Site Build It is About NOT Giving Up!

by Leyla
(Eastern France)

Backpacking through Panama

Hi Elad, I'm one of those people who joined SBI! on a whim - having spent so much money on ridiculous web schemes, this was a small sum. What harm could it do?

I did read the Action Guide - but there's a difference between reading and following. So I read it - and started putting up a site with a too-broad theme, too-low demand, and more for ME than for my readers. Of course I had no traffic - how could I, if no one was looking for my topic?

So I scrapped the site after months of hard work, and started from scratch.

I did it a bit better... There is some demand, some supply, and sloooow interest. Had I been more scrupulous about following the Action Guide, I probably would have done things differently. BUT - I followed MOST of the Action Guide, so even though my site isn't ideal, traffic is beginning to rise, with 200-300 unique visitors a day. It's been incredibly hard work - I've written articles, signed up for directories, joined and posted in dozens of forums, answered questions... so brick by brick, my traffic has gone up, as has my income. I now get a Google check (nearly) every month! This site will probably make it, but much more slowly than if I'd followed the Action Guide to the letter.

Next time - and there most certainly will be a next time - I will have learned my lesson. I'll follow the Action Guide every step of the way, even if I don't agree, or think "I know better".

I have a full-time job so my site gets done in the evenings and on weekends, but I know that in a few years' time, I'll be able to do this full-time. It's not just the money, although I need that for the mortgage. But this is so much FUN! I wish I'd found this earlier - it would have become my career path. However, it's never too late, so here I am.

My biggest lesson, other than following the Action Guide and those more experienced than myself, is simply not to give up. Google drops my pages? Write a few more. Someone rejects my link request? Ask someone else. There's something wrong with the topic? Change it. Just one thing: don't walk away, and don't give up.

Do I love SBI? Can you tell? :-)

One last note - I enjoyed your Canada trip so much! I used to live in Montreal and it was lovely to revisit it through your eyes - and to meet all those faces behind the names, too. You're an inspiration!

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