That was the comment left on one of my YouTube videos a few days ago. And it’s not the first time I’ve heard the scam cries regarding SBI!.
Apparently this person heard about the $10,000 prize Ken Evoy, President of SiteSell.com, awarded to the customer who created the best “I Love SBI! video.”
So his comment warned others there was a prize out for videos like mine. I guess he thought my video was created for the sake of entering the contest.
Sorry, Mr. Anonymous-YouTube-commentor, some of us actually use the product and love it. And while I make it no secret I belong to SiteSell’s affiliate program, I still believe in the product and endorse it because I used it to create my site, Flat Stomach Exercises.
In fact, I didn’t even enter the $10,000 I Love SBI! contest.
I also want to point out that everyone who was eligible for the contest had to actually own SBI!. So these weren’t SiteSell employees or random people paid by SiteSell to create hype.
Let’s not fool ourselves. The $10,000 prize was a great incentive for many I’m sure. But these videos were made by happy customers who were proud to show the world how much Site Build It! changed their lives.
Many of these people were able to quit their jobs because of SBI!.
[Update August, 2009: See updated traffic stats from my Site Build It! website.]
Why Site Build It! Cannot Be a Scam
Every now and then I’ll get a comment on my YouTube channel from someone saying Site Build It! is a scam because it didn’t work for them, or they believe it’s overpriced.
I guess I must have a different definition of scam than some of these people. In my opinion, a scam is product or service that doesn’t deliver what is promised. Or the company overcharges for the value provided.
Never does SiteSell promise you’ll make money if you use their product. Nor do they guarantee it’s easy to make money online. The only thing they DO promise is that you will get valuable tutorials and tools to build your site that will set you on the path of success.
You have to understand, however, that your success largely depends on YOU and your own efforts. Building a successful website takes work, patience, learning, creativity and motivation.
Site Build It! provides you all the tools you need for $299/yr (a website builder, newsletter manager, autoresponder, search engine ranking help, traffic reports, tutorials, a topic brainstorming tool, etc.) but YOU still have to bring your own brains and motivation to complete the process.
And here’s a message for those of you who may be turned off by the price of $299/year…
First of all, almost everyone knows that you can easily get a web host for under $10/month. But cheap web hosts are not in the business of actually helping you build traffic and make money. They simply host your site and the rest is up to you to figure out.
Websites don’t just attract traffic when you launch them. It requires effective pre-planning and an understanding for how Internet marketing works. Cheap web hosts don’t teach you anything about this, but SBI! does. As a customer myself I can tell you THAT’s largely what you’re paying for.
If you were to purchase all the tools that SBI! provides separately you’d be paying much more than $299/year so I definitely wanted to clarify that for people who wonder why the price is so much higher. Site Build It! is NOT just a regular web host. It’s a system of tools and tutorials that teaches you how to build a heavily trafficked website.
And with the 30-day money back guarantee, the product is completely risk free. If it’s not for you, just ask for your money back within the first 30 days. I promise they’ll give it to you.
If they don’t, just let me know and I’ll get on the phone to SiteSell’s creator, Dr. Ken Evoy. (Yes, I really do have his phone number.) But I know that’s not going to be necessary because they have always honored their guarantee.
So before you write something off as a scam, just make sure you do your homework and ask the proper questions before making assumptions.
Is SBI! for Everyone?
No, it’s not. And I would never proclaim anyone that uses it is going to have automatic success.
There is work involved, lots of reading and definitely a good amount of patience and motivation required… just like any other business or money making venture. I just felt the need to clarify the scam statements because it’s so easy to lump SBI! into all the other get-rich-quick programs on the net.
And I wouldn’t blame people for being skeptical because there are a lot of scams out here. Fortunately for me and the other video makers, SBI! is not one of them. 
Watch a demo of me using my SBI! account
{ 246 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve done my website with SBI, and although I haven’t made money, it’s not because I haven’t been able to build traffic–an average of about 150-200 a day–but because I chose a political goal, not a monetary one. I wanted to show-case a book, and I’ve at least brought the idea of it to a couple hundred thousand in the last seven months, many more in the last year.
In fact, right now, I’m trying to figure out how to subscribe to two more sites, before the Valentine special is over.
I am not a customer of SBI. I have done allot of research on it and believe it is NOT a scam! It is funny how the people who bash it are not customers. It is just like parenting. The people who think they know it all about parenting have NO children.
I was a customer and I am highly dissatisfied with my purchase.
I currently have a blog in the martial arts field. It is doing ok with around 150 visitors a day. I have a few ideas for specific niches within the this field and am thinking of getting SBI to create the websites. Im just not sure weather it would be worth it or not. Please could you let me know if its is worth it giving advantages and disadvantages of it. Many Thanks.
Markos,
Since you already have a blog with traffic, what I would do is use Site Build It! to create another site related to your blog and use that site to draw additional traffic to your blog and vice versa.
Question is it really worth the 299.00 for the price, i’m trying to open an online store. What do you suggest?
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
I’ve been researching on-line business for a whil;e and SBI! does keep popping up. People keep saying it’s not easy but I’m not getting specifics on what exactly is not easy. Is it the work involved in writing content or something else?
Thanks
Hi Michelle,
It’s the work involved of building useful content and learning how to market so you get enough traffic to succeed. I think most would agree traffic generating is the most challenging.
Hi Lisa,
Like Douglas above, Feb. 14, 2008, I too am passionate about politics and economics, particularly relating to current issues, foreign and domestic, but unsure of an approach or angle that would draw substantial long-term traffic and profitability.
I agree with Brenda! Love the analogy!
It IS like those thinking they KNOW the best about Parenting, but have NO children.
Some go by word of mouth, or see an SBIer struggling and assume that all SBIers do.
SBI is an amazing tool – you have to know how to use it and implement it well.
The forums from SBI make it so much more amazing, in that all the support and time and help that other successful SBIers give you, is worth the $299 in itself.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your useful information. I’m searching a lot in order to create my own site for offering translation services.
Can you give some idea about how to start?
Thank you so much.
Dear Lisa,
You seem to like this program a lot. What kind of websites have you created with it?
William, my site http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com is an SBI! site. Check the Alexa rank.
I also been doing a lot of research about SBI and I’m agree that it is NOT a scam!
I have a blog and I’m planning to use Site Build It! to create another site related to the same niche, and at the same time what had motivated me were the searches engines tools.
One question, $299 for one year and after that?
Yes, Alfonso it’s $299 per year.
hi lisa. in the demo video of sbi! you made you had keyword statistics of the keywords you typed in. how would you which one to choose.is it the one that has the most demand and low supply competition with the highest paid keyword?
kind regards
julian
Hi Lisa, I’ve been reading a lot about SBI on their website. It’s actually rekindled my long time dream of building my own online legal information business, which will be specific to Australia for starters. How workable is SBI in Australia?
Hi Bucky,
Location doesn’t matter. As long as you have internet access, that’s all you need. Everything is browser-based.
Hi lisa. I see sbi! has a keyword tool but google adwords also has one.
Is the sbi! keyword tool better than google’ keyword tool or is there a difference.
let me know please.
dominique
Hi Dominique,
SBI! uses The AdWords tool along with their own proprietary tools that you won’t get anywhere else for free. So it’s a combination.
Your excersie site is a very nice website with personalised video, makes it unique. Do use SBI but wordpress is another CMS that is easy to use. Any comparisions. What are your thoughts. Thanks
sorry do not use SBI only WP.
Alan, Site Build It! and WP can’t be compared if you ask me. WordPress is for blogs. Site Build It! is for websites. While I love WordPress (I’m using it for this blog), it doesn’t give you the education and training about how to build traffic. So many people throw up a blogger or wordpress blog (because it’s free and easy) but they haven’t a clue of how to drive traffic. SBI! teaches you how to do just that with their tutorials.
Now, SBI! has some ways to go when it comes to certain hosting features. They don’t allow MySQL so you cannot install a WP blog on your domain so I’m waiting for that development. However, when it comes to the solid education that so many newcomers are lacking, absolutely NOTHING comes to close to SBI!. And I can say that because I have used both SBI! and WP.
Hii Lisa..
SBI seems nice to me..By the way may I know how long mostly at least we get succeed pull huge traffic using SBI.. 1 month…2 month or over 6 month?
Hi Zaharey
That depends and is very hard to say. It took me 3-6 months. It has taken others a couple of years. Some never get traffic. So much depends on your hard work and creativity too. SBI! is the engine, but you fuel it and determine how far you’ll go with it.
Hi Lisa,
Just a note of appreciation for the thorough explanation in your video. It gave me lots to think about. It was a good tool in addition to all the explanation given in the SBI site. I’m just about ready to buy it.
I agree as a fellow SBIer it is really magical. I am making a website on how to make website with SBI.
I am a spanish speaker, Live in Mexico.
Does SBI works for Latin America as well? Can I suit everything into Spanish only?
ANy site in Spanish created with SBI?
I’m looking up information on SiteBuildIt! because I’ve been debating on whether or not to use it to make my anime review blog. From what I’ve seen and read, I feel confident in purchasing it for my blog.
TheAndySan,
SBI! is NOT best for blogs so make sure you do your research.
Hi Lisa,
I watched half of your video demo and it might just be me but it looked like everything that you was demonstrating was out of order and looked kind of confusing. I now realize that this is not a scam because of the reviews that i’ve looked at so far on other sites. I just came up with an Idea the other today and I seriously think it will work but I am curious how much traffic do you get daily? because traffic I think is everybodys biggest issue. I also thought is if I didn’t get SiteBuild it, I would problay get my friend to build the site for me and have one of the Affiliate program networks promote my site. For instance, (SAS) Shareasale or Clickbank. Your response is greatly appreciated.
Hi Damien,
My site gets between 4500 and 5000 visitors per day. It took about a year and a half to get consistent traffic from Google and the other major engines. I think you might be a little confused on ShareASale, Clickbank, etc. so make sure you do your research. These companies DO NOT promote your site. They offer products that you can promote on your site and you earn a commission for everything you refer.
Hi Lisa, I briefly read through the first page of your blog and the responses.
For the price of 299, SBI only allows hosting for a single domain? Any additional domains for websites based on SBI would have to be purchased at the same price additionally?
Does SBI allow transfer of domain names for existing domains being hosted on other webhost?
Hosting and SBI aside, it took you around 18 months to generate avg of 4.5 to 5k daily visitors to your side, given your tier links and e-sales, how much profit is the site generating for you monthly to be curious?
jaskiew
Jaskiew,
Yes, it’s only one site for the $299. You have to pay for each individual site.
Yes, you can transfer your existing domains from other hosts free of charge.
I don’t like to disclose my income specifics, but it’s in the 4-figures per month.
Does SBI allow you to transfer your domain to another webhost?
Yes, you can transfer it away to another registrar.
Hi Lisa,
Being fellow SBI I thought to answer Jaskiew few important elements or might be misconceptions before he decides. Hope you’ll not mind this.
The price of SBI is deceptive. People get frenzied looking at $299, but actually if it is hosted outside the price comes more. Making or designing a website is not a great deal these days what matters is organic traffic.
Just a pen picture of the SBI advantages and disadvantages.
SBI includes autoresponders which is about $20 per month, this itself is $240 pa. Hosting cheapest is $50 to $60.
This makes the price equal to SBI. Now what else SBI offers?
Niche finder tool/keyword research tool, website builder, on page SEO, off page SEO, the best part is step by step video training. One can learn more than one can imagine. This to me is the best part.
Actually it’s difficult to type and express what SBI offers…one has to experience this.
Disadvantage:
Better not be biassed towards SBI looking at Lisa’s site as she probably did own SBi website designed herself…..and if SBI provides a narrow 750px, overused 2 column template which is not really attractive (atleast to me). It’s preferable that either you are aware of CSS and HTML a bit to be honest or take the help of fellow SBIers (including me) to get you a professional 3 column template.
Wish you the best,
Saikat
Saikat,
I appreciate your comments and they are definitely welcome here. It’s always good to get feedback from other SBIers. And I agree…. It’s best to learn CSS and HTML and create your own design. That’s what I did for my SBI! site. I am not a fan of the standard 2 column templates they provide either.
I sell on a online mall. I have wanted to also get my own website. To grow I need to advertise more and if I spend more money I would like to promote my site not the mall. My site would sell vintage one of a kind products. I have about 2000 different items (some same mfg just different patterns). Most of the time I see sites selling just a few items with different sizes and colors or they sell services. Can site build it be a good fit? I plan on keeping the mall store also.
Hi Violet,
I’d use a regular web host for that kind of site and setup an ecommerce shopping cart. Most regular web hosting companies (GoDaddy, Hostgator, etc.) have ecommerce systems you can incorporate into your site.
Thanks I have a host in mind but wanted to make sure I was going the right way and SBI sounded interesting. They have all the ecommerce I need. Shopping cart and Shipping Tables etc. The cost is right and they are a old (for the internet) and respected internet company. I have put in a lot of time and work and now want to take the next step. Keep up the good work for some of us (I am almost eighty) have had to learn by reading blogs like yours. Thanks for your blog and all the good information.
Hi Violet,
Taking cues from Lisa, I pitch in again. As per my honest experience with SBI. I’ll not recommend any ecommerce website to be built out of SBI. SBI is the best for information type websites.
However, saying this I also add that SBI offers one premium service of web development which costs about $1500, this can be a better option for building your ecommerce website with mall where you dont have much tensions of web designing ourself.
I guess you’ll need to use sometime or the other SQL database setup to keep your 2000 items. So far I was not able to make out how to make a SQL data base in SBI system. SBI system is good for only html websites not php.
Saying all this I’d also add that you can use the SBI system to make your online mall store where you can put each item image and then link them to anohter page where the shopping cart can be set up. SBI definitely supports this.
Lisa do you agree with my comments?
Hi Violet,
Sidetrack and OOT abit from SBI, I do not know how much your 2000 items generate profit wise but have you considered Yahoo Store with Andy Jerkin’s Yahoo Store Builder? If you are serious, the program is quite a good bargain. But it still does require a bit of work on your part. You still need to build your site, source your products and promote your store. However, the Yahoo Store system simplifies this considerably and the tips provided by Andy will help optimize your time efficiently and effectively to create a successful eCommerce store online.
Thank you Saikat for the additional considerations.
Thou i have not personally tried SBI, after reading and looking at the basic setup example, i agree that it is very suitable for information based websites rather than a comprehensive e-commerce or merchant site.
I intend to take on several projects.
One of them is to work more on my non profit music group which is located with http://www.trancerepublic.com or http://www.trancerepublic.sg. Its currently running on Joomla Bridge with hack. I need to figure out how i can change it to a very informative based site which also allows certain CMS functions, members login and also keeping the forum and also some e-selling.
There are also a few possible projects for various local business, for example, children’s educational centre, pest control company, events company, swimming and water sports activities etc.
Ultimately, i still will have to try out SBI to decide it’s pros and cons for various sites and biz.
Yes, you really have to try it to see it’s for you. Remember, there is a 30-day money back guarantee that they faithfully honor.
Thanks for the info, Lisa. Just curious, does SBI provide sources for (legal) content. I’m thinking of putting up an academic website and it would be helpful to copy and paste this kind of info rather than writing it all myself.
Hi Will
Never do that. All content from other sources is copyrighted by them and it’s always best to write your own content. Not to mention the search engines won’t bring you traffic if your content is a duplicate of info already out there.
One more question, Lisa. What time of time commitment does SBI require? I realize there’s a lot of reading required and it takes several months to see results. What I’m wondering is if this is the kind of thing where you can work another job and do your website in spare time. What is the minimum number of hours per week you’d need to devote to this?
Depends on what kind of results you want. When I bought SBI! I was still working a 9 to 5 at the time. I would estimate I spent 10-15 hours per week on my site. But of course it’s going to vary from person to person. Depends on your niche, how you work, how well you pick up on things, etc. Keep in mind I already had a successful site prior to buying SBI! so I was familiar with a lot of the information. My success came faster than probably 90% of most customers.
I already have a website and on my own was able to get to page two on a google search of architectural salvage. I’m still consider site build it for a second website and see how they compare with one also driving traffic to the other. It would be a great micro experiment, but I’m waiting for a small chunk of time to implement it. The money seems reasonable and anyone who thinks a successful business can happen without expenditures is mistaken.
I really want to start up a website and have done a lot of research on SBI! but it seems really expensive. they said $299/per year does that mean every year you have a website with SBI! you have to pay $299?
Yes, it is $299 per year but keep in mind once you start making money it begins to pay for itself. My site now makes 4 figures per month so the $299 is hardly anything for the worth of my site now. When you build a website for money you are starting a business. Most businesses cost thousands of dollars to start so if you think of it as an investment, $299/year for a business start-up is unheard of in the OFFline world.
Building a Site Build It! site can be the best way to confidently make money online over a long term. The ability to target specific leads with your niche site means you are more likely to have those leads converted into paying and repeat customers.
Hi lisa
I have run thru all the comments quickly and understand that SBI is great product. Could I ask you a quick question, how long it took you to build substantial traffic to your flat stomach site? Does it start coming in initial months or it takes time to build up?
Thanks
Ricky
Lisa-
You are refreshingly amazing! Not only are you a great writer you’re a pretty good speaker too. Have you thought about speaking as a side gig?
You’d be great at it.
One more question: I have a site (and ebook) aimed at helping married men (or men in committed unions) improve their relationships. Both (url and ebook) are titled ‘Let Her Cheat.’ My goal was to just sell the ebook but now I want the site to be more informative.
Do you suggest SBI or a basic website?
Will
Lisa:
I really enjoyed your video explaining SBI info. Several questions, if you don’t mind. I have an existing website hosted by I Power Web which runs around $100 per year, plus I have an Aweber Autoresponder account which runs about $240 per year, plus PayPal for whatever % of goods I sell.
1. I want to continue selling digital downloadable items on my site. Does SBI charge extra to set up a shopping cart/purchase ability? Or is it included in the $299 per year fee?
2. Does it include an auto responder capability?
Lisa:
I need your sage advice. I’m a writer and I want to build a website that showcases thought provoking articles on life issues, politics, pop culture and the like. Also, my wife and I have ideas for several inspirational children’s books. In addition, my wife happens to be a first-rate dog trainer. So, I have a variety of avenues in which to pursue a website.
However, my articles will be the immediate product; those other things to follow at a later time. Should I simply start a regular blog, or should I go ahead and get SBI! and revise my website as it matures? I don’t believe the 30 day guarantee would do me much good at this point.
Ricky, it is going to vary based on your niche, how well you bring in traffic, your motivation and efforts. Really hard to estimate. Tough question.
Kathi,
SBI! does have an autoresponder. It’s not as robust as AWeber (in terms of segmenting your list, targeting, etc.) but it does function as a typical autoresponder.
As far as a shopping cart capability, SBI! discontinued their Store Build It! product which was extra but if I were you, I would just incorporate PayPal into your SBI! site which is free and easy.
Hi Brian,
I always suggest SBI! for newbies who can afford it simply because of the all-in-one education that you won’t get anywhere else. But what concerns me is that it seems you are trying to do too much at once with one site. Whether or not you choose SBI! or not, make sure you focus your site or blog on ONE, focused topic. It will be hard to get traffic if you don’t. And of course SBI! explains all this as you’re going through the process.
Lisa: Wow! Thanks for the quick reply. I think I’m going to sign up for this through you To make the change, how do I get all my contacts on my email lists from Aweber to SBI? Can I import them somehow? I’d be interested in interviewing you on one of my upcoming DISCOVERING YOUR LIFE’S WORK online radio shows. Please let me know if you would be interested.
Thank you again for your help.
Oh I forgot about the actual list. Yes, you will need to export your email addresses out of AWeber to your computer (Excel file) first but you should email SBI!’s support because I believe in order to import those addresses and send out your emails through SBI! your subscribers need to re-confirm their addresses since this is a new host. But please email SBI!’s support. I am not 100% sure on that.
I must say. Even though I use SBI!, I still use AWeber because their autoresponder feature is much more robust than SBI!’s. So if it’s in your budget you may want to think about keeping your subscription to AWeber. As I mentioned you won’t be able to segment or target your list like you can with AWeber. Just some food for thought.
I’ll let you know about the radio interview. Thanks!!
You have writen a great article on it. This is an interesting piece of software. I have heard so much about it but never thought of actually buying it. I havent bought it because it is expensive and its a subscription rather than a stand alone software. But its worth buying if one makes lots of sites. Its easy to use therefore good for novices.
Dear Dr.Singh,
First of all please be aware that Site Build It is not really a software but a powerful system. About your point on expensive it is not really. You need to understand why you want a website…is it just for the sake of having a website or for a purpose? If it is for a professional purpose you need to have lot many auxilaiary tools like keyword research, profitability analysis, on page SEO, and autoresponders. I made an analysis on the cost benefit analysis of SBI vis a vis external self made one. I included this analysis somewhere in my website also. In short you buy a web hosting for $60 per annum and an autoresponder for atleast $20 per month or $240 p.a which makes it $300…still do you think it is costly?
Why autoresponders? This is required ofcourse if you are an serious web preneur and mean professional business.
On the other side SBI is not suitable for those having intent to make multiple websites mostly for Google Adsense but to be honest with you al these websites looks nice when build but gets lost in the information highway. It is always advisable to concentrate on a few websites with a powerful niche to help you in the long run.
Personally I’ve learnt more from SBI than any other crap out there in internet. To me the video action guide is the best part one can get and learn. The direction and focus is so concentrated that it is hard to fail if someone does everything as being guided.
My own SBI website is just 3 months live, it already a Google PR1, ranking 5,36,000 on Alexa and gets around 200 visitors a day. I’m sure this will improve as time goes on. So I have full faith on SBI system.
Best wishes,
Saikat Ganguly
Wish all a very very happy and prosperous new year 2009. Hoping the economic downturn eases soon.
Saikat
Saikat, you make such a good point. A lot of people write off SBI! as a scam because they hear about the price and instantly compare it to a traditional web host. Of course there are cheaper web hosts out there but they do not come close to what SBI! offers in terms of the EDUCATION on Internet marketing and how to actually make sales. SBI! is not just a web host. It’s a system of tools and a complete training system.
Anyone can throw up multiple sites for $3/month but are those sites ranked high in Google and making money? What’s funny is people complain about the $299 price but starting a business OFFLINE for such a low price would be unheard of. So it’s all in how you look at it.
Glad it’s working for you! Happy New Year to you as well!
Thanks Lisa, as always you had always been my inspiration and role model after I came to know about you subsequent to joining SBI.
Warm regards,
Saikat
What will happen if you stop paying their subscription. Why not use wordpress?
WordPress and Site Build It! can’t even be compared. WordPress is a blogging platform. SBI! is a website building system. Blogs are not always the best solution for a site because of how the content is structured. And as I said before, with SBI! you get the TRAINING on how to build traffic. You don’t get that with WordPress, Blogger, GoDaddy or most other website and blog hosts out here.
Speaking of blogging, you might want to read Ken Evoy’s write-up about blogging http://website.sitesell.com/blogorbuild
hi lisa
i live in ireland
can register for irish only domain (.ie).
is it posible in sbi?
Hi jhon,
I’m not sure. You’ll have to email their support to find out.
Lisa,
I would like to start a review website…….categoried by professions and tourism, etc……used in all 50 states. I would need a paypal or some sort
of way to receive payments from advertisers. So, I think we’re talking about an introductory homepage, and then eventually tons of back pages. Almost like a ‘Craigslist’. Do you think I should start in Site Build It? I’ve taken a basic HTML course, and am gonna do a CSS course.
Or, do you think an SBI professional should design a good front page for me, and then I could do the back pages? I know there are different options, just wondering if any ‘jump out’ at you?
Hi again, Lisa. Just now I was looking through your other websites. THANK YOU for coaching us newbies!!! in all your videos, etc. ~ I see that you also recommend Editor and Dreamweaver in desigining sites. Could you help me understand how you ‘dance’ between them and SBI?
I work for a graphics company and my boss raves about Dreamweaver. But the site that I have in mind is not graphics-heavy. ~~ Also, if we buy SBI through an affiliate, what is the difference between that and buying SBI from SiteSell? Again, THANKS!!!!!
Hi Dottie
My recommendation is usually the “do-it-yourself” method. Especially since your layout doesn’t sound very complex. If you are serious about learning and using Dreamweaver then what I would recommend is learning how to use that program first and then following SBI!’s guidelines for transitioning your site out of the block-by-block builder (their default) and into your own design like I now have with my SBI! site.
I don’t normally suggest people fool with their own design right away because you need to focus on building traffic in the beginning but it sounds like you have some experience with HTML so maybe you’ll want to tackle this in the beginning.
What I did was create my entire layout in Dreamweaver from scratch and then I followed the instructions on SBI! for uploading my pages to their servers. So any time I make an edit I open DW and save the file to my PC and then re-upload to SBI!.
If you don’t use Dreamweaver then you can use SBI!’s built-in templates but keep in mind they are very limited and your design/layout options are sort of limited. I used these templates my first 2 years and branched out to my own custom design later.
As far as buying from an affiliate, there’s no difference for you. It just means someone like myself (the affiliate) gets a commission when you buy and if you go directly to SiteSell to buy, they get the entire profit themselves.
Thanks, Lisa, that gives me a lot to think about!
This is my first exposure to this opportunity and am seriously considering using SBI. I have a couple of websites already running, but one is on google pages and one is through the school where I work. I’m guessing from your information that a google page will not be accepted, but I hope I will be able to easily move my information, links, etc. to another page when I create the new domain name/site. I’ll have to check with the school to see if they will allow adsense, but it’s certainly a great way to attract a lot of students. I get tons of hits on that one.
SBI! is not a scam. My Aunt and my Mom both have a SBI! site right now and I have owned one in the past. My aunt is very successful and my Mom is doing great so far. I would reccomend SBI! to anyone looking to start a website (whether you have experience or not). It’s not a get rich quick scheme…you need to commit to a good amount of time. It took me several months to start making a little money. It took my Aunt several months, but she now makes a killer living.
Wow, thanks for sharing Brian!!
Hi,
Nice to read another site build it success story. I’ve been reading a lot about site build it and I believe that it is not a scam, unfortunately I don’t have enough money to purchase one yet. But I will and I am promoting it so I can get 50% off
And the affiliate program is also superb!
I created a lens about it, check it out if you have time
http://www.squidoo.com/sitebuilditscam
I am also the owner of two SBI sites and my wife owns one. I have just renewed one of the sites http://www.best-barbados-vacation-packages.com after the first year and although I am not at the stage where I am seriously monetizing I am please with the process.
I am currently using a customize SBI template a choice I made consciously. I am capable of doing my own template since I know enough HTML but I decided to go with the Block Builder.
In the pass I have built my own sites and hosted them on the traditional hosting platforms, one site was moderately successful earning close to $7,500 during 2007.
I am saying all of this not to boost but to make the point that going forward I would not choose any other system but SBI to build my online business.
$299.00 works out to approximately 81 cents a day, in my humble opinion that’s a real bargain.
This company re-wrote the definition of over-delivering on service.
Hi Lisa,
I want you to know that I am going to add this page to my favorites. You have really given me a lot to think about.
I am in the process of creating a niche online directory and membership site. I also will be charging advertisers using PayPal. My question is whether or not I can simply use SBI as a landing page and what that will do for the ranking of my directory since they will be on separate hosts.
It sound like SBI is mostly good for the training and tools which is a value but I want to make sure I have all of the information. From this blog it does not seem like I will be able to build the type of website I need this just SBI.
Hi Susan
I don’t have all the details for the kind of site you want (other than a directory), but just from what I’ve read I can tell you that starting out creating a directory is usually a bad idea for most people simply because it’s hard to generate enough traffic to a directory due to how people tend to surf the web.
Hopefully you are also planning to add content/articles to the site as well because that will help you drive targeted traffic via the search engines.
But I guess if you can use SBI! or not will depend on how you plan to build the directory. If you are going to manually build it with HTML then yes, you can use SBI! but if you are going to use some kind of script to make your directory more dynamic (PHP, etc.) then, no you cannot.
So how you plan to build it is what makes the difference. You can use PayPal with SBI with no problem.
I want you to be my mentor……..
I am a young AA Woman with three young boys and I have been doing allot or research over the last few years on affiliate marketing hoping to be able to provide a better life for my kids. I have put up a few sites in the past that have generated some income for me but not enough. I decided to take my time and figure out my niche.
I thought of a how to on affiliate marketing but you are right it is saturated. I do give some advice on my MySpace page to people that are newer than I am but I don’t have any affiliate links there just a “lets learn together” type of thing. I am starting to build a pretty good network of people that are responding to my post in some of the groups I have joined and I have started to point them to your site. Do you have any eBooks that we could share a sale on? I wish I was at your level.
As far as my directory site, I do plan to have blogs and articles to drive traffic and make it a resource to my visitors. I found software that I can use as a PHP template for the directory portion that will allow my users to create a profile and I would have to host it on a separate server since SBI is not compatible. Just not sure what comes first “the chicken or the egg”.
I also wanted to find out how using SBI as my landing page for my directory would affect its ranking. If I build my landing page with the SBI software and link the site map links to my directory pages, does it get the high ranking also. The other thing I was disappointed about is the fact that the $299 only covers one website. I used Homestead.com in the past and it provides unlimited websites with lots of templates for like $30/month, but of course none of the tools and training that SBI does. I also heard that it is hard to get high ranking if your site is hosted by Homestead. Do you know anything about this?
Bottom line, I am not sure what would be the best move for me. Is it worth it to start with SBI even if I can only have one site there or should I use Homestead again so that I can have multiple websites? I am thinking that if I put up more than one landing page and link to my directory that will generate more traffic to the directory.
I hope this is not too long.
Susan,
SBI! is definitely not right for your type of site. Remember, sites don’t rank high just because they use SBI!. They tend to do better because customers get the education of how to build a heavily trafficked site and that’s through good, themed content. So it will do you no good to use SBI! just for your landing page if you aren’t going to be able to build content around your directory that will satisfy the search engines. If you simply must use PHP then it’s best to use a host that supports it.
Site Build It is not a scam. However, there are some things I wish I knew before getting involved. There are restrictions I think should have been outlined before purchasing. The standard excuse is that one can always use some other web page designer and upload. This is a cop-out.
I am convinced about the emphasis on designing/developing your site for traffic. But I think the 10 day outline is misleading. I think you are mislead as to how much work is really involved, and the time commitment involved. That is until you purchase and get involved. Then you hear that message over and over again. Obviously this is because they do not want to scare anyone away. But loose the 10 day thing please. As I said I believe the work is necessary, but I wish I was forewarned. I studied/evaluated SiteBuildIt but just didn’t come across these issues. I didn’t find the right sites I guess.
There is far to much to read. Yes you want a lot of help and guidance, but you have to read through way, way, too much low value material. It’s EXTREMELY time consuming. It is frustrating. It impedes your progress, a lot. This also makes it difficult to find the right kind of help you need from the forums. If any area really needs improvement in SBI this is it.
Pop up windows are almost essential to the nature of my site and there is no good solution. Another item difficult to find help on. Mislead.
Very restricted on the use of any scripting languages. Didn’t expect that.
Limitations on the number of times you can run certain routines, like in brainstorming. Not forewarned, but tolerable.
Sever limitations on the size of Images. A surprise. Killed one of my site ideas.
Limitations on the site look and feel. Yes, again you can upload. But before purchasing your given the wrong impression for sure. This is misleading. SBI sites all have the same look and feel. Mislead in marketing.
The Bock generator is very very basic. It could be enhanced with more options so you do not have to insert HTML. Overrated.
I believe SBI would be viewed much more favorably if they addressed some of these issues. Although a lot of work is necessary, there is a good deal of avoidable struggling when using SBI.
I still think using SBI was a good choice. I will endeavor to make it work. It can be improved.
Dear Andy,
I think your thoughts about SBI is not really a good assessment and judgement.
1) SBI never says or hides the quantum of work involved. It rather says its not a ‘get rich quick’ or lazy scheme rather its like a one year MBA course where you study and put up your project and pass out with flying colors at the end of the year. Yes, this is the time one must give to build a solid online business foundation.
2) About images SBI recommends not to have more than 100KB in a page as it slows down the page loading speed which actually distracts human visitors which in turns effect the SEO.
3) About putting any extended tools like pop up window I’m not sure how you assumed this as I myself put one in my homepage. I also had peelaway ads, but removed now as too many javascripts does affect your SEO negetively.
4) I agree with your B&B issue which is really worn out and oudated 2 column template. One should either know HTML, CSS a bit to have their own template or engage someone like me to help them. Yes, this is something I’m extremely critical about SBI and I think this wish of many being heard and soon 3 column CSS template will be rolled out from SBI.
5) There are some limitations of creating database. Membership sites or full fledged ecommerce websites are not the best to be with SBI.
Best wishes,
Saikat
Andy,
Well first of all I’m glad you’re committed to making it work. Once you’ve made your way through the reading, it gets better.
There’s always room for improvement and speaking of that be sure you also add your suggestions to the SBI! forums in the appropriate section. One thing I can say about SiteSell is that they listen to the feedback of their customers and deliver as best they can.
If you want to talk restrictions, let’s go back to 2000 when SBI! first launched when you couldn’t upload PDFs, add javascript or upload your own HTML. You HAD to use those templates they provided. In fact, it’s a big reason why I waited until 2005 to buy it. And you think that Block builder is basic now. Whew!! You should have seen it before. LOL So putting things into perspective, SiteSell has improved the system IMMENSELY because of customer feedback and what’s even more amazing is with the addition of the enhanced MailOut manager, sitemap creation and submission services, favicon creator, and all these newer tools, the price has always stayed the same.
So yes, there is definite room for improvement with the tools and I agree with you on a lot of that, but they have come a looooooooooooooong way!!
Hopefully the addition of better CSS templates is next on the list. I think that’s a very common request among customers so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Hang in there, Andy!
I stand by my assessments. It was not my intent to give a complete, balanced assessment of SBI. I agree I didn’t talk about all the good things of SBI. They certainly out-weight any current issues.
It’s good to here there have been significant improvements. I look forward to seeing more.
Saikat, I’m not talking about a home page popup. I see popups as essential to the site I am building. I am building a religious site and reference Bible verses many times on all my pages. I don’t want to include all that text. All I want to do is have a simple popup when one mouses over or clicks on a reference. Can’t do it with BB.
All I can do now is include the text or present a page with the heading but without navigation bars. Later I will have to switch to coding the popups and uploading my pages. All because of this simple thing. It’s as if someone thinks popups are a bad thing. I think they are perfect for my site’s needs.
Because of this and other BB limitations I am certain I will have to switch to coding my own pages and uploading before long. ***This is not what I expected when signing on. I definitely was lead to believe otherwise. *** The lack of scripting was a big surprise too. When I do this, will I be able to analyze my pages?? I’ll probably use DreamWeaver.
Lisa, the question I will be looking to answer is that when I switch to Dreamweaver will I be getting $299/yr worth of benefits from SBI?
I keep looking for a better solutions.
Lisa, I am very glad to have found your 2createaWebsite site.
Andy
Andy, when you switch to Dreamweaver you still have access to all the SBI! tools, it’s really just another way of updating your site instead of using the block by block builder. You’ll total control over your entire layout and there will be no template limitations like you have now. Everything else is still the same.
Dear Andy,
I wished you’d have actively participated in the SBI forums definitely you’d have got your answer.
SBI system is pretty robust to support DHTML and JAVA scripts. Yes, I agree that the B&B dont really support that. But you can upload your own HTML if you want those.
Refer this website test page I built…see the scrolling images or the interactive map and hover the mouse on them. I think you are looking at something similar. This is 100% SBI website. http://www.national-park-lodge-guide.com/index1.html, also click on the ‘home’ page to see how this is looking in the present BB. I’m sure now you’ll get your answer.
Remember SBI is not a web designing tool or software but a collection of system tools and a systemaic education for your overall website success.
I’m experiementing with lot of DHML scipts and so far all have been successful on SBI system.
Best wishes,
Saikat
I own an SBI site and have just now gotten my home page together. SBI is not for anyone who wants a fast-cheap-and-easy way to make money. Those who complain about the cost, time involved, and work needed to put up a site are great for us SBIers; it keeps the slackers out of the top rankings, leaving more room for us. Generally those who claim something is a scam without even having had any experiences with it are not worth the time to argue with. I’ve also had problems with the quality of the reading material. I think my problem is that the material is dumbed down so that most people can get a site up and going. For me this was like trying to walk through quick sand. Additionally, there is so much of it and it’s so spread out that it takes time to find something that you remember seeing but can’t remember where. Copying is out of the question; it would take cases of paper and rivers of ink to hard copy that massive amount of information. All in all it is worth the headaches. I’m learning and growing from the experience and anything can be accomplished with perseverance.
JR,
Such a great point about people who’ve never bought it calling it a scam. I don’t have a problem with customers or former customers criticizing SBI! because they have experienced the product. Plus, it’s good for the SiteSell team to get this kind of feedback so they can continue to improve.
My pet peeve is those who judge it solely based on the price. Sure, you can get a TON of the tools SBI! offers for free and use a cheaper host. But are you going to get the education? No. Are you going to get all the tools in one place? No. Are you going to get the support of the SBI! forum community where dozens of successful SBIers are there to help out? No.
Sites don’t just become successful because you launch them. If that was the case then I would tell everyone to go to a cheap host. But everyone learns differently and some people need the kind of environment SBI! provides. Other people can do just fine with a cheap web host.
You need to learn how to market and promote a site. No cheap host is going to give you specific guidance on this. If you want to be an affiliate, you need to learn how to write effectively — a skill highly underrated out here and SBI!l offers help with that.
Bottom line… I wouldn’t continue to pay $300 per year for something if I didn’t think it was worth it.
The amount of reading is probably the most common complaint and I agree it can be a bit cumbersome, especially if you’re brand new to all this. But at the same point, it is all information you need to learn to become successful. Perhaps maybe there’s a better way of breaking it down and splitting it up. I know the SiteSell team is always working on ways to re-organize and streamline the Action Guide.
Great post, JR.
Hi,
For me it is not clear if i must host my sites with SBI.
I have already 2 dedicated servers, so i want to use SBI as a tool and upload the pages to my servers.
I don’t know for sure but is SBI only working in combination with their own hosting facilities?
thnx,
Andre
Saikat,
Yes, that’s exactly what I would like to do with the mouse-over. Thanks. But I’m not going to develop my site outside of BB and upload for quite awhile. I’ll use BB to get most of my content done first. And then approach the popups as an enhancement.
Cheers!
Andy
Hi Lisa,
i just wants to thank you for all the information you provide and the honest feed back . I’ve always been in the food business and then I got into Sales which has been really tough !! I’ve always had a passion for cooking and I do miss it but opening a Restaurant is really risky these days.
So about two months ago, I started looking online maybe to open an Online Business. What I found were a bunch of SCAMS!! Then one day I came across your Website on Youtube and from that day I’ve been on your website quite frequently !! I’ve started to get my old recipes together and at the same time have researched what’s new and popular. I work 55 hours a week at my regular job and have put about 10 to 15 hours a week for my website material !!
When you’re opening your own business, THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS !!! If you look at every successful Business there is alot of hard work involved . The beauty of opening an Online Business is that you are your OWN BOSS, and when you start making alot of money you CAN MOVE ANYWHERE YOU WANT !
I have not purchased Site build it but, it seems to be the Real Deal . I’m gathering alot of information about building a website and to be quite honest it is really intimidating for someone with no computer knowledge like me . If there’s anyway you can contact me that would really be appreciated !!! Thanks
Lisa,
A friend of mine puts out an online magazine through blogspot (humormillmag.blogspot.com). He has asked me to help him generate more traffic and advertising for him. I’m wondering whether we should work with what he’s got on blogspot or if using SBI offers some advantages.
Hi BK,
Well you wouldn’t be able to use your blogspot blog with SBI! you’d have to start over from scratch with a website.
Hi Lisa,
I have read most of the comments above and agree that SBI is a tool with much value. I have started a site photowa.com.au which showcases some of the pictures I have taken around Western Australia. My question is, for a hobby based site with a specific limited audience, is the $299 worth the investment. If you could take a quick peek and offer your advice.
Regards and thanks for the article
Rich
Hi Lisa,
My mom and I are going traveling for two years starting this coming june. Some of the places we are going to are east and north Africa, India, the Middle East(the safer parts) and Europe. We were thinking of creating a site which links local, indigenous artisans and their work to buyers. Another idea we had was to blog our journey, but obviously SBI! isn’t a blogging site.We have enough money to create a site right now, and to fund half our trip. Would you recommend SBI! for the first site? What are some good blogger sites we could use, too?
Thanks a bunch!
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi all
Does this work with Mac?
Thanks
Shane
Sure does. Everything is run online from http://login.sitesell.com so your computer type doesn’t matter.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
i am planning to bulid a website….i am looking for a company to host my site…please help regarding this.
Lisa,
I find your website extremely helpful and motivating. The information you provide is clear and to the point. Every time I search the web for and answer I find myself returning to your site.
Now I have 2 questions regarding SBI. Is it possible to optimize your site for both English and Spanish? I live in Argentina, and English is my second language. I would like to display the site in both languages. And secondely, would that count as one or two domains?
Thanks for your help!
hello lisa,
I want to find out if SBI can build a news blog website, similar to digg.com or others. Does SBI only use for content static websites or is there some dynamism in the sites it can build.
Thanks
Hi Nick
It’s really best for content sites. Not dynamic.
thanks much
do you have any idea what software is good to create like a news blog site. apart from wordpress
Hi Lisa
I tried SBI for a month then canned it.
But it has many, many strengths. The main one being the focus on internet marketing. Building keyword focused content.
I learnt more about internet marketing there than anywhere else on the net.
But.
$299 a year ongoing for each site is high, very high.
The niche discovery software is clunky and confusing and so is the site building software
Even worse – Readers outside USA and UK take note.
SBI only supports .com and .co.uk and .net etc.
It does not permit other country domains. So if you are looking for a local business site (which SBI promotes itself as) outside USA or UK – forget it.
It is commercial suicide to use .com for a local business in virtually every country. Go searching and you will see.
Cheers
Tim
Dear Lisa:
I’m with Tim. Entirely. I too learned so much about building keyword focused content and internet marketing but their softare set up and instruction manual really sucks. Many, many links did not work, it was put together clumsily and while I’m no slouch in the computer area, I would never recommend SBI to anyone. It was awful. I gave it 100’s of hours and finally threw in the white towel. It was expensive, and only at the end of signing up did I find that in the U.S. the price is not $299, but more, due to conversion rate from the Canadian dollar. God bless everyone who was able to make it work. I’m not one of them.
Sorry Tim and Kathi. As I’ve always said, it’s not for everyone but there are a lot of success stories out there too. That’s why I encourage people to get started as soon as they buy it and take advantage of that 30 day money back guarantee if needed. Well I hope you both have found something that works for you.
Thank you Lisa. And I just love your website. I check it nearly everyday. You are such an amazing teacher. I wish you would design a program like SBI and teach it in your own way. I’d be signing up immediately! Keep up the good work.
Love,
Kathi
I wrote here in Jan. and have enjoyed visiting here off and on since then. I have also did some research on the cost of setting up a GOOD web site without SBI. On the low side it’s more than $700. If you want a quality site it will put you back into the tens of thousands (this is according to the posters on web developer forums and blogs). I will post some sites that give examples of the information I have came across during my research (if that’s OK). If this is against the rules here then I’m sorry and you can remove the links.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-REAL-Cost-of-Building-and-Maintaining-a-
Commercial-Website&id=92574
http://www.avantiwebdesign.com/website-costs.htm
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4811810_cost-building-commercial-website.html
http://www.handzon.com/sitemaker_pricing.html
This last one is the pricing of the various services offered by a LOW COST hosting company. The “Plus” package is over $300 and doesn’t come close to what SBI offers.
I concur with JR’s remarks. I was quoted from 7K-15K for an idea that I have. I figure that whether I use SiteBuildIt in its entirety or not, spending $300 just for the INFO that it gives will make it very worthwhile. I took a $99 web-site building class on-line from my local community college – the program is offered nationwide thru cc’s and is called Ed2Go. It gave me a fabulous basic understanding of HTML and websites. I intend to take the next course which deals with Cascading Style Sheets, whatever they are, lol. ~~~ JR, I am also remembering that you can have an SBI professional do your website for you for increments of about $1500 up to under $4000, which seems like a deal.
My reason for all this searching is that I like SBI,
but I don’t want the typical SBI image. It’s great for a lot of small businesses, but I think I need something a little more than that. ~~~ Lisa, you’ve done a great job of growing beyond that, though your beginning website is still quite fine. How do you advise a new SBI’er to use SBI, but get less of a traditional SBI presentation?
P.S. Also, Hewlitt-Packard (HP) offers free courses on-line; all you have to do is Google something like “HP” and “courses”. I think if someone just wants areally basic understanding of HTML, this might do it. I’m not sure how hugely great it is, but for free, it probably will be positive because it will at least be informative.
It’s about a 6-week course and you need to do homework, which isn’t a bad thing!, plus there is online interaction with an instructor….so, it’s the real deal.
Hi Lisa! I would like to build a website in French with SBI!, do you think it is possible?
Have you read this article on SBI?
Lester, I’ve read tons of articles like this about SBI!. Let’s face it. People who have created highly successful sites with cheaper web hosting of course are going to tell you that you don’t need SBI! because they clearly became successful without it. But I still believe some people need it based on how they learn or need to learn. Some people do need the hand-holding and value the tools and advice SBI! has. Other people can do just fine without it. So I think it really boils down to what is important to you.
If saving money and learning a lot more technical knowledge about building and marketing sites is what you want to do then by all means use a standard web host. But if you would prefer to learn in a more structured way, have access to all the tools you need and don’t mind paying extra then go with SBI!.
And I totally understand the author’s frustrations because most of the reviews of SBI! are overwhelmingly positive (like mine) and there is an affiliate commission tied behind it (like mine). I never try to hide the fact that I am an affiliate for SBI! but I also own the product and know the value. I am cheap and certainly wouldn’t keep paying $300 every year if I didn’t think it was valuable. lol
And as far as “no real reviews” (according to the author), I hope this author watched my last video where I talked about the improvements SBI! needs to make (allow PHP, get updated templates, etc.) SBI! is far from perfect or the best solution for everyone. But it is the best for a lot of people. You can’t ignore
http://case-studies.sitesell.com
$300 a site a year when you can do the same thing for a lot, lot less, isn’t a scam? Okay, so it’s just way overpriced.
A lot less, yes, but without the guidance. If what you’ve done works for you that’s awesome. Again, it’s all about what you value and some people value the help and step-by-step approach. I value everyone’s opinion but until you use it and actually understand what you’re getting for the price then you should be careful about judging. I don’t know any $5 hosts that give you a ready-made mailing list manager, complete with autoresponders and reports for your mailings. (AWeber charges $19/month for that service alone) SBI! is $25/month and gives you so much more. If you look at SBI! as a $300 web host then, yes it is overpriced but when you break it down to what you’re getting, calling it a web host is an insult.
Good answer, Lisa. You’ve made it even clearer.
How about an autoresponder you host yourself as good if not better than aweber with reports and multimedia? No more monthly fees.
Guidance is free if you go to the right people. Do I need to list them?
Want personal guidance? It’s less than 300 a year.
How about a $8 reseller account?
What else?
If it works for you, keep working it. But does it work because it works or because you sell to noobs?
You got it, Wayne. My audience is mostly first-time website builders, many of them who want to deal with as little technical work as possible. Based on my experience with talking and mentoring beginners, I highly doubt most of them would want to go through the work of building their own secure autoresponder. So a big part of the fee is having all the tools in one place without having to deal with coding/uploading scripts, etc.
I was talking to a lady this afternoon who went the cheaper route with her first 3 websites. The first 2 she tried niche sites (didn’t cost her but $6/month to host both of the sites). The 3rd time she tried Blogger (free). None of her sites made money because she admitted she didn’t take the time to learn about marketing. Six months ago she bought SBI!. She now makes money with AdSense and Clickbank and she credits the success to having more of a structured learning environment vs. signing up with a $6 host and being left on her own.
Did she HAVE to use SBI! to get that kind of success? Of course not and I would never say it’s the only option. But the point was that she was the type of person that likes to have structured learning so she valued SBI!’s guidance and having access to the TNT Headquarters, keyword research tools, SE ranking reports, tutorials, form builders (with CAPTCHA), link trackers, etc. all under one roof. This worked for HER. This is not going to be everyone’s story. So as I said early, it all comes down to what you value.
If you know you can learn everything on your own and don’t feel you need the “coach in your ear” approach, then SBI! would be of little value to you. But some people need a different type of guidance so they find value in the SBI! system.
I’m never going to be able to convince someone like yourself, who didn’t need SBI!, that this product is a great value. And I totally understand where you’re coming from. But I cannot ignore the numerous people on my forum who rave about it (without affiliate links, I might add) and realize the value of it because it helped them overcome some technical barriers they had with the “do-it-yourself” approach.
I have a friend who owns SBI! and I was explaining to her what she would have had to do to get a contact form with CAPTCHA on her site if she didn’t have SBI!. She wanted no part of my explanation. lol She said if she didn’t have SBI! then she just wouldn’t have a CAPTCHA form. So it’s little things like that that some people value.
I bet you can probably create secure CAPTCHA forms yourself or don’t mind googling and learning how. However there are some people who would rather not have to deal with these technical details and focus on building their content. That’s sort of what SBI! does. It does things like create your XML sitemaps, builds your contact forms with CAPTCHA, setups and manages your mailing list so you can focus on building content.
Again… SBI! is NOT for everyone but many people value it. Especially newbies who tried the DIY method and became overwhelmed.
Let me chime in. Wayne, I just bought SBI! 8 days ago so my site isn’t up yet. I almost didn’t buy it because I read a lot of posts like yours from skeptics who had created successful sites without something like sbi. I’ve learned one thing. I have to see for myself. I kept getting influenced by people who didn’t own it and I quickly learned they are only making assumptions based on the price. And usually they are programmers/coders who are “smarter than thou” and think everyone can pick up things as easy as they can. (No offense if that’s you)
As lisa said, some of us do value having a system of tools right under our noses without having to go to google to figure out everything from creating google sitemaps to providing mailing managers. How many $3 hosts give you instructions on how to do that… much less provide the tools for you.
I’ve tried godaddy, bluehost, hostgator and all the other cheap hosts out there and I was lost. I guess I’m not as smart as you. But now that I have SBI! I see what I missing… guidance! And I absolutely love their forums. And you know what… I’m kind of glad I went to the cheaper hosts first because now that I see what I get with SBI! I see why it’s a great value. I probably would have thought it was a scam too and judged it by the price.
And as far as building an autoresponder myself…. yeah right. No thank you and I probably speak for a lot of noobs on that one. I am not turned off by lisa’s recommendation and we all know she’s an affiliate. She doesn’t try to hide it. She even said it’s not for everyone and I agree. It isn’t for everyone. But so far it seems to be for me. And if it’s not guess what…. I’ll just ask for a refund.
And $25/month is not a lot to ask for investing in an online business. Sure, you learned how to do it for much less. Good for you. And lisa I have no idea what a CAPTCHA is or if I need it so I hope sbi helps me with that as you said it does!!! lol I’m still on day 3 of the action guide and haven’t gotten to CAPTCHA yet.
And I’m so sick and tired of the “you-can-get-everything-SBI-provides-for-cheap” argument. It’s getting old. We all know that if you want to learn how to code/program you can do almost anything you want to out here… and much of it for free! But I could care less about creating my own autoresponder. Why do that when I can buy a system that has one and a bunch of other stuff????? I love Site Central ’cause all my tools are there. I don’t mind paying for convenience.
One thing about SBI! is the amount of reading can get overwhelming but I want to learn the right way this time so I’ll deal with it.
I want to say one last thing Wayne. Building a successful site is not just about “putting up a site”. It’s about learning how to write, promote and connect with your audience. There are a lot of people who can code their a## off but cannot write or market to save their life. And that’s what you really need to learn how to do if you want to make money. I wanted the complete package. I was horrible at the marketing part so that’s why I got sbi.
And congrats to you for being able to do it without site build it. I wish you much more success but don’t poo-poo on those of us who value it.
And lisa congrats on your sbi site. I see your alexa rank is now 85,000. Way to go. I’m going to be like you one day.
I appreciate your honesty and admitting sbi is not for everyone.
I’ve been following this discussion and it’s very interesting. I have to be honest. I felt a lot like Wayne regarding SBI and when I saw Lisa’s article I rolled my eyes. But I am a programmer. I can do almost anything I want with code and probably wouldn’t find the value in SBI! because I can already do that stuff.
But just because I can code doesn’t mean I’m good at making money online. Being able to put up a site does not guarantee it will make money so what Lisa and the others are saying is you are getting advice in all areas and have many of the tools you’d have to otherwise get elsewhere.
Could you get this for free online? Sure but it comes down to a matter of what you value as lisa said. Wayne, you don’t value the tools because you would rather do that on your own and save the dough. Same here. But many people like JT above don’t want to fool with PHP scripts and installing CAPTCHA. For us, it’s a piece of cake. But for some people they’d rather pay to have it done. Essentially that’s what you’re doing with SBI!. You’re paying (outsourcing) for the technical pieces while you can focus on content and marketing. I see that now. Would I buy SBI? Probably not. I honestly don’t see the value based on my needs and experience. I need help with the traffic piece but would rather learn on my own. But that’s just me.
I really admire you Lisa for not letting the anti sbi comments get to you. Most people would get defensive but seeing how you are handling things here is actually what made me stop and read what you had to say. Very refreshing to see this for a change.
Most of the people who trash SBI are programmers who’ve never owned it. They assume it’s a $300 template builder when it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than that. Lisa’s comment above (#116) is probably one of the best explanations I’ve read and really makes it clear what you’re getting for your money. (Especially the example about using CAPTCHA).
And who cares if she’s an affiliate? She uses the product, her site makes money (probably more than most people bashing sbi) and she’s honest about it not being for everyone. I never understand these people who go around bashing sbi. It’s one thing if you’ve used it but don’t just make assumptions when you don’t have all the facts. We all learn in different ways and place value on different things. Who the hell wants to sit and create their own autoresponder?????? Not me!!
I’m sick of all these know-it-all programmers trying to expose people and slam these site builders when they have no idea what it’s really about. I’d love to know what their income is compared to some of the sbi customers.
And BJ, do you know why Lisa doesn’t ever get defensive? She doesn’t have to. She has nothing to defend and she has class.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Lisa,
i’ve been researching SBI the last few weeks and i’ve even talked to an SBI advisor but i would like your opinion on this.
My plan is to build an e-commerce store selling health products. i don’t mind the tortoise approach i have time to do this.
The thing is from what i’ve read they want you to have a niche market/product (eg vintage 1919 car parts, pics from the top of Mt Everest,how to wrestle alligators ..you get my point!) which i can understand because it means less competition, it’s just stuff i could care less about and i’m stubborn on what i want to sell. Would going through with SBI be worth it for me. I don’t want to be told what to sell. I have no problem writing content on my products to increase traffic, it’s just not a niche market and i personally see potential in it.
I need a viable system to teach me the basics but also setup an online store..will SBI be good for this??
thanks
Hi A.G.
I actually think you can develop a niche website based on your idea. You say you will be selling health products. Do you also have information on these products that you can share? So let’s say your store is selling herbal teas. You could build content-rich articles on the healthy benefits different herbal teas so you can draw in search engine traffic from keywords people may be searching for. You will be able to use Brainstorm It! to see what kinds of searches are done in your niche to help give you ideas.
So when you think about the products you will be selling, think of potential topics you can discuss that relate to what you are offering. Let’s say you were selling meditation DVD’s. You could create meditation-advice.com (just an example) and build helpful articles about how to meditate, relax, etc. Once you draw in traffic from your content, you will also be building potential customers for your store.
So I think it could work but I would highly suggest you brainstorm on a niche to write about rather than just trying to open a stand-alone store.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
thanks Lisa,
I should have been more specific i want to sell nutritional supplements (protein powders,vitamins etc…) I have a lot of experience using a lot of these kinds of products and i have no problem writing content/ articles on exercising, supplements to drive traffic to my site.
Yet, my goal isn’t to be an author, i’m trying to create a profitable online business.
My problem is I have no experience with building sites and no knowledge how to drive traffic to it.
So my question to you is do you think SBI is a viable method to use for me to be successful?
Do they have the software to build an e-commerce site (shopping cart, payment methods, etc…)?
I understand what you’re saying about not wanting to be an author, but whether you use SBI! or not, it is still best to take the approach I described above. Store sites are so much more challenging when it comes to building traffic. It’s critical you implement the niche strategy.
SBI! used to have a product called Store Build It! that you could buy as an add-on. It has been discontinued so they no longer have e-commerce systems. You can integrate PayPal into your site and there are instructions on that but they do not have any shopping cart systems you can add-on like they used to.
This is always a tough question because I think SBI! is great for the education you will get on marketing your site, but you may not get what you want when it comes to integrating a shopping cart… unless you want to keep it simple and use PayPal.
You might want to call their support line and speak to Judd. He can give you more specific advice as I am not as familiar with the shopping cart solutions since I don’t have a store on my site.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Lisa,
I have a few more questions..
1) who legally owns the website once its created?
2) Do you have to give a percentage of your sales to anybody connected to SBI?
3) Are you obligated to promote SBI on your website?
4) I read something in the forums about someone inquiring who their team leader was? what’s that about?
smells like some sort of hierarchy, is SBI some sort of multi-level organization?
I’m just looking for tools to help build a succesful INDEPENDENT online business , I don’t want to be tied or connected in an AMWAY like fashion to something where i have to recruit people under me. Is that what SBI is about???
1. You own the domain. It is in your name so even if you decide to cancel SBI! you can take your domain wherever you’d like.
2. No. SBI! acts just like any other web host in that respect. Just like if you were to go to GoDaddy and host your site you wouldn’t have to give them any of your revenue. Same with SBI!.
3. Not at all. It’s your choice whether or not you want to join the affiliate program.
4. The team lead was referring to the affiliate program. Again you can choose whether or not you want to be involved or not. So let’s say you joined the affiliate program through my link. Any time you referred someone to SBI! then I would get a commission because I am your team lead.
I repeat. You are never obligated to promote SBI!. Their affiliate program is just like any other one where you earn a commission if you get someone to buy it. But if you choose not to promote it then that’s up to you and you are not going to be hassled. The affiliate program is completely separate from the Site Build It! process.
I am an affiliate and I never even speak to my team lead. Nor is it MLM where you have to recruit people to recruit people. It’s mainly just an accounting term so everyone gets proper credit.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Well Lisa i appreciate your prompt and professional responses.
Overall, do you think SBI would work for me?
To summarize my goal is to sell supplements and build my own business through sales and revenue through advertising. If i have to write content to bring in traffic i will do that in order to maximize my product sales and advertising revenues. But as i said before i have no intentions of being a blogger or getting into the whole facebook/twitter/myspace aspect of the internet.
I’m looking at it strictly as a tool to ultimately build a very profitable business .
What do you think?
Let’s put it like this. SBI! will work for almost any ecommerce site if YOU follow their advice and guidance. So short answer, yes. Long answer… Just be mindful of the challenges I mentioned with promoting an online store whether you use SBI! or not.
SBI! is going to give you the help and guidance you need. It’s going to be up to you to follow through and use your own creativity when it comes to marketing. SBI! is not just going to market your site for you. My biggest concern with anyone who wants to create an online store is developing traffic. It is going to be more challenging than the average affiliate site due to how people surf the web and how the search engines rank pages.
So developing content around your niche is going to be KEY. If you do that well and market your site then you can succeed. And you should also be open to even spending money on advertising. It’s not a necessity but is always an option. You don’t have to use facbook, myspace and twitter but you are going to have to find relevant places to market your store. SBI! will provide help and give suggestions. I would never say you will definitely succeed or you will definitely fail.
But I can say it is a good option if you go into understanding what I just explained. This is about as best I can do without having my own experience with promoting an online store website. If you want to see an example of an SBI! site with a store, see http://www.jugglenow.com
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
thanks for your e-time, Lisa..you’ve been helpful
Hi Lisa,
I am a nooby myself and I am considering investing in SBI. I have to say though that although you are an affiliate etc.. I do believe you are impartial and really am happy that I found your site. Do you know of any other types of systems, etc that offer similar services then SBI. I want to create an online business and have spent so much time researching, so far your site helps me out the most. Also, Do I have to stick with SBI every year, or just sign up for one and then once I learned it all I can migrate to a cheaper host?
Thank you!
Danny
Hi Danny,
SBI! is the only system I’ve really tried and researched. There are others out there like XSitePro and Wealthy Affiliate but I don’t know much about them.
To answer your 2nd question, you do not have to stick with them. You can move your domain to another host.
Wow, you must be one of the top SBI affiliates out there! You have great stuffs about SBI. I first saw you on a YouTube video about SBI. And yeah, I’ve read those comments saying SBI is a scam. I was thinking if these people have actually tried it or they just want to mock SBI because they can’t afford it or something. lol. For a moment there I had a second thought. But yeah, when I saw your vid and sites, I was sure that SBI has a great service and from now on, I’ll promote it more. Well yeh, I’m also a SiteSell affiliate and would love to get one soon when I can afford it. Oh well. Just dropping by here to say thanks for all the insights and stuffs. I’ve been visiting your sites and they’re awesome! :]
Can you tell me how its autoresponder like? What’s your experience with it? I mean, is it an AR like aweber where you can follow up and create series of messages or it’s just an e-zine published monthly? Just wondering.
Toodles,
Feiyie
The reason SBI! gets so much negative feedback from people (and it’s usually NON customers) is that people look at the price and assume it’s a $300/year GoDaddy-like host with a few templates. If that’s all it was then I would agree it’s a rip off/scam. As I explained above it’s much more than that.
I don’t have a problem with customers or ex-customers saying negative things about SBI!, but I do have a problem with people making assumptions and attempting to expose SBI! when they don’t have all the facts about what you really get for your money.
As far as your question, you can create series of messages with the autoresponder or you can create a monthly/weekly newsletter. Now you don’t get the demographic segmenting like you get with AWeber but you do get the basic mailout and autoresponder features with reports on your open-rate, unsubscribes, etc.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Lisa,
i notice that a lot of SBI sites have dashes in between their domain name words (best-childrens-books.com).
why is that? it looks a bit cheesy…
is that to optimize search engine rankings or something?
Also have they updated their templates? because a lot of the websites look very basic and amateurish. I’m not sure if they would be effective for an e-commerce site
Yeah, I’m pretty sure these are non customers and they don’t know it’s actually cheaper because SBI already provides all the tools and stuffs. I mean, there are people who still needs other certain tools to build a successful online business. Am I right? And yes, one of the stuffs you mentioned is that other webhosts only build/ host your site while SBI helps you build a business.
Oh well, thanks very much for the answer. Because let’s say I get a webhost for like $7 a month plus $19.95 for aWeber, the whole price is more than $300 per year. SBI is really the best. The moment I have that $300, I’ll probably get one.
Toodles.
Hi a.g.
That is what SBI! suggests to help the search engines read your domain name and pick up your targeted keywords. That was something that was highly recommended a few years ago for search engine optimization, but it’s not really as much of a necessity now. So you do not have to choose a hyphenated domain if you don’t want to.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hey Lisa,
i was reading some inof about marketing… specifically concerning link tracking and link cloaking. Does SBI also offer these as part of their suite of tools?
There is a tool called Link Tracker and it allows you to setup tracking links. It comes in handy when linking to affiliate sites. So for example
flat-stomach-exercises.com/truth redirects to one of my affiliate links and I can track the clicks.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Lisa,
Looking back to your earlier days with SBI, is there anything you would have done differently? Any tips , suggestions for someone considering using it?
–thx
Take your time and FOLLOW the Action Guide. Be prepared. There is going to be a lot of reading and you are going to be tempted to skip through the guide because you may think you already have an idea. Resist the temptation.
The people I know who are doing well with SBI! are the ones who took their time. The ones who rushed through are still at square one. It’s going to be so tempting to just get your site up but if you ignore the brainstorming and preliminary advice you could make some mistakes. And a big chunk of the SBI! fee is that preliminary/brainstorming help.
Lisa and actually AG, thanks for your questions and comments here, I have many similar questions that AG has already asked so I am happy to know so much already. I have a question, does sitesell actually help one to learn how to PROPERLY create a website and not just for search engine purposes but actually create a website that will be appealing to your end users? the reason i ask is although I see at this point a lot of value with Sitesell, I noticed that their sites don’t look to good at all, and I personally am interested in investing in some form of education where at the end, I will not only know the basics of website building but also how to effectively and efficiently create an online business.
Danny, if I had one suggestion for improvement with SBI! it’s those darn templates. I couldn’t agree more but the latest SBI! Express issue announced the unveiling of new, up-to-date 3-column templates (in a couple of months) with CSS to help people build a more modern-looking website without having to learn how to code.
You don’t have to go with those templates they provide. As you can see by my site, http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com, I have my own custom design which I did from scratch in Dreamweaver. But to answer your question, there is not a lot of advice on coding/programming. You either have to use the templates or go on your own as I did. But the good news is those 3 column templates are on the way for those who do not want to design their own custom templates as I did.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
is the action guide free?? I just googled it and there it was with all 10 days available to look through…
I’m confused… if it’s available free then what is the $300 dollars for???
All the tools I mentioned above. The action guide is the instruction manual that helps you use the tools and guides you how to build your site, but you can actually preview it here http://actionguide.sitesell.com
i dont belive you !
Hi Lisa!
You are an awesome teacher and your “2createawebsite” site is full of useful information. That was how I originally found out about SBI. I’m considering purchasing the program but I’m a little confused. I thought that the $299 was for the purchase of a system where multiple sites could be created. But the more that I read about SBI, it appears that the $299 is the cost per site? If you have 3 site ideas, would that cost $900?
Thanks Lisa!
Yes, it is for only one site.
Lisa,
I first heard about SBI through your website. I started a small home based gift basket business. I want to put up a website showing my designs. I’m going to need a shopping cart along with paypal for my online store. Do think SBI isthe right program for me. I’m a beginner at this and will need someone to hold my hand through the process of setting up my website.
Thanks for your help,
Brenda
P.S. I love your website.
Lisa:
Finally, a balanced presentation on an idea!
Not often that one can find a mature and respectful approach like yours.
I’m impressed with how you have given me so much information on SBI. Wish I would have found your info. at a much earlier date.
I’m closing in on SBI.
Thanks,
Chuck
I’m brand new to this and was wondering if sitebuildit! is 300$ per site does that basically mean I would be paying for just one site?If so,how many other sites would sitebuildit! host for me and how much would it cost for the hosting if I made them/or bought them from a webmaster and just needed the tools?lets say I had ten sites some e-commerce and some on different types of content all linked togethor how much would sitebuildit! charge to host my sites,and how much would it cost every time I added a new site that sitebuildit! did not build?
Hi red,
SBI! is $299 per site. But if you had other sites not hosted with SBI! you could definitely link them to your SBI! website and apply what you learned to these sites. Some people buy SBI! for one site and then use the brainstorming tools and other advice for their non SBI! sites.
This last post got me to thinking about I wanted to discuss with you.
I paid $363.26 after the U.S. conversion from Canadian funds, (which ticked me off initially). Later, I got to thinking that if I wanted to start another site… It’s going to cost me $726.52!
If I’m not making at least that much in profits from these sites I won’t be able to use SBI for more than the one site.
I was wondering, why couldn’t they charge less per year for those who have already used the tools and services during the initial start-up…a sort of “maintenance fee”.
I’m seriously thinking of taking my next website and hosting it elsewhere, which frankly, I would rather not have to do.
Oh well…just a thought. Thanks for letting me bend your ear,
JR
makes no sence to me ,$300.00 dosent seem to be a lotof money if your in the business to make money. im sure alot off guys have spent more than that on a girl and not got what they heard others had got. if you research the prod. you like what you find,you pay for it. dont like it dont pay,prettysimple?
Exactamundo, Robert. Some people look at SBI! as an overpriced GoDaddy. If you look at it like that (which is wrong) then yes, it is waaaaay overpriced. But as I always say, comparing SBI! to a $5/month web host is an insult to both the product and SiteSell.
If you want a cheap host and don’t mind the DIY (do it yourself) method, by all means go with GoDaddy. But if you want a system of tools and the training to learn how to build a long-term e-business then $300/yr is not a lot to invest in a small business. Imagine trying to start an offline business for that amount of money? So it’s all about perspective and understanding what you are really getting when you pay for it.
A lot of people coming here to complain are people who have bought into the “mini site system” which is where you create a bunch of mini websites and/or blogs and make money by mastering SEO, etc. That’s certainly an option, but not a business model I am particularly interested in for long-term success. But if that works for people then that’s great!
I agree with robert. Some of us piss away $300 in a week and dont even realized it until we balanced our check books or debit cards. So whats the big deal i’m getting my info & research together now that way when the time comes for me to invest in SBI i’ll be ready. AS for the product itself i think it is great, just to hire a webmaster along would kill my pocket book. One of the questions people have to ask themselves is,”what is it i’m in love with, and how can i turn this into a profit”. If your trying to create a site like someone else then it probably wouldnt work. Certainly if you love something bad enuff, then you shouldnt have a problem going through the process no matter what the price. Lets say i made $2000 yr. off my site, certainly paying $300 yr. to Sbi shouldnt be a problem, if you love what your’re doing.
Follow on Twitter: @leapbrowser
We have SbI with our reseller hosting company.
http://www.leapbrowser.net. It comes with our hosting package. But, I do not find it as easy to use as someof the others like (dare I say It) web easy 7. As far as marketing goes.
On easter 2009, (last weekend) I build http://www.different-search-engine.com with web easy (tried sbi, didn’t like it)
and by friday 4/17/09 it is #4 on both google and yahoo for the term (what else) different search engine. This is a site with no backlinks, no marketing, and no pagerank and there it sites at #4. SO i am coming to beleive that seo, in some cases will not work for every website no matter what you do, and seo for others is the ticket to the masses. No matter how much martketing sbi teaches you for some sites it will never happen.
You apparently failed to reread my previous posts. I know the value of SBI. I happen to own one. I have some ideas rolling around in my head, and was willing to discuss them with you. Instead of a discussion I get flamed the ol’ SBI way. I’ve read hundreds of posts in the SBI forum as well as on other forums. There are many people who are not making enough money to pay for the yearly renewal. If these people give any inkling of anti-SBI thinking, they are immediately reprimanded. His Holiness, Ken Evoy, went so far as to put a stop to the discussion…so much for empathy.
I ‘m happy that you and others are able to “piss away” $300 in a week. If you know someone who would do this, let me know…I’ll send him/her my email address so it can be sent to me.
Some of us are feeling the effects of lay-offs and unemployment. I work part time now, and make a little over $800 per month. My rent eats over half of this. By the end of the month I’m borrowing money from friends. I wanted to be able to at least make ends meet, so I forced myself to cough-up the $363.26. I am working the plan and building my site, and will probably renew. How dare someone make the suggestion that “paying $300 yr. to SBI shouldn’t be a problem”. Maybe not for you, but some of us are liv’n on a prayer.
All I did was to come here with some ideas as to what might help to allow some of us to afford to wait out the “hump” stage, and maybe start another site.
I was going to “think out loud” here again, but I’m not willing to be chastised again. This will be my last post here.
JR
JR, sorry you felt chastised. That certainly wasn’t my intent and I’m pretty sure the others here too. I can imagine your frustrations with this terrible economy. Feel free to send me an email if you have questions, but will understand if not. Take care.
JR,
I agree with you 100% that not everyone earns $300 from SBI website to make enough for renual.
Leapbrowzer,
The term where you are ranking 4th in Google or Yahoo has no search volume found this means that though you can rank for any crazy keyword combination but no one seraches it (except you may be these days), you have ranked for your domain name which you made with the same crazy keyword you mentioned.
Sorry for being bit straight …but I mean it!
Follow on Twitter: @leapbrowser
JR
I am lookin at our site build it that comes with our web hosting packages (for under $5 a month) at http://www.leapbrowser.net, part of http://www.leapbrowser.com. Is there something I am missing about this program. I keep hearing $300 a site. i do not see it be worth that much especially if you can’t make $300 back after using it. I tried it, didn’t like it as much as other programs so we Don’t use it, even though it comes with our packages. I know that don’t sound right but that is the way it is.
Follow on Twitter: @leapbrowser
secret
Different-search-engine.com is an experiment, that worked. the goal was to do what everyone craves, #1 page on all the major search engines, whether or not you search for the term I do not know but I know when I look for a different search engine, what other keyword are you going to use. There are 246,000,000 results for the keyword phrase, we are #4, everywhere. There are tons of websites that use the exact domain type phrase and varitations of, none of them are ranked even if this is a search that no one looks for, which I believe that to be impossible. It is a phrase that google and yahoo will not let you advetise for. That is enough for me. you may of missed the point that most seo is in your domain name. the rest is in the proper writing of your pages. Like a book. Please visit our network of sites if you wish to learn more about this vital information as we see it. Not to take awy from the subject. i am still looking at sbi and wondering WHy?
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
I strongly agree with a few other comments above about SBI and the “look” of the sites created. From the introductory info and by reviewing top 1% sites, one would think that solely the SBI tool is what was used to create the sites they brag about. But I guess after I sign up and pay, I will then find out that those great sites were created by people having additional experience in HTML or CSS or they paid a third party for creative design.
I do find that very misleading. After all, the primary reason for SBI is to develop websites – with relative ease for a newbie – sites like the tons of sites bragged about.
Even with a 30-day guarantee, I could waste an awful lot of time and work only to find I really cannot do what I saw. At a minimum, show and brag about successful sites created solely with the 2-column template software.
That’s my 7 cents. Can’t see promoting the SBI affiliate – Seems more than saturated.
Lisa, I do love your work. Just fabulous.
Having built two sites on SBI I can speak from experience. Scam is a pretty strong word and not fair to SBI. Having said that, I did not have success with SBI. I followed the action guide but it simply did not pan out for me. I did get my money’s worth in education though. I have since moved on. My advice if you are new to the web is to buy a few top rated books at Amazon about web design, SEO, and web marketing and build your website with Wordpress hosted at HostGator.
Rickie Carter’s last blog post..Attitude Magic
Follow on Twitter: @Liber8tor
Lisa… I want to do affiliate marketing and adsense… and I would like to use a lot of user generated content.
Q: DO I need a web site or could I do it with a Blog?
Thanx
You can actually do it with either. Go to my YouTube channel and watch my video on blog vs. website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq1wqtteb3I
Follow on Twitter: @Liber8tor
Thanks Lisa. If I build a Blog… can I purchase the Searchit! tool seperate? (a la carte) Any idea what just the Searchit! Tool costs? I have been reading the Affiliate Masters Course.. loaded with good information.
I am interested in building an SBI! site as a portal to my existing site. Can anyone give me a little insight as to how this works?
Thanks,
Brad
hi Lisa,i am thinking of setting up a site that advises people on why,how and where to get this product..my site won’t actually sell anything so how do i get it to generate an income and is SBI the program to start this off
Hi,
How many sites can you make with one SBI account?
Hello Lisa
Ive been wondering for some time whether to buy site build it. The price is a bit high and im not a newbie so I wont need an action guide, but I like the idea of having all the nesessary tools in front of me.
To be honest I want to check out the keyword tool mostly as I can use it for other projects aswell:) and I know that if I pay $299 year I will work harder to make sure I see a return on my investment. The same cant be said if I pay $50 year for hosting.
The only thing I cant ignore is that all the site build it websites Ive seen look so ugly. The authors seem so proud of their old school 2 column template sites and I always wonder why. The only one that looks nice is your flat stomach site. All the rest look ancient, like they were designed in the year 1990 or something.
Some people say its not about the web design its only traffic thats important, but I disagree, whats wrong with having a nicely designed site that recieves a decent amount of traffic? Its better than having a ugly looking site that recieves a decent amount of traffic. A nicely designed site looks more professional and thats how I would want my readers to view me so in that aspect a websites design is important. So I dont understand why site build its webpage builder is lacking certain features.
I also wanted to know if its hard to upload and edit your own html pages.
Follow on Twitter: @leapbrowser
whatever program you use to build your site. LOOK first at the domain name, if you want traffic of any kind. Then get social, join as many as you can. and post, post, post.
http://www.leapbrowser.com
LeapBrowser’s last blog post..Archives
Follow on Twitter: @jkyleh
I am a site build it user. I’ve built most of my sites from scratch but decided to give Site BuildIt a try. What a breeze it was. It allowed me to focus more on content than worrying about browser placement. I would highly recommend it.
Dr. J. Kyle Howard’s last blog post..Jun 7, Success Coaching – Question of the month archive
Hi Lisa and all,
I have noticed a couple of points about SBI that could be perceived as just a tad iffy, I am not trying to down grade SBI I am just pointing a couple of things out.
The sales copy puts cheap hosting down saying that it is a bad investment but I disagree because my hosting costs me $60 for a whole year which is not too cheap but a long way from $299. I do not consider myself to be an expert but I am not doing too bad with my blog it does not have a page rank yet but I built it when Google was recalculating it’s PR ranking so will not see any ranking if at all until they do that again which I am lead to believe is about every 3 months. Google should be recalculating it’s PR ranking again soon so I will have a better idea of how well it is doing quite soon. I am getting between 50-70 unique visitors a day and making a little money almost everyday from Google Adsense that I am sure will pay the cost of the site by the end of the year with domain name as well.
I have had no problems with this hosting so cannot comment on how good support is. I had hosting with Third Sphere for three years and did very badly with them and they where costing me more than SBI for p*%s poor speed and performance. Their hosting was garbage so I would not recommend them to anyone but I would recommend the hosting I am with because my blog gets an A rating when I test it with YSlow, it is fast and efficient. Just because web hosting is cheap it does not mean it’s crap but there is plenty out there and cost means nothing except to your pocket plus I must admit I spent 3 whole days researching a lot of hosting sites because I wasn’t getting ripped again if I could help it. The moral of this part of the story is take as long as you like doing your research but make sure you do it. As good old George Washington said (failure to prepare is to prepare to fail).
Another couple of points I want to make are I think I have read and listened to the whole sales pitch on SBI and I cannot find any reference as to how much hosting space you get or bandwidth. I am not saying it is not there because there is a lot of information and I might have missed it but it is not as I would expect it to be right in my face as I consider it to be important along with every other hosting service provider online.
Just one more point I would not recommend godaddy for domain names or hosting, read the small print there is way too much of it plus I feel they mislead you at every opportunity and are grossly over rated.
I am seriously considering SBI but I would like to know more about quantity of server space and bandwidth.
Could you please give me more details about the autoresponder, can I set up multiple lists, is there any limit on the number of follow ups, can I send out broadcasts, can I import lists, does it automatically provide double opt in, does it provide an easy opt out in your emails?
I wish you all the very best, God bless and much success, Gareth.
Gareth´s last blog … The creative artists creative process.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
nice
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the information you are spreading… i am basically from India.. i am new to your site and impressed well.. thanks again
i am planning to go for SBI, but few concern..
i am already having a website regarding online jobs, i bought domian name through google apps and nw i am using googls apps mail.
I am wondering if I switch to SBI the same domain what i have already, what would happen to my google apps mail id?
still i will have access to mails? or i need switch to SBI mail?
please respond if you have time…
Thanks a lot….. i really wanna switch to SBI…
Shaon,
You mentioned that you have a job site. I presume that when you have websites which are database driven and php based(mostly) then SBI is not really the place. SBI can nly support pure html pages. Blogs and forum can be hosted externally with an external hoster(SBI recommends bluehost).
So if your website is database driven where you need to store resumes and jobs then SBI is not the answer.
Hi Saikat,
Thanks for your reply. My website is a simple information website about online jobs and freelance jobs, no database driven or php.
by migrating to SBI; i am looking that if I can edit my content whenever i want and i need to have adsense and some other affiliate programs.
I need to have more visitors; please let me know if SBI would help me on these?
Shaon,
If you are thinking for a simple information based website then SBI definitely can be a good bet. But why?
No.1- This provides a fantastic tutorial on how to get the best site concept and perfect monetization. You can learn more than you think.
No.2 – I like the keyword research tool for brainstorming.
No.3 – I like the on-page SEO validation whenever u upload a page.
No.4 – There are many more…….
But what I don’t like:
No.1 – It’s over used, unattractive, yester years, narrow 2 column templates. If you don’t like this…no problem, but you must know how to upload your own templates. My website is SBI driven but I did my own template and so I help many fellow SBIers with the same (this ofcourse gives me some business).
SBI recently came out with a CSS driven 3 column template but it is yet to get many takers.
No.2 – It don’t support database and php based applications. You need to invest in external hosting to have some of the facilities like blogs, forums, auto link builders, message boards and php driven various useful marketing scripts.
No.3 – This is my personal opinion which I developed recently that there had been a cartel of old SBIers who try to impose skewed rules in the SBI forums.
The Bottom Line:
Goods are in excess of the evils in SBI…but be prepared to pay the price of simplicity.
Another important thing is that it is better that you research your propsed theme before jumping into SBI as you might understand that the theme you selected ‘jobs’ can be havily saturated and your new website has every possibility to get lost on the information highway, irrespective of being build with SBI. SBI by itself dont ensure you traffic, but it helps you to understand how to make a successful website.
I have seen in the forums that there are tons of website which dont get good traffic and the owners are in loss.
I can do some research and tell you that a new website powered by Wordpress can be a better and cheap option to start with. $299 is not a small money at least to Indian context.
If you need any more frank and fair suggestion or any help to understand better you are welcome to contact me from my website from the link with my name in this post.
lisa,
I’m thinking about investing in SBI! My passions are cooking, writing (romantica, poetry) and metaphysics. Would SBI! be the best avenue? I don’t mind a lot of reading, presistant work, and I have desire to succeed.
Thanks for any help.
Hi Summer,
In my opinion, SBI! is great for anyone who wants to generate an income from a content affiliate website and has the desire to learn using a coach-in-your-ear format. Just understand there is a LOT of reading but it’s a great option for first time website builders.
Hi Saikat,
Thank you for your time. now my concern is that what would happen to my google apps mail and google analytics if I switch to SBI?
Regards
Shaon
Shaon,
I’m not sure if I got your doubt right. SBI do have a functional autoresponder system included, which you can repoint to your own personal mail if you want to get any contact info.
About analytics you need to copy the code and insert into the tags. These will come much later…
First you need to decide on your theme and do some prior research to find if your niche is too many ‘biggie’ free, so u get some space to be on the first page.
hi lisa , i have learned and read a little about Ken Evoy way back 2004, infact i registered there and received emails from him, i think my email was redfoxxx20@yahoo.com that time. But i did not read more about ken’s sitebuildit since i was interested more in SEO, i have 2 or 3 websites ranking top but my adsense earnings did not much with the traffic.
Just this week i came across with a site talking about – increasing crt that he keeps on mentioning the word pre-selling and persuasive writing.
Yesterday i search more on pre-selling then i came across 2 websites , the website-squad.com/pre-selling.html and internet-marketing-tutor.com/artofpreselling.html.
These two people are talking about Ken evoy and SBI – i was shocked that after 5 years i will have visit and download ken evoy’s building a business tips on PDF format.
I already finished two PDF the make your words sell and my your content presell.
I’ve visited your http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com/ and indeed you are preselling and monetizing from adsense.
It’s amazing to think that after 5 years ill be reading ken evoy once again.
John Paul Paquibot´s last blog … chance to tell someone my biggest mistake
No way a scam, far from it i was a sceptic. Alot of fakers out there and Ken and his company is NO WAY one of them.
The info in SBI is free over the net but its worth Gold so buy it and build a website.
Put the effort in and if you fail, try, try again.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi,
I am planning to get in to SBI… I have norticed that they have launched new vrsion as elearning 12 week program; could you please anyone suggest on that, you experince?
I should go for normal 299$ plan or 12 weeks elearning couse 598$ (798$- 200#rebate)?
Regards
Shaon
Follow on Twitter: @Liber8tor
Now I’m really confused? What do you get in the 12 week E-learning that you don’t get in the $299 plan?
I thought for $299 you got everything you need to study and build a site?
With e-learning, it’s a total classroom-like experience. You have an instructor, sessions, homework and you get more one on one help. So your rate for success is much higher.
Hi Lisa & Co.,
I’m a (let’s say) beginner in making money with a website, even though I’m not a novice. Someone who already has a domain name and a theme (related to project management) asked me to take over the site and make money with it. My questions for you are: Could SBI help me in this endeavor? If Yes, I need to transfer that domain to SBI? and, After how many months, in average, could a website built by the SBI model start making some cash?
Thank you for your time,
Hi Adrian,
You can transfer but I cannot answer the “how many months” question because that largely depends on how well you execute and follow the guide. For some it’s a couple of months, for others it’s a year or more, and some never make anything. It all comes down to execution and how well you follow the guide. But you can definitely transfer your site to them.
Hi, i’m new to this game and was wondering if SBI was for me? I have an idea for a business but don’t no if it’s the kinda thing you can start to make a business, i know that doesn’t make much sense so could you please email me so i can talk it through with ya.Thank you
David,
England
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Liber8tor,
Yes, even I thought $299 for everything in SBI…, But recently they have launched a new version for $ 578 (after rebate) with more options and they promise the success.. and one more version is there.. above $1000 i guess.. where SBI will do everything for you, you just need to collect money.. They have the details in their home page…
Hey Lisa,
would like to know, whats your thought on this..
Hi Shaon
I can only speak on the $299 version because it’s what I have. I have not tried e-learning or the other option but I was invited on a conference call with some of the SiteSell staff before they launched e-learning and let me tell you that what they do is amazing and it seems to really be worth the price. SiteSell overdelivers in every area, so I have no doubt you’ll get what you pay for.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Liber8ton,
Please go through SBI home page and read about their new version.. you will get all the information… I think beginners should go with $ 299 plan…
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Lisa,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I have gone through many of the sample site what you have provided in your blog and many SBI success sites; but my concern is that, non of them are from India and why there is no SBI site from India? I know people in India doing good in affiliate marketing, but still there is no SBI site.
I was just wondering if there is any particular reason for that…
Are you sure about that? There are over 100,000 Site Build It! customers (that’s what Ken Evoy told me one time.) So I find it hard to believe that there are no customers from India. Just wondering what makes you think that? The sample sites are only a small percentage of their customers.
Also, unless it’s a payment processing issue, I’m not really sure where you’re from really matters. If you can create a compelling website that appeals to a large group of people (no matter their ethnic background) you can succeed.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Lisa,
I have seen many many SBI sites but non of them are from India, may be there are very less as Saikat mentioned $299 is not that little money for Indians. However I am planning to switch to SBI, I think from 2nd year onwards the fees would be $299 only for e-learning course as well.
Thank you .. Hope I will do well with SBI…
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Lisa,
A quick query…
Can I have youtube videos in SBI site? coz the nitch I am going to have required more videos.
Yes you can. I have them on mine.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your time. I am just wondering if there is any way if I can see SBI site directory, I would like to refer SBI sites on Car accessories. I hve gone through most of the sites they have given in HUNDRED examples in their e-leraning page, but couldn’t find any nitch on car or car accessories. Could you please help me on that.
Hi Shaon, try http://website.sitesell.com/results Don’t know if they have any car accessory sites, though.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Lisa,
Thanks a lot, I found 8 websites on car/automobile accessories related… I guess if we use SBI built templates, “Pwered by site bulit it” would come at the bottom otherwise it wont?
You don’t have to have that “Powered link” at the bottom. Many people opt to have that there because you earn a commission if someone buys SBI! as a result of clicking on that link. It’s part of their optional affiliate program. No matter what host you use, you can add what you want to your page.
Lisa,
What memory, hard drive, etc. would I need for SBI? The one I have may be too old and I’d have to purchase a newer one. Thanks.
SBI! is all browser-based. So it has nothing to do with your computer. Everything you need to do is online.
very informative site you have lisa.
thanks!
Hello Lisa,
I have been reading and watching your videos for about 2 months now, and I am very interested in taking the first step into SBI! I have always had a nac for computers and electronics, and I am very quick to learn new things. I already know Visual Basic, and basic HTML programming. My only drawback is, im not sure what I would want to make my site about. My biggest interest is fixing, upgrading, and building computers. Is there a large enough target audience for this to be a successful site, with pictures, videos, and step by step instructions? I already know of a few affiliate marketers I could use. Besides this idea, I really dont know what to make a site about. What is your suggestions?
~Terrence
Hi Terrence, I believe there is enough, but that’s one of the main reasons to buy SBI!. They just upgraded their brainstorming feature (v3) with new tools to help you narrow your topic and determining its potential and profitability. There are also extensive exercises that you will be taken thru to help you determine/narrow your topic even before you begin using the tools. So after going thru the brainstorming phase you may decide on a slightly different topic or to keep this one. That’ll be something you’ll have to determine and it’s part of the SBI! process.
There will always be a need for help sites on computers… especially problem-solving related ones. So it sounds like a good idea. But don’t rack your brain over it before buying SBI! because a big part of the price is the actual brainstorming process that you are asking me about now.
Follow on Twitter: @nuvision08
Hi Lisa,
Followed your blogs and youtube videos for about 2 months. Thanks for your input and information.
Finally purchased the SBI $399 special (SBI + 1 extra for additional $100) about a month ago. The “10″ day plan is really detailed and thorough. I am just on day “3″, but each day gets a little easier. I like the fact that it will not let me do certain things until I have completed certain steps. I also like the fact that you can follow the video with a printed copy. It has already caused me to rethink some ideas and websites that I thought would be great … Combine the videos, tools, forums, hosting and domain registration and the $299 is a small price to pay. I have not gotten to the actual website design, but when that time comes I am sure there will be a solution for me …
*** Roosevelt ***
Hi Lisa,
Me and my friend is planning to buy a SBI site, he is really mad about car, car accessories and anything about luxury cars, he is a regular writer for few local news paper auto editions and recently he had a tv show as well. But, he is just doesn’t know anything about online marketing and all the online stuffs. I know well about internet marketing and I am mad about internet, I am very much interested to have a SBI site on my interest i.e online entrepreneur consultant where I can promote SBI (I can see great chance for SBI in India) and few other stuffs, not really “money making opportunities on internet” (or does it fall in that?) Now we are confused where to start, whether with my online nich or car reviews? We should get normal $ 299 SBI or e-learning SBI?
This would be highly obliged if you could suggest on this.
Shaon,
Just few things for you to consider.
No.(1) If you are planning a website predominantly for the Indian consumers or market then SBI might not be the best option. As the SBI server IP address is based in Canada. So Google might not give your website a local status (Google India) or come up on top of google.co.in searches. The best would be to go for .in domains from India based hosting providers.
No.(2) If you are planning for eCommerce oriented website to sell car accessories etc. then also SBI might not be the best option to have a database driven website. You need external hosting to support this.
Research and think if your theme can be competive if you want to make this website with international appeal.
Lisa, correct me if I am wrong.
Regards,
Saikat
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Saikat,
Thanks for your suggestions; However I am not looking for car accessory e-commerce site, I am looking something like http://www.4×4offroads.com/, this is a SBI site but I guess its not SBI template. Hope I can do this with SBI as my friend can write a lots of content about car.
Regarding my online business niche, I think I can go with “Thesis” wordpress theme (I guess you will not suggest me to go for SBI as it is very competitive niche) or can you please suggest any other option, where I can promote SBI, Thesis, many other e-books and I would like to have free live training session for newbies as well.
Looking forwared for your advice
Shaon,
I saw the website you mentioned. If you see the website the webmaster is pretty advanced. He used external hosting coupled with SBI. Notice that he is having a marketplace page and also a forum page which is in the subdirectory pointed which means that he hosted this outside SBI but did a subdomain mapping. The external hositng costs about $72/year if you’re going for a two year plan. This is something for advance players.
Please dont get me wrong here. I am not discouraging you….but just that giving you my own experience.
If you dont have much knowledge or you are just starting then keep a target of at least one to two years of solid learning and research to come to this level (provided you have the knack and passion).
A Sidebar:
The website you are planning is for you or your friend? If this will be purchased by your ‘friend’ from your affiliate link.:) Please make sure that you do an offline purchase (see the SBI 5 pillar club for more details on how to do this).
Saikat´s last blog … How tomake a website-Free Web Design, Development Video Tutorial, Services,Softwares, ebooks
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Saikat,
Thanks for the information, however we are not going to have forum or market place in the beginning and not very soon. We may have only free blog in the beginning and RSS and autoresponder are already there with SBI. My friend can write a lot about car and he required daily updation as well.
Yes, I think he can buy SBI from my affiliate link, I am sorry I didn’t get that “you do an offline purchase”, could you please clarify.
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
aint got a clue about web building!
just dont want to get ripped off,not affraid of hard work etc computers are not my game just want to generate more income.
Hi you all. Is anyone interested in sharing SBI with me for $199.50. Right now they are running a special that you can get a second site for $100.00. The first is $299. I asked SBI and they will allow me to share with a friend. If interested please email me.
Thanks, Warren
Lisa, i need your help. My friend has a website that he has had for years but it hasnt taken off like he has hoped.. Its in the Adult film industry. He wants me to take over to redo his website, do you think SBI would be a good tool for uploading videos and selling dvds or would something like dreamweaver be better since his website has been up for years? I believe SBI works but i am not sure if it will work for Adult websites… what do you think?
thanks for your time lisa,
Joseph
Hi Warren,
I would be interested for this; please let me know more details like I will be getting my own login id etc…
Shaon
Shaon,
I’m trying to figure out how to respond to you without blasting out my email and number to everyone.
Hi Warren,
I am not sure if I can provide my email id here; however you can reach my website by clicking on my name above.
Hi, Warren,
Is there any news regarding SBI second site you were mentioning?
Before I posted I did not realize how hard this was going to be to split the fee. I decided it’s just too much trouble for me at the moment.
Thanks for the interest.
I have called two the three times. Customer Service can not answer my Q/As. They said someone will call me back. I just wonder if there support tech staff will be calling be back when I have a issue or problem. The product looks great, but no customer service to help you when you need it??????
I’m now a new SBI member. I’m going through their 10 day video course that will take me more like 60 days. So much to learn and research. I thought I had a great idea for a website but after going through day 1 and 2 of the course it wasn’t, that along saved me 6 months of my life.
John, try emailing them instead of phoning. You should get a respose sooner.
Lisa,
Please can you try and reach Mr Ken Evoy for me? I want to purchase SITEBUILDIT! but it is unable to process my payment. I want to find out if his site accepts mastercard payments from nigeria? If he doesn’t what do i do to get the product. The lines are not going neither is the email address. pls help me
They accept PayPal. Are you able to pay with PayPal?
Hi Lisa,
Recently found your site and have found it very informative.
In particular, I appreciate your honest answers regarding SBI. In return, I would like to purchase it through your site, but cannot see where I should do this?
Keep up the great work!
Thanks Tony. Any link on my site or blog will give me the credit or you can go to http://website.sitesell.com/order Thank you!!
How can SBI be a scam? If website hosting averages $100 per year and an auto-responder averages $200 per year, SBI seems to be quite a bargain.
But where would I find on SBI’s site that an auto-responder is really included? As soon as I find such verification, I’ll sign-up.
Jeff, I think some people use the word “scam” to describe products that they feel are overpriced. A scam is when you are misled or you pay for something and do not receive what you paid for. SBI! is neither.
I completely agree it’s a great deal but I understand not everyone shares that opinion. If you go to http://sitesell.com/tools/ and click “Trust Building Tools” you will see the Autoresponder.
I am happy with the tools available and the service at Sitesell… Site Build It is great value for your money these guys really over deliver,
In my opinion it isn’t a scam!
Fay´s last blog … Sep 16, Dora The Explorer Party One She Will Never Forget
Anybody here got a good tip on how to promote sbi? Not any luck at this moment. I really love to buy sbi but I currently don’t have the money. If you are successful in selling sitesell products. Could you share your techniques here? Thanks!
Hi JP,
The best advice I can give you is to own it and promote it using your own success. I used to be the affiliate manager for SiteSell. And when I looked at the top 25 affiliates for SiteSell, all of them owned the product. Almost everyone who did not own it had trouble promoting it. It makes sense. If you want someone to believe a $300 product is as good as you say it is, nothing better then to show it in action and use it yourself. Actually, that’s a rule of thumb for any affiliate program.
I’m on day 6 of SBI building my website. SBI offers soooo much information on how to succeed that I get overwhelmed. Hope I can complete my site by 2010. SBI has the tools to build your website but I will use Dreamweaver for mine. I have some creative ideas for my Site and so will need custom features. I’m very please with the quality of service offered. I’m now learning dreamweaver to start with the home page.
Lisa,
To quote something you said,
“In my opinion, a scam is product or service that doesn’t deliver what is promised. Or the company overcharges for the value provided.”
I am in no way stating that SBI is a scam, however I was not told that I would be SBI reliant in after the course.
Yes, SBI Provides tools, however SBI has not taught me how to build a business without using SBI.
I took the course because I thought I was going to learn how to “BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS USING THE INTERNET” Well I learn how to build a business using the internet using sbi. So I found the course description highly misleading.
Also my instructor had not even completed a website or sold any items when he was himself teaching our class.
So all in all I purchased the product, have seen how it could be useful however seemed to have purchased it under false promises and am not impressed.
I personally do not think sbi is a scam however I think that they should not be teaching courses under false pretenses.
First of all I am very impressed with your webstes and videos. You have a lot of knowledge about this subject and I think its cool that you help people. I am about to by site build it. I have a cool idea for a website, and I can’t wait to get started.
I just want to know with site build it will it enable people to upload their own videos on to my website and have a ranking system similar to youtube?
Now I dont want to be the next youtube I would just like to have a similar feature on my site.
Hello Lisa et all.
I am new to a lot of this, and I have a few quick questions.
1) Is all of the educational content stored online? Or can you receive hard copy documents, or at least pdf downloadable documents. My problem is I work on cruise ships and with limited internet access, it may be tough to read all of the educational info on SBI.
2) About the brainstorming tool – how many times can you use it? Did I read that it was limited? What happens if you go over your limit and you still haven’t found the best idea yet?
3) All in after 1 year, is there any additional costs that I am unaware of. Call me a skeptic, but I am ok with 300, but I don’t want to have to spend much more.
Thanks in advance for the help everyone. And hey, if you are going on a cruise, let me know.
Hi Lisa – can you tell me if SBI and Wordpress are compatible? I am setting up some sites using Wordpress Thesis and am trying to understand if SBI is possible to use with these sites.
Thanks! Wendy
Wendy,
I own an SBI site and I believe I can answer your question.
The answer is no. While SBI does sort of have a blog feature that you can add, it is not meant as a blogging website. You cannot incorporate anything Wordpress with SBI.
You can set up another domain and link to your blog from your SBI site, but you cannot just add a Wordpress blog to your SBI site unfortunately.
I hope this clears things up a little!
Thanks AlbertoPL, that definitely answers my question.
I appreciate it. Wendy
Wendy´s last blog … This new mom is sleeping again
Follow on Twitter: @jwall777
Hi Wendy,
Myself also a SBIer. Let me answer your question. My answer is YES and also NO. (The answer of Alberto is partially correct but sure dont give you the right picture).
When I say YES, I say that definitely Blog can be hosted with SBI but in the sub directory. Not only Blog you can have any php, asp or any other technology hosted on your subdomain….
When I say subdomain…I mean that this is hosted outside SBI but still gets all the good features of SBI. Let me take the example of my website:
See my own domain is http://www.how2makeawebsite.com/ which is SBI domain and hosted. Now if you refer to one of my subdomain link:
http://free-flash-website-builder.how2makeawebsite.com I hosted the complete script for this on my subdomain outside SBI but did domain mapping to SBI.
This process is reasonably simple and I think I am using this to the full extent.
Wordpress Blog is the easiest thing to do. SBI goes well with Bluehost which provides this excellent domain mapping and since Bluehost have Simplescripts to install WP and 37 more scripts in just few scripts….no DB installl nothing.
When I said NO, that is to make you aware that this is an additional investment (but desireable) for someone. This don’t come by default with SBI in $299. However, the SBI manual direction is superb and you can install if you have some patience and unerstanding of the hosting control panel.
Wish you all the best.
Saikat
Saikat´s last blog … How to make a website-Free Web Design, Development Video Tutorial, Services, Softwares, ebooks
Follow on Twitter: @acleartitle
Lisa,
people say about “Site Build It” that you can not sell your website nor does the domain you register with them belong to you. Is that true? I love both your websites and I believe in what you say. Let’s say you wanted to sell your flat-stomach-exercise site today? Could you do that?
Thanks so much! J
Follow on Twitter: @acleartitle
Hey Lisa,
.
I am new to all of this. I wrote earlier but somehow you must have not gotten my message
I am thinking about buying Site Built It. My question is if I can sell my website down the road if I would like to. I wanna know just in case. Not that I want to sell it, but you never know. Could you let me know? Thanks a lot and keep up the good work. I am a huge fan!!! J
Hi,
I will be buying a SBI site soon, this is related to car test reviews etc… my friend is very much expert in this and he would be providing all the materials, reports, videos etc…
My concern is that; we are from India and he is having test drive experience in Indian market (imported cars) and middle east countries. So, what would be the scope of getting international (US, UK) visitors and make them more involved since we we dont have much information (genuine) about international market.