Why site build it?

[mikethedrummer44]

Hey guys. I've noticed that a lot of you are using SBI. I'm just curious why. It seems slightly foolish to spend $300 a year for hosting and a bunch of information you can get for free. How many of you actually make good money off of SBI? What are your niches, and where does you traffic come from? I'm just curious. Just want to know if there really is something to SBI. :P. Thanks.

[iDreamCatcher]

I think SBI comes with certain spoonfeeding and babysitting features that are attractive for beginners. Also Steve Pavlina uses SBI so his following is passionately biased to this I think

I use wordpress for all my sites - they rank sky high on Google and some of them are paying my bills well.

Cost: 0. Flexibility: infinite.

Gleb

[mikethedrummer44]

Yeah, I've always wondered what the big draw was. Just seemed odd to me. Oh well, to each his own!

[rocksupreme]

The big draw is hand-holding.

To SBI's credit, they do teach about market selection and research (which are very common hurdles for would-be entrepreneurs) and provide a step-by-step system. Still, I wouldn't personally recommend it.

[CatP]

Originally Posted by iDreamCatcher

I think SBI comes with certain spoonfeeding and babysitting features that are attractive for beginners. Also Steve Pavlina uses SBI so his following is passionately biased to this I think

I use wordpress for all my sites - they rank sky high on Google and some of them are paying my bills well.

Cost: 0. Flexibility: infinite.

Gleb

Steve doesn't use SBI -- he's very open about that. He only endorses it.

SBI has a very aggressive and attractive affiliate program. You can sign-up right now and promote SBI, just like Steve does. In fact, if you were gonna sign-up, you might encourage a friend or family member to become an affiliate -- that way they get the commission.

In my opinion, SBI would only hold you back. People get stuck on all the reading. Get a cheap hosting plan, install WordPress (it's incredibly easy), and get to work. You will learn faster than using SBI.

SBI is incredibly outdated in my opinion. Just go to any SBI blog and take a look -- it looks like it's from 1995. Yes, I suppose there are work-arounds, but if you're a beginner you're gonna have a crap looking blog. And it's not just the looks -- the technology is very outdated. It's been left in the dust by Web 2.0 applications like Wordpress.

Wordpress is so flexible. The infinite plugins help you keep up with the best search engine optimizations (you will quickly learn what plugins are -- you install them more easily than you download a song in iTunes).

In sum, DON'T get SBI. It will absolutely hold you back.

[iDreamCatcher]

CatP - you nailed it.
I'd add that all SBI sites looks like twins.
I agree re: Wordpress. I am WP plugins developer myself - so I can correlate 100% on what you talking about.

(BTW - i think you can succeed in your business plan :P)
Gleb

[sirkinm]

I use mostly Wordpress too. Google loves Wordpress.

I have a blog, several sales pages for online products, a couple promotional pages for offline businesses, and a couple of online shops.

Have someone in your area show you how to install Wordpress. It's very easy, so don't be scared.

[Curtis2011]

If you guys would actually read what Steve (and SBI itself) say about SBI, is that it's for beginners who aren't already making money online.


What is ironic is that most people who say "just use wordpress" or "all the information is out there for free" aren't the ones making money with their own websites. And if you asked them, they probably don't have a clue about how to establish an online business that will generate revenue long-term.

However, people who have stuck with SBI for 1-3 years typically are making anything from a few hundred dollars, to tens of thousands of dollars a month from their websites. A few really successful SBI'ers have shared their stories of making 50-100k per month with their websites.



Also, SBI isn't really intended for use in making a blog. It's intended to create a theme-based content site, which is quite different in its definition from a blog.

[iDreamCatcher]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

...What is ironic is that most people who say "just use wordpress" or "all the information is out there for free" aren't the ones making money with their own websites. And if you asked them, they probably don't have a clue about how to establish an online business that will generate revenue long-term.

Money is by-product of creating and delivering value.
Website is just one the vehicles do help it happen. Some vehicles are cost efficient and others are expensive for the same job. Yet it still depends on the owner not on the website platform.

[Rebecca800]

What have you got against SBI that makes you come up with such biased comments?

Originally Posted by CatP

Just go to any SBI blog and take a look -- it looks like it's from 1995.

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 can point to other examples if you like. What's more, SBI is currently running iDesign3, a template design contest that will generate hundreds of cool designs that absolutely any SBIer can install.

Originally Posted by CatP

In sum, DON'T get SBI. It will absolutely hold you back.

Another terrible generalization! I love SBI. It showed me how to make an online business that now pays for all my living expenses - and then some. It took me less than 12 months.

Is that what you call holding someone back?

Honestly, I think you are being ignorant about the real value of SBI. So it's not for you -- fine by me! But don't sully the idea for people who are seriously considering it and could really benefit from such an excellent tool kit.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

What's more, SBI is currently running iDesign3, a template design contest that will generate hundreds of cool designs that absolutely any SBIer can install.

Or for those of us that are html savvy, have already installed.

[MetaFitX]

I've been using Wordpress blogs personally, but I'd like to give SBI a try soon. Perhaps over the next few months.

[mikethedrummer44]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

If you guys would actually read what Steve (and SBI itself) say about SBI, is that it's for beginners who aren't already making money online.


What is ironic is that most people who say "just use wordpress" or "all the information is out there for free" aren't the ones making money with their own websites. And if you asked them, they probably don't have a clue about how to establish an online business that will generate revenue long-term.

However, people who have stuck with SBI for 1-3 years typically are making anything from a few hundred dollars, to tens of thousands of dollars a month from their websites. A few really successful SBI'ers have shared their stories of making 50-100k per month with their websites.



Also, SBI isn't really intended for use in making a blog. It's intended to create a theme-based content site, which is quite different in its definition from a blog.

You know, that's one of the reasons why I started this thread. I have seen COUNTLESS site build it websites, and just from looking at them, I can tell they make pennies, if that. Most of them are on topics that will not make the owner substantial money, and the ones that are aren't optimized correctly. I saw your website, Curtis. Cubestat says you make $5.00 a day, which is where I hope to be in a month or two. What would you say your main traffic source is?

I don't think the main point is to just "use wordpress," and you'll automatically make money. The point is, wordpress is free, and so is the information needed to make your wordpress blog generate money. From what I've personally SEEN, this free information is just as good as the info SBI offers, if not better.

I know one of SBI's biggest selling points is its simple to use tools. I know a lot of people join SBI because they're not tech-saavy, or want a system that is simple and effective for beginners. I was personally thinking about joining SBI myself. When I read Steve's post on making money with a blog, I knew it was something I wanted to do. Then I realized I had NO IDEA how to make a blog that could generate money, even with Steve's help. But then I actually did some research and google searching, and within three weeks, I went from having NO KNOWLEDGE of how to make money online, to knowing virtually everything I need to know about how to make money online. This doesn't mean I'm actually making any money RIGHT NOW, but I will be, as soon as I put the knowledge to work.

I love the lucid dreaming blog. I've read it, and learned a ton from it. And it does look good. Much better than most SBI site's I've seen. However, it seems to me that I could obtain a very similar looking layout using google's blogger. I mean absolutely no offense by saying this, it looks great. I'm just saying you could achieve the same results at no cost.

I know I'm getting pretty heated up about this, but I hate to see people wasting there money. I haven't meant to offend anyone by posting this, and if I have, I'm truly sorry.

Anyways, just my thoughts on SBI.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

But then I actually did some research and google searching, and within three weeks, I went from having NO KNOWLEDGE of how to make money online, to knowing virtually everything I need to know about how to make money online. This doesn't mean I'm actually making any money RIGHT NOW, but I will be, as soon as I put the knowledge to work.

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.

[mikethedrummer44]

True. I am doing, I'm just not making any money. I'm sure you know much better than me that it takes time time and patience to make money online.

[Curtis2011]

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.

True that.

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

I'm just saying you could achieve the same results at no cost.

It's true that most people who have already gotten their sitebuilding education from SBI could leave SBI and still make money, and pay less for hosting.

But there are a few things keeping them from doing that. Number one is that even if you half-ass it like I am currently doing, it is easy to more than make up for the $300 a year that SBI costs. My acupuncture website makes less than the $5 per day that you stated, but it still makes enough monthly income now to pay off the $300 per year and leave me with extra cash on the side. It's essentially free money for the rest of my life, if the price of SBI stays constant and my traffic does as well (actually my traffic is increasing at 10-20% per month, on average).

Number two is that the SBI forums are a whole community in and of themselves. They are a goldmine. It's basically a giant online forum of successful web entrepreneurs, and people who are on that pathway. Just having access to all of their free knowledge that they share alone, is probably worth the $300 a year.

Number three is that SBI is adding new features and tools as time goes by. As an example, right now they are having a contest for people to submit new, 3-column website designs (as opposed to the "ugly" 2-column ones). Pretty soon you will see tons of SBI sites changing from old, ugly layouts to new beautiful ones. And the whole process will be automated by a few clicks of the SBI'ers mouse, if they are using SBI's automatic site-building tools. All of the new designs will be free to use for all SBI'ers, old and new.


With SBI, you are paying $300 per year for a 1-time comprehensive education about how to make money online, and a year-long experience of being a part of the SBI community.


As a final note I would like to say that yes, there are other ways to make money online. There are other strategies that aren't covered by SBI.

But, in my opinion, SBI is the single best resource for making a theme-based content site, or really any website that will have more than a single sales page on it. SBI sites follow "the way of the turtle", or what I like to call, "the way of the unstoppable steam engine locomotive". Once you build your website and it starts moving down the tracks of increasing traffic and profits, all you have to do is pour fuel on the already-burning fire, and nothing can stop it.

[Rebecca800]

Curtis explains it very well. There is so much value in SBI as a comprehensive course in online business. If that means paying 81 cents a day for the software, education and an entire support network to run my own profitable business from home.... so be it. I think that's a great deal!!

In fact, having been with SBI for over a year, I've since encouraged my brother, dad and two close friends to purchase SBI too. They're all working on their own income-generating websites now, so they can quit their jobs and live the same lifestyle as I have. Now, assuming I'm not a complete money-grabbing low life (those who know me here can back me up), would I really do that if I thought SBI was a rip off?

Perhaps it's difficult to appreciate all the great things about SBI until you actually DO IT yourself.....? Perhaps that's why we SBIers sound like loonies to the Wordpress bloggers sitting on the other side of the fence?

For me, it seems crazy to go the long way round and risk making a lot of painful mistakes that could set your online business back months or years. Or worse, you might never "get it" and all those hours you pour into your blog never amount to anything.

Sure, I get it, Wordpress is free. But how much will it cost you if your treasured blog fails? With SBI, that risk is virtually eliminated. (Why virtually? The only reason people fail with SBI is if they don't follow the instructions. That's why SBI has developed SBI e-Learning - so you can do the 10-day course over 12-weeks with a dedicated tutor, so you really can't fail. However, most people wont need this. It's for TRUE beginners and techno-phobes.)

I think of it like this: you wouldn't research online how to be a builder, then go build your dream house and hope for the best. No, that would be silly. You would train - with an expert - as an apprentice. You would learn by doing from someone who has already been there and still have built your own house at the end of it... Okay, its just an analogy, but you can see the importance of not going in blind.

Just knowing SBI is created by an expert webmaster, inventor and businessman who has done this before, I feel I am on the right path to online business and cannot go wrong. It has motivated me every step of the way and enabled me to create a healthy passive income for life. What is that worth to you?

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

I saw your website, Curtis. Cubestat says you make $5.00 a day, which is where I hope to be in a month or two.

Hey Mike... I wouldn't rely too much on Cubestat to determine how much profit a site makes. It seems to predict AdSense revenue based on page views and click through rates -- but fails to acknowledge any other revenue streams (paid for advertising, affiliate commissions and sales of our own products to name a few). I am sure that Steve makes more than $370 a day, for example. And I know I'm making more than $14 a day on my site.

[Rockchick26]

I have an SBI site too. I have mixed feelings about it. I've considered cancelling it and getting the remainder of my year's worth of money back, but the people on the forum tell me my site is amazing and has great potential so I kept it. I should be fair...the program is great and I can't complain at all about it's effectiveness. My site was getting up to almost 50 visitors a day in under 6 months. I'm not monetizing on there yet though so I haven't made any money yet. My only issue is with ME, my site is not successful because of me and I will admit that. I took on way too much and now I realize my goal can probably never be reached, so i've just lost all motivation to work on it and my daily visitor count has probably sunk below 20 a day, now.

I should add that there is one thing I don't like about it, but i'm not sure if it's just me being picky or what. But when you're creating a page, it is made up of blocks, and in each block you put a headline, picture, or text (and some other stuff too). but the problem I was having was it was just so time consuming to create a page. You have to click for the headline, type the headline in, click for the text, type the text in, click for the picture, find the picture on your computer, upload the picture, type a title for the picture, click ok, click for a link, click to preview, click to fix any errors (they tell you if something isnt good enough for the search engines) and then click to publish the page. The MINIMUM time it took me to finish ONE page was 3 HOURS. And after working on my site for about 7 months, I was still only about 1/4 of the way done. It was just too overwhelming and I lost all motivation to work on it and so now it's just sitting there and I'm not sure if I should renew my account when it runs out.


In case anyone is interested, here's my site: http://www.music-that-rocks.com/

[Rebecca800]

Hey Rockchick

I have a solution for you that will completely change how you feel about your SBI website and make it 10x faster to upload new pages......

If you haven't considered it before, now's the time to transition from the very basic BlockBuilder function to the more flexible and faster 'Upload Your Own HTML' function. It's easy and it doesn't cost you a penny extra.

All you need is a HTML Editor, which you can purchase (such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage) or download for free online (such as Kompozer or AceHTML - there are plenty others). If you work entirely in Preview Mode, it's extremely basic and comparable to working in Word.

Then, you can make headlines, add images, format your body text, etc - all very quickly and neatly. Using a HTML Editor to build your SBI pages makes it a whole lot more fun and you can be as creative as you like! When you're done, just upload the complete HTML file and any images to SBI.

I think once you make this transition you will have new motivation for building your online business. If you find BlockBuilder too slow and simple - that's because it's designed for "techno dummies" so that they can't mess a page up. No offense to them, but sounds like you're past this point. See Day 6 of the Action Guide called 'getting your transition template' (or similar) for step-by-step instructions. I'm sure you will like it.

[mikethedrummer44]

Yeah, I know cubestat only does adsense. It DOES give an estimate of a websites value in about 5 seconds, so I still use it :P.

Anyways, I'm not really going to argue about this anymore, as it doesn't really matter. It seems to me that SBI people have never really tried the free way, and the wordpress/free bloggers have never tried SBI. So whatever. I'd just suggest to anyone thinking of purchasing SBI to do some real research. Don't just buy it because of some affiliate reviews!

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

Anyways, I'm not really going to argue about this anymore, as it doesn't really matter. It seems to me that SBI people have never really tried the free way, and the wordpress/free bloggers have never tried SBI. So whatever. I'd just suggest to anyone thinking of purchasing SBI to do some real research. Don't just buy it because of some affiliate reviews!

Alright, no more arguing. How about we have a contest instead?

You create a website without SBI, and I'll create one with SBI. We each have 1 year to build our website and business, and at the end of the year we'll see who's making more money.

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.

Now, if you'd like to, start a website without SBI and 1 year after registering the domain name, post your traffic and income results as well. You will probably be posting your results a little after me, seeing as how I already started a few days ago. That's fine.

Oh yeah, and the loser owes the winner 1 month of the winner's monthly income amount.

[mikethedrummer44]

Hahahaha. Well, I don't think that's going to work. Because my strategy is to make hundreds of websites, that each only generate $1-2 a day. But if you have a hundred of them, that's $100-200 a day.

That's another reason why I'm not a big fan of SBI. You have to pay $300 for each website you create. With 100 websites, that seems like a hefty sum.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer44

Hahahaha. Well, I don't think that's going to work. Because my strategy is to make hundreds of websites, that each only generate $1-2 a day. But if you have a hundred of them, that's $100-200 a day.

That's another reason why I'm not a big fan of SBI. You have to pay $300 for each website you create. With 100 websites, that seems like a hefty sum.

I said I'll use the $300 per year SBI, and you won't.

You can use whatever hosting you want.

[mikethedrummer44]

Well yeah... So you're saying I can make unlimited amount of websites and you can only make one?

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Hey Rockchick

I have a solution for you that will completely change how you feel about your SBI website and make it 10x faster to upload new pages......

If you haven't considered it before, now's the time to transition from the very basic BlockBuilder function to the more flexible and faster 'Upload Your Own HTML' function. It's easy and it doesn't cost you a penny extra.

All you need is a HTML Editor, which you can purchase (such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage) or download for free online (such as Kompozer or AceHTML - there are plenty others). If you work entirely in Preview Mode, it's extremely basic and comparable to working in Word.

Then, you can make headlines, add images, format your body text, etc - all very quickly and neatly. Using a HTML Editor to build your SBI pages makes it a whole lot more fun and you can be as creative as you like! When you're done, just upload the complete HTML file and any images to SBI.

I think once you make this transition you will have new motivation for building your online business. If you find BlockBuilder too slow and simple - that's because it's designed for "techno dummies" so that they can't mess a page up. No offense to them, but sounds like you're past this point. See Day 6 of the Action Guide called 'getting your transition template' (or similar) for step-by-step instructions. I'm sure you will like it.

I have tried this a few times, a few other people told me about this too (I knew you could do your own HTML but it's too confusing for me) and every time I tried it, the codes weren't working and then their solutions were even more complicated so I just gave up on that and kept doing it block by block. I have never tried using an HTML editor though, I'll check into one of those free ones. I hope I can figure something out because I hate to see my $300 wasted. I also realize that I aimed too high with the premise of my site (wanting to have a complete page on every rock band that has ever existed), it involves way too much research which takes hours too.

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

I have tried this a few times, a few other people told me about this too (I knew you could do your own HTML but it's too confusing for me) and every time I tried it, the codes weren't working and then their solutions were even more complicated so I just gave up on that and kept doing it block by block. I have never tried using an HTML editor though, I'll check into one of those free ones. I hope I can figure something out because I hate to see my $300 wasted. I also realize that I aimed too high with the premise of my site (wanting to have a complete page on every rock band that has ever existed), it involves way too much research which takes hours too.

Wow - you did it without a HTML Editor.... That's why it was confusing!!

A HTML Editor lets you do everything inside your design template, so you know exactly how it will look when it gets published. You dont even need to look at the HTML code, except to enter your META tag information (title, keywords and description). Try it with a free editor and if you run into any problems, PM me and I'll try to get you on track. Honestly, it's SOOO worth it!

As for your niche, perhaps you can revisit your site plan and only focus on "the best rock bands that ever existed" - which is of course subjective so you can decide who to include....

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

Also, SBI isn't really intended for use in making a blog. It's intended to create a theme-based content site, which is quite different in its definition from a blog.

I agree that SBI is for beginners. It is not necessarily a bad place for the beginner to start and some of the sites hosted through them are financially successful. I do note that Wordpress can also be used to create a theme based web site for people with a little more experience.

[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.

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

Wow - you did it without a HTML Editor.... That's why it was confusing!!

A HTML Editor lets you do everything inside your design template, so you know exactly how it will look when it gets published. You dont even need to look at the HTML code, except to enter your META tag information (title, keywords and description). Try it with a free editor and if you run into any problems, PM me and I'll try to get you on track. Honestly, it's SOOO worth it!

As for your niche, perhaps you can revisit your site plan and only focus on "the best rock bands that ever existed" - which is of course subjective so you can decide who to include....

Ok i'll try the free editor and let you know how that goes for me.

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!