the SBI thread, tips, tricks and success stories

[alexplatups]

ken,

my site is about two months old, and I have not started my monetization
strategy as of yet

by the end of march, I will have my own 300+ pages ebook up for sale, and
about 5 more different monetization models

my current traffic is about 75 unique visitors per day, and 70 of these are free
google traffic, from my content

once I finish polishing my ebook and put it up on my site with the other
monetization ideas, I will start to drive massive targeted traffic, and will
start building my second site, and after that my third, and so on

...until I have the monthly income that I am aiming at!

later

Alex Platups

[alexplatups]

Angela,

it is a good idea to create all the content, and then create the final Look and
Feel of your site, and since I have zero desire to mess around with html, I will
wait for the three column template and then will decide

my goal is a certain amount of monthly sales from each site I will create, and
I am convinced that a site with a simple two column template, can make just as
much money as a super proffesional website, with three columns, or whatever

here is a site where there is some good info about webdesign...

Clarity in web page design, how to make clear and simple web designs

and by the way...he uses a two column template, and he is a proffesional
web-designer

Rebecca,

your partner is AJ? You are quite lucky, at least as far as having a good
webdesigner to help you create such nice sites

as a person he seems real cool also, at least based on his desire to help
people in the Forums, and selling his template for a very good price, with
excellent customer support after, at least that is what I read in the forums

your lucid dream site, is top notch, I really love everything about it, from
the look and feel, to the content, and ease of use

anyway, good luck everyone

Alex Platups

[Curtis2011]

Is there anyone in here that is actually making income from a Site Built It! website?

It's okay if it's just $5 per month. I am just wondering if anyone is actually making $$$?


Also one big trend I see in yall's posts - several of you appear to have made one website, then moved onto another, and plan for another and another. I think it would be best to focus on a single website and driving huge amounts of traffic to it, and monetizing it.

It just doesn't make sense to say "okay, now that my website is getting 100 visitors a day, I should start the process all over again with a new website."

Instead, you should be saying "how can I turn that 100 into 200, then 400, then 1000 visitors per day? And how can I monetize best off of those visitors?"

[alexplatups]

Curtis,

yes there are many people that have SBI sites that are making a lot of money,
here is a blog of a person making very good money

Home Based Business Ideas - Achieve Financial Freedom With Site Build It

but SBI is only a tool, it all depends if you will use it properly, and on a million
other factors

and as far as building many different sites, it is only when someone wants to
have more than one site, then he/she can build it

some folks choose to go the one site route, some choose three, some choose
to make ten

I will make four, for 4 different markets that interest me, and on topics that
I know a lot about, and want to learn even more

as far as results, my site is almost three months old, and I have a rank in Alexa of 500,000, and this is only from my current content, I have not even
started to drive any traffic to my site

and in a month I will have my own e-book up for sale and about five more
monetization models

but this is only the start, the biggest money is in mass distribution of digital
information, mostly through affiliates, and this is where I am going with all
of my personal information products

later

Alex Platups

[Rebecca800]

Alex --- My partner isn't AJ Although we do both live in New Zealand and both sell $49 templates - I see why you made the connection!

My partner is Peter, he is not an SBIer but knows about the whole process through me. He was unsure of it at first and let me get on with my "hobby" -- then when I told him I made $1200 in passive income last month he nearly choked! Now he wants to start his own pure content site, and with his web design skills he will be sorted. Anyway, thanks for the feedback - it is very nice to hear!

Curtis --- I joined SBI in March 08, officially launched my site in June 08, and started making $$$ in July 08. I made $80 that month. In August I made $270. My income has been steadily growing and in Jan 09 made $1200. So it is definitely possible to earn a basic income from SBI. I think there is huge potential for my niche and I have big plans for my site + its monetization in future.

If you want to learn exactly how I monetize my site, read this: Site Build It Review

You make a very good point about making multiple sites. I started my second site in Nov 08, once I realized the potential of the SBI model. I'm not saying it was a bad idea - that site earned me $400 last month - but it is definitely a distraction when I should be growing my lucid dreaming site.

Like you say, the first 100 visitors are the hardest, after that it seems to grow much faster. So it is much more efficient to put your energy into an established site. As a result, I always feel like my vision improvement site is often on the back burner.

So I recommend that you focus on one main site for the first 1-2 years. Once you feel you have maxed out the income potential of that site, it is worth looking forward to the next one. There will always be time to start more websites in future, and I'll also be more experienced when I get to that point.

[alexplatups]

Rebecca,

lol...at AJ being your boyfriend! I understood that he was not yesterday, when
I saw your post in the thread about *when 3 column template is due?* in
the SBI forums, and you posted after AJ's post

...I have a second SBI waiting (was a gift, from SBI, because I purchased
my SBI during the 2 for 1 special)

...and I decided to start weight loss first to get some experience, before
starting my self-development site, plus I am a gemini, and have a very two
sided personality, that always wants to do something else...lol

...so I will start my second site on 28.05.2009, which is my birthday, and it will
be focused on creating results using a simple approach, that most people can
actually use, instead of a psychological/phylosophy type of self-development
which I consider to be a more advanced type of technique, and which should
be used by people when they master the basics and fundamentals of accomplishing
their goals, and not right from the start

based on my experience of over 25 years in the self-development, I have
loved this area of my life since I was 13, I have noticed there are steps
that everyone can take and create success in those parts of our lives
that are important and really matter, and if these same steps are taken
in areas that we do not really find interesting, they will not work, and eventually
only backfire, over and over

...my self-development site will be my main site that I will work on, because
it is an area that I can work on for the rest of my life, and my weight loss
site is really complete, in the sense, that everything needed to create a
lean, healthy body is already there

the problem is that 99% of the people do not want to do what has to be done,
to lose weight in the long term, they want the magic pill, or teh magic formula,
and there is no such thing

...to create the body of your dreams, you have to eat the amount of calories
that your body burns during the day, and the unwanted body fat has to be
burned of using aerobics/cardio on a daily basis, plus weight training is a must
to maintain your muscle while you are losing weight

...and this you have to do for the rest of your life, because if a person has a
problem losing body fat, he/she has an endomorph dominant body type, and
this is something that he or she can ever change

...the oblective reality is that we are all lazy as hell, and we simply do not
want to do what we have to do to create most of the results that we want
deep inside...and this is what my self-development site will focus on

...what it really takes to tap that true desire, because without doing this, all
your results will be short term, it will only be a matter of time until you start
to backslide, and eventually will end up asking yourself...why do I always fail
in the end no matter how hard I try?

...and my weight loss site...will become a part of my self-development site
with a link to it, something like Steve has where he links from his site to
Erin's site, and in this way he incorporates the two site's

...weight loss is a really big business, and once you hit that targeted traffic
you can make *big money*, but it takes a while, your site has to mature,
and most people do not have the patience, they want money today

...and I know that it might take me 5 years, until this is achieved, so I will
keep working at building my traffic as long as it takes, because I am convinced
once I do hit it, the pay off will be quite substantial

...and self-development...is just such a huge part of me, and my everyday
thinking, that I do not see anything else that I want to do more, there is
not one thing in the world that even comes close, but it is very focused
self-development, I am interested...in *results*...period, this is what I consider
to be most important (99.9%)

....everything that does not produce results, is unimportant in my book, I am
not into ego, psychological-positive-movement, or anything else, at least not
anymore...I am interested in knowing where I am going, I am interested where
I am currently, and I am interested in the steps how to get from where I am
to where I want to be in the future

...everything else is a distraction, and only gets in the way of my single-minded
focus of hitting my main target (goal, objective, end-result)

...and moving toward this main-target without ever quitting, giving up, or throwing
in the white towel, is the major strategy that glues everything together, and
allows non-stop action to actually happen

...when I know what I really desire to accomplish, I simply choose to keep
going until I have it, no matter what the obsticles

...when you really want something so bad that every cell in your body is focused
on accomlishing it, you have the highest chance of reaching your major goal

...any other approach has a very high chance of reversal and failure,
because as soon as the circumstances in your life force you to feel serious
discomfort...that is always a part of any attempt to create a major goal...most
people that are not focused completely, simply give up, and find a billion reasons
why they could not keep going toward their dreams!

later

Alex Platups

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Curtis --- I joined SBI in March 08, officially launched my site in June 08, and started making $$$ in July 08. I made $80 that month. In August I made $270. My income has been steadily growing and in Jan 09 made $1200. So it is definitely possible to earn a basic income from SBI. I think there is huge potential for my niche and I have big plans for my site + its monetization in future.

If you want to learn exactly how I monetize my site, read this: Site Build It Review

Thanks Rebecca. This type of information is exactly what I was looking for. It is also very inspiring.


How many hours per week would you estimate you have been putting into your websites? Do you see them as a future source of your full income (no job on the side)?

[Rebecca800]

Hi Curtis

You're welcome. I find the system works well for me - and evidently it works well for many others too. Generally speaking, people who aren't earning much income from an SBI site fell down somewhere along the way. Perhaps they didn't follow instructions and picked an unprofitable niche -- or never found enough motivation to really get going. The flaws aren't in SBI's model.

At my peak I was probably working 10-15 hours on my site. It takes me 1-2 hours to write a new page, including research, sourcing images, and adding affiliate links. So at my busiest point I was writing 3 articles per week - the rest of my time went into building traffic. I have an ongoing inbound link program, I post on social network sites and forums, I write articles on Suite101 and link them to my site. All this takes time, but it's how I got my traffic stats to 25k uniques per month.

Nowadays, I spend about 5 hours per week on average. It does vary - right now I have friends over from the UK and am hardly doing any work at all! But I will probably work full steam ahead when they leave to catch up. I feel I owe this to myself if I'm going to make my business work. It's never ok to put BOTH sites on the back burner without a very good excuse indeed!

As for the World of Lucid Dreaming providing my full income - yes, definitely. My aim is to have this happen during 2009. I will be very content with $3000 a month, that would go a long way in New Zealand. I think that's very achievable if my traffic continues to snowball. For me, reaching $1000 a month was a psychological milestone. I knew that if I could conjure up $1k, then there was nothing stopping me getting to $2k, $3k, $4k, etc. I remember reading this in Steve's approach to his website and it's excellent motivation. There is a lot to be said for our own limiting beliefs and once we prove to ourselves something like this is possible, there is a moment of epiphany. We don't have to be worker bees to earn a living - there are plenty more choices out there.

[alexplatups]

Rebecca,

...that is truly an awesome post, and you are one of the best examples how
someone can turn a passion into a profitable online business

...25K uniques per month, is amazing, considering your niche. All I can say is
that you are really focused...imo, and your site is a true reflection of what it
means to take small consistent steps toward some serious long term results ($$$)

...do you use Site Build It, block by block, and the Analyze function, to make
sure your pages are optimized for the search engines? I understood that you
use your BF template, but to tell you the truth, I do not really understand
how this actually works

...I use block by block and Site Build It, only, so for me it is really difficult to
understand at this time, how to make a site like yours, at least as far as the
look and feel

...can you explain in a little more detail, how you have made such an amazing
Look and Feel on your site?

...and in the future I would love for my self-development site
to look like your Lucid-Dream site, because I truly think it is one of the
best looking sites I have ever seen

later

Alex Platups

[munish]

Originally Posted by Dev

Is there anyway non-SBI'ers or those yet to take the plunge, get a peek into the forum. As I see it now, SBI doesn't allow non-members/guests into their forums. It would have been great to atleast have an restricted guest account

You can join as a member, if you dont like their service.They will refund your money.

[Rebecca800]

Thank you Alex

I began with SBI's Block Builder, but found it a little clunky and time consuming. So I took the next step recommended by SBI and switched to the Upload Your Own HTML function. This is still a part of SBI, and I don't need any other software but a HTML Editor. (I use DreamWeaver, but you can download a free editor online, such as Ace HTML.)

So, although I had an SBI template to start with, I convinced my partner to make me some unique graphics, and put those into DreamWeaver. Now I write every page from the same template, in Preview Mode. That's the beauty of a WYSIWYG editor (What You See It What You Get). You hardly need to know any HTML!

I then upload each page to SBI, which gives me the chance to Preview and Analyze it before I build it. This is much like the Block Builder function, and a very useful tool. If you are interested in learning more about the Upload Your Own HTML function, read SBI's Transition Guide (an add-on feature in Day 6 of the Guide).

Thanks for the lovely feedback on my design - my partner will be happy to hear it! He is offering his design skills to other SBIers for a special rate, so if you want to make the transition to HTML one day in future, let us know. However Alex I must say you have a great, clean looking SBI template and you have nothing to worry about!

[alexplatups]

Rebecca,

thanks for that information, since I decided to use block by block, I did not
read or watch the video of that part of Action Guide (uploading own HTML)

my weight loss site, I will most likely leave the way it is, but my second site
that I will start in the future, I wanted to make a little different, and my idea
was something like your Lucid Dreaming site, except it will be about
self-development, as I mentioned before

and for a subject like that, imo...the look has to be different, SBI two-column
will not be enough, because that kind of niche is much wider, than weight loss
and has to be more proffesional looking, another excellent example of course
is Steve's site, the only difference, is I want to make it more of a content
site with a left side nav-bar divided into sections, in which I want information
to be grouped according to a certain area or topic, sort of like my weight
loss site, but of course with a lot more tier 2 pages

...because in my weight loss site, even though I have a lot of nav-bars, the
most important information is contained only in six of them,and self-development
will have at least 30 tier 2s with many tier3s in each of these tier 2 pages

later

Alex Platups

[bluedragon]

Hey guys! Just wondering, how long did it take for your site to be indexed by the directories you've submitted to? I submitted to most free ones from the Strongest Links list 2 or 3 weeks ago, and only one of them indexed my site. I'm waiting to get into those directories cause I'm afraid if I put AdSense up before that, they will reject my site. What do you think?

[alexplatups]

Bluedragon

Google will not refuse you because of this, mostly this happens because
there is no privacy policy, etc

Directories are not important or necessary to be accepted by Google adsense

and for whatever reason there is a refusal, you can apply again and again,
until you are accepted

later

Alex Platups

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

I have an ongoing inbound link program, I post on social network sites and forums, I write articles on Suite101 and link them to my site. All this takes time, but it's how I got my traffic stats to 25k uniques per month.

...For me, reaching $1000 a month was a psychological milestone. I knew that if I could conjure up $1k, then there was nothing stopping me getting to $2k, $3k, $4k, etc.

Excellent work, Rebecca! Good for you...wishing you continued success. Am sure you'll hit your mark in no time.

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by alexplatups

Bluedragon

Google will not refuse you because of this, mostly this happens because
there is no privacy policy, etc

Directories are not important or necessary to be accepted by Google adsense

and for whatever reason there is a refusal, you can apply again and again,
until you are accepted

later

Alex Platups

Isn't it that the *directories* are inclined to refuse the site? I understand that is what Ken Evoy teaches, not to monetize until you're in the directories.

Is that truly so?

[alexplatups]

Hello,

refusing might happen by Yahoo or Dmoz, and these are the most important
when it comes to links, and these are the most important according to Ken Evoy

After this, the next he reccomends is a few of the 2nd tier directories with
PR6 and PR5 ratings

but in the end what really matters is high quality content, without it, nothing
will work in the end, because without it, your reader will not stay long enough
on your site, to monetize of them

as far as links the best ebook is Make Your Links Sell, there Ken explains about
links in full detail, but in the end he says that the above links are the most
valuable if you want search engines to rank you well for your keywords

later

Alex Platups

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by Angela Leeds

Isn't it that the *directories* are inclined to refuse the site? I understand that is what Ken Evoy teaches, not to monetize until you're in the directories.

Is that truly so?

I have mixed feelings about DMOZ... I submitted my site in June 08 and it's still not listed (or rejected?) I re-submitted again in December. I hear many others have this problem - you may, if you're very lucky get listed in a week, but this seems to be the exception. Most people take 2-3 months or not at all. Some re-submit continually and get in a year later. Seems a pretty chaotic system, since DMOZ don't email you to say if you're in/out.

Anyway, if I had put off monetizing till I got listed in DMOZ... I'd be a touch crazy by now! I have no idea if the reason I'm being ignored (sniff) is to do with my affiliate links but I suspect it's not that... they just don't have enough editors for certain categories and submitting to a different category may yield a result. Either way, I'm doing ok without a DMOZ listing, so not going to worry about it.

As for other directories, the reason they reject a site is because it's under construction / a link farm / packed with affiliate advertising (ie little or NO content). If you have a genuine content site that follows the rules, you should get accepted, just know that it takes time (DMOZ being the absolute extreme example!!) I made a list of all my directory submissions in the early days but lost track of who accepted me..... The best way to find out is go to Google Webmaster and click the Links tab > Pages with External Links. I have 627 total inbound links which was actually quite a surprise!

[Rebecca800]

PS Ken Evoy recommends you hold off monetizing until you are indexed... (by Google, Yahoo and co). Perhaps this is what you're thinking of? Obtaining directory listings is a long and ongoing process, so even after you have built a money-making site, you will still be submitting your site to new or niche directories.

[bluedragon]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Obtaining directory listings is a long and ongoing process, so even after you have built a money-making site, you will still be submitting your site to new or niche directories.

And you think this is a good idea? Except those from Strongest Links, are there others that are really worth submitting to?
Do you get a significant traffic from those directories?

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

PS Ken Evoy recommends you hold off monetizing until you are indexed... (by Google, Yahoo and co). Perhaps this is what you're thinking of? Obtaining directory listings is a long and ongoing process, so even after you have built a money-making site, you will still be submitting your site to new or niche directories.

The current current SBI training actually specifically calls out not to monetize til the directories have accepted your site. I'm wondering if this advice is up-to-date.

[alexplatups]

Angela,

holding off monetization *only* has to do with DMOZ, because based on
experience, they have refused sites with too much monetization on it

and the second distinction is when applying to Yahoo and paying $299 for
them to consider accepting you, not to have Google Adsense all over your site,
because the editors are *human*, meaning they work for Yahoo, and Google
is a serious competitor

...and if you are not accepted you totally lose the $299

Bluedragon,

except for DMOZ, Yahoo, and the PR5 and PR6 directories, the rest do not
give you any significant traffic

that is not what they are for, they are only for the search engine spiders to
notice your site, and if you have good keywords, then traffic will come through
those keywords, and this is why high quality *unique* content focused
on your targeted market is *so* important

...the niche directories are the same thing only for the spiders

...the only difference is niche blogs, which can directly send you traffic because
there are actual people reading popular blogs, and your link, if you have it
in your signature, will get clicked, if what you have to say is valuable

P.S. -- but in the end what is most important if you want to make money,
is that you find targeted traffic that will be perfect for clicking your
monetization models, otherwise, you will not make money, because high
traffic doesn not = big money, only targeted traffic that has a habit of
clicking those monetization models

...you do not make money from window shopers, but only when they come in
your store and make a purchase

...you must get the monetization click

later

Alex Platups

[Angela Leeds]

Thanks, Alex.

I didn't realize it cost $299 for yahoo. Interesting. Thanks for the clarification!

[Rebecca800]

Yup, Alex is spot on. They don't deliver much traffic at all. Directory links are to improve your "popularity rank", by increasing the number of high quality links you have to your site. Many SBIers submit to hundreds of directories, giving them hundreds of inbound links. Google likes that.

Angela, can you point me to where it says this in the guide? If this is an issue, I really need to look at it! Cheers.

[Angela Leeds]

I know for sure it's in the Affiliate Masters pdf. I recall it's in the guide somewhere, but I don't remember...I believe around the content-building section as a warning not to rush to monetize quickly. But definitely in the AM document.

[angus]

Thanks everyone for a useful thread. I'm not using SBI, I just started a Wordpress blog with my own domain, and used Thesis as a template. But it is my goal to build an audience and make money sharing my thoughts, and I've benefitted from this discussion.

My first attempt at monetization was Amazon Affiliate marketing, and I actually made $5 the first couple of days I had a link up, so I added quite a few more, and a sidebar widget. Does anyone have any thoughts about Amazon Affiliate?

My blog is at Belief Systems & Other BS, and if anyone has any thoughts at all about appearance, content, or monetization I'd be very grateful.

cheers,
Angus

[Curtis2011]

Hey guys.... guess what?


...



I just purchased SBI!

I am watching the beginning videos now!

[Angela Leeds]

congrats, curtis! wishing you all the best...

[Rebecca800]

Nice one, Curtis! You are gonna love it. Let us know when you choose a site concept and domain... we'll be watching!

[alexplatups]

Hello,

Congratulations Curtis on your SBI purchase, hope to see you in the forums when
you have the time, or when you have a question

Angus,

I liked your blog, but as far as monetizing blogs, I do not really have many ideas,
in fact from everything that I read, making money from a classical blog is not
that easy

This is why Steve has a content site, with a blog, and a forum, because if he
only had a blog, he wouldn't even have 10% of the traffic he does...imo

and if you look at the structure of Steve's site, you will see he makes all his
content available at a click of the mouse, and organizes everything in totally
logical order

personally, I do not like classic blogs, maybe I would like one, if I found a
blogger who writes every article that has some kind of value to me, but this
is almost impossible, since we are all so different

I think blogging is a good idea, but as an addition to a content site, or if you
are doing it not to make money, but because you love to write, and if you
have a niche where people spend a lot of money (online marketing), then in
an area like that it is possible to make a serious income

Steve Pavlina hit the nail on the head in many of his articles about having
massive traffic as a necessary step toward making good money from a site
online, but it is more complicated than that

there are so many variables, and in the end it depends on *how single-minded
focused* you are on hitting targets (goals) that you set for yourself

imo...many people simply quit too soon, when to create success in any endeavor
takes non-stop action without quitting, giving up, or throwing in the white
towel

...you must simply take another step...over and over and over

this is the real secret to making money online...non stop action, until you
have what you really want (and of course knowing what you want, is the most
important thing of all, only followed by your ability to accurately assess
the curent reality around you)

so if you...

1) know what you want (target, goal, objective, etc)
2) know where you are currently
3) take action to get you from where you are today to where you want to
be in the future (goal), eventually you will get there, if you do not quit

later

Alex Platups