How to Build a Website That Works!

If you want to build a website that works and around which to create your own home business, then here are the tools you need to do it!

Apologies, this page is a bit of a departure from the rest of our site. Why?

Well one of the questions we get asked most often by family, friends, work colleagues and people that visit our site is, "how did you build it?"

So we thought we'd head off the questions and explain...

But before we do, we suggest you click on the image below, which will open in a new window, and watch a short three minute video -- the rest of this page will make a lot more sense then!

When we started building this our first website in April 2006, we knew absolutely nothing about website building and design, and even less about how to create an online business that could earn us a regular income.

Sure, we knew a lot about weight loss, health, nutrition, exercise...

But how to turn that knowledge and experience into a successful website...how to build a website that works?

As you may well aspire to do, we wanted to own our own flexible business working from home, earning an income that would enable us to spend more time with our kids and each other, creating the free time to do the things we enjoy doing.

We'd tried all sorts of home-based business opportunities over the years, searching for something that could do just that...earn us a substantial second income, and who knows - over time a full time business that we could both work in together.

Our previous ventures met with mixed success...

Some we tried, enjoyed and came up short. Others - well, let's just say that we should have known better!

What we were really looking for was something that was - well, real.

Something that didn't involve:

Something that we could feel good about doing, that would make a positive contribution to people's lives and that would indulge a few of our passions at the same time!

We weren't asking for much then!

Despite our previous setbacks we kept looking - we're nothing if not persistent!

And all that looking finally paid off...

We Came Across a Tortoise...

We had long since recognised and understood the tremendous potential of the internet, we just didn't really understand how to harness and utilise it to build a website that works.

Well, in January 2006 that was all about to change.

Whilst browsing yet another internet marketing website, I came across an article about a web building and marketing package called 'Site Build It!', SBI! for short.

I read the article about how to build a website that works, followed the link and read...and read...and read some more.

A couple of hours later I emerged from our home office and pronounced to Lisa - "I think I've found what we're looking for!"

"Yeah, right" - or something like that, just a bit more fruity! - came the jaded response from Lisa, by now a hardened sceptic of all things internet.

It took a month or so of convincing from me before she relented and took a serious look at what had so excited me.

And then as they say, the rest is history!

"And where does the tortoise come in?", I hear you ask...

Well, SiteSell, the company behind SBI!, uses the tortoise as its symbol. Why?

Well who wins the race -- the tortoise or the hare?

We'd grown tired of all the 'get rich quick' schemes that litter the internet, promising untold riches if you just buy this e-book, sign up for that program, get in on another ground floor opportunity...

What attracted us to SBI! was the philosophy stated clearly up front...that it takes time to build a business. To build a website that works.

It's for tortoises, not hares.

That to do so successfully requires some investment of time and patience, a committment to learn new skills, the persistance to succeed...

No promises of five figure incomes in a few months. Just guarantees that if you take your time, follow the Action Guide - the best value training manual I've ever come across! - that you could build a website that works...that will succeed.

So what convinced us by now confirmed sceptics that this business might just be different?

Well, the passion that people already using SBI! had for what they were doing for starters.

Check out this short video made by an SBIer and see what we mean...

If you enjoyed that, then here are some more "IloveSBI!" videos made by SBI! owners that you might want to watch.

Having looked at so many 'opportunities' over the years that seemed to promise much and deliver little, I was looking for some proof that SBI! worked -- that we complete interent novices could build a website that works.

So I pored over the case studies that SiteSell provided and contacted some of the owners.

Surprisingly, they all checked out.

I also examined the proof that SiteSell offered, that showed in black and white how SBI! sites performed at the search engines and in the traffic rankings.

Now my interest was well and truly piqued, so I downloaded the free Action Guide and with a yellow marker pen spent a couple of hours reading it from cover to cover, looking for the catch....

But there wasn't one. Instead a lightbulb went on in my head -- "So that's how you do it!", I realised.

That's how you build a website that works.

After having paid for so many 'how to' e-books that were all hype and precious little substance, here I had a step by step guide.

It took me from the initial brainstorming and niche-finding stages, through researching keywords and settling on a concept, to building a website and creating traffic.

Best of all, it's free traffic!

No buying leads or expensive pay-per-click campaigns. Just how to build tons of quality content that would generate traffic all day, every day.

Now, realising that not everyone has a few hours spare to read the Action Guide and understanding the power of video, SiteSell has recently produced a 30 minute introduction to SBI!.

So why not take the videotour?

What Happened Next...?

In mid-April we were ready to get started and after a few weeks researching our site concept, we built our home page on 2 May 2006 and kept building...

Page after page of keyword focussed content that thanks to the SBI! Brainstorming tool, we knew people were searching for.

Quality content, thanks to yet another free to download SBI resource, Make Your Content Pre-Sell!, or MYCPS for short.

SiteSell don't just sell you their product, host your website and leave you to get on with it.

They support you every step of the way, teaching you how to build a website that works lesson by lesson.

MYCPS enabled us to develop and express our own voice - writing in a way that was informative and unique, that people could understand and relate to.

Now it's not always been easy. This is a business and it takes some hard work to build a website that works.

We spend around 10-15 hours a week writing material, building, publishing and marketing our site using the SBI! tools.

Mostly 'TV time' in the evenings when the kids are in bed. And it's been worth it...

The Result...?

This traffic is presold by our content. People come back again and again and grow to value and trust our information and advice.

Through providing people with what they want, what they're searching for we now earn an income of several hundred dollars each month.

Not a fortune for sure, but an income that's growing each month and that's honestly earned.

What's more - and best of all! - we feel good about what we do and derive enormous satisfaction from the feedback we get from people we've helped.

If any of our story has interested you and you feel that SBI! might offer a path to the future you want and deserve...

Then why not:

As the nice people at SiteSell say, SBI! is e-commerce for the rest of us.

It takes care of the techy side necessary to build a website that works, and leaves you to get on with building a business!

All the best if you choose to build a website that works with SBI! - or with whatever you do,

Best wishes,

Marcus and Lisa

PS If you already have a website and want it to perform better, then you may want to check out Make Your Site Sell!, which you can download for free and use with non-SBI! sites too.

PPS SBI! isn't just for newbies like us. There are plenty of experienced webmasters that have made the switch to SBI! If you're a webmaster and want to build a website that works, then you may want to see how SBI! can help you.

Build a Website That Works!

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