the SBI thread, tips, tricks and success stories

[angus]

To be perfectly honest Alex, a lot of the SBI sites I've looked at seem to be a collection of material written by other people, collected together in one place and then flogged to others with SEO techniques. That is certainly not true of all of them—I'm really enjoying Rebecca's Lucid Dreaming site, for example—but it holds up as a generalization. Not to many of them are sites I'd want to spend a lot of time at. Compared to Steve's blogging style—generating tons of original content—simply marketing the heck out of a digest of weak, unoriginal material seems like a pretty thin business model. I'm not saying that my site is going to remake the blogging world and be the next Boing Boing, but I do think that thoughtfully created, original content will hold up better over time and always find an audience. And the size of that audience will be related to the quality of the material. In short, a lot of SBI sites seem more about marketing than creating and delivering value.

Just some thoughts.

cheers,
Angus

[alexplatups]

Angus,

it is true that many SBI sites have a lot of content that is not what you can
call original

but the basics and fundamentals create 80% of the results, and without them
you will never be able to use the advanced techniques, and create the
leftover 20%

if these basics and fundamentals are not exciting, it is okay, because the
person chasing the next new thing very rarely accomplishes anything in
the long term, true success will always be when you build your life
around what matters to you, and this is where the secret actually lies

whatever you do, as long as it just really matters, you will do really well,
and it does not matter, if you rund one blog, or five thousand sites, like this
guy is offering...lol

The Mini Site Formula Blog » Blog Archive » Click Play To Watch Video …

the boring day to day actions which I am calling the basics and fundamentals
are not original, but it is not so much original content that is so important,
as the voice that you have in your writing, the way you deliver the content

I like the way Steve writes his content, and not the content itself

I do not find his content that *unique or original* and I have read content,
as good, to be honest

I like Steve for he who he is, and how he writes his articles, for me it is a
pleasure to read them, they have a unique structure to them, I guess you
can say, and this pulls me in like a magnet, when I start reading it

I may not agree with some things that he writes, but that doesn't in any way
get in the way of me enjoying every word he writes, and even though many
parts of his writings press some buttons, these things make me think about
these *buttons that were pushed *

It works like this with every article...lol, I actually try to analyze what Steve
actually wrote, from all angles in my mind

I guess, his content makes me really think...lol, this is what I am trying to say

...anyway back to SBI...

an SBI site is like a Subway, you will not make a million, but if you have
*five Subways* you will live more or less okay from the income

and this is the idea for SBI, to make 3-5 sites each bringing a revenue of
about $2,000-$3,000 each, and if you multiply this then $6,000 to $15,000
per month will make a lot of people on this earth happy, believe me

plus, anyone who is really making at least $5,000 per month from a site, will
tell you that it is not original content, but knowing who your targeted customers
are, and knowing how to make money from this group of people

and Steve makes money from his site, only because of the structure, that
he has created, and not because of his blog or his content, sturcture is
what controls everything in this world, it is the unseen thread running
through everything in life, and unless you understand it, you have very little
chance of creating long term success

this is what SBI gives, structure, and it is something that can't be created
by the masses online that are trying, 99% of the small online businessman
simply fail, this is the current statistics

for example my site is 3 months old and it is currently has an Alexa rank
of 550,000, this is the top 1% of the current sites, in the world

this is objective reality, and it is proof that SBI works, and I have not even
started driving traffic or monetizing, in fact I am finsighing my 350 page ebook,
that I will mass distribute through a system SBI teaches in the forums

...and my site will only be a place where I have my sales letter, plus where
people can read what they can expect before they buy

...and I have not even scratched the surface in the creation of my site, since
most of my time I have spent of writing my e-book

...plus soon I will transfer my site to a new 3 column template SBI has
coming out, and this is with zeron knowledge about html, or anything
else that has top do with building sites, I only know how to use Excel,
Word, and e-mail on the most basic level, currently

later

Alex Platups

[angus]

Hmmm. Well, good info. If a person feels comfortable messing with HTML and CSS, and thinks they can get up to speed on SEO and other topics, do you think SBI is really that helpful?

[alexplatups]

Angus,

I checked out your blog, and I enjoyed reading what you write

I read about you, about death, and about the Genie telling that guy
*you already had talent, but you will still have to practice...lol...that is
really funny.

Why do you write, that you wish you listened to yourself?

later

Alex Platups

[alexplatups]

Originally Posted by angus

Hmmm. Well, good info. If a person feels comfortable messing with HTML and CSS, and thinks they can get up to speed on SEO and other topics, do you think SBI is really that helpful?

Angus,

this is my complete and honest answer, yes

you could sign up to the % Pillar Affiliate program and check out the forums,
and even can post in the forums..in the 5 pillar section

but you could look at what the SBIers are posting

all this for free

plus you can read all the free content available, it could take a few
years, if you tried to read it all

if you combine your blog with an SBI site, your traffic will take off,
and I am not offering you to press any links

just check out that free info, and that is all, then you can decide

you wrote in your blog that uncertainty...makes you feel more alive

if you take that free trip, you can decide for yourself 100% and all
for $0 (zero dollars)

[angus]

Thanks for checking out my site Alex, and thanks for your honest answers. I guess the bottom line is I'll be happier doing it myself, so I might as well concentrate on that.

Incidentally, my post Death and Religion is getting massive hits right now, mainly through Reddit and this forum. I have to say, I'm quite happy about that.

cheers,
Angus

[alexplatups]

I really think your site will make it, just like it is now, it is no doubt unique,
and I am convinced it will attract and keep many folks that like to think

I will definately check out the rest of the writing, in the nearest future

my weight loss site is more or less practice, since for me, even PressWord
was hard to understand, if I could make my own site...I would 100% make it,
but by simply using html option in SBI

I am not trying to sell you SBI, just saying there is a way to look at it free,
before you decide

...if I could do the best site building in the world, I would still use SBI

by the way, check this person's site about...web design from scratch

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

the funny thing is that he uses a two column design

later

Alex Platups

[angus]

I really think your site will make it, just like it is now, it is no doubt unique,
and I am convinced it will attract and keep many folks that like to think

Thank you Alex!

cheers,
Angus

[Rebecca800]

Hey Angus

I really liked your article Death & Religion. It takes courage to write on such a personal (and not to mention sticky) subject. Thank you for sharing it!

[angus]

Thanks so much Rebecca. I've spent some time on your lucid dreaming site, and will be back for more. Thought you might be interested in this: the night after I first looked at your site, I had an excellent dream! In the dream, I took a coat off a chair, and it was still there, so I took it off again, still there… after repeating a couple of times, I thought, 'this has got to be a dream' and sure enough it was. So, I flew around a bit before waking up out of it. I've done a little lucid dreaming previously, and the problem seems to be staying in it… do you have articles on extending the dream?

cheers,
Angus

[Rebecca800]

Hi Angus

That's great to hear! Mind if I quote you on that for my website? It underlines the importance of subconsciously setting the intention to lucid dream.

I do have an article on prolonging lucidity. The single best thing is to say out loud "I'm dreaming, this is a lucid dream" every few minutes (no hardship, really). But there are a number of excellent tricks, like looking at something close up to improve your focus, or rubbing your hands to stimulate the sensation of friction or movement.

Here it is: How To Stay Lucid in Dreams

Thanks to these methods, I went from having lucid dreams that lasted a few seconds - to many that last up to 40 minutes! (it's easy to tell when you're dozing in the morning with one eye on the clock!)

[angus]

Quote away Rebecca. I've found that the best way to initiate lucid dreaming is to either be keeping a journal or be sleeping with someone who likes to discuss dreams in the morning, and get in the habit of state testing during the day. When I do these two things, I start to have more lucid dreams.

Thanks for the tips!

cheers,
Angus

[livebig]

Hello,

I'm a brand new poster to these forums.... been a long time reader of the blog, though. I signed up for SBI! back in May of 2008 through Steve's Affiliate links.

I have a web site solely dedicated to Dr Seuss books (Dr Seuss Books -- I Love Dr Seuss.Com) and I love it.

I must say, I thought I was off to SLOW going, but I'm super impressed now! I will be getting my first check from google for adsense at least $350 this month. It took awhile, but I've done astonishingly well this past week (over $175) and I haven't done anything to my site since early November. Maybe I'm over "The hump". Not really sure, but I've really had a problem with being able to make any kind of money through other sources. I've tried
to do affiliate sales of books, games, toys, etc., but I haven't been able to get even simple clicks. I tried being an ebay affiliate, etc.

I see that some of you are having great success with your affiliate sales. What could I be doing wrong?

Michael

[Rebecca800]

Hi Michael

Congrats on your success with Google AdSense! I personally found it very difficult to get many clicks, even though I had good traffic. The money just didn't add up so I took my AdSense down a few months ago.

Instead I make more with affiliate sales of related products. I think this works because people come to my site looking to have lucid dreams and all the products I sell help achieve that. So it really depends how your niche lends itself to particular products.

It helps to offer unique or unusual products, as people can buy Dr Seuss books and DVDs through their usual online and offline sources. Sorry -- I should go and have a thorough look at your monetization model but I'm about to dash out the door. Will be back later!

[alexplatups]

Rebecca,

that is a very important point you made about a niche lending itself
to particular monetization models

this is why SBI is so powerful, I have at least 15 monetization models
for my weight loss sites, and based on the results I will get, eventually
I will find that perfect monetization strategy for my weight loss site

...today I will be starting my 2nd site with SBI, and will not be self-development

at first that is the niche I wanted to go with, but I changed my mind and decided
to put that idea on the back burner for a year, and go with something I feel
much more passionate about

december 15, 2009 I will use the 2 for 1 SBI special and will make a site for
online marketing and self development, since I will have much more experience
and I can spend more time on these two wide niches/markets

in the end I chose to use the slow approach, and simply make two sites per
year, with moderate income from each site, instead of trying to hit a home
run with one, because in the end you can never tell what will be the site
that will really bring it home ($$$)

I figured I will make sites for all of my interests and passions, and the one where
I will see the most potential I will simply invest more time, but the rest will
keep bringing in little streams of income, and in the end, it all adds up

Michael,

I like your site, and it is great to hear that Google is doing you right, just
keep going and I think you can increase your income on a regular basis
with ad sense, and maybe some other monetization models, just look in
the forums, there are many ideas in the monetization section

================================================== =======

later everyone, and good luck

Alex Platups

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by Angela Leeds

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.

Hey Angela

I'm just going through the Make Your Links Work e-book and you're right, it says that DMOZ can take 3-6 months to accept your site, so you should not monetize before then. The logic is that your SBI site is still young during the first 6 months, and you should focus on building content and traffic instead of income streams. Then it says, a month after you're accepted in DMOZ, start your monetization program.

Although I began monetizing after 4 months I'd still really like a response from DMOZ about my submission. If it's rejected - tell me why! Seems a weird policy to reject sites that contain adverts if they still have heaps of quality content; many DMOZ listings are actually like this.

OK I must stop trying to analyze this now! DMOZ will always be an enigma to me.

[alexplatups]

Rebecca,

the thing is DMOZ is like a lottery, and Ken says many times throughout his
ebooks and the forums that they are not worth waiting for if your site
is ready to monetize

in fact, when my site is ready in about a month, I will buy the Yahoo directory
submission for $299, and will not do anymore directory submissions

...only niche directories and hubs (niche blogs), the rest of my time will be spent
on creating traffic through other sources, meaning not 2nd tier directories, or
DMOZ (I have not heard from them either), and I consider its absurd that they
are ranked so high by Google (PR8), and they are free, I would rather pay money
to have them look at my site, instead of the way they are doing it now

later

Alex Platups

[cheropride]

Not on SBI yet, but have been considering for a couple of months now. It's funny bcz when I started researching how to run a web-site, I previously came across SBI, and was pretty impressed. Watched the video. Right now I am still on the learning/researching curve. Funny how life works, I see the path that I am being lead down, now I am just working on the game plan.

I work for the School System here in Florida, and I will have Spring Break off, so I plan to start then. Also that will provide me w/the Summer to devote a lot time to get it running. Steve Pavlina's articles, which lead me to this forum, are very informative, and added that extra boost of creative energy and flow.

I really appreciate the additional info on SBI, bcz I really thinking that will be the best route for me. Yea, many of the SBI sites have a similar lay-out, but for me the benefits of SBI seem to out-weight the general layout issue.

I just wanted to thank you all for providing additional information, it is truly great...

BTW, Hey Rebecca meet another Rebecca.... Hopefully the name will bring me much success.... You do have an awesome site!!!!!:

Another ironic twist, when I was 1st looking into SBI, I came across Alex's web-site, ain't life cool.....

Take care, and blessings you all....

[Rebecca800]

To my fellow SBIers...

Recently I've been fielding a lot of enquiries about getting an external design template made for your SBI site -- which is good.

But to make things easier I've set up a page on our company website explaining the special design template offer for SBIers. This is only if you're unhappy with the current SBI templates and want to spread your wings a bit.

SBI Users - Get Your Own Unique Design Template

I sincerely hope this doesn't violate any advertising rules on this forum - this is a genuine message for people who have been asking me about SBI compatible templates.

[alexplatups]

Cheropride,

I could not recommend one product, more than SBI, it is truly the ultimate
way to build a successful business online, right from your first site

and it is funny but I lived in Ft. Lauderdale for many years, when I lived in
America

I lived in Lauderhill, Coral Springs, and Boca Raton also, and a few other
places, I just like to move around a lot I guess, because I lived in about
ten more cities all around USA and the world also

now I live in Latvia, a small European country, but soon am moving to
Amsterdam, my favorite city in the world, so I am remaining true to myself,
and will be starting a new life, in a new place

Rebecca800,

I believe that is a good alternative, and both of your sites are examples
that these templates are simply *killer*

...and your Lucid Dreaming site...is a truly unique creation, in every sense,
Look and Feel, and content, and simplicity of navigation, everything is
there, and you are an example, how a person can build a successful
online business around his/her passion

later

Alex Platups

[cheropride]

Yes, Alex that is truly unique, I actually live in Oakland Park, which is not too far from either of the places that you mention, and I work in Deerfield Bch, not too far from Boca....

Since I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence in life, all a coincidence is life's little sign post....

Thanks for the info on SBI, and yes, I know that it is the way that I will go. Still brainstorming now, waiting for the right web-site name to come to me, and it will....

Thanks and, blessings on you all....

[alexplatups]

Cheropride,

truly amazing, it brings such memories, I left USA when I was 23, and have
not been back since

My mother, father, and brother still live there, and they fly to Europe to visit
me once in a while, maybe in the future I will also makew that long flight, but
not in the next five years for sure

...because my next experience will be living in Amsterdam, and checking out
the rest of the Netherlands, plus the German autobahn is my favorite place,
because I love to drive on it, and the no speed limit is a great option to have
when you want to really have some fun

the name for your site, you should choose when you sign up to SBI, and
do your Brainstorming, because when you see the numbers for the keywords,
you might see a gem in those words, and will choose to go with it

unless of course, you already know 100% what topic you will want, but even
in this case I would suggest doing Brainstorming exercises first, they really
help get you focused, and show you the potential of your targeted market

later

Alex Platups

[Dev]

Originally Posted by cheropride

Not on SBI yet, but have been considering for a couple of months now. It's funny bcz when I started researching how to run a web-site, I previously came across SBI, and was pretty impressed. Watched the video. Right now I am still on the learning/researching curve. Funny how life works, I see the path that I am being lead down, now I am just working on the game plan.

@cheropride - You have company here. I have been trying to research more on SBI and the work that I intend to do online. So I have been keenly following Rebbecca and Alex's work. And like you Steve & his writings are a major source of inspiration for me.

@Rebbecca - I really like what you have done so far
@Alex - I appreciate your inputs through this post.

[alexplatups]

Dev,

SBI has many advantages when you want to build an internet business

$299 divided by 12 months = $25 per month for hosting, and everything else
you get is amazing value, plus you get 24 hour support, and plus the help
of other SBIers in the SBI forums, makes it the best deal on the net

Alex Platups

[alexplatups]

hello,

well nothing big happening currently with my site, but it broke alexa
500,000 ranking, and is currently at about 495K

after 500,000 it gets tougher and tougher to rank higher, because you get
closer to the higher traffic sites

today is the last day of polishing my own e-book on weight loss, and next week
I will continue building the content on my site, and will start getting ready to
monetize from my targeted traffic

once that happens I will start using different traffic generation techniques, to,
well yes, drive *traffic* to my site...lol

and little by little, I will start working on my second SBI website, which eventually
become my main site, because weight loss is more or less for practice, but
this doesn't mean I will put it on the back burner, it just means that my
second site will be on a topic which I am more passionate about

later

Alex Platups

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by alexplatups

well nothing big happening currently with my site, but it broke alexa
500,000 ranking, and is currently at about 495K

after 500,000 it gets tougher and tougher to rank higher, because you get
closer to the higher traffic sites

Hey Alex

Congrats on passing the 500k Alexa landmark! The top 0.5% is an excellent place to be - and you are well in there!

My long term target is to be in the top 100k (ie 0.1%) which may be ambitious but you gotta set high standards right!? Last time I checked I was at 269k. It's really nice to see it slowly climbing up the ladder - reassures me that I'm doing everything right by SBI rules.

My link building program is still going strong and I'm currently looking for the most efficient social sites to post to. I do have a couple of questions for other webmasters regarding this:

1. Do you Twitter? And if so, how do you get people to follow you (other than putting a link on your homepage)?

2. Do you have a Facebook Group? And again, how do you get more people signed up? I have nearly 100 people on board, and assuming they have an average of 100 friends each who may see their sign up, I reckon my group should be growing faster than this. Any tips?

3. What are your most effective sharing sites? (eg Digg, Stumble, Delicious, etc) - and why!

Thanks!

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Hi Angus

That's great to hear! Mind if I quote you on that for my website? It underlines the importance of subconsciously setting the intention to lucid dream.

I do have an article on prolonging lucidity. The single best thing is to say out loud "I'm dreaming, this is a lucid dream" every few minutes (no hardship, really). But there are a number of excellent tricks, like looking at something close up to improve your focus, or rubbing your hands to stimulate the sensation of friction or movement.

Here it is: How To Stay Lucid in Dreams

Thanks to these methods, I went from having lucid dreams that lasted a few seconds - to many that last up to 40 minutes! (it's easy to tell when you're dozing in the morning with one eye on the clock!)

Your site about lucid dreaming has stayed with me since I first checked it out. I used to lucid dream all the time, and i still do occasionally but it's been awhile.

Catalyzed me to set the intention to jack that up again. It's such a wonderful sensation!

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by alexplatups

Dev,

SBI has many advantages when you want to build an internet business

$299 divided by 12 months = $25 per month for hosting, and everything else
you get is amazing value, plus you get 24 hour support, and plus the help
of other SBIers in the SBI forums, makes it the best deal on the net

Alex Platups

Just to be fair, there are other very cost-effective options. I've found the information in SBI also available elsewhere. And a Wordpress installation on Siteground.com is only $6/month (with free Wordpress) if you take a 36-month plan (it's $25/month, month-to-month).

Wordpress goes up faster, as well, and is easier to work with.

Just sayin'...

I started with SBI but found my way to a different solution that works well for me. I can put up a great-looking site overnight and be ready to roll with massive content the next day. I could never, ever do that with SBI.

[ken nubo]

SBI is cool -- I'm not knocking on it. But SBI is like "website building for dummies".

You could register your domain name, get a paid webhost, buy a keyword research software, for a FRACTION of the price you pay for SBI.

[Angela Leeds]

Yes, but the arguable selling point for SBI is that it guides someone who knows nothing at all about SEO through the development of the site concept & site content using keywords which will help get their site on the map. If someone who goes the cheap route does that without procuring that necessary knowledge another way, they've wasted their time & money.

I'm just highlighting both sides of the fence here... SBI is excellent for someone who isn't going to take it upon himself to research and "own" that aspect of the business independently.

I'm more the independent sort, so SBI isn't for me. But it's a great product for many people.