the SBI thread, tips, tricks and success stories

[Kaie]

I just clicked 'confirm order' I officially signed up I am also still working on my content. It is there, but I need to figure out how to present myself. I am hoping SBI can help with that (which is why I went for it.)

I figure 30 a month is not bad, and there is a 90 day trial. I am so excited to get started!!!

yes, thank you for resurrecting this thread

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Kaie

I just clicked 'confirm order' I officially signed up I am also still working on my content. It is there, but I need to figure out how to present myself. I am hoping SBI can help with that (which is why I went for it.)

I figure 30 a month is not bad, and there is a 90 day trial. I am so excited to get started!!!

yes, thank you for resurrecting this thread

Welcome

Just one piece of advice: Don't get discouraged by the huge Action Guide! It is several hours upon hours of videos. But they are all very educational and necessary.

I would say to be sure to limit yourself to a few hours a day (max) of watching the Action Guide at first. Back when I first started SBI, I went through the entire Action Guide in like 5 days, literally spending hours upon hours each day going through it all and doing all the steps and stuff.

If you have that kind of resolve, then by all means go for it. But if not, then just take it one step at a time. It is definitely easy to get discouraged by the mass of educational material you have to go through with SBI before you actually start building your website.

[Kaie]

Thanks, I am having to pace myself, because I am already doing 2 other online classes. I am highly motivated and everything enhances everything else.

I am lucky enough to have gotten off work early today and will be able to spend some time with it now.

[Lucidism]

For anyone who just wants SBI's education, you could always sign up with them for a month to gain access to their system, and then ask to close your account. They offer a pro-rated refund. It's worth the money you spend when you consider how much time you save over reading tons of free articles.

SBI isn't the only good option to learn how to build a business or popular web site online, though. Other courses like the A-List Blogging Club ($20/month) are very good as well. This is a good option for those who want to use Wordpress, as they have a whole section dedicated to setting it up.

Then you also have excellent free all-in-one resources like Pat Flynn's Niche Site Duel, where he shows you (from the beginning) how he created a site last year that now earns over $500/month from Google Adsense.

James, it is good to describe Wordpress as an engine. That's very accurate. It does much more than what SBI's site-builder does. Content management systems like Drupal and Wordpress are used for more than just blogs -- they also power very large web sites. SBI was never designed to do this, so it's not really fair when people compare the two in this sense. Apples and oranges.

[Kaie]

Ok, my head is officially spinning. I guess it's time to distance myself for a while and then go to the SBI forums tomorrow.

Thanks for all of the tips <3

[Lucidism]

Originally Posted by Lil Chris

I've seen this discussion too many times. But, that's not the intent of my inquisition. I've seen you guys talk about these "articles" on sbi and while I'm not going to join just to look at them, my question is if there is an equivalent to those articles on the web somewhere. What topics do they cover?

You don't have to join SBI to see these things. The Action Guide and other SBI documents are still freely available here: SBI! -- Find It!

I wonder if this stuff isn't *supposed* to be free anymore. I'll let Ken know we can still access it freely, in case it's an oversight on their part.

*Edit* Alright, I sent him a PM.

[Tarzansjane]

I wonder if this stuff isn't *supposed* to be free anymore. I'll let Ken know we can still access it freely, in case it's an oversight on their part.

SiteSell has privatized several of its content areas recently, included its forums. That may be what's occurring if you can't access it.

[Lucidism]

Yeah, I think their forums have always been private.

Here they say the Action Guide is private: SBI! Action Guide

The Action Guide used to be a free resource. As the best (and only) "all-the-updated-info-in-one-place" resource, organized step-by-step, it has become a private resource for SBIers.
Do What All SBIers Do... Just Get Started, Risk-Free

But here it is, publicly available: SBI! Action Guide

LOL. So I emailed Ken to let him know, just in case this is a mistake.

[Kaie]

OK, I am extremely frustrated, and I am pretty smart and I usually catch on to things well. I am stuck on day two. I am waiting for more responses on their forum and thinking that I might have to have a coach (which= more money)

Walking away now before I throw computer

[Lucidism]

Sorry to hear that! What happened?

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Lucidism

Yeah, I think their forums have always been private.

Here they say the Action Guide is private: SBI! Action Guide



But here it is, publicly available: SBI! Action Guide

LOL. So I emailed Ken to let him know, just in case this is a mistake.

Lol... yes they need to fix that, don't they?

[James81]

Originally Posted by Kaie

OK, I am extremely frustrated, and I am pretty smart and I usually catch on to things well. I am stuck on day two. I am waiting for more responses on their forum and thinking that I might have to have a coach (which= more money)

Walking away now before I throw computer

Day 2 is keyword research, right?

I remember that at that point I wanted to punch people and destroy stuff. Lol. I kept struggling to find a top level keyword that would generate my keyword list. But then, outta nowhere it just sorta jumped out at me.

[Kaie]

Originally Posted by James81

Day 2 is keyword research, right?

I remember that at that point I wanted to punch people and destroy stuff. Lol. I kept struggling to find a top level keyword that would generate my keyword list. But then, outta nowhere it just sorta jumped out at me.

Yes it is, and I am having to wait and wait on their forums to get one response and I am dying to move forward.

I did come up with an alternate idea, but am having a hard time deciding how I am going to morph things together to get a unique platform. Aieee!

I really can't justify paying for a mentor right now. Perhaps I can run it by someone here before I finalize it :-/

[James81]

Originally Posted by Kaie

Yes it is, and I am having to wait and wait on their forums to get one response and I am dying to move forward.

I did come up with an alternate idea, but am having a hard time deciding how I am going to morph things together to get a unique platform. Aieee!

I really can't justify paying for a mentor right now. Perhaps I can run it by someone here before I finalize it :-/

Shoot me a PM if you want. Best I can do is offer suggestions at what I would do, though, so please don't take what I'd say as gospel.

[Lucidism]

Originally Posted by James81

please don't take what I'd say as gospel.

Why not, James? Your book in the Bible is often considered one of the most enjoyable to read.

[Lucidism]

Before I say some more about SBI's value, let me preface it by saying: I like SBI. I wrote a mostly positive review of them - check it out. But they could be more honest on their sales page. Honestly, I just came across this sales page and it irked me a bit, so that's why I'm writing this post.

1. "Submit ("ping") unlimited URLs to Search Engines automatically via XML" is not worth $120. Wordpress does this automatically, for free.
2. Special Page and Image Managing Tools (better than FTP) is not "priceless". It's actually very annoying, lol. FTP is way easier and better to use.
3. Ranking Reports for your Keywords at all major Search Engines is not worth $240. Where did they even get that number from, I don't know. There is software that does this for you, for free.
4. Link Fix It! (No more bad links, ever!) (Automated scanning of all links, reports "bad links.") is not worth $120. A simple Wordpress plug-in, or some other free software, does this for... free.
5. Search Engine optimization -- $200?! No, also done with free plugins.

I could point out more but I'll stop there. SBI is worth the money, but not because it's "valued at $5,095 +" like they say. They actually undervalue some of their best features. Their Brainstorm tool is worth much more than their SEO stuff, but they claim it at $200 either way.

[Kaie]

I have a question for SBI users. I have posted this on their forums but haven't gotten much of a response and I am ready to move forward. I have two choices, and am having a hard time making a decision. Can anyone give me a tip as to whether the numbers are too large or too small to make a profit??

Self improvement motivation is Demand 5964 / Supply 2290 I was wondering if this was too low in numbers. The demand is higher than the supply, but is having three words too difficult?

Also, Life coaching is Demand 22929/ Supply 39077 .. The demand is lower, but the numbers are higher.

Should the demand numbers always be higher than the supply numbers?

I am leaning towards Self improvement motivation because it would umbrella many of my sub niches, but am unsure of having three words. Self Improvement was too competitive.

I am doing life coaching with focus on intuitive, and motivation, creativity and art, and inspiration. I will mention, that I am going to have roughly 4-10 hours a week to devote, and plan to expand that as I get more clients and can reduce my other bread and butter job.

Thanks <3

[Kaie]

OK, upon further reflection, I believe I have decided on 'Life coach'

I have yet to act upon it though. I will this afternoon. Any feedback or tips are welcome (and I am not set in stone)
xo

[Lucidism]

In this specific case, I don't believe SBI's idea of a keyword-domain is a good one. If you're selling life coaching services, what you're really selling is yourself. If your goal is to build up a personal brand, I think it makes the most sense to use your real name as a domain name. Take Steve, for example. It just makes more sense to go to StevePavlina.com than Vegan-Productivity-Success.com.

The keyword-domain SBI idea works best when targeting a specific niche, like how-to-juggle.com or improve-basketball-skills.com.

So I don't know if that helps you much or not, since I know you're looking to follow SBI's plan step-by-step. But I thought I'd mention it for consideration.

[Kaie]

What about improving motivation in specialized areas? (I would like to focus on creative people/artists/performers, but not limit to that)

I do not know a lot about branding myself. I suppose I could google and see what I can uncover.

Are you saying that perhaps SBI wouldn't meet my needs as an individual selling myself and my services (which is myself)

[Lucidism]

I think SBI is still useful for you. I'm just talking specifically about the choice of domain name.

[Kaie]

I'm just at the end of day 2, site concept (finalizing) I think that I can finetune with the lateral brainstorming.

The only thing that really makes sense to me is to go with Life Coach and clarify from there as I build the site and choose the keywords.

Am I off base?

[Lucidism]

Sounds fine to me (the idea of pursuing Life Coach, if this is your passion). Do the supply and demand numbers meet SBI's recommendations?

[Kaie]

Originally Posted by Lucidism

Sounds fine to me (the idea of pursuing Life Coach, if this is your passion). Do the supply and demand numbers meet SBI's recommendations?

Yes, they look better than any of the other options, and the list is deep without being too competitive (it is competitive, but not like Personal Development.)

I am going to hold my breath and jump in. I learn by doing, and I haven't chosen a domain name yet, so I can still go re-brainstorm if I have to.

Thanks all for the input xoxo

[azmat]

Hey guys,
just joined the forums a little while ago... so I decided to head over to my fellow SBI'ers Looking forward to talking with all of you.
My site has been doing really well this past year. At the start of the year I set my goal to reach 1,000 Unique Visitors Per day. At the time, my site was averaging 200 Uniques a day. Not bad but I really wanted to push myself this year. In fact, achieving that goal is my primary focus for this year. I believe if I can hit that goal, I will be in a real good position.

This past week, my site crossed 600 uniques for the first time. I guess that SBI snowball is really starting to kick in.

I just wanted to say hi and share the good news. Part of thing that keeps me motivated is just how supportive the SBI community. Everyone is willing to share tips and offer advice. It's like having a team of personal mentors and it's awesome.

I hope I can learn from all of you and also pass on whatever I have learned to people who are new to SBI. See you around!

[Lucidism]

Hey Azmat, great to have you here! Congrats on the 600 uniques!

[SNuzzo]

Hi, I just joined this forum today and was happy to see the SBI thread! Im also an SBI member but unfortunately I started strong and as soon as I took a break, I had a very hard time coming back. I still have pages to build and therefore I haven't started any ad sense or any monetizing at all. It's been bothering me that I let it go because I really do have the passion for it, I think I just got dismayed along the way and the longer I stayed away, the more I actually forgot. In any case, I hope to hang around here and become encouraged by everyones enthusiasm for their own passions and hopefully get back to work on my own.

[PDJunkie]

Hey everybody!

I've been a member of the forums for quite a while now but I'm such a lurker, I barely ever post.

This thread has motivated me to jump in and purchase SBI and I'm so glad I did. I already run a website that I just started earlier this month. It generates about 150 page views per day at this point, which isn't too bad, but SBI showed me that not only am I going to have a hard time "winning" that niche, I was going about it all wrong.

I've learned so much through SBI, though, that now I feel super stuck. I've had the program for about 2 weeks and was super excited at first. But now that I finally "get" it, I understand the whole tortoise thing. I understand that it's building a business, which isn't supposed to be super-fast, and that it takes just as long to build a bad website as a good one, so you might as well take your time in the beginning, get it perfectly right, then move forward.

To slow down has been one of the best things to learn, but one of the most depressing things about this whole process. I felt so sure about what direction I was going in but now I feel like I don't even have a business idea anymore!

Reading your success stories here and in the SBI forums, though, is very motivating. I'm going to keep pressing on until I find that one thing to "jump out at me" like someone said earlier in this thread.

Thanks for all the input in this thread! I'll definitely keep reading.

[Tarzansjane]

Hi Guys

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but there is a live SiteSell Q & A Thursday 4/28/11 at 10 am Eastern time. It's specifically for Work at Home Moms.

So if you've been thinking about SBI and want to ask questions of actual WAHMs using it, this is an event for you. You can get more info on Facebook here:

Calling All WAHMs - Live Q&A Especially For YOU | Facebook

Good luck and enjoy!

[alexplatups]

What a trip. Was looking through all the threads I started and found this
old thread. It was one of the first, and such an interesting read after so
many years. Considering that I'm building my new site using WP, and my
SBI site I sold a year ago, going through this thread has been an eye opener
for me. Anyone else is making good money from an SBI site, except Rebecca?