This is a collection of Site Build It (SBI) user reviews from real SBI users. Is Site Build It the best online money making system? Find it from real SBI users.
Hello. My name is Steve M Nash and this is my brief Site Build It! review - an SBI! review with a difference, actually. You see, I want to talk to you about the good, the bad and the ugly of using Site Build It! to build a sustainable internet business.
It is tiring, after all, to read all of those glowing reviews of Site Build It! - however 'true' they are. It can't all be good, can it, when it comes to SBI!? Well, no it can't - hence this Site Build It! review article.
And what do I know about SBI!? Well I created my first site using SBI! in 2001, that's what, and I now own 2 SBI! sites.
Okay, let's get going then with the good, the bad, and the ugly of Site Build It!...
==> Part 1: Site Build It! - "The Good"
Well, these are the first things that came to mind when thinking what I really like about SBI! (Site Build It!):
* Site Build It! Action Guide - Step by Step Site Building Plan
This is the 'how to' guide that is behind the success of SBI!. And every step you need to take, when you need to take it, is included. Success really is as simple (or difficult - see below) as following the SBI! Action Guide.
Amazingly, the SBI! Action Guide can be viewed online by anyone who wants to take a look. Just do a search for "SBI Action Guide" in your favourite search engine
NOTE: there are "ugly" aspects of using the SBI! Action Guide, but I'll discuss them later on.
* Brainstorm It! Tool - Keyword Research PLUS!
This is a fantastic keyword research tool that just keeps on getting better and better. Combining proprietary keyword data from SiteSell with Wordtracker, Brainstorm It! not only allows you to do "market research" for your business website, it shows you what pages to build, and even how to structure your site.
This really is an incredible keyword research tool, and worth the 'price of admission' on its own in my opinion.
* Content 2.0 Module Lets Visitors Create Content on Your Site
This is a clever module that allows your site visitors to contribute content to your website. Unlike blogs, where you can only add comments to pages, your site visitors can actually write pages for your site on themes that relate to your site. (For example, on my self help SBI! site, visitors share what makes them happy!) Then you, the SBI! site owner, have the power to edit/accept their submission or reject it.
This is a powerful way to get site visitors involved with your website, AND to get them to create content on your site.
NOTE: there are "ugly" aspects of using Content 2 (or C2), but I'll discuss them later on.
* SBI! Forums - Success Focussed, and Very Helpful
The private SBI! forums are filled with friendly, success-focussed individuals ready to help and ask for help too. These individuals are either SBI owners - all willing to share in their successes (and failures) - or SBI! affiliates (these people have limited access to the forums).
NOTE: there are "bad" aspects of using the Site Build It forums, too, but I'll discuss that below.
Okay, that's enough of the "good stuff". This next part of this article about the good, the bad and the ugly of SBI! discusses "The Bad" of Site Build It!...
==> Part 2: Site Build It! - "The Bad"
These are the main things that come to my mind when I'm thinking about what's 'bad' about SBI!:
* No FTP
Yes, that's right, SBI! does not do FTP.
Now if you have no idea what FTP means then you might as well skip this minor moan, but if you know that it means File Transfer Protocol and that it's how you upload your website files en masse then read on... So, SBI! does not do FTP. Instead, and due to how its proprietary software works (I think!), you have to upload pages AND images one at a time.
Yep, that's right, you have to upload images one at a time! (And if you want to upload a different version of the same image, you have to delete the original image and upload the new one. Yes, this is a bit tiresome.)
You do have to upload HTML pages one at a time, at first, but you can re-upload up to 20 pages at a time after that - just as long as they're pages you've previously uploaded.
Now I'm used to this 'limitation' - this not having FTP. And that's because, for me, the benefits of using the SBI! system far, far outweigh the extra time taken here.
* Email Auto Responder Limits You to Just 7 Emails
One of the great things about SBI! is that it has all of the tools you need to build a successful online business, all in one place. Or at least that's the claim. One of the few areas of weakness, to me, is the email auto responder - aka Form Build It!.
So an email auto responder allows you to send a sequence of emails to someone. And this facility is most often used to send subscribers an email course.
And the big limitation with SBI!'s Form Build It! is that you can only send up to 7 emails, or follow-up messages.
This limit of 7 emails is poor, to my mind, and it does not allow much flexibility when it comes to this form of email marketing. (AWeber, for example, a popular online auto responder software, allows you to send 100s of follow-up messages. But then AWeber costs at LEAST US$194 per year, at time of writing! And SBI! costs less than US$99 more - everything included! Hmm.)
* SBI! Forums Can Be Too 'On Message'
Okay, as much as I value the SBI! forums and the helpful, noise-free nature of how they operate, sometimes - to me, at least - the SBI! forums can be a little 'on message'. Which means those that agree with 'the party line' on discussions about how SBI! works, and how it could be improved, for example, seem to far outweigh those that criticise.
Which means I rarely, if ever, contribute anything of a dissenting nature to the forums, as it's just not worth the 'hassle'.
Admittedly, I'm not a big user of the SBI! forums, and my reservations could be more about the fact that I'm British and thus not a fan of (what I like to call) 'North American hoopla and rah-rah-rah'. However, as I said at the beginning of this SBI! review article, this is my true experience of using SBI! - you don't have to agree with it.
I value the SBI! forums. And there are some truly helpful posts in there. Sometimes, though, the "hoopla" annoys me.
Okay, now it's time for... "the ugly"
==> Part 3: Site Build It! - "The Ugly"
These are the main things that come to my mind when I'm thinking about what's 'ugly' about SBI!:
* Action Guide Often Hard To Use
The SBI!" Action Guide contains a step-by-step guide to building a successful business online. And it's aimed at ALL users - absolute beginners, to web professionals.
Now as you can imagine, that's a pretty impressive feat if it manages to pull it off. And it does, at a cost...
Yes, the SBI! Action Guide can also get a bit 'ugly', especially when you're a beginner. There is just so much to learn, building a successful website, that it's easy to get lost with it all, or - worse! - to miss important steps.
And, sometimes it's worse when you already know how to build a website in the first place, as you can (quite often) skim past or misunderstand steps, too.
That's why I ALWAYS recommend reading the Action Guide a second time some months or years later, to see what you missed the first time. (It's also why those that build 2nd, 3rd and so on SBI! sites do so much better, quite often!)
* SBI! Interface is 'Ugly', and 'Clunky'
The Site Build It! interface is how you build your website, and how you put into practice what the SBI! Action Guide talks about.
Now each year this interface gets improved, and is easier to use, but it's still, at time of writing, a bit 'clunky' and 'ugly'. In my humble opinion. It's a matter of clicking lots of form-like buttons. Now everything works, yes, but it's 'ugly'. And it's definitely not very 'web 2.0'-like.
Hopefully, the SBI! interface will be redesigned soon. (SiteSell who run the SBI! service, are continually improving all aspects of SBI!, as per the feedback (Wishlist) in the forums, so it's likely this will change for the better over time.)
* Content 2.0 Module Can Be Confusing to Implement Successfully
Now as much as I love the Content 2.0 module (as written about earlier) - a module that enables your site visitors to contribute content on your website - I am also frustrated by Content 2.0 (C2) also.
C2 is very powerful, WHEN it's implemented correctly. But nothing happens, and you get no visitor submissions, when you ask visitors to contribute content "the wrong way".
And what is the wrong way?
Or, a better question: what is the right way to do C2?
Well, there are lots of examples of other SBI owners (inside the SBI! forums, inside the SBI! Action Guide, inside the Help Sections) that show you exactly how these people succeed with SBI! - and some of these successes are really impressive - but you have to translate what they've done, and do it on your site, which is most likely on a different subject theme.
Just take it from me - and yes, I may well be revealing my ignorance and lack of skill, here - that getting C2 to work is not straightforward!
It requires that you get inside the mindset of your site visitor. And this is NOT a trivial task.
Okay, there you have it. That's the end of this article.
I think you'll agree that I delivered on my promise, and gave you a review of Site Build It! that included the good, the bad and the ugly.
Some may say, though, that I'm pointing at tiny scratches on the Rolls Royce, whilst others still may say that I'm yet another SBI! sycophant. What you say is up to you. All I know is that I've tried as hard to be fair about a software service that, ultimately, I believe in.
So,yes, despite the fact that SBI! is not 'perfect' (whatever that means) I have no hesitation in recommending Site Build It! as the way to build an internet business.
Just be prepared for some of the limitations I've mentioned above; understand that success is usually a slow road, and the way of the tortoise applies with SBI!, too; follow the SBI! Action Guide; apply your brain; show some attitude; and be motivated... and SBI! could well be what you're looking for...
Again, these are my impartial views of a software service called Site Build It! - or, what I like to think of as the good, the bad, and the ugly of SBI!.
Thanks for reading.
Hello. My name is Steve M Nash and this is my brief Site Build It! review - an SBI! review with a difference, actually. You see, I want to talk to you about the good, the bad and the ugly of using Site Build It! to build a sustainable internet business.
It is tiring, after all, to read all of those glowing reviews of Site Build It! - however 'true' they are. It can't all be good, can it, when it comes to SBI!? Well, no it can't - hence this Site Build It! review article.
And what do I know about SBI!? Well I created my first site using SBI! in 2001, that's what, and I now own 2 SBI! sites.
Okay, let's get going then with the good, the bad, and the ugly of Site Build It!...
==> Part 1: Site Build It! - "The Good"
Well, these are the first things that came to mind when thinking what I really like about SBI! (Site Build It!):
* Site Build It! Action Guide - Step by Step Site Building Plan
This is the 'how to' guide that is behind the success of SBI!. And every step you need to take, when you need to take it, is included. Success really is as simple (or difficult - see below) as following the SBI! Action Guide.
Amazingly, the SBI! Action Guide can be viewed online by anyone who wants to take a look. Just do a search for "SBI Action Guide" in your favourite search engine
NOTE: there are "ugly" aspects of using the SBI! Action Guide, but I'll discuss them later on.
* Brainstorm It! Tool - Keyword Research PLUS!
This is a fantastic keyword research tool that just keeps on getting better and better. Combining proprietary keyword data from SiteSell with Wordtracker, Brainstorm It! not only allows you to do "market research" for your business website, it shows you what pages to build, and even how to structure your site.
This really is an incredible keyword research tool, and worth the 'price of admission' on its own in my opinion.
* Content 2.0 Module Lets Visitors Create Content on Your Site
This is a clever module that allows your site visitors to contribute content to your website. Unlike blogs, where you can only add comments to pages, your site visitors can actually write pages for your site on themes that relate to your site. (For example, on my self help SBI! site, visitors share what makes them happy!) Then you, the SBI! site owner, have the power to edit/accept their submission or reject it.
This is a powerful way to get site visitors involved with your website, AND to get them to create content on your site.
NOTE: there are "ugly" aspects of using Content 2 (or C2), but I'll discuss them later on.
* SBI! Forums - Success Focussed, and Very Helpful
The private SBI! forums are filled with friendly, success-focussed individuals ready to help and ask for help too. These individuals are either SBI owners - all willing to share in their successes (and failures) - or SBI! affiliates (these people have limited access to the forums).
NOTE: there are "bad" aspects of using the Site Build It forums, too, but I'll discuss that below.
Okay, that's enough of the "good stuff". This next part of this article about the good, the bad and the ugly of SBI! discusses "The Bad" of Site Build It!...
==> Part 2: Site Build It! - "The Bad"
These are the main things that come to my mind when I'm thinking about what's 'bad' about SBI!:
* No FTP
Yes, that's right, SBI! does not do FTP.
Now if you have no idea what FTP means then you might as well skip this minor moan, but if you know that it means File Transfer Protocol and that it's how you upload your website files en masse then read on... So, SBI! does not do FTP. Instead, and due to how its proprietary software works (I think!), you have to upload pages AND images one at a time.
Yep, that's right, you have to upload images one at a time! (And if you want to upload a different version of the same image, you have to delete the original image and upload the new one. Yes, this is a bit tiresome.)
You do have to upload HTML pages one at a time, at first, but you can re-upload up to 20 pages at a time after that - just as long as they're pages you've previously uploaded.
Now I'm used to this 'limitation' - this not having FTP. And that's because, for me, the benefits of using the SBI! system far, far outweigh the extra time taken here.
* Email Auto Responder Limits You to Just 7 Emails
One of the great things about SBI! is that it has all of the tools you need to build a successful online business, all in one place. Or at least that's the claim. One of the few areas of weakness, to me, is the email auto responder - aka Form Build It!.
So an email auto responder allows you to send a sequence of emails to someone. And this facility is most often used to send subscribers an email course.
And the big limitation with SBI!'s Form Build It! is that you can only send up to 7 emails, or follow-up messages.
This limit of 7 emails is poor, to my mind, and it does not allow much flexibility when it comes to this form of email marketing. (AWeber, for example, a popular online auto responder software, allows you to send 100s of follow-up messages. But then AWeber costs at LEAST US$194 per year, at time of writing! And SBI! costs less than US$99 more - everything included! Hmm.)
* SBI! Forums Can Be Too 'On Message'
Okay, as much as I value the SBI! forums and the helpful, noise-free nature of how they operate, sometimes - to me, at least - the SBI! forums can be a little 'on message'. Which means those that agree with 'the party line' on discussions about how SBI! works, and how it could be improved, for example, seem to far outweigh those that criticise.
Which means I rarely, if ever, contribute anything of a dissenting nature to the forums, as it's just not worth the 'hassle'.
Admittedly, I'm not a big user of the SBI! forums, and my reservations could be more about the fact that I'm British and thus not a fan of (what I like to call) 'North American hoopla and rah-rah-rah'. However, as I said at the beginning of this SBI! review article, this is my true experience of using SBI! - you don't have to agree with it.
I value the SBI! forums. And there are some truly helpful posts in there. Sometimes, though, the "hoopla" annoys me.
Okay, now it's time for... "the ugly"
==> Part 3: Site Build It! - "The Ugly"
These are the main things that come to my mind when I'm thinking about what's 'ugly' about SBI!:
* Action Guide Often Hard To Use
The SBI!" Action Guide contains a step-by-step guide to building a successful business online. And it's aimed at ALL users - absolute beginners, to web professionals.
Now as you can imagine, that's a pretty impressive feat if it manages to pull it off. And it does, at a cost...
Yes, the SBI! Action Guide can also get a bit 'ugly', especially when you're a beginner. There is just so much to learn, building a successful website, that it's easy to get lost with it all, or - worse! - to miss important steps.
And, sometimes it's worse when you already know how to build a website in the first place, as you can (quite often) skim past or misunderstand steps, too.
That's why I ALWAYS recommend reading the Action Guide a second time some months or years later, to see what you missed the first time. (It's also why those that build 2nd, 3rd and so on SBI! sites do so much better, quite often!)
* SBI! Interface is 'Ugly', and 'Clunky'
The Site Build It! interface is how you build your website, and how you put into practice what the SBI! Action Guide talks about.
Now each year this interface gets improved, and is easier to use, but it's still, at time of writing, a bit 'clunky' and 'ugly'. In my humble opinion. It's a matter of clicking lots of form-like buttons. Now everything works, yes, but it's 'ugly'. And it's definitely not very 'web 2.0'-like.
Hopefully, the SBI! interface will be redesigned soon. (SiteSell who run the SBI! service, are continually improving all aspects of SBI!, as per the feedback (Wishlist) in the forums, so it's likely this will change for the better over time.)
* Content 2.0 Module Can Be Confusing to Implement Successfully
Now as much as I love the Content 2.0 module (as written about earlier) - a module that enables your site visitors to contribute content on your website - I am also frustrated by Content 2.0 (C2) also.
C2 is very powerful, WHEN it's implemented correctly. But nothing happens, and you get no visitor submissions, when you ask visitors to contribute content "the wrong way".
And what is the wrong way?
Or, a better question: what is the right way to do C2?
Well, there are lots of examples of other SBI owners (inside the SBI! forums, inside the SBI! Action Guide, inside the Help Sections) that show you exactly how these people succeed with SBI! - and some of these successes are really impressive - but you have to translate what they've done, and do it on your site, which is most likely on a different subject theme.
Just take it from me - and yes, I may well be revealing my ignorance and lack of skill, here - that getting C2 to work is not straightforward!
It requires that you get inside the mindset of your site visitor. And this is NOT a trivial task.
Okay, there you have it. That's the end of this article.
I think you'll agree that I delivered on my promise, and gave you a review of Site Build It! that included the good, the bad and the ugly.
Some may say, though, that I'm pointing at tiny scratches on the Rolls Royce, whilst others still may say that I'm yet another SBI! sycophant. What you say is up to you. All I know is that I've tried as hard to be fair about a software service that, ultimately, I believe in.
So,yes, despite the fact that SBI! is not 'perfect' (whatever that means) I have no hesitation in recommending Site Build It! as the way to build an internet business.
Just be prepared for some of the limitations I've mentioned above; understand that success is usually a slow road, and the way of the tortoise applies with SBI!, too; follow the SBI! Action Guide; apply your brain; show some attitude; and be motivated... and SBI! could well be what you're looking for...
Again, these are my impartial views of a software service called Site Build It! - or, what I like to think of as the good, the bad, and the ugly of SBI!.
Thanks for reading.
And if you'd like to learn more about SBI! then you can carry on reading what's good, bad and ugly about SBI! here, at my free guide to Site Build It! - http://www.site-buildit.com
From Steve M Nash - SBI! Site Owner since 2001. See how Steve built his second SBI! site here: http://www.site-buildit.com/sbi-diary.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.comFrom Steve M Nash - SBI! Site Owner since 2001. See how Steve built his second SBI! site here: http://www.site-buildit.com/sbi-diary.html
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