Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums

Rebecca800 · 07-04-2009, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

This question is directed to Rebecca, but anyone feel free to answer. Rebecca, I noticed on your site with your left-hand navigation that you seem to link to many of your pages from the home page. I know that normally we only link to Tier 2 pages from the home page, but if it makes sense for the navigation, is it okay to link to Tier 3 pages as well?

Hey Daffy

SBI reckons you should only link to T2 pages on your homepage, because Google prefers it this way. I'm not sure why... However, they don't say "NEVER DO THIS!!" - seems more like a general recommendation so I kept my options open.

I decided to show my T3s on my homepage when I looked at Steve's blog and saw he had all these good article titles listed, compelling people to click deeper into the site. So I got Peter to make an expanding menu in my new design and allows people to see all their options at a glance.

I'd be interested to hear from others, from a technical/ SEO perspective, which is better and why.

JarethLee · 07-14-2009, 10:57 PM

Hi. I didn't know whether to post this as a separate thread...

I've been meaning to try out SBI and intended to get it for myself within the next couple of weeks (I'm currently swamped with work I need to finish before I leave my job at the end of the month.) Dunno what exactly I was gonna get it for though.

Anyway, an acquaintance of mine is currently looking for a developer/designer for their company (event management / advertising) website. I have a fair bit of background in graphic design but not in web development. I was wondering if / how well SBI can be used for creating sites for a third party as opposed to for yourself. (I've been trying to figure this out from the info on their site but couldn't for the life of me figure out the answer. Lol.)

(Oh btw I didn't have the energy to go through the 10 pages of posts/discussion before I posted this so apologies if it's already been discussed.

I'll be reading the rest of the thread later regardless.)

Rebecca800 · 07-15-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JarethLee

Anyway, an acquaintance of mine is currently looking for a developer/designer for their company (event management / advertising) website. I have a fair bit of background in graphic design but not in web development. I was wondering if / how well SBI can be used for creating sites for a third party as opposed to for yourself. (I've been trying to figure this out from the info on their site but couldn't for the life of me figure out the answer. Lol.)

Hi Jareth

I'd say if your friend's event management company is classed as a "small business" and they want to develop it themselves cheaply, then SBI is highly recommended.

If they have a bigger budget ($2000+) and no time to develop the site themselves, I'd recommend a professional agency (like the one we run!

)

At the end of the day it all comes down to time and money. The important thing is you get it right!

GetPersonal · 07-23-2009, 03:22 PM

Hey there, I have just a short question respectively I have an offer to make.

I ordered SBI last christmas, when they had the special 2 for 1 offer.

At the time I am fully streched with working on my first SBI site about trading the financial markets, what is great. But unfortunately it also means that there is not enough time for me to start another one for the next months.

Therefore I would like to ask is there or do you know anybody who's interested in an extra or first SBI for less than 299 bucks?

PS: I asked the SBI support about the legality of selling the second SBI and the they agreed to it.

Daffy Duck · 07-23-2009, 03:26 PM

Just to be clear, if you ordered it back in December, then whoever purchases it from you will need to renew again in December of '09, correct?

BeyondtheWrap · 07-23-2009, 07:57 PM

2 Questions.

A lot of people here have talked about making multiple sites with SBI. To do this, do you have to buy SBI again? Or do you just make a new website on another host and use the information from the first purchase of SBI to monetize your site?

Also, if you buy SBI and decide you don't want it anymore, they say you get to keep the domain name. Does that mean you would keep the whole web site you made, or do you lose your site and just keep a worthless URL?

Daffy Duck · 07-23-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeyondtheWrap

A lot of people here have talked about making multiple sites with SBI. To do this, do you have to buy SBI again? Or do you just make a new website on another host and use the information from the first purchase of SBI to monetize your site?

You can do either. I'd do the latter, since it's cheaper.

Quote:

Also, if you buy SBI and decide you don't want it anymore, they say you get to keep the domain name. Does that mean you would keep the whole web site you made, or do you lose your site and just keep a worthless URL?

You can download your whole site to your local hard drive before ending your SBI account, and then upload it to your new web host with your domain.

90802 · 07-24-2009, 03:24 AM

Daffy,

I think you can put the second site on hold. I too purchased in Dec 08, and shouldn't have the ticker start running on the second site until Sept of this year. So, if I start it then, it should not need to be renewed until Sept 10

CJAnyasor · 07-24-2009, 05:31 AM

Hey guys. This thread is really successful so I really like the tips I find when I come here.

I have a blog called HiLife2B: Blog on Personal Improvement for a Good Life

I've gotten more traffic over the past three months, but I'm still in the mid one million rank. The people who comment tell me I write great content so I'm fine with more people seeing my site.

I would really appreciate it if you could give some more pointers on getting more traffic. I have twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, and have submitted my site to Google and Yahoo.

My traffic has increased to about 100 visits a day. That's fine, but as you know, I want to get more.

Any constructive criticisms about my site will be appreciated as well. Thanks for listening.

cd60 · 07-28-2009, 08:22 PM

Hello JarethLee

Yes, you certainly can build an SBI! site on behalf of someone else.

Actually, one of the SiteSell divisions, SiteSell Services basically does just that. This is for people who don't have the time or wish to build their own sites.

I realize this is very brief, but I hope it helps.

Regards

CD

Nigel · 08-11-2009, 11:30 AM

I´ve been working my through the Affmasters course and have reached section 3. I have been working with the Search It tool on the Brainstorming section. I notice on the course it says set the Search Category to Brainstorming and the Seach Type to Overture.

But on my Search It tool there is no overture. What do you use instead?

By the way has anyone found this course to be of any good?

Hey Rebecca, I used to live in Kent too before moving down to Southern Spain. Small world.

Rebecca800 · 08-19-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJAnyasor

I would really appreciate it if you could give some more pointers on getting more traffic. I have twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, and have submitted my site to Google and Yahoo.

My traffic has increased to about 100 visits a day. That's fine, but as you know, I want to get more.

SBI has a free e-book called Make Your Links Work (MYLW) which explains how to go about your link building program. You sound onto it with the social sites but I wonder if you've been submitting to online directories as well? I pay a submission company to do it for me (auto submission software helps but it's still a manual job) for something like $20 for 200 directories in the PR3+ category.

Also, keep pumping out quality content that is keyword-rich. That will help the search engines notice you and keep readers coming back for more. I realize you may be doing this already but thought I'd mention it just in case!

90802 · 08-24-2009, 07:33 AM

Do you folks think the yahoo directory is worth the $300? I wonder what would happen if you paid for it the first year, then stopped paying...

Rebecca, who are you using to submit to directories?

Oh, and what exactly is this page rank business? It confuses the hell out of me!!

Curtis2011 · 08-24-2009, 07:45 AM

I would say the Yahoo Directory is NOT worth the $300.

However, one "glitch in the system" that I have heard of, is that the Yahoo Directory supposedly has Canadian and other-country branches of its directory to which you can submit your site for free. These other-country branches are supposedly just as good, and hey: they couldn't hurt either way if you aren't paying for them

.

90802 · 08-24-2009, 08:30 AM

Hmm, need some help from you keyword experts.

I took the advice of a great SBIer (Tomaz, I think he runs a vacuum cleaner reviews site) and optimized my homepage for "Free Songwriting Tips" so I could gather traction from three different sets of keywords (free songwriting tips, songwriting, and songwriting tips).

However, I'd like to use Free Songwriting Tips again as a Tier 2 page. Would I be penalized for doing that? Could I just make the title different and I'd be ok?

What say you gurus!

Also, for SBI folks, is there a way we can track our bounce rate?

great · 08-24-2009, 09:58 AM

hi
Nice information shared in this post.

Nigel · 08-25-2009, 01:20 PM

I'm very tempted to buy SBI and get started on my own website but one thing is beginning to bug me from what I've read on this thread and also with SBI sales blurb.

How many people who have bought SBI, produced a website and are making money from it, can say the money the paid to SBI was all they had to pay.

Or, as is my suspicion, that once they had produced their site they then had to pay another 299$ to have it included in Yahoo directory and possibly more money for other directories?

All of a sudden it looks to me as though the costs are going up and up to what for me are unaffordable levels.

Also, I had what I though was a great idea for a website on a subject I really enjoy and that I could hopefully make some money out of but I now see that one of the contributors to this thread is already doing.

Do you think there is any point in me starting with the webiste as surely we would be fighting for the same custom, probably using the same keywords and basically competing against each other?

Any advice on the above two points would be helpful.

borisg · 08-25-2009, 07:22 PM

In order to succeed with any online endeavor you're going to need passion.

If you are contemplating giving up even before you start because one other person is doing the same niche you had in mind, then its probably a good thing you don't start. I guarantee you there's over a hundred people doing the same niche you were contemplating.

You have to ask yourself, would I be willing to write about this topic, every week for the next 1-2 years, without expectation of any income? If the answer is yes, then by all means go foward. If its no, then drop the idea now.

$299 for SBI is a great deal. That's $24.91 per month for website tool for newbies, web hosting, domain name, traffic analysis tools, support, and a ton of features I cannot begin to list here. If you're new to the online world and want to make money at it and have passion and persistence I would recommend SBI. If you are not a newbie and understand how SEO works and how to market and make money on the web, then you should not waste any time on it. Think about it. You are looking to start a business that generates income and you think $24.91 a month is too much? How much were you looking to make a month? Less than that?

Actually SBI is not just for newbies. Now that I have a good grip on this thing, my second site will also be an SBI site, the only thing I would do different is that now I would upload my own HTML from the beginning.

Don't mean to turn you off from an online business. Just think about it real hard. If you have the passion, nothing can stop you. But if you are going to be tripping out on little details, then you're head is in the wrong place.

Good luck to you

Daffy Duck · 08-25-2009, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel

How many people who have bought SBI, produced a website and are making money from it, can say the money the paid to SBI was all they had to pay.

Or, as is my suspicion, that once they had produced their site they then had to pay another 299$ to have it included in Yahoo directory and possibly more money for other directories?

Two simple answers for you.

1. You don't have to pay more than $299 for SBI. You can buy some of their advanced features if you want, but you don't need to.

SBI will submit your site to search engines for free.

2. SBI doesn't charge you for the directory. Yahoo does. See here: https://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/

The Yahoo directory is NOT the same thing as the Yahoo search.

Rebecca800 · 08-26-2009, 07:17 AM

The online submission service I use is called SubmitComfort.com - they're pretty good and send you screen prints of all the manual submissions they make. Saves me a lot of time

Tarzansjane · 08-27-2009, 07:12 PM

Hi

I'd like to respond Nigel's questions. I'm an SBIer and I have two SBI sites. The first - my learning site - gets over 2000 visits a day. It is 2.75 years old.

The second site is a more competitive monetizable topic that gets about 500 visits a day. It's about 2 years old.

Quote:

How many people who have bought SBI, produced a website and are making money from it, can say the money the paid to SBI was all they had to pay.

Or, as is my suspicion, that once they had produced their site they then had to pay another 299$ to have it included in Yahoo directory and possibly more money for other directories?

I've paid any more than the SBI fee for any of my sites.

I got listed/index by all Search Engines just fine for the 1st site. The 2nd site, is more competitive and I've considered paying Yahoo to get listed just to move things along, but I haven't yet.

Quote:

All of a sudden it looks to me as though the costs are going up and up to what for me are unaffordable levels.

I do make money of the 2nd site, but the 1st one is really the most profitable right now. It makes enough to pay for itself plus probably 10-20 other sites. I consider that all I've ever done is pay once, then after that, it has always paid for itself plus generate a nice amount of monthly income.

Quote:

Also, I had what I though was a great idea for a website on a subject I really enjoy and that I could hopefully make some money out of but I now see that one of the contributors to this thread is already doing.

Do you think there is any point in me starting with the webiste as surely we would be fighting for the same custom, probably using the same keywords and basically competing against each other?

You have to really read the Action Guide and apply the steps thoroughly. If you do this, you will be able to decide for yourself if that site concept is winnable or over saturated. In my mind, though, I would say any niche is winnable yet because every topic can have its own unique spin - although competitive topics take longer to monetize well.

However, SBI gives you a tool called Niche Choose It! that helps you compare different ideas and find something one that's most profitable.

Hope this info helps, Nigel. Have a great day!

CJAnyasor · 08-29-2009, 04:25 AM

Rebecca, thank you so much for your helpful input. I'm going to put those tips to work and hope for the best.

P.S. I've read your interview with Steve and I was very inspired. Keep up the great work!

KenTaiwan98 · 09-01-2009, 05:31 PM

I just signed up for SBI, but am only at day 3. I'm not exactly a newbie, with five or six sites online already and a bunch half-done, too.

But none of them have ever made serious money... or gained serious traction. So I'm trying two experiments: one with SBI, one without... perhaps with the same niche... undecided on the second niche.

So here goes.
Kenneth

Daffy Duck · 09-01-2009, 05:32 PM

Good luck, Kenneth. Let us know if you have any questions.

PerDev · 10-30-2009, 07:10 AM

I will try SBI

stevo75 · 10-31-2009, 06:46 PM

Hi all,

I'm new to Steve's forums and also SBI. This looked like a great forum to subscribe to so I figured I'd introduce myself.

I'm currently on Day 6 of the action guide and I'm doing the eLearning course. I know that my focus right now should be on content, but I can't help thinking long term and thinking about how I want my site to look. So I'm trying to get some feedback about whether or not I should consider these actions now or if I should wait and look into these later. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

1) I know that I want to have a different template, and I'm assuming that I'll have to either buy one, or pay someone to design it for me. I like the 3 column styles that Rebecca has on her Lucid Dreaming website. I also like templates where the background is a different color than the page (like Rebecca's site, Steve Pavlina's site, etc.) My question is, is it better to transition to the template I want now? Or should I wait until later? I'm not sure if the process is more complicated if I have a lot of pages vs. only a few...

2) If I do get my own template, can I still use the SBI block builder or will I need to transition to an HTML editor? This is something I will want to do eventually, but I think I'll stick with the block builder until I have a few more pages built.

3) If I do get a new template, will I still be able to use all of SBI's integrated features? I'm thinking about how Tier 2's are automatically added as a Nav Bar and to the TOC on the home page. Will I have to do this myself if I have a non-SBI template? In other words, will a new template fit seamlessly into the SBI tools?

4) Can anyone recommend a good HTML editor? What are y'all using?

5) If I hire someone to do a redesign, do they have to be familier with SBI?

6) I noticed that Rebecca's page is protected by Copyscape? What's this all about? I haven't heard about it in SBI yet...

Hopefully I'm not going too crazy with the questions here...

Thanks!

Rebecca800 · 11-05-2009, 06:18 AM

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