Who
Would Have Thought That A Vacation Could Pay My Way
Through University?
by Nori Evoy
In August, 2002, we made our second trip to the
beautiful Caribbean island of Anguilla. Many people
had never heard of it. My Dad hadn't.
And then he read a book.
It is an inspiring story about two people selling
everything they owned, "slowing down" and
opening up their dream... a restaurant in Anguilla.
Their love of the island, through successes and
mishaps, their description of the island and its
people, caught my dad's fancy. This book is really
about a journey down a "road less
traveled."
It's really about people choosing to lead their
own lives.
I feel so sad for people who are stuck working for
people they don't like, for those who are forced to
go to work, fight traffic, be in an office and then
come home at the end of the day.
My dad works hard building SiteSell.com and Site
Build It!. Probably too hard. But he loves what he
does -- I can see his dream, how Site Build
It! can free people from a hum-drum life. You don't
have to do what the Blanchard's did and risk every
penny and open your own restaurant.
You can do what I did. But never meant to.
;-) (After all, who could have
imagined that A Trip to the Beach and Site
Build It! would turn me into a successful Web site
owner, too?)
Anyway, all that to say... when my Dad asked me to
write my "case study," how could I say
"no"? (How could I say "no"
anyway -- but that's a different story!).
Before I start my story, I should add one thing... I
get some e-mail saying how lucky I am to have my Dad
tutor me on "Net marketing." Well, he
doesn't.
He does help me a lot with my writing -- he loves to
write, and he pushes me to "say it better, Nori
-- make it come alive." And he did help me get
started with the software. But I do all the rest
myself.
My Story Begins
As I was saying, my Dad works pretty hard. But
when we vacation, we vacation. No
laptops. No cell phones. No RIM. Just tropical
clothes and snorkeling equipment!
We had fallen in love with Anguilla in March, 2002,
our first trip to the island. So a whole month in
Anguilla, August 2002, was looking very appealing.
I won't bore you with the details of that trip, but
if you know my Dad at all, you will have guessed
that we pushed our car to corners of the island
where even the locals never go. We ate, swam and
drank (ahem, did I mention the rum punches?) it all.
About half way through that trip, I asked my Dad,
"Would Anguilla be a good topic for a Web
site?"
Uh-oh. The lights in my Dad's eyes went on.
"Nori, what a great idea."
He went on to explain how the World Wide Web is
really nothing more than hundreds of millions of
people looking for information, and millions of
sites that provide that information. Except that
most sites just try to make money with their
sites... without providing what people look for...
the information.
Anguilla would, he said, be a wonderful theme, for a
site, if there was enough demand for information
about Anguilla and not too much competition. If
there was, then I could indeed attract visitors by
providing good information (and we were becoming
experts on Anguilla by now!). The final question, he
said, was...
"Assuming you can build the traffic, how will
you convert those visitors into revenue? "
In short, my Dad calls this...
Content > Traffic > PREsell > Monetize.
It all seemed pretty simple, when he explained it
like that. We had a wonderful vacation. And my brain
kept thinking about how this adventure would make a
good Web page, or that restaurant, etc.
There was only one problem... I didn't know how to
make a Web page!
Anguilla-Beaches.com Is
Born
When we got home, my Dad showed me the Brainstormer
software. Talk about amazing. Magic. And there were
lots of great topics (called "keywords")
about Anguilla. And not too much competition.
What
is Site Build It?
Site Build
It! is a suite of tools that enables you to
build a referrer business without knowing all
the technical stuff.
It takes you by the hand and shows you how to
create a successful referrer business.
(It's not only for referrer sites, but that's
a good use for it.)
It helps you research and brainstorm a topic,
and helps you choose PROFITABLE keywords -
ones with high demand and low supply.
Then, even if you don't know any HTML, at the
push of a button it builds web pages for you -
all you have to do is write the articles, on
topics in which you're interested.
Next, you click the "Analyze It"
button and it shows you how to improve the
page so that it will be found in search
engines.
You don't even have to submit the site to
search engines. It does all that, too, in a
search engine friendly way.
There's a whole lot more to it, but that's the
essence. It is the Ultimate referrer
business
builder!
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So we knew that we could build a site that would
attract enough visitors who are interested in
Anguilla. But as my Dad says, "There's no point
in building a site, even one with traffic, if you
don't have a plan for how you are going to convert
that traffic into income, Nori. Unless you just want
a hobby site, of course."
Now, I have nothing against those who just want to
have a hobby site. But as long as you're going to
write about something you know and love, you might
as well earn some money to pay for Radiohead
concerts and clothes, right?
As a student, I don't really have any services to
sell. And I do not have time to create or sell
products (although eventually I might write the Xtreme
Tourist Guide to Anguilla book). And my Dad does
not want me to e-mail with strangers, not for a
couple more years, so no customer support he says.
However, he explained that there are a lot of local
Anguillian businesses who do not have a Web site. Or
if they do, they get no traffic and never will. So
he explained how I could earn a finder's fee by
sending clients to them.
In addition, I could be an affiliate and earn
commissions by sending people to Amazon.com and
Barnes & Noble to buy books on Anguilla. Google
AdSense did not exist yet.
So,
based on all our keyword brainstorming
research and
monetization plan, "Anguilla-Beaches.com"
was born. |
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I read the Action Guide, which was long but
easy-reading (in case you're wondering, my Dad is
not saying whether that little Action Guide
shadow-man with the hat and the whip is him or not).
My Dad did help me through a couple of the sections,
but that's more because he hovers -- I could have
done it all on my own.
His most important help was really to push me to
write to "touch" my visitors. If you just
write to make money, you will fail. If you write to
truly touch and inform and please your visitors,
good things will follow. That's a lesson that I will
always have with me, and I don't just mean for
anguilla-beaches.
I'll spare you the details of actually "doing
SBI!," because it really was quite easy. But
just in case you have not yet read the "quick
tour of how to do it" by now... this
is all I did (please click here and follow along).
The Traffic Starts
I don't quite know how to say this next part. Have
you ever worked on something, and you know it's
supposed to work, but you don't somehow believe it?
Well, that's kind of like what I was doing.
First, let me back up a bit and tell you that I was
afraid. I was scared that my Dad would think I was
dumb because I had no idea how to write a Web page.
I was afraid of failing... and somehow, I didn't
really think "anyone would come."
"But if you don't try, you don't get."
(Yes, you-know-who says that, too.)
Well anyway, I started writing Web pages, not
wanting him to see them. My first two were up before
he even knew it! It was so easy with the
block-by-block builder. And the neat part is that
the online help taught be some simple HTML, like how
to make a word bold or navy
blue.
My Dad was really impressed. We reviewed the pages
and he showed me how to say things better. How to
choose better words. How to close a page with more
"punch." It all makes sense once it's
explained to you, and now SBI! even includes
sections on how to write like that!
Soon, I was using an HTML Editor called "BBEdit"
(we use Macs). My Dad did help me a bit with this.
But anyway, back to "believing." Guess
what happened next?
People started visiting. First a few per day.
Then tens, hundreds, more and more and more. And
they loved the site. I received wonderful e-mail (my
Dad has someone screen my e-mail -- I think I'm old
enough, but he worries about this, so I only see
them and I don't reply to it).
I have received e-mail from...
- The Anguilla
Tourist Board -- "You go girl." That
was great! They have written several times
since, thanking me.
- Anguilla Life
magazine -- Claire Devener, the publisher, has
become friends of the family.
- Many restaurants
and spots around the island, thanking me for
mentioning them.
- Hundreds of
people who discovered Anguilla just because of
the site.
- And I am even
recognized on the beach... which is very weird.
Which brings me back
to "believing." Although I understood what
I was doing, somehow it is still amazing when you
see yourself at #1 on Google for "anguilla
beaches" and when you see visitors arriving,
and especially when you see all the people you reach
from all over the world.
My site even gets a higher traffic ranking than big,
glitzy sites...
Site |
anguilla-
beaches.com |
arawakbeach.com |
anguilla-
vacation.com |
Owner |
Nori
Evoy |
Arawak
Beach Inn |
Anguilla
Tourist Board |
Alexa
Ranking |
15,898 |
1,434,072 |
255,295 |
|
When I stop to
think about it, I still find it strange. But the
reason is so simple... people return when you
provide information that touches them. They
subscribe to your e-zine. They find you at the
engines because you offer so many pages that cover
so many keywords. They find you... they like you...
and they keep coming. Like my Dad said...
Content > Traffic > PREsell
That has to come first.
It worked! And now...
Monetization
My Dad had explained to me how 98% of online
business people focus on "getting the
money" first. Only one problem. Their sites
don't attract anyone!
Now that anguilla-beaches was getting traffic, my
Dad arranged with another good friend and wonderful
real estate agent, for me to earn a commission by
referring real estate leads to her. I built an
entire section on real estate -- all those photos my
Dad took came in handy!
As a results, she has sold a house and rented many
villas (some of those villas rent for thousands of
dollars per night). This single referer arrangement
already earns most of my income from the site, and
my Dad wants to arrange similar deals with other
professionals and services and businesses on the
island.
And I was accepted as a Google partner. The Google
ads alone earn me a lot more than my friends who
work part-time in fast food restaurants.
The affiliate income is the least important revenue
generator, but it's better than nothing!
The End... Or The Beginning
We've made several trips to Anguilla since then... I
know that's where my parents will settle when I'm in
university. And every trip, we accumulate more and
more great content.
I don't try to be all things to all people. There
are other sites that are far more comprehensive. But
people don't necessarily want
"comprehensive." As my Dad says, "We
live in an info-overloaded world, Nori. If you find
the best for people and save them the time of having
to read too much, you're providing real value."
So that's my niche... the best of Anguilla... from a
family's point of view.
On this next trip, I'll use Form Build It! to add
more lead-generating income for a boat charter, a
tour operator, and other higher-end businesses. I'm
not in a rush. It's important for me to find the
right partner to recommend, not just to make money.
Oh, and speaking of money, I wasn't kidding about
university. My Dad will, of course, help with
university. But please don't think I'm one of those
kids with a silver spoon in my mouth. My Dad refuses
to spoil us and I guess that's why I called this
section "The End... Or The Beginning."
This is the end of my story, but just the beginning
of my adult life. I've learned that it takes some
work to succeed. If you re-read my story, you'll see
how important it is to work smart. That's more
important than working hard.
Site Build It! did not build my site... it did not
build my business. I did.
But it did help me to work smart. I picked a good
theme, thanks to Site Build It!.
I built a Web site, which I could never have even
started without it.
Traffic grew, thanks to SBI! leading me through the
process of writing my words so that they make both
my human visitors and the search engines happy. I
had to work to do this, but I could not imagine
doing it without Site Build It!.
Site Build It! took away 90% of the "work
hard" and let me work smart.
I now have a business that I can grow over the
years. A business that is fun. I'll never do a 9 to
5. I'll always own my own life.
That, more than money, more than learning
about the Web, more than anguilla-beaches, more than
learning how to write well, that is the most
important thing I've learned from SBI!.
Own your own life. If you don't, what's the point?
Thank you, Dad.
Nori Evoy
Click
here for more information on how SBI!
is
used to generate substantial finder's fees
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