Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

How I Made a Birth and Baby Website...

...and Why You Need a Website Too

I never realized how much my "about me" page would impact other moms. I get several emails about it every week!

Lots of moms have thanked me for sharing my story, and for the inspiration it has given them to know they can make an income from home.

I can only say how grateful I am for you - thanks for visiting my site!

It's such an honor to be able to share information with you about pregnancy, birth, and baby. And it's wonderful to let you hear my story, and share that you can be home with your little ones too!

I've had a lot of questions/concerns and I've noticed I get the same ones frequently. So I thought I'd share some more things with you here!

I don't know anything about starting or designing a website!

I got my website up and running using the tools that come with the SBI! package. I really couldn't be more pleased with my experience. At the time I started my site I was just starting to learn about building websites and web design.

SBI! removes the technical barriers so you can keep your attention on building your business - lots of things are done for you automatically! You don't need to know anything upfront about building a Web site in order to succeed. The hard stuff like writing in HTML code, organizing your files, and tracking your statistics is done for you :)

A little more info on how SBI! helps you design your site

SBI has a built in site-builder if you know little or no HTML, or you can upload your own design if you have experience with HTML. I've just switched my site from the SBI builder to my own HTML design :) (July 2008 - my site is 2.5 years old and the block builder served me well!)

Page creation is as simple as riding a bike with its training wheels still attached. The block-by-block site-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. The block-by-block builder is perfect for beginners!

When it's time to create your site's Look & Feel, SBI! provides fully customizable, easy-to-use templates. You can choose and create a professional-looking presentation, even if you have no design skills. And like I said, if you know HTML and CSS and want to you can upload your own design :) This page shows a range of styles.

What if I don't know what to make my site about?

Not a problem! One thing that SBI! excels at is getting you ready to build your site starting at the very first step - picking a good topic. You can build a site based on a passion (like I did with birth and babies!) or learn how to research good topics if you don't feel super "passionate" about any one thing!

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.

Brainstorm It! is SBI!'s powerful keyword brainstorming and research tool. It helps you verify that your site concept has acceptable profit potential - so you're saved from picking a topic that won't work well. With Brainstorm It!'s help, you know you're on track - right from the start. Brainstorm It! also helps you find topics related to your niche that will pull in traffic and generate income.

How long will it take me to build my site?

It takes a few months to get a site going strongly. The first month you'll probably spend just absorbing SBI!'s info and writing articles. As you start writing for your site you'll get search engines visiting and adding you into their search results. Then you can start looking into adding some money making ads/links. So expect it to take a few months to work through your "learning curve" and get your site up and going. I promise you it is so worth it.

I began research for my site in September 05 and bought SBI! in November 05. I had it up and going in early stages late Nov 05 and it's grown ever since then! It took several months after launching it to begin producing income.

I didn't have any income generating elements at first while I built my site up and improved it for search engines. Then I added gradually. In mid 06 it started making a small amount. It was Dec 06 that I started to make a regular monthly income. So it took some time for me to build up but I'm pleased. I have to divide my time between my online work and my family and made good progress for the time I spent on it every week.

Remember it's going to take commitment to build a good site. You can work on it when you have the time - I'm a mother of three (about to be a mother of four!) - so I can't sit down and dedicate 40 hours a week to my site. But I do find time every week to work on it (I spend 8-10 hours a week on it).

Your dedication to your site will pay off just like mine has.

What do I need to start and how will I know what to do?

You don't need to have anything at all when you buy SBI - there are step by step instructions that help you every step of the way - from choosing a topic to picking out a domain name for your site to how to write better articles to making money from your site. I personally had some articles written when I started my site, but that's just because I was aching to write them lol.

By the way - I love writing, but if you don't, or you're nervous about it, I recommend a free ebook to you - click here to check it out!

The Action Guide is always avaible, and an extensive online library of helpful articles. There are two versions of the Action Guide - a written version and a video version! You're carefully guided every step of the way, which make success that much more do-able. Advanced help is also available (when you're ready for it), all designed to save you time and keep you moving forward.

You learn to "get it right" quickly (or correct bad habits) with your design and writing so you can focus on other traffic-building strategies. (which you'll get tons of information on and quickly master because SBI! makes so much of it automatic for you.)

What if I need to ask questions while I make my site?

The SBI! private forums provide friendly, helpful support from other Site Build It! users. Help is available from folks who are in the same place as you. This peer-to-peer support gets you over the humps along the way in a stress-free environment. Help is available even for advanced questions. The forums are a business-building support community ready to help you succeed.

I've really appreciated the forums and have gotten a lot of good help there. I also enjoy being able to help other SBIers and share our success stories! There's a great community of all kinds of site builders from teenagers to retirees and everyone in between (including a strong work at home mom presence!)

What else can I do with SBI!

List-building and e-mail marketing are included (usually these expensive features are bought separately). Sign up visitors to your e-zine subscription list and then mail an issue to them. This repeat exposure builds a stronger bond with your visitors and allows for direct promotions to them. Deeper PREselling = More Monetization (money making).

SBI also keeps track of your stats in tons of different ways. You can track visitors, search engine rankings, clicks on your affiliate links, etc. It will build contact forms and surveys for you too.

SBI! helps you learn how build a great site and gives you information and statistics to help you keep up with and rise above your competition. I've been asked if Natural Birth and Baby Care.com has any competition - and believe me - it has a healthy dose of it!! SBI! gives me and you the tools to let our sites succeed.

I don't understand how SBI! can help me make money

This is the concern most of you have when you contact me about my "about me" page!

SBI! helps you create a website for whatever your plan for making money is. If you want to sell a product you can do so. However, I don't sell anything directly on Natural Birth and Baby Care. I make my money by visitors clicking on the ads on my pages. The "ads by google" that you see net me money each time someone clicks. I get a lot of clicks and at this point they add up to a few hundred dollars a month.

I also have what are called "affiliate links." These links go to a merchant's site. If the person follows the link and then purchases something from the merchant I make a commission.

A good example of this is my book reviews. I read and review books for you. After reading the review you might click my link to the book and buy it from Amazon. Amazon then credits me a percentage of the sale price. Every month Amazon cuts me a check for all my commissions. Does that makes sense? I'm an affiliate with a few merchants. I pick those programs and products I promote carefully because I want to make sure they're actually something I would use and want to recommend to you.

SBI! is really, really great at teaching you all about this and taking you through step by step (you can also read this ebook to learn more about making money with affiliate programs). I make enough from my site every month to replace my part time income and I'm working on getting it to a full time income!

For an information site like mine the affiliate/advertising way of making money works well. You can have ads like I talked about above. The program I use is called "Google Adsense" and is done by Google. The Google computers read my articles and serve ads that fit with the content of my pages. Adsense tends to work very well on information sites!

SBI! gives lots of information on picking ways to make money from your site and lots of information on getting each method going on your site.

Some of the moms I know using SBI have also written their own eBooks - one homeschooling mom has written a homeschool planner and she makes several hundred dollars a month selling that on her website! It's one of my goals to create an ebook related to my site topic in the next year or so. A ebook cookbook, video tutorials, and online study courses are other "information products" moms have created and sold through their SBI! sites :)

What does it cost? Are there any catches?

SBI is $299 a year which breaks down to about $25 a month. But you pay it once a year. You pay $299 for startup and that covers all of your costs for the first year (no catches!!). It also includes your domain name (once you pick it) so you don't have to buy that from a separate registrar. Then you pay $299 a year thereafter for hosting, domain, all your stats, databases...everything! My site pays for its own yearly fee now, with a lot left over for me and the family ;)

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.

All in all SBI! is very comprehensive and you get a lot of "bang for your buck." I wouldn't consider starting another site with a different host. I love that I work on my time - and from anywhere! I've been really pleased. Aside from having my kids and marrying my husband it has been the best thing I've ever done!

Those are the questions I get asked most - but if you have one I didn't include go ahead and ask away ;)

I hope you have great success with your own site and find it rewarding and lucrative!

Successful SBI Sites : Case Studies : Get Answers (by phone or email) : Test Drive SBI! - it's guaranteed.

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Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Try SBI! - If I can do this - you can do it!

"You fell down the first time you tried to walk. Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try."

Sherman Finesilver