How a web business solved the problem...

Read more about me and my journey to this web business.

Latest stats June 2010 – this website now has about 1000 unique daily visitors, an alexa ranking of about 350,000 which puts it in the top 1% of all websites and it is listed in the top ten world sites for back and spine problems on Alexa.

I decided to develop a website for two main reasons

• Frustration at the poor quality of information available for people with lower back pain.

My patients come  to see me asking the same things over and over again. Very few of them can easily find information that is reliable and helpful for them. Sometimes the information confuses them but worse than that sometimes it reinforces thoughts and beliefs about back pain that are very unhelpful. I also hate it when I see  vulnerable people being manipulated.  I have had elderly patients with only a small income  come to see me with advertisements torn from magazines selling the latest (costly) back pain ‘cure’ or device. They want to know if they should get this product, if it will help them. Sometimes they have already paid a lot of money for all sorts of things which are not proven to help.

I wanted to counter the flow of poor information by providing evidence or research based information so that people could make their own informed decisions. I have developed certain ways to explain things over the years which my patients find helpful. I wanted to share some of those ideas as I feel they help people understand more easily. I wanted to get my own message across, which is about evidence or research based active management help for people who really do want to help themselves with this problem

• I wanted a second income to give me freedom to spend more time on my out of work interests and to top up my future pension.

I love my job and I love helping my patients. But I wanted a way of supplementing my income so I could work part time and have more freedom to spend time time on my other interests. I was also worried about having a decent pension. I want to enjoy my retirement, I can't think of anything worse than having more time but no means to enjoy it and worrying about finances instead.

So decision made, I need a website...now...where to start?

I started looking for a solution. I became very excited and bought half a dozen web site names that seemed to match the ideas I had about what I wanted the web site to be like.  Then I realised I had no idea how to actually create a website so I bought Dreamweaver. I took one look at that and felt really overwhelmed, such an unfamiliar interface and no clue how to get the pages from Dreamweaver online.  Then I looked into hosting, I couldn't see the wood for the trees, hundreds of web hosts, all different prices and I had no idea what features were important or which I could do without.

In frustration I turned to the internet marketing gurus to see if that made any more sense. I read books on adsense, on micro sites, on blogs. I bought a very expensive product that contained templates to build a site but I still didn’t understand what I was supposed to do with them. None of it helped- a year went by. 

Then my sister sent me a link. She had spotted a product called Site Build It which she thought looked like it might be interesting. She sent me a note saying ‘what do you think, it looks good on the surface but there must be a catch’. I agreed there had to be a catch so I set about looking for it. The package appeared to contain all the tools to make a web site, set out in a natural order with what seemed to be a really comprehensive instruction book.  The amount of information available for me to read before I even purchased it began to impress me. I downloaded several of the free e-books and studied them. The logic of the system was perfect.  Immediately I began to see that I had been focused too much on the pure mechanics of ‘how can I get my words published on the internet’. What I hadn’t been thinking enough about was ‘how can I create a successful online business’. It was a total 'ah ha' moment and to be honest I haven’t looked back.

I would like to say I bought SBI straight away but I didn’t! I had had so much exposure to all the fun and games on the web so far that I didn’t trust that it could be so straightforward. So I'm embarrassed to say I spent another few months continuing to look, but over and over I came back and looked again at SBI. Until in 2007 I decided to take the plunge.  It was then that I realised my work was just beginning!

So what was the catch...?

I thought there must be a catch – there is too much included for the price - what is the con?
There truly isn’t one. It is a superb suite of tools, help and advice to get you going. Compare the features available in SBI* with other hosts and you will see what I mean. But in my view there are two considerations:

1. You have to read the material or watch the videos, sometimes more than once to get a good understanding, so this requires work. It does not succeed without effort.
   
   
2. It is not get rich quick, I think of it more  as get rich slowly! You need patience and application to make this succeed.  The tortoise approach symbolizes SBI!'s steady-and-sure approach which  keeps you from getting distracted by false promises that end up costing more money. Think of it as a simple, direct, hype-free path that leads to success.

I realised very early on that this is a serious venture, anyone can throw up a site that comes free with hosting, but making a site successful? Making a site that drives traffic? Now that’s another thing altogether and the only way to get that degree of success is to work for it. SBI helps by providing all the tools you need for research and development but at the end of the day you have to do the work yourself.

What SBI does is free me up from all the technical stuff to do with website development. They automate all the techie stuff allowing me to focus on writing content and developing my  business. It contains simply the best ‘instruction guide’ on how to build a successful web site that you can get your hands on, and its available in video too. I still reference it and learn new things from it. The joy of the system is that it lets you start up with enough support to get you going but as you get more experienced you can delve deeper ‘under the hood’ if you want and develop greater understanding.  Anyhow, I am very happy with my decision!

These were my initial concerns about SBI and this is what I found.

It’s too complicated for me, I will never understand it

SBI follows a system that simplifies the whole process. It is based on this CTPM model. It all begins with the right process. Content Traffic PREsell Monetize * is the underlying, principle that capitalizes on how people use the internet.

SBI! makes online business success do-able. Having used the system I honestly think that anyone can succeed with an all-in-one process, tools, and guidance. I particularly like the emphasis on business, I want this to work long term for me.

The SBI! private forums are priceless. For me as a newcomer to this type of work they provided friendly, helpful support from other Site Build It! users. Help is available from others  who are in the same boat as you. This peer-to-peer support gets you over the humps along the way in a stress-free environment.  Nobody makes you feel daft for asking easy questions and experts are around if you have a more complex problem. One of my pleasures now is being able to return the favour and help people out now that I have more confidence.

Its overwhelming and I don’t know where to start

The Action Guide is the worlds best 'how to build a web business instruction manual' . It presents a step-by-step process in both written and video formats. All you have to do is follow it. Really! The most successful SBI! owners say "all I did was follow the Guide." They don't get sidetracked, or have to guess at what to do next. SBI!'s guided approach helps you reach your goals.  Its the most comprehensive ‘instruction guide’ on the web, take a look at it here* .

Brainstorm It! is SBI!'s powerful keyword brainstorming and research tool. It helps you verify that your idea for a site has acceptable profit potential. You are saved from making a common fatal error of choosing a non-profitable theme. With Brainstorm It!'s help, you know you are on track, right from the start.   I love this tool, I can spend hours looking at all the possibilities it generates. I have compared it to the other keyword tools out there and truly it blows them all away, and it comes as standard with the package.

Choosing your best site concept is not always as obvious as you might think. Brainstorm It! and Niche Choose It! show you the best path for your particular business, reveal some surprises, and help you make the right choice. I thought I had it sewn up before I started but this showed me where I needed to  finesse my idea.

SBI! includes domain name analysis, optimisation, and registration. You will develop the best name for maximum profitability in your niche. (It's often different than what you had planned and I had to let all those wasted names expire.) 

I don’t like the templates

I realised early on that I had been concentrating too much on how the web site would look and not enough about what it would contain. I didn’t particularly like the SBI templates but many successful sites have been built using them. Now, there is a far greater choice and it’s possible to make many customisations easily enough.

When it's time to create your site's Look & Feel you can choose and create a professional-looking presentation, even if you have no design skills. And if you're a designer, you can create and upload your own. This page shows a range of styles. This is my brother- in-law Burrel Wilks' website that is made with a customised block builder template – I think it looks great. There are also a whole new range of templates that have just been released for those that upload their own HTML with a new block builder module planned for the end of 2010. Don’t let the look put you off!

I don’t know enough about technology to do this

The process is simplified to such a degree that success (i.e., profits, not the mere presence of a Web site) is achievable even for a beginner. I won’t bluff here and say it’s easy – you have to read the material and have a degree of motivation otherwise it won’t work.

You get more than just a "site builder." You don't need to worry about looking for separate hosting, paying for a separate keyword research tool, integrating e-zines etc., etc. See the full list of features here*. I like learning new skills and I enjoy technology but the joy of SBI is that you don’t have to be at all tech savvy if you don’t want to be.

Page creation is as simple as riding a bike with its training wheels still attached. No need to know HTML. The block-by-block builder trains you how to write a page that is both "Search Engine and human effective." It's simple, do-able and most importantly, effective site-building. But if you want to move on SBI! is compatible with popular HTML editors, I switched to uploading my own HTML eventually but the block builder was a great start.

To announce your site to Search Engines, you need to submit a specialized file called a "Sitemap XML" file. SBI! does it all automatically, a huge time saver, that enables you to quickly achieve wider distribution and attract more targeted free traffic.

The various HQs ("Traffic," "Tips 'n Techniques," "Resources," "Monetization" and several others) keep you on the cutting edge of all that you need to know. No other "outside reading" is necessary (except for info related to your own business, of course). I cancelled most of my email subscriptions ( I had tens of them from my time doing ‘research’. ) What a relief not to have a crammed inbox constantly confusing me with the ‘next big thing’. I feel confident that I haven’t missed a trick as SBI calls attention immediately to anything important so I can just get on with it.

I can’t write – I’m a physiotherapist not a writer!

This was an overriding anxiety for me. How would I get on with writing? As it happened it wasn’t so bad, when you know which keywords to base your page on (information you get from the brainstormer tool) then I find it much easier. Now I feel relaxed about it.

There is also a free e-book available Make Your Content Presell (MYCPS)* which I found very helpful .You can download it and have a read if you want. You can see that MYCPS is "the anti-hype." Calmly, it shows you how to write about what you know and love. You will understand how to profit from your writing fairly, offering full-value for the money you earn.

Which brings me to the two questions I'm asked most often...

How do you make money from a web site?

Well there are many methods to make money online but I mostly use just one. l if you look through my site you will see advertisements by Google. If someone is interested enough to click on one of these ads then it generates a payment for me. It’s as simple as that.

I am also writing a book about back pain that will be available to download very soon, this will supplement the website earnings. I also have a few affiliate links here and there.

You can read more about how the site is financed at this page.

How much time do you spend on your site?

It really varies, sometimes 20 hours a week sometimes none. I have another job so this has to be fitted in.  The key to having a successful site is not how much time you have it’s about the combination of choosing the right niche and patiently developing the site. It doesn’t matter if its two hours or twenty, the result will be the same it will just take a little longer.

Finally, if you are still unsure then SBI! has a no-risk, 30-day money back guarantee. It's a risk-free decision that you can make with confidence and peace of mind. Good luck and I hope you develop a very successful online business.

What are the * links? There are two types of links on this website. Any which have a * are affiliate links which take you to the product website which then pay this site. The second type is not an affiliate link and has no *. For you the user there is no difference, the product is the same whether you go via an * link or not. Also, the things I write are never affected by whether I am getting revenue or not. If I can't find an affiliate link for a useful product, I will still include it in exactly the same way. For more details about affiliate links and what happens to the money earned from them read this page.