How I Make a Living Online
With My Hobby Websites

This page is a continuation of my About Me page. If you haven't yet read it, I would suggest a quick read by clicking here.

It's not an expert's job, really. Like I used to think it was. Because if a total non-techie like me can do it, anyone can too. In fact, all the technical bits are taken care of, and I don't have to tinker with those. Phew!

All the tools are provided for to let me build up a fully-functional website that the search engines and site visitors adore. I was guided step-by-step on how to pick a topic to write about, how to write content that please readers, how to get traffic, and even how to earn money from this website.

Years ago, I only knew how to use the Internet for emails and search for information. Building my own website never crossed my mind. This website is built from scratch with my amateur's efforts. Not too bad huh?

Not only that, I'm now earning a monthly income from this website writing and compiling information on a topic I'm passionate about, inspirational quotes. I've been encouraged and inspired by quotes since I was a teenager. Isn't it amazing how within a sentence or two, an author can dispense a powerful dose of wisdom or experience accumulated over possibly, a lifetime?

Obviously, back then I didn't think it's possible to make money from such a topic!

You too can create a successful website revolving around a topic you love and will enjoy writing about. What's your hobbies or passions? Skills? Specialized knowledge? You'll be amazed at the topics some folks came up with! You can check them out here. Try to spot my website listed under..."Miscellaneous". ;-)

You don't need to bring any programming, website designing, product/business to the table. You don't need to be writing like an English professor. If you can talk, you can write. Just write as if you're talking to a friend.

What do you need to bring along? Brain and motivation. That's the only requirements.

There's work to be done here. Building a website isn't a get-rich-quick scheme (I fell for those and failed, remember?). It's not going to be easy and it's not about instant results. Like most things that's worth doing, you'll soon learn that building a successful money-making website with SBI! does does take time, commitment and lots of work in the beginning.

But once your website is up and established, it can go into maintenance/auto-pilot mode, while the traffic continues to roll in and so do your income, for months or years ahead.

Back to my SBI! story. I bought my first all-in-one SBI! package and started building my first website in early 2005. I worked on that website with the spare time I squeezed out each morning before I rushed off to my job. Progress was slow as I had limited time and I had to overcome other personal obstacles. But within a year, it's earning me pocket money.

This is my second SBI! website which I started in early 2006. Again, my progress was slow. I got side-tracked by other stuff and wasted time that could be spent building more content for my sites. Gotta hone my concentration skill!

I "tortoise" along.

Despite my slow going and growth, I was encouraged by the growing traffic and part-time income from my two sites. I took the plunge to quit my job in March 2007, to give my websites my full-time effort. That was quite a risk as family and friends began to have their say...

Ouch.

A week after I quit my full-time job, a part-time job which I could do from home came to me. That helped me out financially. In September 2007, I flew over to visit my then boyfriend in England for... grasp... six months!

I continued to build pages and traffic during these months. I experienced first-hand how I was able to work from anywhere on my websites as long as there's a computer and Internet connection. Nothing was interrupted.

In December 2007, I earned my first $1,000 (US dollars) from my websites. This converted to about $1,400 Sing dollars for me. That's a biggie for me! It's enough money for me to live on without the urgency to secure a job when I came back to Singapore in March 2008... when my tourist visa ran out.

Since then, I continued to work from home and I still do today. My website traffic and income for both sites continue to grow at a good pace.

I mostly earn money from a program called Google Adsense by placing text ads on my site. Till now, this is probably the easiest way for me to earn money with my websites. I also earn commissions from selling other people's ebooks and products.

I earn money whether I'm working, sleeping, doing my crafts, out having tea with my friends or baby-sitting my nieces.

There's no inventory for me to handle. No "hardsell", no shipping and no customers to deal with! I love that. I just let my business partners take over these "hard" areas.

But if these areas are up your alley, you can earn money from selling your own products/services. What I'm saying is, there's many ways you can make money from your website. SBI! will teach you how.

Final bits on my SBI! journey... Since I came back from England, my family and friends magically left me alone to do my work. They don't ask about my work in a questioning tone anymore. They know I'm earning enough to support myself, and that's enough for them.

And me? I'm thankful for every day that I get to work from home doing something I enjoy and being paid to do that! I recall how in college, once I went to a radio station to interview the station manageress about her job. She joyfully announced to my group, "Can you believe they actually pay me for having fun?!!" That struck me as incredible statement then.

Now, I'm starting towards the same road. Work is never really work if I enjoy what I'm doing. And to have money flows out of it, amazing.

While I sure did spend a lot of time on my websites in the beginning, my two sites are now on maintenance mode. I spend less than 10 hours on them each week. And I didn't really work on them for about 4 months towards the end of 2008.

What about you? Have you ever thought of starting your own homebased business? Dream of working from home like me? Want to build up your retirement fund in this declining economy?

Why not take a look at how SBI! can work for you? I hope it'll open up a whole new world of possibilities for you!

To learn more about SBI!, take this The Video Tour. If you are on dial-up, you might like to take the Quick Tour.

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