I certainly wouldn't. But I'll tell you that if a service like that was available in 1995 when I was just starting out, I'd sign up for it in a heartbeat. I'd have to be a real hardass to think that spending countless hours figuring all of this out on my own would be worth saving 82 cents a day. Even Ken Evoy's teenage daughter uses SBI. She runs the site AnguilaBeaches.com and generates thousands of dollars a month from it. You'll see her site as one of the real-world examples in the video tour. I'd certainly love to put my own kids in the position of being able to support themselves from their own online businesses. But then I'm the kind of father who would say to my kids, "You want a job??? Are you crazy???" For those who suggest this can be done for less than $25/month, I'd really like to see you teach a teenage girl to build a profitable online business within six months for that price, including providing all the tools, hosting, and ongoing support she'll need. I'm a programmer. I don't need SBI. But I recognize it's the perfect solution for a lot of people who aren't as comfortable with Internet technology as I am. I think I'm being far more helpful to most people by recommending they use an all-in-one package like this, backed by a company I genuinely respect and trust vs. suggesting they invest hundreds, if not thousands, of hours mastering technology that's eventually going to become obsolete. It's often possible to substitute sweat for money, but paying $25/month for a service that provides everything you need -- to build a profitable business, not merely publish a web site -- is a far better option for most people than the sweat alternative. __________________ Steve Pavlina www.StevePavlina.com (Twitter page, Facebook page) Get my book Personal Development for Smart People I'm a human alarm clock. I awaken people who are sleeping through life. Then I duck.