How to Build a Successful Online Business (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

@JohnR: I agree that SBI originally began with a focus on static sites, but SBI does support blogging now. This may have been added recently -- I'm not sure. They even offer a site-blogging feature, so your entire site can be RSS-enabled.

Blogging isn't great for everyone, especially income-generating niche sites, because it's a lot of work to maintain. For example, can you really write something fresh and new about juggling every week? Most people don't have the discipline to build and maintain a successful blog long-term, but they can create successful smaller sites with a couple dozen good articles on a niche topic.

Although I didn't mention it in my review because I thought it would be overkill for most people, they've also started offering Web 2.0 features like being able to add a wiki to your site. So as far as I can tell, they're definitely moving in the direction of more dynamic content.

They continue to upgrade and evolve their service, so it becomes richer and more robust year after year. They seem very focused on doing what's best for building traffic and generating income for the average person. Most people aren't capable of building a hugely successful blog, so their primary focus seems to be on smaller, tighter niche sites that generate income consistently.

[ericabiz]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

The critical posts here in the forums tend to scare away the more enthusiastic people -- a pattern which occurs whenever I recommend something with a price tag -- so those who are really interested usually just email me.

Steve,

You are still not understanding what we are saying. Most of us have NO PROBLEM with paying money if something is worthwhile. I know I don't -- in fact, I've spent (invested) over $3000 in ebooks, online courses, software, and equipment in the past 6 weeks to learn more about Internet marketing in order to eventually build my own membership site.

Please, REALLY get what we are saying here. The title of your post is "How to Build a Successful Online Business." This genuinely excited me because that's exactly what I have been working on for the past two months! And yet at the end all you're doing is selling a sitebuilder product. You built us up with this fantastic title and first few paragraphs, and I was excited because I really hoped this would be another set like your How To Make Money From Your Blog series, which was invaluable. Then you dump a SINGLE product on us at the end and promote it as the "solution." Do you get the incongruity here? It is NOT about the money. Heck, if the sitebuilder product was free and just required me to opt-in to their mailing list, I'd probably be just as disappointed. What we are saying is that your title and lead-up is incongruent with your single suggestion at the end.

Now, if you want to make this into a series and have a ton of content about how you built your business, what you did wrong and right, etc. and at the end of each post have a sentence or two about the sitebuilder product, I don't think we would find anything wrong with that. In fact, I agree with you that non-techies need more products like this! But the way you presented it, at the end, was classic slimy Internet marketer "give me your $300 and I will solve all your problems" stuff. I felt like you pitched me here -- sold me a line. And that made me sad, because I really love your blog and don't want to read a "pitch."

-Erica

[JohnR]

Steve,

It's good that they are headed in that direction, but I think you are confusing their ability to add a blogging component and RSS feed, with supporting a dynamic site that you build using Wordpress, joomla or the like. Here is a link to their hosting features page: SBI! - Compare . This hasn't changed since I looked closely at them.

Look about halfway down that page and you'll see the section for php support indicating they do not support php. Just above that they indicate their support of XML and RSS. When I enquired about that with them, they said they absolutely do not support a dynamic web site that uses php, such as WordPress. You might want to ask them yourself before any further recommendations to your readers who I would think are largely into blogs. And there is a big difference in the effectiveness of WordPress's blogging capabilities as compared to using their system of adding a blog to your site with RSS feed.

I am sure that they are continuing to evolve, but I think they continue to miss a large segment of the market. They are smart enough to see the writing on the wall though.

Anyway, check it out and let me know.

Cheers,
John
Landscape Paintings of British Columbia - John Rocheleau

[Steve Pavlina]

@Erica: I guess I'm just not as jaded about blog posts or articles where the recommended course of action is a specific product or service. This article was about how to build an online business, and my recommended solution was for people to use a particular service to help them do that instead of trying to master every technical detail on their own. To me that fits the title of the article perfectly. I see absolutely nothing wrong with recommending a book, product, service, or offering general advice as the situation warrants.

Today if a friend asked me about how to start an online business, I'd most likely tell them to look into SBI, depending on their level of technical knowledge.

I think those who felt mislead by the title of this article were looking for me to somehow meet their own personal expectations and desires. I'm afraid I can't control other people's expectations though. In fact, more often that not, I'd prefer to write what people don't expect.

If this article happened to bug a few people because it didn't go the direction they expected, well, that's what I'm here for!

[JohnR]

My 2 cents on the debate as articulated by Erica:

I can't see the problem with how Steve wrote the article. I see what you are saying about the lead paragraphs not specifically mentioning that the recommendation was for a paid service--but the word recommendation was all I personally needed to clue me in that there was a product or service involved. On that word, I quickly scrolled down to see the link to SBI, then went back to read the article.

While I think that a little more research should been conducted into SBI's offerings before recommending them to a professional blogger's readers, I don't think Steve was anything but clear and upfront. I fully expect him to plug good deals he believes in that offer affiliate arrangements as good as SBI's. it's up to me to see the marketing for what for it is, and be able to gauge the usefulness of the content for my situation.

Just my thoughts,
John
Landscape Paintings of British Columbia - John Rocheleau

[Dreamlife Hero]

Hi, I'm a bit confused now!

I really know nothing about setting up web site of any description and the difference between 'static' and 'dynamic' is unclear.

Perhaps I'm being naive to think I could set up an online business without technical know-how but as I understood it SBI would organise most things and leave me free to create the content.

I'd like to create a site that's like stevepavlina.com in essence but with different content obviously.

But essentially a similar layout and with forums for interaction etc.

Is SBI not suitable for that? What can you do and not do exactly? As a non-techie I can't understand the problem.

DLH

PS, As for the supposed mis-leading title: I always scan to the bottom of the page before reading the article from the beginning. So I'd seen the ad. and had a feel for the article anyway. I don't think it was deliberately mis-leading.

[JohnR]

DreamLife,

If my information is still correct that SBI does not support dynamic sites, then SBI is not what you personally are looking for.

You said you wanted a site somewhat like Steve's. Steve's site--and all blogs really--is a dynamic site as opposed to a static HTML site. The difference is: a dynamic site is made up of content that you write, that is served up "on the fly" when someone opens a page in their browser. Dynamic sites use programming languages like php to "get" the content for a page that is requested. The php coding in the dynamic site gets your content from a "database" where all your writing is stored. It literally pieces the page together for a reader when they open the page. A static site on the other hand is composed of pages that you write that are stored whole and intact (except for images) in files on your server, just as you designed them. There are no databases, and languages like php are not used.

If you want a site like Steve's, then you would be using a dynamic blogging platform like WordPress (preferred) or Joomla, etc. The main reason you want a dynamic site is because managing the content and design is infinitely easier and more effective. Ease of writing and publishing posts, and having a design that includes a sidebar that readers see on every page that updates every time you write a new post are a couple examples.

As Steve says though, to get it right, you do need to learn a lot. You don't need to learn much at all to get a blog going using Wordpress, but to get it operating efficiently for traffic and search engine optimization, requires some serious study.

So it all depends on your goal. If you want to run a site like Steve's, to share with family and friends, no problem; that's easy-peasy. If you want to make a descent income eventually with your site, and you want it to be the type of site you are reading now, then you'll have to invest the time in learning how.

JIMHO,

John
Landscape Paintings of British Columbia - John Rocheleau

[Steve Pavlina]

For questions about whether SBI is a good fit for your specific goals, take advantage of their questions form. They'll be able to give you more detailed and specific answers than I can.

If you already have the technical skill to create a top-performing, income generating blog, I wouldn't recommend SBI.

[Dreamlife Hero]

Thanks for your reply John.

And thanks for the posting anyway Steve - it's pointed me in the right direction to get started.

I'll investigate it more and see if it's an option for me or not.

DLH

[hatsoff2halford]

I'm in the exact same position as dream. I want to create a website that is similar to this, where I can just focus on content and not the technical side. I know absolutely nothing about the technical issues, and I would have zero idea where to start.

It seemed like Site Build It was perfect when I was reading the article, and I was actually extremely excited to register and begin as soon as possible. However, John R's comments are making me a little worried. If starting a blog and generating income is not possible through Site Build It then I feel like I have literally no other options.

I could use word press, but I would have no idea how to build traffic, or even where to begin finding information about that. I posted asking for some reccomendations on how to learn HTML/CSS coding, but even then, it's a very long process, I'm sure.

Dream and I seem to be in VERY similar situations, so if anyone has advice for either of us, I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated .

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by hatsoff2halford

It seemed like Site Build It was perfect when I was reading the article, and I was actually extremely excited to register and begin as soon as possible. However, John R's comments are making me a little worried.

Same here. Would love to hear feedback on whether a blog-like site for the non-technical is feasable on Site Build It for those who've asked via the question form.

[Steve Pavlina]

If you submit a question about blogging via their questions form, feel free to post the reponse here for everyone who's curious about that.

[hatsoff2halford]

I just submitted a question. I explained that I was interested in creating an online blog that would eventually generate some income. I expressed the concerns of not supporting "dynamic" websites. We'll see what they say. I'll post when I get a return e-mail.

[hatsoff2halford]

Here's what the reply was (only part):

"Before you couldn't, now you can. Yes, you can absolutely do this as part of your Site Build It site.

Site Build It has a wonderful module called "Infin It!" which enables you to add forums, message boards, blogs, memebership sites, stores and so much more -- I guess that is why they called it Infit It

Think of your SBI! site as a C (Content) T (Traffic) P (Presell) motor. Infin It! enables you to plug third party resources into your SBI! site to amplify that motor with more content (ex., blogs or forums). And it enables you to harness that engine (i.e., get more dollars out of it!) by plugging in monetization models (ex., stores, membership sites). And here's the beauty of it all. Infin It! ("II!") lets you plug third-party resources (we'll call them plug-II!ns) into your site without sacrificing your brand, which you've worked hard to develop.

Whether it's a membership site, blog with TypePad or Wordpress, or a forum, or a wiki or a shopping cart system, or whether you need to host content on another site (MP3s or videos, or a database-driven system such as a directory), you can make it part of your SBI! site.

Infin It! opens up the SBI! architecture and lets you extend your SBI! site functionality with modules that are not “core” to C -> T -> P -> M.

Remember that SBI is a power house when it comes to building a site that will generate targeted traffic which in any business is the most important thing."

[seeker5]

So, they seem to be saying "Yes" to the question.

[Jcs]

Just watched the 30-something minute video. It looks to much for "I want to earn money without learning the technologies". Even just looking at the frontpage I thought jeez say hi to trowing away your money. If they earn so much couldn't they at-least hire a designer.

If you want to build an online business and don't know what double clicking is or are too dumb to get FTP working (It really isn't that hard, come on) you don't have a right to own a computer. People who type website url's in to Google or Yahoo thinking "Yahoo/Google is the internet" or "Internet? Thats clicking the blue 'e'?". No doubt you are right that some people do earn money with this. No problem there. But..

A blog isn't a business.

What would you call stevepavlina.com (without the forums) then? Sorry but if you can't figure out how to 1-click install a free blog and add google adds to it then you go back to the stuff you're good at. Not to demotivated people new to the subject of website but hell, even Apple's iWeb does a better job of creating a nice looking site.

Speaking of that; if I ever searched for juggling and came on the example page they showed in the video... I would leave before you can say "CTPM".

You plan a trip to a 'anguilla beach'. You land on the send you mentioned. How can anyone think "Oh yes lets browse here". It too ugly and chaotic to stay longer then 1 minute on.

...All the usual features of top-notch hosting...

Even free hosting accounts have at-least php support... top-notch serving only static?

...But seriously, hosting is hosting now-a-days. Any good company can do that well.

Riiight. Even major sites still get overloaded when they are './'-ed. Good hosting is an art.

Technophobe? Why on earth do you want an online business then. Stay away from the mouse. Less crappy pages. Less crap that turns up in Google.

No need to know what rss is or how it works.

Hai, I do not have anything of value but I want to earn money by talking about my train model collection but I'll never sell anything cause I'm to damn lazy to read all the SBI information anyway.

Another example; Coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com. Come on! This site looks like its build in 1995. And the domain name, jeez. Smart Travel Germany And Its Smart Travel Guide is one who, using SBI, at-least has some design capabilities. If you want to sell your juggling items then even Shopify.com is a better choice.

Building software will always be hard. There is inherently no silver bullet.

by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.,
No Silver Bullet (Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering

Thats one reason Microsoft doesn't built their website with frontpage...

Even if it does work, I'd feel unethical to recommend this 'product'. I hear at-least someone say 'but what if I can make $2k a month with a juggling site using SBI'. Great, go for it. Personally I'd be a shamed to have a site looking like that! And i'd feel even worse making money of it.

/Rant. Thank you .

[Steve Pavlina]

@Jcs: Great example of Why People Fail (see case #12 on p. 26-27).

[Jcs]

Ha. That's wonderful .

By all means, if it works for people, great! It's just my personal opinion. If situations like I wrote didn't happen I would not have an income either. That said, I do feel better then some people. Why wouldn't I? I can charge one hour of pay explaining how to add 4-lines of code into dreamweaver. Wish I had the elitistjerks.com domain name . But at the same time I feel smaller/dumber/less-knowing then most successful webdesigner /coder! Remember the email I send you in Sep. 2006? I was still playing World of Warcraft 7+ hours a day. You replied with one single line. You were and are inspiring to me and many others. You accomplished a lot. Can you honestly say that you never thought "Ha, I am better/smarter/more successful/wealthier/etc then you/him/her/that guy/etc" in the, lets say, past year?

And its not like all people who think this way fail . Far from.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

I think those who felt mislead by the title of this article were looking for me to somehow meet their own personal expectations and desires. I'm afraid I can't control other people's expectations though.

If an article is non-actionable for a large percentage of your readership (your tech savvy subscribers) it would seem to be the most win-win for everyone to have the post title or the introduction reflect that.

You can't control your readers expectations? That reads patently false to me. If you write a slew of posts that are extremely helpful to a tech savvy crowd, then veer drastically off-course to write an article that is only helpful to the non-savvy, but compose the title and introduction in such a way so the advice seems to apply to everyone, that doesn't create false expectations?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Jcs

Can you honestly say that you never thought "Ha, I am better/smarter/more successful/wealthier/etc then you/him/her/that guy/etc" in the, lets say, past year?

I thought like that when I was a cocky know-it-all teenager, but that line of thinking doesn't serve me as an adult. It completely disconnects me from myself. Besides, I can hardly pretend I'm better than people when I can't even pick ripe fruit w/o help.

When I see people struggling with something that's easy for me, I think to myself, "There must be a way to help more people like this." or "What could I add to my web site that could help people in a similar situation?" I think it's beautiful to see people trying to grow in different ways, stretching beyond their comfort zones.

What some see as an ugly web site, I see as someone going after their dreams. A trickle of income from a basic site and an ugly URL may mean that there's a work-at-home-mom that gets to spend more time with her kids instead of working at a clerical job she hates. Every ugly web site has a real person behind it, doing their best to grow.

Maybe I'm in a unusual situation, since I get to hear so many personal stories from people every day. When I see a web site, I automatically think of the person behind it and how this site is a reflection of their goals.

There's no dishonor in being a beginner. I think it's something we should value, not discourage.

Whenever you see someone struggling with something you've mastered, consider that it isn't a message intended to reinforce your ego superiority but rather an opportunity to help someone. If you take advantage of that opportunity, you'll feel much better about yourself than if you merely glare righteously at the other person.

Don't take my word for it -- try it for yourself. Find someone with a screwed up web site, and just offer them one or two ideas to improve it. Just a two-minute email. Notice how that re-connects you with who you really are.

Life isn't a zero-sum game. Helping someone else doesn't hurt you... quite the opposite.