I'm thinking of starting out with SBI but...

[Sam kovacs]

... I have a few little problems. My dad would be paying it for me and he want's to see me write some stuff first.

I've had a read through the action guide, and i have came up with a site idea:
A site on how to be a cool teen ager. Improving your lifestyle,fashion tips poker tips ,how to negociate with parents, how to play basketball, how to seduce girls and so on. A site that would generally cover all about how to be THE person to hang out with at high school
But i have a few doubts. Is it a to vast theme ? What do you think? thanks


xoxo Sam

[dwixi]

Originally Posted by Sam kovacs

... I have a few little problems. My dad would be paying it for me and he want's to see me write some stuff first.

I've had a read through the action guide, and i have came up with a site idea:
A site on how to be a cool teen ager. Improving your lifestyle,fashion tips poker tips ,how to negociate with parents, how to play basketball, how to seduce girls and so on. A site that would generally cover all about how to be THE person to hang out with at high school
But i have a few doubts. Is it a to vast theme ? What do you think? thanks


xoxo Sam

Basically. Self improvement for teenagers.

I could see it working if you wrote good articles and lots of them, and had categories for each bit like "style" "skills" ect.
Then maybe have a yahoo answers kinda thing going on when people can ask questions related to these kind of things?

[spirit4711]

I agree with Dwixi - seems a cool niche. Maybe focus on a few areas first, get that filled, then expand to other areas? It'll be targeted at male teens then? Maybe partner with a girl and she'll do the female teen part? You can motivate eachother then!

[runningbird]

Are people really going to read that? Sorry, but I couldn't imagine myself logging onto a blog about how to be "cool" in high school. Not one written in a voice instructing how to be THE person to hang with. Fashion and social status are temporary; however you involve yourself with such things will be totally lost in a few years. As a high schooler I hated those pressures, and really, who wants to be more concerned with their image than just being themselves?

If you do this, I recommend writing as a compassionate hand; how do you be a good friend to someone who isn't so popular? How do you deal with the pressure of sitting with the "cool" kids or accompanying a good childhood friend at the next table?

How can you dress comfortably? Can you wear something without advertising that you are in this or that clique?

I don't know, that is a tough topic. I only think you should write about it if you can be yourself and stand up to social pressures, in light of what you deeply value.

If you are someone that people follow based on your virtue or integrity, by all means, write about dealing with social pressures. But there are plenty of great things you can learn about too if you don't feel you are a hero of navigating social customs.

Your brain is still young, and you have formative years ahead. Don't waste them on frivilous things.

[runningbird]

On second thought, go for it. I am being a bit too serious here. If you want to do it, I'm sure you'll do it well.

[Marce]

As a teenager I think thats something I would want to read, definitely try to provide value for both genders though


how did you approach your father?
I also want to start my own site build it but I would have to have a parent pay as well

[Sam kovacs]

It was about 3months ago when my only hobby was basketball, my dad was telling me that i had to find something else to do in my life. So i had the idea of creating a website, but my only "niche" choice was basketball. I showed him the sitesell site and he looked at it. He agreed with the concept of it all but said: Only do it if you know you can get the money we pay to sign up with sbi back( basically having at least 300$ income over the year). And he said that creating a basketball site won't be easy because of the competition such as nba.com and espn. SO i put a pin on that thought and continued with life.

Since then i've become a big poker player, i've learned a lot about style, i've taken responsability for my actions, started meditation, made over 10 new friends, and improved my relationship with my family.I Also have learned to draw cartoon strips, and i'm saving up to buy an electric guitar. So there's much more to my life than there was. My dad is allways ok with me doing it he just want's to see me write a load of articles first. I'll keep in touch

[Marce]

Thanks for sharing your experience

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by Sam kovacs

...
And he said that creating a basketball site won't be easy because of the competition such as nba.com and espn. SO i put a pin on that thought and continued with life.
...

If you want to compete with nba.com etc your father is right. But there must be niches in basketball that fit you. Don't give up too quickly on that. If basketball is still your thing, just start writing articles on it, see where it takes you.

Whatever your niche will be, it better be something you want to write a lot about. And invest a lot of time in to search for products or services to sell.

Don't get deterred if your niche is also the playing field of others. There are e.g. many poker sites, but if that would be your niche it might be special enough to attract people. That's why passion is the big deciding success factor. No passion, the site probably won't work. With passion success is not guaranteed but the odds are much better.

[Sam kovacs]

So i've started quickly writing and i did a preview of what the people would read when they clicked on the site. I had to versions , i will post both. Please give your opinion.

I wrote the first version and thought it sound boring so i rewrote it but changing it quite a bit. Here they are.

I think i wil add a brief explication of each subject in the second version.

I wrote thes so you could see what my site concept is more clearly

[Sam kovacs]

1st version

This site is here to help young people live a more fulfilling life. The goal is to transform average teens into cool, popular, ambitious young people. Popular people who are themselves, who aren’t hiding behind some fake image of themselves they show everyone.

If you’re a young person who happens to know that he can be better than he is, you have found the right site.
If you’re a young person seeking for popularity, you came to the right place. If you’re timid and have problems making friends this is the right place. If you have had enough of the way you’re living, YOU have come to the right place.

Even if you’re happy with the way you are, you should know that you can still be much better.

This site will help you make your own decisions, and define who you really are.
You can become the person you deserve to be.

Facing the truth is hard. But it feels great. After years of running, at last I decided to turn round and face the hard truth. You can keep running but you can’t hide for ever. Only if you keep running away from yourself you will never be who you were meant to be.

Just think about what you could achieve. How would it feel to know you are the best in your sports team? How would it feel to have dozens of people like you and respect you for who you are? How would it feel to look in the mirror and know you’re on the right path?

My guess is you are thinking it would feel nice. Then why wait? Why be an average person when you could be so much more?

No matter how you feel about yourself and your life right now, keep in mind that it can always be better.

[Sam kovacs]

2nd version

This site is made for young people. The goal is to help average teens become cool, popular, ambitious young people.
Popular people who are themselves, who don’t need to lie or whatsoever to get peoples attention

If you’re a teen looking for advice this is the right place.
If you just want to chat on forums with people sharing the same interests as you this is the place.
If you’re a young person seeking for popularity, you came to the right place.
If you’re timid and need help making friends this is the right place.
.
But this site isn’t meetic. It’s just a site with plenty of information, advice and help.

It’s a site created for teenagers so of course you will find plenty of information concerning fashion music sports hobbies and loads of other stuff.

My sites articles will be divided into different categories:
*Self improvement
*Sports & Health
*Social life
*Hobbies
*Style
*Music
*Lifestyle

And the forums were you will be able to talk about the topic of your choice.

[alexplatups]

Sam,

SBI recommends to research different niches before making the final
choice and registering your domain

if your goal is to make money with this site, in other words to create
a succesful, profitable online business, using the tools that SBI provides
will help you to make the best possible choice

your current idea sounds cool, but has a time limit, at least for you, once
you grow up, this might not interest you anymore

I would consider long-term niches

[Sam kovacs]

Yeah i thought about that but it won't be a problem. See i'm thinking of making this site and if i still like it in 4-5years when i'm growing up to be an actual adult, i would re do a site but for people in their 20s.
And even if there is a time limit, in 5years there is time to write plenty of articles,and there are new teenagers every day. And anyway my younger brother could continue on the site for me if it interests him. So i don't worry to much about it being short term. I can accomplish plenty in 5 years

To find my niche i used the free sbi tools such as Search It! to brainstorm topics and the keywords. I think this could work. I'm just going to write like crazy and the next time SBI comes up with one of their offers i will tell my dad to get it.

If you have any hints or advice about what would be cool to do on this site pleeaaase post it here.

[Rebecca800]

Hi Sam

I like your niche idea, and 5 years is enough to focus on. Sure, trends will change but all popular culture sites have to contend with this. The concept of advice for teenagers is timeless and if your brother wants to continue updating it when you move on, that will keep it fresh.

To my mind, there are different ways you could approach this...

At first I thought you'd approach it in the style of an online teen magazine, with lots of fun features and quizzes like "are you in with the wrong crowd" or "10 ways to get a girl to notice you" - you know the stuff I mean?

Then I read your homepage draft and it sounds like you are Steve Pavlina for teenagers (which is also great by the way). But if you're really going to succeed..... I suspect you need to be quite authoritative - so really know what you're talking about. Do you feel comfortable with this?

(Personally, I found being a teen quite a troubling time, feeling like I never had any answers...... perhaps this was just me, LOL. If you have answers, by all means share them with your peers!)

However with the first option there is more room to make mistakes. So what if number 7 on your list doesn't get a girl to notice you - it's just a fun way of imparting tips and advice to teens. And they will take it as that.

Do you see what I'm getting at? That's just the hunch Im getting anyway.

You should also consider your main keyword, eg mine is "lucid dreaming" - what 1,2 or 3 word combo describes your site? That's the first way to research how profitable your site will be.

Also, you say you'll wait for an SBI offer, just to let you know generally all the offers I've seen are buy 1 membership for the standard price, and get a 2nd membership for $100. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong! Just that might affect how long you wait if you only plan to buy 1 anyway.

And when you do buy SBI, you will have the opportunity to research all your niche ideas - teen advice, basketball, poker, etc - don't miss out on this!!

[ShiningLight]

If it's one thing I've learned in my short years so far, is that people don't know anything. It's a term popularized in the movie industry when asked, "how do you make a blockbuster movie?" I think it fits well in any aspect of life.

"How do you know your site will be a huge hit?" - You don't. Do what feels good to you, what you believe is important and what you feel will make a difference in other people's lives. Guess what? It may be a huge hit, or a flop. Who cares - you have learned, you have grown and most importantly, you have done something with passion.

There will always be people telling you no. Just look at the responses you have gotten so far. Don't listen to these people. If they knew 100% how to make a successful website, they would have done so.

Personally, I think a website on PD for teenagers is an excellent idea. I also think a basketball site is a great idea. I love basketball, it is my favorite sport to play and watch. Listen, you will always have competition. Competition is fun. More importantly, it's actually necessary to know where you fit in. Don't be discouraged by the "giant" websites out there. If history shows us anything, it's that the "giants" always fall - there's always turnover - it's nature's way of keeping things fresh. Pick one and go for it!

Also, my suggestion would be to skip SBI. Take some time to learn the inner workings of your own website. Then you don't need your dad to front you the money for SBI and be on your back about repaying him. You can create your own website right now for $0. Of course, if you want your own domain, then the cost will skyrocket to a full $10! It will help you tremendously in the long-term. You are young, you sound bright, you'll pick it up easily.

Live and Learn!

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by ShiningLight

Also, my suggestion would be to skip SBI. Take some time to learn the inner workings of your own website. Then you don't need your dad to front you the money for SBI and be on your back about repaying him. You can create your own website right now for $0. Of course, if you want your own domain, then the cost will skyrocket to a full $10! It will help you tremendously in the long-term. You are young, you sound bright, you'll pick it up easily.

ShiningLight, have you used SBI before? Why do you suggest he skips it?

There's a reason SBI costs $300 --- despite the fact that you can get a domain and do it yourself for $10.

Sam may well succeed without SBI. Or he might not. It's his decision whether he tasks that risk, based on his own knowledge of website building.

Please don't deny him of that... especially if you have no experience of SBI yourself!!

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

There's a reason SBI costs $300 --- despite the fact that you can get a domain and do it yourself for $10.

I totally agree.

SBI gives you...

1) A comprehensive set of website-building tools that will allow you to do almost anything web-related, including selling your own content such as ebooks or physical products.

2) The education of how to use all of these tools, and more. For instance, the Search Engine Optimization education they provide would probably be able to sell for AT LEAST $97 if it were marketed alone online. But in SBI, the SEO education is only the very tiny tip of the iceberg.


In short... SBI is a really great deal lol.

[ShiningLight]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Sam may well succeed without SBI. Or he might not. It's his decision whether he tasks that risk, based on his own knowledge of website building.

Please don't deny him of that... especially if you have no experience of SBI yourself!!

I haven't denied Sam of anything. I haven't taken away his power to decide. I offered him a suggestion - an alternative. One I feel is actually the better choice for him. In addition, I gave him some valid reasons to support my suggestion. If you don't feel my reasons are valid, please offer your counterpoints.

[ballhit2]

Sam, if you're offering a guide for teenagers...


Don't forget (my bias is writing towards guys, since that's what I am):

1. Changing the clocks in your girlfriend's house (or boyfriend's) to achieve curfew

2. How to balance Cliff's notes with careful passage selection so your teacher doesn't catch on

3. Acne treatment

4. How to write one college essay and tailor it for 20 different schools by only changing a few sentences here and there

5. Church - the perfect place to do history homework

6. Video games that even the opposite sex are into

7. How to hide the internet history on your computer and how to get around pesky parental blocks

8. How to install games on your graphing calculator

9. How to avoid being bullied through bravely making your bullies laugh, or how to bully others while actually intending to make them stronger

10. Why condoms are better than sandwich bags.

[Henri J]

I own 2 SBI sites and yes you can do it without SBI, for sure.

But the costs will be more than $10.

If you're going to do it properly, you will need a keyword research tool like wordtracker which will cost you $59/month.

You need a good tool to handle an e-mail list, aweber costs $193 a year I think?

I am sure there are a few more tools you'll need that cost money, you'll need to learn about SEO, site structure, linking etc etc and of course, those can be found online for free, but the best resources are going to cost you money, like SEO Book by Aaron Wall.

So if you're a total beginner to websites, I do recommend SBI because it gives you a clear path to follow, if on the other hand you're a bit more geeky and like all this technical stuff then sure, you can do it without SBI, but the difference isn't that big.

It is a bit misleading to say that you can just start a website for $10 and never put more money into it, if you're going to do it right then you need to do keyword research, build a list bla bla bla and so on

/end rambleness

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by ShiningLight

I haven't denied Sam of anything. I haven't taken away his power to decide. I offered him a suggestion - an alternative. One I feel is actually the better choice for him. In addition, I gave him some valid reasons to support my suggestion. If you don't feel my reasons are valid, please offer your counterpoints.

Why is going it alone the better choice for him? I still don't understand.

Please don't take this as aggressive (if only you knew me, ha!) but here are my counterpoints you seek:

1. You start out by saying people don't know anything. I completely disagree. We're not talking about philosophy or art. We're talking about practical instructions for success in online business. SBI is taught in colleges and universities. It's definitely something you can teach.

2. You say there will always be people telling you "no" - naysayers. And yet you're telling Sam not to use SBI, which I strongly believe could be the make or break of his success. It's all opinion of course, and Sam will make his own mind up. I only hope he listens to the people who have actually used SBI, or who already run successful online businesses.

3. You say you can create a website for $10. Yes, you can. But as Henri pointed out, how much more time and money do you need to spend learning the processes and technology. What good is a website if it doesn't get any traffic, or isn't properly monetized? That's the difference between a free blog and an online business with SBI. On this basis, $300 for SBI is considerable value.

4. You finish up saying "You are young, you sound bright, you'll pick it up easily." If only that were all it took to build a successful online business! What about first hand knowledge and experience? (check out Steve's review of SBI, he compares how he spent years learning this stuff himself, to find SBI delivers it in one neat little package - how valuable is that!)

I understand if you're not personally interested in SBI, and you probably hear a lot about it in these forums and on Steve's blog, but that's no reason to brush it aside. Its an incredibly valuable tool for someone in Sam's position.

[ShiningLight]

Rebeca, valid points. Thanks for taking the time.

1. You start out by saying people don't know anything. I completely disagree. We're not talking about philosophy or art. We're talking about practical instructions for success in online business. SBI is taught in colleges and universities. It's definitely something you can teach.

Context people, context. People don't know anything when it comes to a magic formula for what is successful and what is not. I'm not saying that skillsets can't be learned. I can teach you how to write a good book, but will the book be a success? I can teach you how to run a good business, but will the business be a success? If you disagree, how come not all SBI sites are successful?

2. You say there will always be people telling you "no" - naysayers. And yet you're telling Sam not to use SBI, which I strongly believe could be the make or break of his success. It's all opinion of course, and Sam will make his own mind up. I only hope he listens to the people who have actually used SBI, or who already run successful online businesses.

You're confusing two different things here. Sam was asking if he should pursue his dream (goal) of creating a website. I am fully supportive of that fact. Whether or not he uses SBI, does not affect the outcome of him achieving his goal. It's like if someone asked for directions. I will offer her the route I feel will be best. By suggesting an alternate route, doesn't mean I am acting like a "naysayer."

It is a bit misleading to say that you can just start a website for $10 and never put more money into it, if you're going to do it right then you need to do keyword research, build a list bla bla bla and so on

What's misleading is misquoting what I said. I never said he wouldn't need to put more money into it. Yes, you can build a website for $10. Care to refute that fact?

Look, I understand you guys love SBI and I do recognize it's value. But you guys haven't taken into consideration Sam's specific situation. Based on Sam's situation, I feel that SBI is not the best choice for him:

1. He will need his dad's approval. This is probably his biggest hurdle, and my biggest argument against SBI FOR Sam. Simply put, he cannot move forward with SBI unless his dad ponies up the cash. I offer him a solution that he will be able to get started with RIGHT AWAY for $0.
   
2. His dad already told him not to write about basketball. Who's going to be the creative force behind the website, Sam or his dad?
   
3. I don't feel that Sam is doing this for the money. Sam is a young teenager looking to build something he is passionate about, not someone whose life depended on the success of his website. Therefore, he doesn't need to worry about his "time" saved from using SBI and all the neat little marketing tools they offer.
   
4. Building a site RIGHT NOW with $0 will be good for SAM to start with. He can use this site as a test bed for his ideas. Flesh out what works and what doesn't. If he gets a nice following, he can use this to show his dad. He can always move to SBI in the future if he wants to and has the means.

With the above points in mind, I feel that Sam will get the most benefits by learning to build his own website. He doesn't need the benefits of what SBI offers. If he is in it for the long run, he will be better off learning this stuff.

[Daffy Duck]

If you do it really well, it can succeed.

I'd bet right now there's a new blog starting somewhere, talking about something that everyone is already talking about (probably self-development), but in a year or two it will be a huge hit.

Your idea is good enough. But think of some more! SBI has tools that can help you see which ideas are best to use for now as well.

If you don't use SBI for now, you can still read their free material, and start your own web site for cheap (or free).

[sirkinm]

Is SBI suitable for someone selling ebooks? I have an existing site that promotes an ebook -- it's just a free blog (I bought a domain name, at least). Surprisingly, sales are OK at a few a day, but I really want to do awesome. I'm considering getting SBI, but I don't know if it will benefit me to keep doing what I'm doing (mainly, article publishing linking back to my little site), or build a larger site w/SBI...

[Sam kovacs]

Wow, now that's a lot. Thanks for the interesting conversation Shininglight and Rebecca.

And thanks to ballhit for the hints. THose are topics i could definitely write about. Only i would have never of thought about some of them, or at least not straight away.

That's allways the main problem, i reckon. Taking what you know for granted and assuming that over people will also just know it.

Keep the good advice up guys. I've started writing offline, and when i will have 30-35 articles i will show my dad, and he will have no other choice than be convinced that i'm motivated.

And SBI will be my final choice, allthough i thought about wordpress, i do wanna monetize, and having my dad pay 300bucks, i will feel like i have to stay commited, if i don't want to miss out on christmas and birthday

[ShiningLight]

Good luck Sam, keep us posted when you get your site up!

[Sam kovacs]

Hi again. I would just want you to tell me if my writing skills are good enough here is an article about basketball.

Don't worry if you don't understand some words. I just want to know if my writing is acceptable.

I've still got to scatter the keyword"basketball advice" more in my article though.

[Sam kovacs]

Basketball advice.
10 tips to improving your game.

1. Bending your knees.
What would be the one piece of advice that would entirely change the way you play and bring your game to the next level?

What is the one simple thing you could do to improve shooting form, dribbling, defence and passing?

The answer is bending your knees.

Don’t believe me?

Try this: Stand up, bring your feet together, and jump without bending your knees.
You probably bent your knees anyway while jumping. Now do it again but this time bend your knees before jumping.

Notice the difference?

Now try running without bending your knees. You probably look pretty silly and slow =D.

Bending your knees is the best piece of advice anyone can give you. Most ballers just wait for the ball with their legs straight. That means that they’ve got to loose time getting low once they’ve got the balls in their hands. If you bend your knees, you will have a quicker release; you will jump higher and get more rebounds.

Practice practice practice! It’s the only way you can get yourself to naturally bend your knees. Reminding yourself each time will be to hard.

2. Driving the ball.

Don’t settle for jumpshots all the time. Take a jumpshot only if you’re wide open to start with.

By driving towards the basket with the ball, you’re more dangerous because you’re getting nearer to the basket, which means the opposite team is more likely to foul you.

The more players foul you, the more they will back off, and then you will have all the space you want to take the jumpshots.

By driving to the basket, you’re creating movement, the defence will maybe shift and there will be pass opportunities to the center or to players outside the 3point line.

3. Finding open 3s early in the game.

If early on in the game, you can sink a couple of 3 point shots, the defence will think twice before not defending your shot.

And by coming up close to defend on your shot, it get’s more easy for you to fake, and drive to the basket.

Oh and did I precise that it’s so fun to see players fly by every shot fake you take.

If you can score a couple of early 3 pointers, it will give your team momentum, and you will be feared off.

So practice your long distance shooting, to be able to stab opposite players’ team from the tip off.

4. Be good in defence.

Attacking is very technical. But defence is so not technical. You can have no basketball skills and be good in defence.

The key is commitment, if you give 100% in defence you will be good.

You’re maybe one of the guys whose focus is only on the offensive end of the court. You maybe don’t see the purpose of defending. Neither did I a few years ago. Only by defending hard and well, your coach gives you more game time.

And for me game time is everything. Playing at least 30 minutes a game is what you need to aim for, and if you’re not at that stage, no matter what level you’re playing at, levelling up your defence can be a way to go.

5. Spread out

A lot of basketball teams don’t give themselves enough space. You’ve got to spread out in order to have plenty of space.

By having space, the defence will spread out more, which will allow you and your team to drive to the hoop and dunk over the D ( or just bucket an easy layup).

You will be able to see more what’s happening, know where to go, know where to pass to.

So if your team just spreads out and you give yourselves space your team efficiency will be much higher.

6. Anticipate where the ball will bounce off the rim.

How do you do this? This is very simple and does not take much explaining.

When a shot is taken from the right side of the rim, in most of the cases it will go left of the rim

When a shot is taken from the left side of the rim, in most cases it will go to the right of the rim.

When a shot is taken from opposite the basket, in most cases it will just bounce back.

So fight to get round to the side you need to and be the one who is well placed for the rebounds.

7. Be a good free throw shooter.

This is important specially for dominating centers. How many times have you seen Shaquille O’Neal get fouled and go to the free throw line? LOTS.

The reason he is constantly fouled is because he has more chance missing a free throw than a dunk underneath the basket!

So if you’re a big guy and you’re good at free throws, well you will be a huge threat to the opposite team.

It also applies for guards and small forwards. Ray Allen advises that you practice your free throw shot day and night!

By improving your free throw shot, your overall shot improves as well.

8. Dribble the ball hard.

By dribbling the ball hard fast and low, you decrease the time the ball is spent out of your hand making it harder for the defence to intercept the ball.

And by the way a player who dribbles with authority always looks more confident than a sloppy dribbler.

9. Be more aggressive than your opponent
push him around a bit, intimidate him. Don’t talk to him, don’t answer when he asks why your pushy just ignore him and keep being more aggressive than he is. Either he will go completely crazy and get a technical or he will just wet himself and ask a bigger player to defend on you. Either way he is more likely to make silly mistakes.

10. Only talk the talk if you can walk the walk.


There’s no point pretending to be somebody you’re not! Trash talking is fine as long as you’re not just full of ****. If you really are a good shooter, then you can trash your opponent on his dodgy jumpshot. But don’t provoke a player who is actually better than you. He will just make you look stupid. And nobody wants that Huh?

[spirit4711]

Sam, I like your writing style. I read it all even though I'm no basketball fan . You migh add videos of techniques you describe, makes it easier to 'see' what you write about. Or drawings?