Why site build it?

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Tarzansjane

Hi

Here's my two cents.

I am an SBIer and love it. I think people can't fathom why SBI is so valuable because they haven't done it, so don't have the subjective reality.

My very first site (full of mistakes, mind you) now generates 4000 visits per day and my income is heading towards full time levels. It's completely an information site. It is not an e-commerce site. I give away a lot of free information and my Adsense keywords completely suck, if one were to check out the cost per click. (By the way, Cubestat is completely wrong about both my traffic and adsense levels. It's only registering a fraction of what's actually going on with my Adsense - plus I make affiliate income and ebook sales over and above that.)

My traffic rolls on and on and grows on its own at this point. The site is nearly hands free. That means I have an e business that is now nearly running itself, while my income increases more and more. All my traffic is free search engine traffic, because SBI gives you the tools to create pages that search engines love. I have never paid a dime to get traffic. Most of my pages are in the top 10 on Google, many of them at #1.

The secret to my success is that I read and followed the Action Guide as well as use the SBI tools. I also frequent the SBI forums. I worked very hard and it has paid off. I think it worked to my advantage that this was my first site, because I didn't think I "knew it all" before I started. People who aren't willing to work the SBI system have problems sometimes. You get best results by following the advice. The more closely people follow it, the better it works.

I never expected anyone to "give" me anything and assumed complete responsibility to persist and break through - although the support in the forums really, really helped. There were times that I could have quit and almost did, but I didn't.

The breakthrough happened and now I'm experience similar success to the case studies and other successes. The information is real and true.

Thing is, now that I have done it, I can do it over and over and over again. With or without SBI. I know how to do things where others would probably fail. Perhaps I'll use Wordpress for my next project, perhaps not, but my current site will not move from SBI. One of the keys for that site are the SBI tools. It would not be the success it is without Brainstorm It!, Analyze It! or Content 2.0. Those tools alone are worth well over $300 per year. Those tools are exactly why SBI is not just for newbies.

Anyway, the last thing I want to say is that there are alot of myths associated with SBI! because people just don't understand it. Here's a short list that addresses some of the misconceptions that exist on this thread: Urban Myths About Site Build It!

Please note that I'm not an affiliate here, and that is not an affiliate link. I personally don't care who uses SBI and who doesn't. In fact, the fewer SBI users the better, because that's just more opportunity for me. :-) SBI sites dominate the search engines in their niches. The less competition between SBIers, the better.

I just want to set the record straight because it has helped me so much.

It is posts like yours that make me feel renewed hope for my site! 4000 visitors a day, that is amazing!! I have to ask though...are you serious that you don't even have to touch your site again, it's making money without any more work being put into it? Because I noticed my traffic count drop in just 1 month when I didn't add any pages. When I stop, the traffic quits flowing. How do you get around that problem? Do you think you will never have to work on it ever again?

[Tarzansjane]

How do you get around that problem? Do you think you will never have to work on it ever again?

Aha, that's a very good question.

My secret for that is Content 2.0, one of the best SBI! tools, which is now free as you probably know.

I don't think I'll never have to do nothing, but I'll tell you what. Right now I'm on a break and can't touch my site. I just check my income streams and traffic every other day or so and I'm making money even when life makes it so I can't work. Oh and yesterday I had 4800 visitors, but that's just one of those little spikes I get here and there.

With Content 2.0, my site keeps going on its own because my visitors do the work for me. They keep updating the content and tell their friends and spreading the word, so it grows kind of virally.

But the thing is, I like working on my site because I chose a topic I have passion for. Plus, once things are rolling, working on it is fun and I look forward to it. Kind of like redecorating a room in the house . . . sort of.

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Tarzansjane

Aha, that's a very good question.

My secret for that is Content 2.0, one of the best SBI! tools, which is now free as you probably know.

IT'S FREE NOW!?

That is the best news I've heard in months!!! I wanted to do that but couldn't afford to! OH wow, I'm definately going to check into that now!! One question though; don't you still have to physically add the pages yourself, and edit the information? I mean, what if it's false information, you don't want that to ruin the credibility of your site. I would think it would be almost as time consuming checking everyone's work to see if it's good enough, correct, spelled right, etc. and actually physically publishing the pages.

But the thing is, I like working on my site because I chose a topic I have passion for. Plus, once things are rolling, working on it is fun and I look forward to it. Kind of like redecorating a room in the house . . . sort of.

I am passionate about my subject too, it's just that rock music is such a broad topic and there are naturally a lot of bands I don't know about so that involves a ton of research to get the information, and it's just too overwhelming of a job with probably 100,000 bands out there to cover. Even the best music journalists out there would never have time to cover every band they wanted to, no matter how strong their passion is.

[Tristan Bull]

SBI is for people TOTALLY new to making money online.

It was the first place I went almost 3 years ago now to get my feet wet.

As you become more experienced you realise that you don't need it and you can do most of the stuff on your own but it is good to learn the basics and get your feet wet.

Although SBI isn't the only model that is successful in making money online. It is just ONE way and there are others.

The main things you need to know is:

Market Research - You need to know if the market you are entering is going to make you money

Competition - You need to know if you are going to be able to compete with people already in your market

Content - You are going to need to provide both free and paid quality content

Sales - You will need to learn how to "sell stuff"

Traffic - You need to know how to get people to your website so they will buy things from you

That of course is not the be all and end all of making money online but if you are well educated in those areas you have a pretty good shot at success.

Cheers,
Tristan

[stevo75]

I'm new to Site Build It and I thinks its amazing. Even if my website doesn't turn into anything, the $300 is worth the education alone. I know you can find hosting for a lot less that $300/year. Maybe $50/year at the least? But that's only a difference of $250 annually. That's not a lot of money. So between the hosting, the tools they provide, and the education, I think its totally worth it. I feel like I would not have been able to do this on my own. At least not successfully. Keep in mind that I'm a beginner when it comes to building websites and online business.

Doesn't Site Build It also provide a lot of "behind the scenes" types of technology that are supposed to help with traffic building? I know that's one of their big selling points. Does anyone know what this actually is? Even if I did know how to do the market research, build a good page with html/css, research profitable keywords, and write good content, aren't there other pieces that SBI takes care of automatically that I never even know about? Maybe the automated pinging and stuff like that?

If someone knows, I think that would be great info to share and discuss...

[Curtis2011]

One thing SBI does that is small, but significant, is automatically updates your website sitemaps on Google, Yahoo, Bing and some other major search engine.

So every time you add a new page, the search engines will index it much faster than they would have if you had just let it sit there without pinging the search engine.

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

The reason why I wanted to cover all bands is because as you know SBI wants you to focus on information, not blog-type stuff, so rather than just giving my worthless opinion on music, I wanted to give people information, factual stuff they can trust, that would keep them coming back for more. And I thought it would be stupid to only have some bands, because what good is a factual site about music without including all the artists, that'd be like publishing a dictionary with only the letters A-M. But, I guess changing my site would be better than leaving it to die!

Remember what SBI says: "You are not Wikipedia!"

Your opinion is NOT worthless. Your opinion is what makes your content interesting. People can get rock facts from any dedicated website but they will return to yours because you are unique!

And I don't think it's pointless if you can only write about your favorite or most influential rock bands, at least as a starting point. If you believe your website wont be a success until you have written about every single rock band in history.... well I can see why you are demotivated.

So where next? IMO you should watch the Action Guide again, think about how to personalize your site, re-write your site plan, and really throw yourself back into the SBI process. I'm sure you can come back and tackle this with a completely fresh approach - one where you KNOW you will succeed.

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Remember what SBI says: "You are not Wikipedia!"

Your opinion is NOT worthless. Your opinion is what makes your content interesting. People can get rock facts from any dedicated website but they will return to yours because you are unique!

And I don't think it's pointless if you can only write about your favorite or most influential rock bands, at least as a starting point. If you believe your website wont be a success until you have written about every single rock band in history.... well I can see why you are demotivated.

So where next? IMO you should watch the Action Guide again, think about how to personalize your site, re-write your site plan, and really throw yourself back into the SBI process. I'm sure you can come back and tackle this with a completely fresh approach - one where you KNOW you will succeed.

I guess I don't see how you can be an informational site without being like Wikipedia. Because someone just giving their album reviews isn't factual, it's basically just like a blog then. But I will have to change something. There has to be a way I can spin it, making it my own, while still being a site that people want to get information from. Part of the problem is I'm just lazy, I have been finding out how hard it is to "work" online...there are people messaging me and emailing me and there are forums to keep up with, it's way too easy to surf the net and chat with people. I'm not sure if this is a discipline problem or just that I lose interest in something once it becomes work. I also started a blog that is about personal development/enlightenment/metaphysical stuff and I've also let that go, too.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

One thing SBI does that is small, but significant, is automatically updates your website sitemaps on Google, Yahoo, Bing and some other major search engine.

So every time you add a new page, the search engines will index it much faster than they would have if you had just let it sit there without pinging the search engine.

Wordpress blogs have this feature built in too.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

I guess I don't see how you can be an informational site without being like Wikipedia. Because someone just giving their album reviews isn't factual, it's basically just like a blog then.

Would you rather read an album's wikipedia entry or a review by a fan? Wikipedia is boring and poorly written (for most entries). Blogs can be fascinating if you bring your own personality to the topic.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

I just started a new SBI site on October 20th, so next year on Oct. 20 I'll post my 1-year results of my traffic and monthly income.

I started my last WordPress site just a few days before you. So far it has generated over $1000 in sales.

[mikethedrummer44]

Yeah, blogger blogs also have an updating site map. Speaking of blogger blogs, some of mine are ranking quite nicely lately. Getting pretty excited!

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

I started my last WordPress site just a few days before you. So far it has generated over $1000 in sales.

Nice. Are you referring to your "sandwich method" losing weight guide?

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

Would you rather read an album's wikipedia entry or a review by a fan? Wikipedia is boring and poorly written (for most entries). Blogs can be fascinating if you bring your own personality to the topic.

Well honestly i'd rather read Wikipedia because people aren't educated enough to be writing about music. They get the years wrong, band members names wrong, the song titles wrong, they don't cover half the bands I'm looking for, not to mention if they don't like the album they won't give it a proper review and it also makes someone NOT want to listen to an album. I try to be unbaised on my site, and I give correct information. If i'm looking for opinions I'll just ask my friends, but if I want correct unbiased information I'll go to a website like mine (or what it's trying to be). Unfortunately there aren't any good websites like mine out there, that's why I was trying to fill in that gap.

[mikethedrummer44]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

Well honestly i'd rather read Wikipedia because people aren't educated enough to be writing about music. They get the years wrong, band members names wrong, the song titles wrong, they don't cover half the bands I'm looking for, not to mention if they don't like the album they won't give it a proper review and it also makes someone NOT want to listen to an album. I try to be unbaised on my site, and I give correct information. If i'm looking for opinions I'll just ask my friends, but if I want correct unbiased information I'll go to a website like mine (or what it's trying to be). Unfortunately there aren't any good websites like mine out there, that's why I was trying to fill in that gap.

I think you're making this a bit too difficult. Right now, if I read correctly, you're trying to make a website that deals with EVERYTHING about rock music. That seems like a HUGE task to me. Why don't you just concentrate on a smaller niche first? Maybe try "Rock Music in the 80's" and explain everything about that. Then you can move on to "Rock Music in the 90's: The Introduction of Grunge" etc. That way you not only work in smaller chunks, but you can be building authority for multiple keywords.

As far as wikipedia goes, I'd recommend not trying to duplicated it. If you have the same type of information as wikipedia does, what's the point of going to your website instead of wikipedia? Wikipedia will most likely show up first on the search terms (until you get some authority), and it's pretty easy to use. You need to add something different to your blog that separates it from wikipedia.

Anyways, that's what I think. Good luck with the site!

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

I think you're making this a bit too difficult. Right now, if I read correctly, you're trying to make a website that deals with EVERYTHING about rock music. That seems like a HUGE task to me. Why don't you just concentrate on a smaller niche first? Maybe try "Rock Music in the 80's" and explain everything about that. Then you can move on to "Rock Music in the 90's: The Introduction of Grunge" etc. That way you not only work in smaller chunks, but you can be building authority for multiple keywords.

Well I've been doing that, I have a page for each decade and genre that describes it, that's the easy part, but then the hard part is making a page for each band. I mean there's a couple hundred bands for each decade/genre, so, it's just so much.

As far as wikipedia goes, I'd recommend not trying to duplicated it. If you have the same type of information as wikipedia does, what's the point of going to your website instead of wikipedia? Wikipedia will most likely show up first on the search terms (until you get some authority), and it's pretty easy to use. You need to add something different to your blog that separates it from wikipedia.

Well Wikipedia doesn't give you recommendations or concert reviews. My site has links on each band page that you can click on to bring you to another band that the person might also like. Concert reviews are important too because part of why people would get into a band is hearing how good they are live.

[PerDev]

Thank You. This will help us.

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

And I know how to survive without food and water and live just on sunlight because I read about that too.

Knowing is doing. Anything less is equivalent to not knowing.

Talking about making money online != making money online.

[WorkitSmart]

OK.. I have to get in on this.. Few things:

1) SBI is overhauling their dated templates as we speak.
2) Personally, I was thrilled at the cheap $300 price.
3) I researched SBI for couple months before I bought and found SBI sites consistently at the top of Google..

Try this: google around different keywords for niches, you'll find an SBIer, front page, almost every time.

Meanwhile, check out my new SBI site.. I think it looks pretty darn good.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by WorkitSmart

3) I researched SBI for couple months before I bought and found SBI sites consistently at the top of Google..

This is so true it's almost annoying.

[Brutha]

So every time you add a new page, the search engines will index it much faster than they would have if you had just let it sit there without pinging the search engine.

Pinging search engines is irrelevant these days.

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Pinging search engines is irrelevant these days.

Why is that?

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

Nice. Are you referring to your "sandwich method" losing weight guide?

Well, it's not a losing weight guide, but yes, that is the product the site in question was selling.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

Well honestly i'd rather read Wikipedia because people aren't educated enough to be writing about music. They get the years wrong, band members names wrong, the song titles wrong, they don't cover half the bands I'm looking for, not to mention if they don't like the album they won't give it a proper review and it also makes someone NOT want to listen to an album. I try to be unbaised on my site, and I give correct information. If i'm looking for opinions I'll just ask my friends, but if I want correct unbiased information I'll go to a website like mine (or what it's trying to be). Unfortunately there aren't any good websites like mine out there, that's why I was trying to fill in that gap.

OK, but you should realize that there are other sites that are doing this. They have a large pool of writers, corporate sponsors, and a head start. If you're serious, you should hone your writing skills in a tight niche, build a following (and believe me, personality will get you much farther than facts here), and then pitch your services and ideas to an existing community.

[greatone9101987]

Hope I'm not too late.

Ok I'm convinced, I need help. Come January or February, I want to give SBI my all. I know I need help because I don't know anything about technology and I can't seem to get people involved in discussion on my own blog. I want to lose this job and have all my free time to focus on my acting career. Now if SBI can earn me at least $3,000 a month I'll be a happy man.

Here's my problem:niche. Before I purchase I know I need something that the website needs to be based on. How do I know beforehand if my niche is going to be strong enough? I'm not an expert on any topic. I'm an aspiring actor, which is what I invest a lot of time in. How is an actor supposed to create a website about acting? My other interests? Hip hop, Kung fu San Soo and cooking. I'm a green belt in San Soo so nopt much there. I can make a great cheesecake, but that seems like a very limited topic.

Any help?

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by greatone9101987

...
I'm not an expert on any topic. I'm an aspiring actor, which is what I invest a lot of time in.
...

How about a site sharing your experience of becoming an actor? Interviewing actors and acting teachers, giving tips, creating eBooks on it, what jobs can be combined easily with your acting, acting schools / lessons, finding an agent, financials of the acting profession, etc etc etc.

You ARE an expert in the field of aspiring actors!

You can create a site on each of your passions as well.

[davidchung]

Originally Posted by greatone9101987

Here's my problem:niche. Before I purchase I know I need something that the website needs to be based on. How do I know beforehand if my niche is going to be strong enough? I'm not an expert on any topic. I'm an aspiring actor, which is what I invest a lot of time in. How is an actor supposed to create a website about acting? My other interests? Hip hop, Kung fu San Soo and cooking. I'm a green belt in San Soo so nopt much there. I can make a great cheesecake, but that seems like a very limited topic.

Any help?

I think you may find this post by Scott H. Young to be helpful:
People Don’t Want Experts « Scott H Young

You don't need to be the definitive source for your topic, but you do want to be a unique and genuinely interesting source. Since you've already invested a lot of time in learning to become an actor, you've most likely picked up some information, skills, and tricks. Don't you know more now than when you first started out? You can share your experience and what you've learned so far with people who are just starting out right now. Of course there are people who may know more than you, but there are also many people who know and are less experienced than you.

[greatone9101987]

Spirit and David, Thanks a lot.

Spirit, your words gave me a huge paradigm shift. Yours too David, and the link was helpful as well. Greatly appreciated, I'll be setting up my SBI site as soon as I get the money.

[stevo75]

Part of the SBI process is to research possible niches. You may think you have a good niche idea, but you may end up finding out that the demand isn't there. Or maybe that niche is already saturated.

Another thing that is really helpful, is that you will learn to focus your niche, or find a good angle, if the general niche topic is too broad.

So it's good to have some ideas before starting SBI, but there's no need to have anything decided upon. SBI will help you with that. Mostly through brainstorming keywords and checking supply and demand.

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by greatone9101987

Spirit, your words gave me a huge paradigm shift.

You're welcome! You can thank me by inviting me for your Oscar Award ceremony .

[James81]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Talk about making a generalization! I have an SBI site - what year does this look like it's from? Discover Lucid Dreaming and Master Your Dream World!

I'm going to be bluntly honest here, I hope you don't mind...but if a typical SBI site looks like it's from 1995, your site looks more like 1997ish. In other words, your design is one of the better SBI themes I've seen, but it still isn't impressive.

That's my number one complaint about SBI sites: their themes/designs are horrid and even the people who use html and work around it still aren't all that impressive theme-wise.

On the flip side, it seems SBI helps n00bs get their ducks in a row and for that I guess it's worth the money.

Not that the theme on my own website is really all that impressive or anything, but I know that wordpress themes look much sleeker and are far more user friendly. I get on an SBI site, and, honestly, I click maybe two or three links and get annoyed and close out the window cause I can't stand the themes.

But I can see how the theme wouldn't matter on a site where the main focus isn't content/blog-like posts but rather a product of some sort.