SBI Changed My Life
The impact that page has had on many of my visitors is of great surprise to me. Curiously, I get far more questions, comment and feedback from the 'About Me' page than I do from almost any other page on my site (which is a lot). I am humbled by the remarks of the many people who thank me for the inspiration my site, and particularly the page about me, has given them. Some report that they have mustered up the courage to finally do something that will change their lives and realise the dreams they have had for many, many years. I want to say a BIG thank you to all of you for taking the time out to let me know. I wish for you all, everything you wish for yourselves and more. I have had many emails about the system I use, the levels of curiosity have come as a shock to me; I obviously didn't do a good enough job when I told you about it, because the majority of questions are similar. It's been quite a while since I last updated my 'About Me' page, so I thought it would be a good idea if I answered the questions I am asked most frequently in the hope that it will save me from having to write lengthy email in the future ;-) So here goes...
Dr. Ken Evoy, the Chairman of SBI explains in detail, how anybody can build a website, as long as you have BAM - that's Brains And Motivation. I wasn't too sure about the brains... ...but I sure did have the motivation! SBI guides you, step-by-step and click-by-click in helping you choose your perfect topic - which could be anything, ranging from your current business that you may want to grow and expand, to something you have as a hobby or a passion, - and build your (business) site around it. They also teach you, step-by-step, click-by-click how to get traffic to your website once you've built it, and then they point you in the right direction to earn money from it. This is the process known as 'monetization' and they make it easy for you to understand; it was quite an eye-opener for me. You can monetize your pages no matter what your site (business) is about! For example, if you have a passion for 'model railways', you could be making a business and money from it. You will literally convert knowledge of a certain subject into business. People build sites about all sorts of wonderful, intriguing ideas; things I would never dream about. I didn't have any programming knowledge, or web design skills. In fact, my grandchildren thought it was a big joke when their Gran couldn't play their computer games, or work out how to use her mobile phone! Thankfully, SBI held my hand all the way, and the grandchildren now think their 'Nana' is quite cool. When their friends come over, they are quick to show them the website their Nana has. I hadn't a clue what a URL was, or what HTML or CSS was, or how to 'upload'. I just followed the step-by-step, click-by-click programme; I still do! They offer detailed, simple-to-follow action guides for you, which make things very easy to understand and are very helpful when you implement each stage of building your business. These action guides are extremely detailed and thorough. Unlike so many other programmes I bought, they don't leave you wondering what to do next, or trying to uncover the 'bit that's missing'. When I started to consider what 'niche' I wanted to work in, I thought about building a website about our passion, the Greek Islands. We had both travelled quite extensively before Colin became ill - so, was this a possible solution... ...Absolutely!
The only skills and qualities I was blessed with, was being able to switch my computer on, my knowledge of the Greek Islands and my motivation to learn how to work from home and earn a much needed income. First I took the Video Tour - you can take the Quick Tour if you prefer (you may have a slow connection) - and had a good look around to see if I could make any sense of it all, and surprisingly I did. They have a great list of hundreds of successful websites that you can peruse, which incidentally are in the top 1% of the most successful sites on the web. That means from the 100,000,000 websites in the world, all the sites you'll see listed are in the top 1% or, the top one million. If you take a look, you will see such a diverse, eclectic range of subjects that people are earning money from... ...you'll be surprised, they are really fascinating! I started my Heavenly Greek Islands website in December 2006, and in the beginning it was a lot of work. However, as the subject matter is something I am passionate about, it was and still is, enjoyable.
I remember the first couple of dollars we earned from Google, we were so excited and delighted! We have Google adverts which you may have seen placed on the pages throughout my website, and each time somebody clicks on an ad, I earn a small amount of money. We also have hotels, restaurants and tavernas on our site that we have written about and if a visitor makes an enquiry via my site, once again, I earn a small commission. But all the small commissions add up to something worthwhile at the end of the month. There are countless other ways to make money with a website: create your own egoods to sell, sell other people's products for a commission, get paid for leads and referrals and more. SBI shows you how to do all that...step-by-step and click-by-click. You can get some more ideas from what other SBIers are doing. Just have a look at these case studies . Now, Colin has built another site about down-loadable audio books, and he is beginning to see sales and commissions from there, but we both realise that without SBI, we would not have been able to do any of this. People who visit my website email me to say that they love it and some wish they could do something similar, and escape their 9 to 5 way of life... ...well, it's possible, trust me, it really is!  We are now lucky enough to have a house in Snowdonia, and a small house on Kalymnos, which we try and get to as often as possible. We spend lots of time in Greece, and come home for Colin's hospital appointments and medication reviews, but wherever we are, we always have our laptops with us and you will often see us at the side of a hotel pool or sitting at a harbour-side cafe doing our writing. He is still poorly but he takes each day as it comes, and at last we can spend our time together, and we are financially more secure. I love SBI it helped me so much that it gave me my life back; I am so glad I learnt how to work from home.
I love SBI because...it requires no expertise, no special skills and even no merchandise in my case! In fact, you only need merchandise if that's what you choose to include - but it's not a requirement. I love SBI because...it allows me, the owner, to succeed in a setting where everyone is equal, regardless of their prior knowledge. I don't need to have a physical product, which means it can be easily run by me, as a SINGLE person (meaning no employees to worry about). I love SBI because...it gives me the freedom to do whatever amount of work I want, whenever I want. Unlike a regular job or business, my SBI on-line business is run from my home...and at any time I choose to work on it. I don't need to clock in, I don't need to worry about being late...and best of all, I dictate when and how much free time I have! I love SBI because...I don't have to worry about ever-changing technologies and SEO (there's another word I didn't understand when I first started working from home - Search Engine Optimization) strategies, which change from day to day. Before finding SBI, I would spend days and days, sometimes weeks, trying to understand 'new things' being introduced, which can have a major impact on your efforts and business. This was a constant worry and challenge to me. On occasions, I felt as if I was running a marathon - with a set of dumbbells attached to my feet, but... ...NOT ANYMORE! The 'backroom staff' take care of things like this; it's their job. Every new technology or strategy that comes to the market is evaluated by these guys and unless it's worthy of a place in the SBI arsenal, it is not included. On the other hand, they are the first to bring 'to the party' anything which will help build, and make more successful, the sites of their clients. I am left to build my business, which is hugely important to me. Another thing I love SBI for, is the forums. There are thousand of really clever, capable people from all walks of life who are so very helpful; I am humbled by the generosity of them all, they have helped me beyond belief. If you would like to take a peep into the forums, just to get a feel for what goes on there, please contact me, and I will see what I can do to get you a temporary pass so you can do so. Finally, if SBI were a burger franchise, each time you order a 'BIG One with fries', you would come away with a bag full. It over-delivers. The amount of information, help, tips and advice is enormous. In saying that, you don't have to 'eat it' all at once, it is just 'comforting' to know that it is there and available when you need it. And don't forget, if you are building a business, it does take time; just like any off-line business. And after all, why rush, Rome wasn't built in a day, was it? If you'd like to know how to work from home and earn some extra income, give SBI a try, because...if I can do this, anyone can!.
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This continuation page about SBI, is a follow on from my '
Colin and I shared in building the pages, and we took the bull by the horns and did some travelling, for research purposes of course, to islands we hadn't yet ventured.
