YEAR 4 - 2007 UPDATE
I was fortunate to discover early in life that my two passions were:
- working with words, and
- entrepreneurship.
Having the dream of being a published author (of non-fiction), it is perhaps no wonder that I followed a career in technical writing. This satisfied my basic characteristics, that of mental stimulation, using logic, and a dislike of routine. It also satisfies my curiosity: curiosity for almost anything and everything.
In 1997 I started my own technical writing and printing business. And although things were going very well, the red tape, dealing with staff, and the various other aspects of "formal" business made it more and more frustrating. The money was good, but I had zero mental stimulation, and made the decision to sell. That was November 2002.
Early in 2003 I revisited my passions, and began to look at ways I could pursue them.
I wanted to offer my own experiences and what I had learned about goal setting, to others. I approached a programmer friend, with the idea of creating a goal setting software program. Simultaneously I began writing a book on the methods and techniques I had used over the past 25+ years to reach my goals, and what I had learned from talking to many people.
But I asked myself the question...
How was I going to sell this?
Many years ago, I had tried the formal publishing route, and I had no wish to go that way again. I turned to the web, and started my investigation. My previous experiences made me very doubtful as to whether it could work...
My first site (Cyberdoc) went up in 1999. And although I had this site from 1999 to 2002 (when I sold the business), it was for all practical purposes a brochure in cyberspace.
- I never saw monthly visitors in the triple figures. Although the site was listed in the top results of our local search engines, the international search engines didn't even know the site existed. Results on Google just didn't happen.
- And generating income from the site? Ha! The Cyberdoc site was, in all reality a money-draining liability.
Sure, I was having fun putting up pages, but there was no moola. Zip.
In February 2003 I put up my personal site (www.colindunbar.com). I had no intention of generating an income off this site - actually I had no idea it was possible to make money without having something to sell. I've recently adapted this site, and looking forward to getting some money in, from the site.
Step-by-Step Process
My tendency for following a logical, step-by-step process meant that the high-flying, get-rich-quick, mega dollars without any effort, mumbo-jumbo talk had zero impact on me. I remembered a company I had come across towards the end of 1998, called SiteSell, and started looking at them again.
Their "no fluff" plain talking appealed to me. There were no "get your site up and make mega $$$ in a week" gumph that I had become accustomed to. I spent months printing many SiteSell web pages, and reading them all. There was a logical, common sense approach to what they were saying.
After studying three books I bought from SiteSell, I began to research Site Build It! (SBI), the flagship small business solution, from SiteSell.
Making the Decision
When I was ready I had a meeting with my wife, and gave her a "presentation" on Site Build It! We discussed the money side of things, and I reminded her of the guarantee. We made the decision to go for it! Although my eaziGOAL product wasn't ready, I decided to start with the website.
I started with the step-by-step guidance using the Site Build It! Action Guide. Wow!
I learned about...
- brainstorming profitable keywords
- building a site concept
- developing a themed site
- site structure
- and most importantly I learned about CTPM...
...everything was there. And using the free Make Your Content PREsell made creating the actual web pages easier.
What made me decide to Go For It?
1. There was no hyped, sales talk.
2. It was an easy logical, step-by-step approach.
3. The guarantee was solid.
Dr Ken Evoy, the President of SiteSell makes it clear that to succeed with your own web business will take work. He often talks about "BAM" - Brain And Motivation.
The SiteSell guarantee really impressed me, and I had no hesitation in investing in Site Build It.
This is an extract from the SiteSell Guarantee
"We are members in good standing of the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ("BBB"), an internationally respected, non-profit consumer protection organization. Now let's say I refused someone (I wouldn't, but let's "just say"). That person would report us to the BBB.
Check on our track record by calling them at 514-286-9281. Ask them about our company (SiteSell.com -- quote them company number 7048) -- you'll see that our record is spotless."
The SBI Forums are an incredible source of support and encouragement.
These are some of the questions I had about Site Build It!...
What was this Site Build It! (SBI)?
I wanted a "in a nutshell" explanation of what SBI was. Just the essential points of what this thing could do, and how could I benefit from it. I also wanted something on the basics of how I could use it. My question was answered...
SBI Quick Tour
SBI Summary Site
How did SBI make it possible for me to generate an income from my website?
I did appreciate that there was no "super promise" sales talk, but these people even offered a guarantee that SBI works. I still wanted to know how I could generate an income. If this is one of your questions, you'll find the answer here...
C - T - P - M
Who were existing people using SBI, and where were their sites?
"Proof is in the pudding". I wanted to know who the existing customers were, and I wanted to look at their websites . Making claims was something I had become accustomed to on the web, so I wanted to know how well people were doing with SBI. I found my answer here...
Directory of SBI Sites (with interviews)
SBI customer results
What would I REALLY be getting with SBI?
After learning the basics about Site Build It!, I wanted the details - the whole picture. What tools would I be getting when I joined SBI, and how did what I would be getting compare to what else was out there. Here's where this question was answered...
What you get with SBI
Who was really successful with SBI?
Yes, I had seen who the people like me were, and I had visited their sites, but who were the people who were really successful with SBI, and what were they doing? How successful could I be with SBI? I read and checked all these stories...
Case Studies
I had more questions, but by this time I was satisfied that SiteSell and Site Build It! were not about "earn mega bucks in a week", but about building a real business on the web.
I also downloaded all the free ebooks SiteSell offered.
Free Ebooks
Conclusion
Is Site Build It! perfect? No. With the number of features that are built in to this application, it is only natural that there will be glitches. And the rate at which Ken Evoy and his team add new features, as per customer requests is awesome. But I can assure you the SiteSell team takes every glitch that is brought to their attention very serious, and the turn-around time is impressive.
Here are just some of the new features that have been added:
- Brainstorm It! V2 - an effective tool to brainstorm keywords for my site.
- Feed It! - a tool to receive RSS feeds of news from SiteSell and the Forums.
- RSS It! - a super easy tool to add my own RSS feeds on my site.
SiteSell is the only company that publicly offers traffic statistics of their Site Build It! customers. This makes for interesting viewing.
Do yourself a favor, and visit the Case Studies site and see how real people are making a success with their own web businesses.
I have no regrets in having chosen Site Build It!, and have no doubt at all that I will achieve my goal of running my own successful web business, from the comfort of my own home.
I must mention that Site Build It! is not for everyone. It's for the person who is serious about building a real business. SBI is not a get rich quick scheme. At the end of this page you will find links to articles, and websites that may be of interest to you. Please do read the articles, and visit the sites.
In Dr Ken Evoy's words, "SBI! removes all the barriers... the technical stuff, the need to be a search engine guru... all of it. But it doesn't remove the fact that you have to work to build a business."
Do I have regrets? "If I joined Site Build It! in 2000 where could I have been today?"
The additional income from my site enabled me to:
- Buy my son's full cricket outfit
- Buy myself a scarce DVD (imported)
- Buy a number of books
- Buy professional e-cover software
- Take my wife for a few good meals at the restaurant
And I did this without touching a cent of my salary.
I cannot place a price on the personal satisfaction aspects... the gratitude, the recognition, and the praise I receive is beyond a monetary value.
If this is your dream, do yourself a favor, and check out this site.
You can also hear a radio interview with the President of SiteSell, Dr Ken Evoy.
Click here for the radio interview
Year 4 - 2007 Update
It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun...
When my SBI! renewal reminder arrived in my inbox it was merely a formality, as I had absolutely no hesitation in renewing my SBI! subscription for another year... my fifth year!
So, what happened in year 4?
Overall, 2007 was a good year. Personally and business-wise.
The really remarkable thing for me is that I did very little on my site, yet the SBI! magic just kept working...
Here is the grand total of what I did:
- Updated 7 pages.
- One update I did was to add BlogIt! in the eaziGOAL page template.
- Changed the AdSense format on several pages, according to the tips in the private SBI! TNT HQ.
- Added 5 reciprocal links.
- Added 5 new pages. Also added to 2 PDF documents for free download.
- Submitted site details to an article directory.
- Uploaded a new Home page.
- Added an AdSense referral ad.
- Submitted 2 articles to 12 article directories.
- Added social bookmarking buttons to a number of pages.
- I changed the internal linking on several pages.
- Published an issue of my newsletter.
I also managed to update 2 snap-shot guides - the free guides I make available to my fellow
SBIers. Also compiled a new guide, but at time of writing I've not finished it yet.
The power of the Law of Attraction was again confirmed for me in 2007. As result of my experience and knowledge gained with my SBI! web site, I was offered a freelance contract position with an international company. 15 June was a grrrrrrreat day, when I signed the contract. I'm able to work with super people, and I'm expanding my experience and knowledge.
I was successful in being accepted as a beta tester for SBI!'s
new Content 2.0 module. Being my nature to want to investigate new things, this was a really cool exercise for me.
My web site enabled my son and I to enjoy a long week-end away. We had a super time, and we went on a canopy tour in Magaliesberg (South Africa). Awesome!
Sometime in July I started working on the plan for my second SBI! site. I've spent a lot of time on researching the concept, and the topics (keywords), and will try and get this started in 2008. It's going to be good.
The Stats for 2007
Traffic increased (2006 to 2007) = 21%
Total income increased by 42%
AdSense income increased by 152% !
Articles and Sites You Can Check
The Difference Between Business Success & Failure
Anguilla Is A Metaphor...
Alexa Point Traffic Test
Affiliate Masters Course
SiteSell Affiliate Program
Find Your Passion
Special Free(dom) Prize
Proof
