How I built my web site about Rome

3 Years ago I never thought I would say that I am the webmaster and owner of RomanLife-RomeItaly.com . So how did I become self employed? Well, as the saying goes: "Necessity is the Mother of Invention." So how did I become my own boss? Basically, I had to!

Having just moved to Europe with my Italian wife and preferring the much warmer Mediterranean climates (if you're going to change continents then at least pick the place with the great climate, right?!) I found myself in Iove with both Spain and Italy. Problem: Nobody spoke my lingo!

So, whereas in my country of birth I was a very employable Civil Engineering technologist I was now very unemployable, in a country quite indifferent to my qualifications or skills, and on top of that I could hardly speak the language! (I was good at Civil Engineering but don't for a second think that I missed it, I wanted a radical life change - new continent, new job, new adventures...)

I needed to become employable and make money quick! At that stage I had an Avatar on Yahoo Q&A (Yahoo questions and answers) and was answering questions that tourists had about Rome, and honestly speaking that's about as far as my knowledge of the internet went (that and being able to open a Yahoo or Gmail account).

I did a search in Yahoo Q&A for questions that people had already asked about "how to become self-employed on the internet". I didn't have the time or money to lose on Get-Rich-Quick-Schemes, if you want my hair to stand up on my back and my face to go red then start talking to me about how I can make 2 000 000 Dollars in one year, one month, one week or whatever, selling affiliate products.
I'm sorry, let me say this clearly, I don't have the time for your sh!t.

So I did a bit more searching and the name Site Build It! popped up once or twice, my antenna went up but so did that little cautious voice in my head. I began to do some research and understood wrongly (I'll explain later) that they offer a means for you to easily build a web site. Interesting, I thought, as I had for a long time wanted to build my own web site but didn't have the technical knowledge or a clue of even where to start!

As I researched more I discovered that my initial understanding about Site Build It! was incorrect, they offer the information and means to build a web business - a very different concept from building only a web site!

Let me explain: I'm sure you know of a friend or associate with a very nice looking web site that gets no traffic (like 99% of the web sites on the internet), essentially a very expensive business card floating somewhere in Cyberspace. Now compare that to a web site that gets hundreds or even thousands of visitors every day and makes money from Pay Per click programs, referrals, affiliates, selling hard goods, e-products, consulting etc. etc.

At this stage I had made contact with the Site Build It! support team and was asking them some tough questions. Basically they said that if I was prepared to commit the time and effort I would succeed, it was not a get rich quick scheme, quite the opposite and required a lot of work (this was exactly what I wanted to hear). They even gave me access to the private forum (for Site Build It! members only) where I was able to view topics posted by members discussing everything from their frustrations to their success with their web site and the internet.

After weeks of procrastination (I'm really painful sometimes) I decided to give it a go. The final factor that aided me was their money back guarantee which I was fully prepared to use. "Hell hath no fury " and all!

Anyway, it was a lot of work, involving a lot of reading and following video instructions (an excellent course which is even offered at universities in the States) and the rest, as they say, is history. In a very short space of time (if you consider a year short - everything is relative) I'm my own boss and get to travel (while my online business continues to make money 24/7) and work where I like!

Common concerns:

• I don't have the technical knowledge of the Internet!
  Neither do the majority of SBi'ers. Remember, Site Build It! handle all the techie stuff with their unique block building system allowing you to concentrate on the important stuff, like building great content.



• I'm too old!
  Site Build It! have their own over 50s club which is chock-a-block with members!



• I missed the whole internet generation thing!
  Yup, join the club. That's the whole point! Site Build It! is made for people with zero internet experience, plus super-tech-nerds alike, who can upload their own HTML. Don't know what "upload your own HTML" means, fantastic, neither did I!

So if you're like me and you need to hear it from at least a few other people before you begin to believe it (so basically you think I'm dishonest, ok ok, I'll try not to be offended ) then you have many options:

• Contact the Site Build It! advisor group, they know Site Build It! inside-out. They will do their best to answer your questions.



• From the horses mouth - SiteSell's home page.



• All about Site Build it!



• or you still don't have enough proof (Goodness, you must learn to be a little more trusting, like me ) see this success story of a work-at-home mom using SBI:

"I have two web sites now, and I’m constantly adding new ideas. I hope you enjoy my web site as much as I’ve had building it!"

-Dee

• or this work at home dad:

"Have fun and see you in the Site Build it! forums."

- Marcus, RomanLife

Contact me

If you would like to send in your Italy articles, hotel reviews, or advertisement queries then this is the place to do it! If you have a general question about Italy or Rome then visit the Q&A section.

Please note:

• I try to respond timeously to all enquiries that I receive, however, due to the many submissions and my compulsive traveling habit I can't guarantee that you will always get a quick answer.


• RomanLife is a travel guide to Rome and Italy and not a travel agency, we don't take bookings or sell tickets and are not affiliated with any travel agents.


• All spam, hate or inciteful mail is deleted before it even reaches my eyes - don't bother.


• Your email address is totally safe and would only be used to answer your questions. I despise spam and do not send unsolicited emails, EVER.

*If you are submitting an article you are agreeing to grant RomanLife the right to publish your ideas in all its communications including web site, email, ebook, and other publications. All submissions must be original and your own written words.