SBI Questions From Readers

Whether you are considering getting an SBI! website or already have one let me know if you have any SBI questions and I'd be happy to do my best to help.

Just go to the Contact page here to send me your SBI questions.

All the Best,

Your SBI! Instructor

Q:

I have recently purchased an SBI affiliate program for the $299. If I understand the program correctly, my site will direct traffic to companies who sell or distribute a particular service or product.

As of yet, my site domain remains unnamed and I am totally stuck. Please give me your feedback asap. I am getting very anxious.

Thank You, Julie

A:

Congratulations on getting started with SBI! I'm happy to do what I can to help get you going in the right direction.

Although a SiteSell affiliate program is available for those who would like to promote SBI!... if you have gotten an annual subscription to your own SBI! website you can promote any products and services that you lke. Your SBI! site is completely separate from the affiliate program SiteSell offers. (Although those who use and love SBI! often will promote it on their websites too.)

Your website could "direct traffic to companies who sell or distribute a particular service or product" but that is only one of several possibilities for earning an income from your website. However, that would be one of the simplest to get started with.

Affiliate marketing allows you to promote various products and earn a commission by referring customers through your website. You don't have to stock or ship products and you don't need to worry about billing. That's all handled by the company you refer customers to.

I recommend that you download and read the Affiliate Masters Course. It's one of the best, if not the best affiliate marketing resources available — and it's free to download.

There are many other possibilities for you to generate income though and SBI! encourages you to find other income streams and to diversify. That way you are less vulnerable to a downturn in sales from one company for example. Of course with more income streams, the more overall potential your site will have to generate revenue as well.

Basically, your SBI! website will work like this...

You will first have to decide what niche you would like to build your site around. This is probably one of the most important decisions. It is highly recommended that you chose an area that you are interested in and would enjoy researching and developing web pages about. If you are already an expert in a certain area that's great... otherwise be sure to pick a niche that is interesting enough for you to spend the time you will need to create quality content about the subject.

This will involve using the Brainstormer tool to help you decide which niches have enough demand and low enough competition to give you a reasonable chance at success. Do not underestimate the importance of doing proper research before making your decision. Follow the Action Guide and do not take shortcuts. Those who do regret it later.

Once you know you have a solid site concept about a theme you enjoy you also need to look at monetization options. What products or services are there that your site could promote? What income streams would make sense for your niche?

Are there companies or service providers that you could earn referral fees from? Would a net auction be appropriate? Could you write an e-book and offer it for sale? Could you offer your own products or services and promote them on the site?

In addition to affiliate marketing many get started by placing advertising on their site such as Google AdSense ads. Once your site is established you can consider accepting banner ads.

This is the beginning of your monetization research but you will always want reevaluate your monetizaton mix by adding new things or deleting others that aren't performing for you.

One other point on monetization and choosing your niche... How "in demand" is your niche? Are your readers fanatics about the subject willing to spend money or is it something that people really aren't motivated to buy?

Anyway that's the basic idea of where you will want to get started. You will need to answer those questions before you even consider settling on a domain name.

So, spend time with the Action Guide and follow the path to the letter. Get into Brainstormer and decide on your best choice for a niche. Then map out your website based on the keywords you get and plan your monetization options. Then you will be ready to register the most appropriate domain and launch your site.

After that you will create quality content pages that are specifically targeted to high value keywords you identified in your Brainstorming research.

I recommend that you check out my 7 Part Mini eCourse - How To Build a Website That Works — it's free to sign-up.

I also highly recommend you consider the SBI! eLearning Course. It will provide you with guidance from a qualified instructor who has already built a successful SBI! site themselves -- well worth it!

Those who already have SBI! sites have the cost of the site deducted from the cost of the eLearning Course when you order so you can use the site you already have for the course. (When you order there is an option to select if you are already an SBI! owner and if you want to use your existing site for the course.)

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more SBI questions.

All the Best,

Your SBI! Instructor

Q:

By the way, I am dyin' to get one of those SiteBuildIt sites. I have been thinking about it for a year. The question — is it all it's cracked up to be? Every person with it, sells it for an affiliate fee, so it is almost reached the level of a cult on the Internet. What is the truth?

The other one I am considering is XSitePro.com This thing is, well, beyond belief. Any fast thoughts on the subject?

- Daniel

A:

Hi Daniel,

Those of us who use SBI! do love it and we can get to where we might even seem cult-like. But that's the same for other great products that develop a loyal following (I'm also a Mac cult member!)

But that raises the question, "How can a hosting company inspire such passion in its customers?" It's because they go far beyond mere hosting. Not only do they provide a wide range of all-inclusive tools to help the average person create a successful website, they also provide the step-by-step instruction in what you need to do to have a site that draws traffic, converts visitors and earns revenue.

For a lot of people building a website would be too big a technical challenge and SBI! makes it easy. On the other hand it's flexible enough to let you create your own HTML pages if you want (that's what I do).

You seem to have a good handle on internet marketing and you might be able to get away with XSitePro. I can't say it's not a good product because it does have a lot to offer. But I would recommend getting a solid foundation with SBI! and once you are an internet marketing pro you can use XSitePro (but since SBI! works a lot of us just stick with SBI!).

In your case you might want to start an SBI! site related to the products you offer but have it as a stand alone site. Once you go through the Action Guide (highly recommended) and you use the market/keyword research tools you will find that you might be better off with a completely different domain name (included). But that's okay because you will want to use your SBI! site to draw traffic that you funnel to your sales site.

Here are some links to consider (they are my affiliate links - yes, most of us SBI!ers do also promote it):

How does your Alexa traffic ranking compare?

Compare SBI! to other hosting options.

Site Build It! Tools - This is an incredible package. XSitePro might have prettier templates but SBI! provides everything you need to create a website that actually gets traffic. (There are plenty of pretty sites on the web that are basically glorified brochures that get no visitors at all.)

SBI!, or rather SiteSell the company that offers SBI!, also has one of the best affiliate programs going. Since all the tools for affiliates are easily available (and extensive) and since people who use SBI! love it, many will also promote SBI! on their websites. It might not be the best thing because, as you mentioned, it can come off as a bit cultish. But it is driven by the interest in maybe earning the occasional affiliate commission (even though their site has nothing to do with web hosting or internet marketing) and by the honest desire to share with others something that they have found that works, lives up to the promises made (and more) and has made a difference in their lives (and finances).

Here are a couple of articles by Ken Evoy (founder of SBI!) that you might be interested in:

Just Get Started

Success Stories and Mooch Marketing

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions about SBI!

Your SBI! Instructor

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