How to Build an Income-Generating
Website Based on Your Hobby or Passion

 

This website started out as a hobby for me - and maybe a way to generate a little extra side-income. Now, with the help of an online tool called Site Build It, it not only attracts millions of visitors each year, it also pays my mortgage (and quite a bit more).

I believe that earning a living doing what you love is one of the most fulfilling life changes most people can make. You've probably already spent years chasing the carrot. And if you find your work boring, stressful or uninspiring then you are definitely doing something wrong.

This article explains how I turned my passion for lucid dreaming into a profitable online business. All sorts of people are interested in developing this learnable skill, and I cater to that need by creating free, high quality content. I make money by placing selected advertising in this niche.

Today, my business generates around US $7,000/month - and I work part-time. Isn't this something everyone with a little creative flair should be able to enjoy? Imagine working from home, earning a cushy living, writing about your passion.

This is no dream - it's a reality. As long as you are smart, motivated and committed - I'm confident you can earn your living this way too.

Let's look at the deets.

 

Why Build a Website?

First, the obvious. This website has given me enormous financial freedom. Despite not having a "real job", I pay all my bills, live a stress-free lifestyle, go on vacation multiple times a year, and still have savings at the end of it. My website provides all the income I need at this stage in my life (at 28, and a new home-owner in a global recession, this is probably about the most stretched I'll ever be).

More importantly, it's also given me a sense of true creative freedom. My contribution to the world is not slaving away in a luminescent office cubicle. Instead, I get to enrich people's lives by sharing my personal knowledge and experiences in a fun, creative way. Sure, it's work - but what a job!

 

How Much Can You Earn?

This is the first question people ask - so let's get right to it.

Like any business, there is a range of achievable profit goals when you own a website. Some hobby-themed websites made with Site Build It deliver more than $10,000 per month. Those are the cream of the crop.

Many successful website owners using SBI fall in the realm of $2,000-$5,000 per month. Passive income.

And let me make it blindingly obvious that once you have one website delivering in that range, you can replicate the concept in other niches. I do this; although World of Lucid Dreaming is my biggest website, I also run Improve Vision Naturally and Sheltie Planet among others.

Besides earning a regular cash income from anywhere in the world (I'm in New Zealand, although my spelling and my references cater to US readers as my main audience), I also own a valuable asset. I own a business. I may one day sell this business for a lump sum, or let it continue generating advertising income on auto-pilot while I pursue other adventures in life.

You can't say that about any employee-based job in the world.

 

The SBI Model

>> Find out why SBI beats WordPress hands down

Here's the SBI philosophy that has made my website a success, distinct from any other site in my particular niche. This is not "Just another WordPress blog" as their motto so ironically suggests.

Site Build It teaches a specific website model called CTPM, based on a four-pronged strategy of Content > Traffic > PreSell > Monetize.

• Content - Content is King. Your goal is to build a website from content such as articles, tutorials, journal entries, top tips, product reviews and video blogs. This is what draws people to your website from Google. Your content can be about anything, as long as it's confined to one genre, eg vegetable gardening, stock market investing, juggling, or planning kids' birthday parties. Your unique and personal content is your greatest asset.
  
  
• Traffic - Your content attracts web traffic. The more pages you make, the more traffic you can receive, and so the more money you can make. If your content is dull, people won't share it on social media like Facebook and Twitter, so pour your passion and knowledge into it. With this model you can build a significant traffic base for free - there is no need to pay to advertise your website; good content does it all for you.
  
  
• Pre-Sell - This means relating to your readers and their needs, so you can provide them with the right products to support their goals. For instance, got a website about kit cars? Then tell your visitors about the best kit car books on Amazon. You do not have to sell anything, but simply recommend the best products in your niche (or create your own product, such as an informational e-book).
  
  
• Monetize - When a kit car enthusiast purchases one of the books you reviewed, Amazon gives you a referral commission. Once you have hundreds (and then thousands) of web visitors per day, those commissions add up to a healthy passive income. Another way to monetize is by placing text or image ads around your site and getting paid per click (rather than per sale). Google provides this through its AdSense program and automates the process for you, sending a check at the end of each month. Of course, there are many ways to monetize your website - and they are all covered in SBI's training.

Why Use Site Build It?

If you are a beginner in online business, using SBI is a no-brainer. There is nothing else like it on the market, enabling you to focus on the creative side of website building, rather than on technical hoo-ha like CSS, PHP, MYSQL and other daunting initialisms. (If you don't know what those stand for, good. You really won't need to with SBI.)

Here are the three main reasons why I stand behind Site Build It:

 

1. The Education

Site Build It achieves results by educating people in a line of business they've never succeeded at before. If you want to make enough money to quit your day job, you will need this level training - otherwise you are just going in blind.

The education of SBI is packed into a single comprehensive resource called The Action Guide.

The Guide is presented in both written and video formats, catering to both verbal and visual learners.

The videos lay everything out plain and simple, like having your own personal tutor right next to you. Each lesson is direct and practical, making for a really stimulating process. You'll learn all the steps of building your website from start to finish - from designing your site with point-and-click templates, to identifying the most in-demand keywords in Google searches, to planning your content in advance and connecting with your readers.

This education is driven by SBI's core CTPM philosophy. If you stray from the Guide, you run the risk of failure, so I advocate sticking to it by the letter. This is the main reason World of Lucid Dreaming shot to success so rapidly.

 

2. The Tools

As I mentioned above, SBI takes all the daunting technological bits out of site building. So you won't find yourself ripping your hair out because there's something inexplicable going wrong with the coding.

Instead, the website's back-end is heavily automated, freeing you up to focus on your creative front-end. Even if you do know how to code a website and are fluent in HTML, you'll still reap the benefits of this automation. This includes:

• Domain name registration
• Web site hosting
• Web design templates
• Point-and-click page creation
• Keyword research
• Competitor analysis
• Traffic generation
• Search Engine Optimization
• Contact and comment forms
• Newsletter management
• Auto responders
• Sitemaps
• RSS feeds
• Social media

Primarily, SBI is a tool for people with techno-fear, or who have no inclination to learn about web programming. A 9-year-old or a 69-year-old could follow this course. From a technical perspective, all you need are basic computer skills like using Word and opening emails.

Of course, if you're reading this, you've already taken the initiative and are thinking about building a website. So you probably have some confidence in your abilities and know a thing or two about the internet. This was the position I was in when I started using Site Build It in 2008.

At first, I was thankful for the dumbing-down of SBI's admin section (pictured above). It allowed me to focus on the task of creating my business. Soon, though, I took off SBI's training wheels and was able to integrate higher level options, such as designing my own custom template and writing my own HTML pages from scratch.

So the tools of SBI cater to a range of needs - from complete beginners to more competent users (and there's nothing stopping you from learning as you go). Obviously, the more you embrace the technology, the flashier your website will look as a result. But in terms of functionality, SBI nails it for everyone.

 

3. The Support

SBI has extensive private forums where you can ask questions of fellow members. There is a very supportive ethos of "help and be helped" - making it one of the friendliest forums I've ever seen on the net.

I can spend hours reading the forums just picking up tidbits of information to make my website better. (Tips such as: submit your site to Google's internet directory, DMOZ, to improve your website ranking and therefore web traffic. Or, write your book review like you're recommending it to a friend - spell our the benefits, don't ruin the surprises.)

You'll also see the CEO and founder of SBI, Ken Evoy, around the forums answering questions and providing people with tailored ideas to improve their hobby sites. Ken has great passion for his work and actually does make time for the little guy (despite running a multi-million dollar enterprise and whose own site is in the top 500 in the world). He helped me personally in the early days of building World of Lucid Dreaming, giving me extensive feedback on my pages. How many CEOs do that?

SBI also offers unlimited customer support and - if you get really off track - private tuition sessions at extra cost. But for most people, the core SBI program is all you need. If you follow the video instructions, and commit your time and passion, you will see your online business grow rapidly.

 

Case Studies

When I discovered SBI, I had no idea it would lead me to where I am today. I spent a week deliberating whether to start a website and eventually realized I had to take a leap of faith. At best, I thought my efforts would yield a few hundred bucks per month. You can see why I'm so happy that I took that leap of faith today.

Of course, I realize I'm just one example of an SBI success story. So here are a selection of case studies that illustrate what's possible (click the most fitting):

• Students
• Retirees
• WAHMs
• Office workers

Or, to see specific website examples without the back story, check out these SBI website samples. They show how an extraordinary range of interests translate into an online income. You'll also notice the same CTPM philosophy showing through on each website. Because remember - Content is King.

 

Take The Video Tour

I encourage you to explore SBI further by watching the two-minute video below:

 

If you have some free time now, I also recommend watching the full 30-minute video tour on their site. (Otherwise, do bookmark it and come back later as it's a great clarifying video that will help you see what's possible.)

 

90-Day Guarantee

Like any respectable online business, SBI offers a 90-day money-back guarantee. So you can try it out for three months and if you decide it's not for you, then you can easily and quickly claim your money back.

What's more, once you register your website domain with SBI (for free) you get to keep it for free, no matter if you do later quit. That's a better than money-back guarantee - that's a free web domain no matter what you do.

The price of Site Build It includes your web hosting, domain, email, mass mailouts, web design, dozens of site building tools and the priceless online education - for 80 cents a day. That's a very cost-effective way to run your own profitable business... which could realistically yield a full time income for you.

 

Final Thoughts

If you're feeling trapped in your current job, want to earn more money, take more vacation time, or simply make a more meaningful contribution to the world doing what you love - then I highly recommend SBI for you..

It is an online education and toolkit that could change the course of your career. Build your website in your spare time - even in just two hours a week - and watch how your initial seedling develops into a solid oak tree.

Site Build It is the best tool I know for starting a profitable website. It shaves years off the learning curve and prevents you from making many amateur mistakes by giving you a proven step-by-step strategy for success. That's why I highly recommend Site Build It if you want to successfully generate an income online.

Rebecca Turner
Editor, World of Lucid Dreaming

Questions?

Do you have any questions about Site Build It? Just call or email the SBI customer help team and they'll provide you with a personal answer. Yep, it's REAL one-on-one human contact and it's a totally free service - so make the most of it.

 

Further Reading

This page provokes more in-depth questions about SBI. I have published them along with my detailed answers in An In-Depth SBI Review, answering:

• How much money do you make?
• How did you choose your website niche?
• How do you make money with your website?
• What are the challenges faced in building a website with Site Build It?
• What mistakes would you avoid?
• Should I build a website on personal development?
• Does Site Build It allow readers to make comments on my articles?
  

If you're already raring to go, don't waste any time - visit the SBI website to start work on your own income generating website.