Play

Site Build It! Vs. WordPress

This week, we take a question that’s been debated for years in online forums and Facebook pages – which is a better platform for launching an online business? WP or SBI? As someone who started out using Site Built It! many years ago, I’m a huge fan of their system.

Site Build It or WordPress

Rachel, my wife has used it for years with her scrapbooking site. I’ve watched her go from someone with no online marketing experience and a simple site concept written in a notebook, to profitable passive income producing website – all from using their step by step system.

Site Built It! supporters often make the point that SBI is not just a website builder. It’s a complete e-commerce system. In other words, a “business in a box”. I think on this point, they’re dead on. Which is why I will occasionally recommend SBI to someone who wants to make money online but has absolutely no experience in creating an online business.  The complete step by step training is almost worth the $300 you pay for the first year alone.

That said, there are some obvious shortcomings of Site Build It which I have a hard time overlooking. The biggest being a lack of design flexibility that you get with so many of WordPress’s open source plugins. With WordPress, you can find a plugin for just about any function you need under the sun. Not so with Site Build It! Most of the design templates for SBI are very simple. Think basic 90′s looking website.

Many people like this. They argue “Your site should be about the content, not the fancy, smancy design”. On some levels this is true. I think people do often get too caught up in the way the design of their site looks instead of focusing on the main thing. Content is king. That might make “design” the queen right?

My problem with the simplistic approach is that if I decide I want to add a podcast into the mix of my SBI site on “Best Back Packing Trips”, it’s very difficult unless I’ve got a coding background.

With WordPress it’s easy to add a podcast into the mix. I just install the Powerpress plugin. and then plug the mp3 url from Libsyn in.

The simple answer if there is one is to assess your understanding of online marketing and how e-commerce works. If you just want to create a website or blog, go with WordPress. If you’re serious about creating a substantial business and have a long term approach go with SBI. It will give you the solid foundation you need for creating online revenue for years to come. Russell and I both discuss this on the show.

Membership Site Question
Levi asks a question about three possible niche markets for membership site that he and his wife are planning to setup. This site pertains to something his wife has experience and talent in – jewelry. Specifically Native American jewelry. We’ll be discussing their options and giving our opinion on which specific market to pursue.

Best Place for Finding Talented Graphic Design Person (Outside of Fiverr)
Staci wants to know the best place for finding a graphic design person experienced with PhotoShop to help her with images for her website. She not sold on Fiverr and would like our opinion on some other places we recommend for talent she can work with on a regular basis. We’ll be sharing our thoughts on this. We recommend some of the regular sites like Elance, Odesk and Freelancer.

There is one other site that I recommend that rarely mentioned for outsourcing jobs like this as well. We’ll be discussing this free site for finding local talent.

We’ll be answering these questions and more!

Have a great rest of the week and a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! :-)

Download the show | Leave a review on iTunes | Submit a question or call (865) 268-9314.

{ 0 comments }

Play

Over the years I’ve learned some important lessons when it comes to targeting niche markets. I think the most important lesson is to start with something you already “know and love”.

evergreen

It’s easy to build content around something you’re already know a great deal on, and are passionate about about.

Probably the 2nd most important lesson I learned along the way is to look for “evergreen markets”. These markets, like evergreen trees, are markets that don’t change a lot. Therefore the content you create for them is timeless – relevant just as much 10 years from now as it is today.

Some evergreen markets you may have already guessed are niches like health & fitness, beauty, cooking, nutrition, self development, business training, anything outdoor related like gardening, camping or hiking; and most any hobby that doesn’t involve technology. The list could go on and on. Information in these markets will last ages.

I can go to Google Books and find public domain books on “fly fishing” that date back to the early 1900′s. The information in these books has not changed. What was true then, is true now.

Something that is not evergreen however, is technology. If your passion is centered around technology, then by all means don’t let this hold you back. Just understand that it’s a market that’s constantly changing, and this will require you to always be producing new content to keep up with those changes.

The content you create today will not be relevant in 10 years. Just remember, 10 years ago “flip phones” were the rage in mobile technology. :-)

One evergreen market that does not change very often is “men’s style”. And that’s been an important factor for my guest this week, Antonio Centeno. You may recall Antonio joining us almost a year ago to discuss his success using YouTube to market his business Real Men, Real Style.

At the time Antonio had just reached 1 million views with 11,000 subscribers on YouTube from posting 250 videos in his first year.

A year later, and Antonio now has over 4 million views with 54,000 subscribers!

Naturally, you’d think that type of increase was a result of continuing to record even more videos. But what’s interesting is that Antonio has not been producing a tremendous amount of content over the past year.

His channel now has 288 video posted. He’s only added 38 in the last year. That’s less than one video a week!

So why the continued surge in traffic even after he’s backed off the gas pedal? A few things are working in his favor, but one of the big advantages is having “evergreen” content. It’s relevant year after year. It goes viral year after year.

Trends do change, but business style remains the same. Take for example a book I have on one of my bookshelves called Dress for Success by John T. Molloy. This book was written back in the 80′s but is still used as a reference for executives everywhere.

Antonio’s traffic has increased and will continue to increase in the years ahead. Why? Because men will still be looking for tips on “How to buy a quality necktie” five years from now.

Enjoy the interview!

Download the show | Leave a review on iTunes | Submit a question or call (865) 268-9314.

{ 2 comments }

How to Organize Your Life and Work for Maximum Efficiency

May 5, 2013

Tweet One of my project goals for this year has been to transition to a paperless workspace. By “paperless”, I mean having very few hard copies of notes, goals, receipts, tax returns, etc. You know, all of that stuff accumulates in desk drawers and file cabinets I have a large file cabinet in my office full of papers [...]

Read the full article →

230 – More Q&A – Podcasting Equipment, Chroma Key Effects, Squidoo Pages and More

May 1, 2013

Tweet If you’ve got questions on podcasting equipment setup, video chroma key effects,  or the value of Squidoo pages, you may want to check out this week’s episode. We’ll be covering those topics and more! New Podcast Setup First, you may notice a slight difference in sound quality on the show this week. I took some time [...]

Read the full article →

229 – Interview with Jeff Steinmann – Author of “How to Quit Working”

April 23, 2013

Tweet A few weeks ago, I received a book in the mail with an intriguing title – How To Quit Working. The author, Jeff Steinmann you may recall, joined us on the podcast show last year to discuss the topic of monetizing your expertise. Little did I know at the time, Jeff was working on [...]

Read the full article →

228 – How to Develop Your Own Mobile App in 30 Minutes – Interview with Justin Giles of Greenrift Software

April 17, 2013

Tweet Have you ever considered what it would be like to create a mobile app with the same popularity as Angry Birds? This game currently has a combined 1.7 billion downloads across all platforms and including special editions. That’s right … 1.7 Billion! Not only that, the popularity of the gaming app developed by Rovio has [...]

Read the full article →