How this SBI Website
Made Me a Work at Home Mom

Home >> How this SBI Website Made Me a WAHM

If you've read the "about us" page on this website you've "met" me, and you know the personal story behind the creation of Fun-Frugal-Mom.com

If you're reading this page then you probably have some specific questions about Site Build It!, the ebusiness building tools that empowered me to be a Work-at-Home mom.

As I was finishing up the writing of this page, I got a phone call from the nurse at my sons school. He had a slight fever and a headache. I needed to go pick him up.

20 minutes later we were home and I was putting him in bed.

I came into the dining room (which doubles as my home office) to pick up where I'd left off, but before continuing I said a silent thank you.

Thinking back to my old 9-to-5 job, incidents like an unexpected illness were always a cause of stress that usually spilled into the next couple of days.

The fact that I'm now available for my family whenever they need me, without having to ask a boss for permission to leave, and then additional time off on short notice, is a priceless benefit to owning my own ebusiness.

This is our new reality because of my SBI website.

I can not put a price on that kind of peace of mind.

I will always be thankful for it.

Alicia

The "About" page links you to a lot of information about Site Build it!

But many moms approach me with nuts-and-bolts type questions about exactly how SBI! can teach them to create an income generating website.

Well, I can certainly understand that. When you read any companies marketing pages you're going to get a rundown of all the benefits they offer and the rewards you will reap. Most can sound too good to be true.

And these days there is so much scammy stuff on the net that when you come across a legit company offering real value for your money, you may just overlook it.

I can say that now, but back when I started I had a lot of the same questions you probably have.

A few words about this page:

• The answers here are thorough.
  So it's going to take more than a minute...or two, to read this page. I promise it won't be time wasted.
• There are no links to divert you.
  It's just you and me, until the end of the page.
• There is no urgency.
  No high pressure, "You must do this now!" speak. This page is here to answer your questions about the SBI ebusiness building package, and my personal experience with it. That's it.

So lets talk...

What is SBI...exactly?

SBI is short for Site Build It!

The SBI ebusiness building package is one of the products offered by a company called SiteSell.

Empower yourself to be home when you want to be

This company was founded by Dr. Ken Evoy in 1997. (He hangs out in the SBI! forums a lot helping and giving his unique insights. I'll talk more about the forums later.)

The SiteSell products are all about helping you create your own ebusiness based on a passion, a hobby, or just something you're really good at. :)

SBI! 2.0 is the product I use to build this site. It is the do-it-yourself, most affordable way to build your ebusiness.

SiteSell also offers SiteSell Services.They will start up your ebusiness website for you.

My only hands-on experience is with SBI 2.0, the total DIY version, so that's what this page is about.

So an SBI ebusiness is really just a website?

Yes. Your ebusiness would be a keyword focused, content driven website. Very far from being "just a website".

It's important to know that not all websites are profitable ebusinesses.

Most websites - and blogs for that matter - don't draw the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of visitors each day that a site needs in order to generate real income.

Freebie blogs and build-it-quick websites can be fun hobbies...but chances are you won't be quitting your day job because of either one.

SBI teaches you how to build a money-making website based on a topic that means something to you and gives you all the tools you need to do it.

(You may notice I'll flip-flop between using the words "ebusiness" and "sbi website" to mean the same thing.)

But isn't making an honest living off the internet a myth? I always assumed it was a scam.

I was the most skeptical person you'd ever meet. There are absolutely tons of Get-Rich-Quick scams on the net that not only rip you off, but waste your precious time.

That's not what SBI is about.

Whether or not SBI, this website, or even I, am part of something scammmy is something you've already started to judge for yourself.

Fun-Frugal-Mom.com is an income generating ebusiness website that I built by myself using just the information and tools provided by SBI!.

There's no gimmicky scammy stuff. No hidden fees for anything. No bait-and-switch. There's not even a donation button on the site.

But there must be some "catch" in how you actually earn money from a website.

I can tell you exactly how I earn money from this website now, and how I plan to earn in the future as it grows.

Earn an income while you homeschool

First, I use Google Adsense. You've seen them all over the net and on most pages of this site. They're clearly marked as Google ads. My "job" is to give my site visitors quality, focused content pages.

Google Adsense provides advertisements relevant to the content.

If visitors are interested in what the ad offers they click over and check it out. I get an Adsense commission from those clicks. Simple.

Second, I have affiliate relationships with a few key companies that I feel give good value because I use them in my everyday life.

Companies like Amazon.com and Shindigz Party Supplies. If a visitor links over from FFM and makes a purchase I get a commission.

In the future I hope to offer an ebook that I'm currently working on for a fee, as well as recommend other products and services that make life better for budget-conscious moms and their families.

All this while continuing to offer even more pages full of free, fun, frugal family stuff.

These are just the ways that this website currently earns money. There are many other ways that an SBI website can earn you an income.

So you need visitors (aka traffic) in order to make money. How do all these visitors find YOUR site?

There are countless websites and blogs that talk about how to live a frugal lifestyle. That's the great thing about the internet, but it also poses some pretty stiff competition for the web traffic (visitors).

THAT'S what makes an SBI website different from any other kind of website you can build.

Your SBI website "works" while you take care of your family

Like most people searching for information on the net, we all start by typing what we're looking for into a search engine, like Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

Most searches bring back hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of results, but most of us only click on one or two of the first ten sites that pop up.

SBI teaches you how to create pages that rank high in the search engine results so you get the clicks, while keeping the content you write in your own true voice.

And there you have it...lots of searchers find your SBI website because you've written keyword focused pages, that deliver quality content about a topic they're interested in.

That's probably how you found me. :)

Well that almost sounds too easy.

It's very do-able. But trust me, it's not always easy. However, SBI! makes it a heck of a lot easier than other site building products out there.

SBI makes online entrepreneurship a real opportunity for those who are not at all tech savvy. You don't need to know any code or computer speak in order to build a successful SBI website.

I had absolutely NO site building skills when I started, and it didn't matter.

What you do need to have are Brains, Attitude, and Motivation. SBI calls this BAM! (I know...but they've got a point.)

True balance of work and family

• Brain....because you are building an online business, and like any small business there is a learning curve. There will also be times where you need to think outside the box.

• Attitude...It needs to be positive. You should be open to learning new things; Be OK with asking for help, and able to accept the help. The SBI forums will be available to you. It's a whole world (literally) of SBIer's at every experience level talking, helping, and bouncing ideas off each other.

• Motivation...because it's NOT always easy. Some days it is hard. Like with any small business endeavor, you will have challenging moments. So you need the motivation to keep moving forward no matter what.

Because if you follow the SBI Action Guide; use the help available in the forums, as well as all the other resources SBI gives you, you will reach a level of success that will probably surprise the heck out of you.

Now I know what SBI can do for me. Now tell me HOW they do it. How does SBI turn a non-techie into a website building business owner?

SBI! comes with a boat load of tools and information to help you succeed.

And they stick with you the whole way. Other companies collect your fee then you're on your own. (Been there. Done that.)

These are the tools you'll use most often when building your SBI website:

• The Action Guide: This is the meat and potatoes of the whole thing. The AG is your step-by-step instruction guide. It's broken up into 10 DAYS, but that's just to break down the major tasks. Each DAY's task may take you several days or weeks to accomplish. It's all according to how much time you can devote to your new SBI website.
  

  There is also a video version Action Guide, and a condensed version to help every kind of learner. It's all in easy to follow layman's terms. No technical jargon. That was important to me.

• BrainStorm It!: My favorite SBI website tool. This tool helps you brainstorm through hundreds of keywords based in your niche. You pick and choose the strongest, most profitable words for your website's blueprint. These keywords are the backbone of your business. This tool makes it fun!

• Search It!: "More than 100 powerful, advanced searches in 20 categories, from brainstorming to monetization." -That's the official SBI description of this tool. I say it's like having an assistant researcher sitting in the corner, waiting patiently for you to ask a question. It can help you find anything from graphics to legal information, and everything in between, as it pertains to your sbi website.

• Niche Choose It!: Once you've brainstormed some potential SBI website topics this handy little tool actually walks you through the process of choosing a niche for your site based on the results of your brainstorming.

• Domain Name Registration: You get a whatever-site-name-you-choose.com web address that belongs to you.
• Web Hosting and Email: SBI will host your site on it's freakishly secure servers and serve it out to the net for you. (As of this writing my website has never had any downtime. So freakishly secure is definitely the way to go.)
  

  You get a 'your_name@your-website.com' email address. How cool is that?!

• Look and Feel Selector: You pick from hundreds of professionally stylized templates to create either a 2 column, or 3 column SBI website with just the right Look and Feel for your niche. Then with a few clicks, customize certain options to make it your own.

• Block-by-Block Sitebuilder: I have a soft spot in my heart for this little tool. Yes...it's possible to have affection for software. :) This is the tool that enables website novices to create professional looking pages by simply typing, pointing, and clicking one block at a time.

  For those that do know how to code their own pages, there is an easy HTML uploader too.

• Analyze It!: Another of my favorites. This tool analyzes each page before it goes live on the net, and tells you how to best optimize your wording to get high search engine ranking. Remember, that ranking is how you get the traffic.

Home grown college funds



• Content 2.O: This powerful tool allows you to create interactivity on your site, by having your visitors create their own pages on your site! You create an SBI website invitation for them to post about whatever you'd like, wherever you'd like.

They can upload graphics and videos too.

• Blog It!: This tool enables you turn your whole website into a blog. It will actually list all your pages in a blog format as an additional page on your site.

  With this you can create an RSS feed that your visitors can follow.

  
  

  If you already have a WordPress or TypePad blog it's easy to plug it into your SBI website with another handy tool called Infin It!.

• SBI Forums: This active community of SBI website owners is moderated by some of the most successful SBI owners and coaches. This is where you come to ask questions, get site reviews, and make connections with other SBI website owners. Newbies and experts alike participate as well as Dr. Ken Evoy, the founder of SiteSell.
• Unlimited Customer Support: I've only needed to contact SBI customer support a handful of times in three years. (Most any question I've had has been answered in the forums.) But there are times when you may need to contact support. This 24 hour support is the best I've ever encountered. The policy of one rep sticking with your issue from start to finish can't be beat.

These are the major components of the SBI website package but they are far from all that is included. And yes, it really is all included in your yearly fee. There is nothing here that you pay extra for.




So, would you say anybody can do this?

No. I don't believe just anybody can do this.

I do believe it's a fantastic opportunity for women who want, or need to be at home for their families. Or women who want to create an additional income stream without having to leave home to do it.

You're always there when they need you

But building an SBI website is not for everyone.

SBI is not a Get-Rich-Quick, or just point-click-click-Presto-Website kind of thing. Anyone looking for something like that won't succeed with SBI.

To build a genuine, high quality online business, that will stay strong for years, takes commitment and time, especially in the beginning.

Not everyone is ready to do that.




Like with any small business, anyone who's ready to do the work, and willing to follow the process, can build an SBI website and succeed.




How long does it take to start making money?

That is completely up to you. You work at your own pace, but I wouldn't recommend rushing.

You may leave yourself with mistakes that could reduce your potential earnings in the long run. Mistakes you'll have to go back and fix later anyway.




How much money can a website really make?

That again, is up to you. Things like, the niche you choose; the amount of time you can devote each week to your website; and how you choose to monetize your site, all play a role in how much money your website can make.

I can tell you there are SBI websites that make a few hundred dollars a month.

There are SBI websites that make a few thousand dollars each month.




What about YOUR site?

It's hard to talk dollars and cents with Fun-Frugal-Mom.com because its earnings are steadily increasing. -- Plus, I don't want to have to keep coming back here to update this page every week. :)

I can tell you my current earnings make it financially possible for me to be a full time, work-at-home mom. I no longer just make ends meet.

The ends now overlap...more every month.

As my site grows, the earnings grow. My ebusiness grows.

As I take Fun-Frugal-Mom.com in new directions, new possibilities for income streams reveal themselves.

It's exciting!

I recently started my second SBI website. It has even better earning potential than FFM.

That's not just wishful thinking. I know this because of the due diligence SBI taught me how to do before choosing a site topic.

Many SBI website owners have more than one site. Once you get that first one under your belt you just want to keep going.

It's a very enjoyable, and empowering thing; to be able to plan and build your own business right from your computer.

It puts you in control. It's real freedom.




So how much does SBI cost?

An SBI website package is $299 a year. That's about .82¢ a day. What other business can you build for less than $1 a day?

There is also a monthly payment plan at $29.99 a month. That would be yearly cost of almost $360. Still very affordable, and a good way to start if you can't swing the yearly fee.

Is creating financial security worth about $1 a day?

The yearly fee is the most economical, but not everyone can pay $299 in one lump (at least not to start), so SBI started a recession buster option with the monthly payment plan.

The monthly fee option is only being offered for a limited time, but if you choose it you can use it for as long as you like.

It's worth noting that in the time that I've had FFM, SBI has made many improvements to their site tools, and added features that could, (and probably should) easily raise the price, but SBI has not had any price increase in the past 5 years.




I want to try SBI, but what if I decide it's not for me?

SBI has a 90 day money back guarantee.

You won't lose a thing.

Back when I started, the trial period was just 30 days and there was no monthly payment option. $299 was my last money back then, so my decision to do this was a big one.

No need to choose. Grow your family and your ebusiness.

I purposely waited until May of that year to start because my kids were going to be away for most of the summer and I was going to have a quiet house. I cleared my calendar and made no plans.

I purchased SBI, then for the next three weeks I worked my way through the Action Guide, taking my time, but reading through most of it first just to see if I could find any deal breakers.

I was determined that I was either going to make it work, or I was going to ask for my money back on that last day.

I never asked for my money back. But I do know of others who have, -- because of genuine time constraints or they were searching for the non-existent Get-Rich-Quick -- and SBI has honored that guarantee.

Now you have 90 days. It gives you time to really sink your teeth in and get a feel for how this will work for you.

Why wouldn't you try it?




It sounds real and do-able but nothing is perfect. What's the hardest part about building an SBI ebusiness?

Oh that's easy. :)

Because SBI is an actual education in online business building, it's easy to feel overwhelmed with all the information at first.

Especially if you've never done anything like this before, which I never had.

I did have a couple of moments where I wondered if I was going to be able to do it.

But any successful entrepreneur will tell you that moments like that are normal when you're starting your own business, no matter what it is.

The cool part was being able to go into the SBI forums and get support and encouragement, to work through those moments.




"I now have friends and colleagues all over the world. Women who've created SBI websites to empower themselves and create financial security for their families."

Check out Audrey's story. Her SBI website has helped thousands of writers -me included.



So at this point...

I would bet that a few people who started reading this page have dropped off. That's OK. This page isn't for everyone.

But if you're still with me, I'm guessing the idea of having your own SBI website sounds good to you. You may already have an idea of what your site will be about.

Or maybe you're already blogging about a topic you love but you're not getting many visitors to your blog. SBI will help you turn that around.

As cliche' as this may sound...You really don't have anything to lose. The 90 Day money back, no-questions-asked guarantee is real; just like the opportunity that SBI offers.

It's real.

Does an SBI website sound right for you and your family?

Are you ready?

If so, click on this link to start your
SBI JOURNEY

If you still have any questions about SBI feel free to use my Contact Form and start your comment with "SBI Question".

Peace and Success,

Alicia :)

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