Malaysia's Independence Day and MYCPS!
It's a public holiday here in Malaysia to celebrate the nation's Independence Day. While my kids and wife went out, I stayed at home alone, honing on my SBI site's concept and reading
Make Your Content PreSell! (MYCPS!).
MYCPS! is a great little ebook that will show you how to write to communicate. Develop your own voice and "Valuable PREselling Proposition." Build your "Brand of One". Then monetize.
This ebook will describe in details the concept of C -> T -> P -> M (i.e., Concent -> Traffic -> PreSell -> Monetize), but it's written in such a easy-reading fashion that even my 8 and 7 years old daughters can understand it.
At the end of reading this ebook, you will realise that you can also write to PreSell. You don't need to be an English Literature graduate to write excellent PreSell content that will lead to monetization. Everyone can do it, even if English is not your first language.
MYCPS! will likely be beneficial to offline marketers as well, just like what my busy wife, who is in the Insurance industry, found out after browsing through just one chapter (she's not into site building stuff, just the time-proven and simple PreSelling techniques).
Above all, MYCPS! provides many examples (in graphics as well) of successful SBI sites, which you can learn and develop own ideas from. There are also invaluable PreSelling Writing tips from successful SBIers - nothing complicated, just simple do-able tips that any normal person can apply.
Reply from Ken Evoy
The follow-up to my
query was replied by Dr. Ken Evoy (the founder and owner of
SiteSell and
SBI!) himself as follows:
Post subject: Borneo... land of Web potential
Richard,
You're fine.
I wrote a bit back about a front desk clerk who should be doing a site about Puglia (a southern area of Italy). He knows it and loves it. And even though it's about a third of the demand of Anguilla, supply is also much lower.
Start now. You will become THE word about Borneo. Read MYCPS! to help you with VPP, voice and spin (positioning). Only you can decide that and ultmately, it's what determines who your ongoing audience will be.
Sometimes, I regret introducing the concept of keyword demand and supply. Folks still take it way too literally. But at least you recognized that possibility and asked here at the forums, which is ultimately how things should work if you're not sure.
Great answers, Larry!
All the best,
Ken
Getting Help from SBI Forum
The easy part was deciding on a site concept. But I have real problem trying to figure out how's the theme and approach should be so that my SBI site does not compete with
e-borneo.com. It should be complementing my existing site.
I seek help from SBI Forum.
By now, Larry had already kindly replied to my
first posting at the forum. Larry feels that demand for a Borneo site will be encouraging, and think that I can include some useful pages about 'traveling to Borneo'.
Great...
My reply as follows:
Hi Larry,
Thank you so much for your comments below. At least it left me being even more re-assured about the "Borneo Travel" theme.
Larry, I already have a reasonably established non-SBI! "Borneo Travel" site (online before I found SiteSell or even before SBI! was out I think). It's doing quite well for many profitable keywords in the major SERPs at present. But I'm now trying to find another angle/approach to augment that site.
Borneo is still very much unknown to many. Its demand (i.e., Yahoo!) is more than three times less than say, Anguilla.
Perhaps I need to rephrase my original question here: Am I going around the right way - trying to find another concept/approach that has a higher demand than "Borneo Travel" to present Borneo (like going into the adventure travelers market segment for example) but found most of the keywords in my MKL out-of-my-league to write invaluable first-hand content because most of them are not Borneo-related.
Or, perhaps, I should not get stuck and brainstorm another passion of mine?
Just seeking your advice (or any SBIers who had made it pass Day 5 with similar niche difficulties at the start).
Thanks in advance.
Finally decided on the Site Concept
The vacation break was great and obviously refreshing. We went to visit Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site, as well as to Kundasang (although, my daughters,
Carmen and Tessy, did not think so).
In between the long drive, the relaxing natural environment, and the cool atmosphere, the Site Concept for my SBI! site finally become clearer.
Initially, I was in two minds over which concept to use:
A
Borneo Travel related site, to funnel visitors to my quite established site,
e-borneo.com, which is supported by an offline physical front (i.e., a small travel company); or
Both topics (i.e., 'travel' and 'Internet marketing') are my true passions. But the trip to Kinabalu National Park made it clear to me that 'travel' (and introducing Borneo as a vacation destination to the world) sounds more fun to do.
My two young daughters also concurred, hence, it's a "No-Brainer". I should build on the travel theme.
Going away for a vacation
After one week, still can't find the proper site concept for my SBI! site. Hence, still no domain to show off...
Ok, after days of brainstorming, I think my brain's really got stormed!
I guess I better take my own advice to just TAKE A BREAK when you are in a stagnant suituation (see article entitled:
8 Amazing Ideas To Kick Start Your Business)
I will be going on a vacation with my family (kids on holiday this week) tomorrow for a day or two. We have no plans yet on where to go, but it will be within the state of
Sabah.
Hopefully, it will clear my mind up and a magical Site Concept will appear all of a sudden.
Overwhelmed by the Numbers
Brainstorm It!, a tool in the SBI! is an excellent tool to brainstorm your niche, site concept, down to hundreds of your profitable keyword -rich content pages. Infact, Brainstorm It! is the only niche finding and keyword researching tool that you will ever need.
It cut short all the tedious research and analysis tasks that you will normally need to perform before starting a new web business/content. Brainstorm It! will essentially lay out a preliminary site Content Blueprint plus refines/optimizes your final profit-potential Site Concept.
The problem with me is that I'm a statistics man, and easily overwhelmed by over-interpretation of the numbers (i.e., demand, supply and profitabilty).
As such, I can't finalized my site concept (or in my case, I think its really the approach).
Anyway, I have posted the following at the SBI! Forums (i.e., The Place For Friendly, Success-Focused Discussion) to seek some much needed help/advice from fellow SBIers:
Hi fellow SBIers,
A week ago when I bought SBI!, I thought I already had a pretty profitable site concept and even a tentative domain name in mind (btw, I'm not a newbie and already run several sites).
Today, I'm still between Day 2 and 3, and with no end in sight on the "best" site concept.
I guess I was not only number bound, I had been overwhelmed by all the profitability, demand and supply numbers that my original site concept had already changed 5 times (i.e., all 5 from the same general niche but perhaps, the sub-theme or approach had changed - hope this make sense)
This is good in actual fact, and Brainstrom It! had opened up a vast array of opportunities that I would not have even look at.
But I'm not going forward as I'm actually stuck with which "approach" to follow through. The more I brainstorm it, the more site concept's approach/sub-theme I tend to get.
The numbers may have numbed my brain?
I'm tempted to just go on with my original site concept/approach, which I'd already did some thinking/research previously (without BI!), but the numbers from BI again, pulled me away to a more profitable sub-theme/approach
Any advice on the above is very much appreciated.
The First Five DAYS (1-5) -- Brainstorm It!
Printed out more than 80 pages of the documents for the First 5 Days guide including the introduction and Help & Strategies sections.
I spent about two days reading and analyzing the guide. Firstly, I found out was that a Day is not necessarily 24 hours in length. It could be 30 minutes, 1 hour or 3 hours. I must proceed at my own pace and constantly reminded not to rush as the rest of my business depends on it.
- or as SBI! puts it, "Tortoise It! and You will pass them all".
I realise then, that SBI! gives upmost importance to preparation (i.e., "If you failed to prepare, you are preparing to fail"). In fact, Ken added that if you get the "first decisions" (i.e, the first 5 Days) right, your entire business flows more easily and yields greater returns. It is about laying the foundation, which I fully subscribe to.
The breakdown of Day 1-5 as follows:
Day 1 -- Learning about the all-important Basics
Day 2 -- Developing the Best Site Concept
Day 3 -- Brainstorming profitable keywords for Topics
Day 4 -- Investigating and planning various options for Monetization
Day 5 -- Refining the Site Concept and Registering the Domain Name
Well, I'm taking my sweet time. The weekend was spent with the family as well as a dinner engagement. The first day of the week back in the office (I'm referring to my day job), was as usual, extremely busy. At this point of writing, I'm still at Day 3 after going through several Site Concepts.
I do not think Day 4 will take much of my time as I've a pretty good idea of my monetization options already (I may be wrong though).
Will continue to fine-tune the Site Concept in the next day or two, if time is kind to me.
In the meantime, I was hoping Marino will email back to me soon, unless my reply to him had been filtered off.
Site Build It! Action Guide
Although Marino has yet to reply me (perhaps he doesn't work during the weekend), I can't get sidetrack by that petty thing.
So, I printed out all the necessary documents for getting started "The Site Build It! Action Guide, which will smoothly leads me through the 10-DAY C-T-P-M process. At the initial stage, the documents available are only for "The First Five DAYS (1-5) -- Brainstorm It!"
It is only after the 6th Day, when you registered for a domain name that you get to do the other steps (i.e., "The Second Five DAYS (6-10) -- Build It!")
I also printed out the all important initial "Get ready for Site Build It!..." email from Ken Evoy, which started with an encouraging "Ok, let's build a Web site that WORKS... a real BUSINESS.."
The first thing he talked about (like in most of his affiliate newsletters) is the SBI! "C-T-P-M" PROCESS.
C-T-P-M = Content -> Traffic -> PREsell -> Monetize
Although the C-T-P-M process must have been ingrained into my head after reading Ken mentioning it so many times already, I proceed to read the whole content of the email carefully. Luckily I did. Just that one email made the process even more clearer, and simpler.
My Reply to Marino of SiteSell Support
Although I was really frustrated, I have to remain a professional and diplomatic, and refrain from been aggressive. Below was my reply, which was actually sent last Friday:
Thanks Marino for your reply.
I think I had a similar experience with SiteSell in relation to a check sent to me re your affiliate program previously.
Is there a way your company can charge to my credit card directly in CAD instead of having to convert to USD first and then converting again to my country's currency (i.e., Ringgit Malaysia). This will lower the transaction cost considerably I think.
As for my bank, I was advised that I may have to wait for awhile (possibly weeks) before they can furnish me the full details. Anyhow, whatever the overcharged amount, I suspect it may be due to the transaction for the double conversions (i..e, CAD => USD; and USD => RM). I might have to contact you again regarding this matter in days/weeks. Would your support system be able to verify my issue if I were to reply you (with the reference number) in weeks?
Additionally, I consulted a friend, whom I introduced to MYSS! years ago, and he told me that he had no such problem (i.e., overcharged) when he purchased MYSS! Wondering why this happened when I pay for SBI!
In any case, I sincerely hope that you and your company will seriously look into this issue and find a means to resolve the overcharging bit (or at least have a thorough exlaination at your site with regards to the possible double currency conversions and transaction costs).
If I were to renew SBI! annually, this would incur unnecessary cost. And it would be an added hassle when every year, I need to find out from my bank the overcharged conversion cost due to the exchange rate for you to refund via PayPal (another hassle as Malaysians can't even withdraw from PayPal at this present time).
Actually, the last thing I need at the moment, is to go around consulting my bank, credit card company, contacts, etc., about this matter..., when all I wanted to do right this instance, is to focus on SBI! and brainstorm/build a site.
Thank you.
Rich
P.S. It's not particularly, a smooth start for me (could even be costly), but I'm confident that SiteSell will look into my initial predicaments and find the best solutions for any constraint.
The problem with Canadian companies with no US account...
After cooling down and re-read Marino's explanation, I remembered that a similar problem happened previously with regards to SiteSell's affiliate check. They sent me my affiliate check but in USD (at that time, it was the default currency in my SiteSell's affiliate member account).
When I bank into my account here in sunny Sabah (a state in Malaysia), I was informed that I will be charged a considerable amount of transaction fee as my bank here has to convert the USD to CAD (which was SiteSell's instruction as per Canadian law), and then convert the second time from CAD to MYR (my currency).
In the end, after several corrspondences with my bank as well as SiteSell's affiliate support, I decided not to bank in the check, and request SiteSell to re-issue the check to me, but this time in Canadian Dollar. It worked out well then.
Now, I reckon this is a similar issue to my current SBI! predicament. I just don't understand why SiteSell can't charge me directly in CAD?
Why they have to charge me in USD and let my bank double convert it to MYR?
Reply from SiteSell Support - You were charged the proper amount...
The following was the reply from SiteSell's Support:
Hi Rich,
No worries, you were charged the proper amount....
Because we are a Canadian company, the banking laws do not allow us to
charge in anything but Canadian funds. What happens is your credit card
company will be billed in Canadian funds and it will convert it to US$.
The amount will depend on your credit card companys exchange rate on
Canadian currency on the day of the transaction as well as on any fees
they may have charged you for the transaction.
We will refund the difference due to the exchange rate however you will
need to check with your bank or financial institution on the matter as
part of this over charge was most likely a transaction fee charged by
them to you.
We can not refund any part of the over charge due to transaction fees
charged by your bank or financial institution. Please check with the on
the matter and let us know which part of the over charge is related to
any fee's they charged you and what portion is due only to the exchange
rate.
Once you have this information let us know the balance and we will set
up payment via PayPay. This method works out best for our customers as
often times with checks of this small of an amount and due to the fees
most banks charge as a conversion fee it ends up costing you more than
the amount of the refund. Please provide me with an email address for
you Pay Pal account and we will have the refund sent to you in this
manner.
I hope this will help clear up the matter for you if not please let me
know and I will be happy to follow up.
Best regards,
Marino
SiteSell Support Team
(Note: SiteSell's Support Team always used their full name in correspondence. Marino's surname was deleted for this posting simply because I do not feel it is professional to do so)
Hmmm, charged the proper amount? Now I am p*ssed!
After many years as an affiliate of SiteSell, I know, yes, I know that the real value of SBI! is much much more than the price they are selling it, overcharged or not, but, this is business. Every cent counts. The explanation was not very flattering as I had bought online via credit card many times from different countries (including Canada), and I never encounter such conversion discrepancy before.
Not a good start - Overcharged by US$70?
What a start.
The published price for SBI! is USD299. But after successfully purchasing via my credit card, and getting the (automated) welcome cum confirmation email from SiteSell, it stated that they "have successfully processed your (my) credit card for CAD $448.50, which is the Canadian dollar equivalent of the American Dollar Price quoted on the Web site... US$299".
I'm not sure which currency converter they are utilizing, but checking with the standard one, I found that 1 CAD = 0.823349 USD ; or 1 USD = 1.21455 CAD (Live mid-market rates as of 2005.08.18 09:57:43 UTC).
US$299 should then be around CAD $363, and not CAD 448.50? Wondering whether there was an error in your conversion that I was overcharged by about US$70 (which is a lot in Ringgit Malaysia term, the currency I used back here in the rainforest jungle of Borneo), I wrote to their support...
About Rich Adz
Rich Adz is actually a pseudonym used by one Richard T. Koh (T for Thomas and Tenacious), who was born and bred in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo.
I am a Mathematician and Statistician by training (from Melbourne, Australia) and an economic researcher by profession (currently residing in my hometown).
I have written extensively on (boring) economic related articles, reports and publications since the early 1990s. However, one of my true passions is Internet marketing and e-business, which I've been involved in since the mid-1990s (started with a free web site and selling affiliate products and services).
Forced by financial commitment, I "officially" venture into the Internet business arena on a part-time basis in 1999, by founding
e-borneo.com, a
Borneo Travel and
Trip Advisor website.
e-borneo.com had now grown into one of the most popular Borneo-based sites (regardless of industry) on the Internet today. It has spurned one full-fledged limited company called Colourful Frontiers Sdn. Bhd., which is also known as the Travel Company of e-borneo.com.
At the same time, I also somehow managed to run and grow several other web businesses over the years including
richADZ.com, which was sidelined for many years as e-borneo.com grew. With my staff at Colourful Frontiers Sdn. Bhd. doing most of the travel task, I finally found some spare time to reorganise and refocus richADZ.com (purchasing SBI! is part of the reorganisation process).
I also begin writing more Internet marketing and e-business related articles. But due to professional and "name-branding" reason as well as not to confuse my two sets of very different readers (i.e., Internet Marketing and Economics), I prefer to publish e-business articles under the pen name, Rich Adz, which is also the name of one of my other companies, richADZ.
I may be able to achieve greater success faster if I quit my day job. But honestly speaking, I still love it. I get the rare opportunity to indirectly help my beloved state, Sabah, progress into a developed state in Malaysia. Somehow, I feel obligated not to quit my day job at this point in time.
I reckon that if I can continue to "work smart", I will find enough quality time to relax and spend with my lovely wife and two young daughters. And there is no need to give up my day job.
In conclusion, I am simply a Part-Time Third-World Internet Marketer from the jungle kingdom of Borneo.
Why it is important to know the level of my experience and locality
In Blogs, the first posting is normally an introduction of the author and/or what's the objective of the blog. I have posted the purpose of this blog already, but before I introduce myself to my blog's audience (that means YOU!), please read the following:
It is fundamentally important for you to know a little bit about the people behind any blog/website which you think looks or might be beneficial to your online business.
IMPORTANT not for you to know their complete resume.
BUT, it is IMPORTANT that you know their level of experience and thus credibility, in the Internet Business, and the location where they are operating from.
Why?
The "level of entry" is often overlooked when most marketers attempt to utilize an Internet Business or Marketing tool, software, ebusiness model, ebusiness strategy, etc.
Most, simply jumped blindly into the abyss after reading a powerful salesletter or testimonial..., only to find out later that it is not applicable to them due to the level of their experience or where they are located or residing.
For example, let's say that you are a newbie who utilized a free web site and no domain of your own, or just started a web site. One day, you saw a site that sells a "Private Label Resell Rights to 10 exclusive and never published before ebooks" for a very affordable price of $97. You grabbed it after reading the beautifully-written salespage that guarantees you will make $100,000 in 6 months or money back. Nothing to lose right? After 6 months, you get only 97 visitors to your site and no sales. You asked for a refund but was told that the guarantee only valid for less than 6 months. What went wrong? Well, the sellers never pointed out to you which target group with what level of experience will tend to benefit the most from their product.
Another example - you may be running your own web site but have very little knowledge of scripting (e.g., PHP or CGI). You came across an excellent salespage pitching "How to get 1 million visitors to your site in 1 day without lifting a finger". You bought the product (i.e., a software). Then, after reading through the manual, you found that you have to install the script yourself. You can't afford to spend another hundred bucks for the seller/others to do it for you. Fine. You do it all by yourself, spending substantial amount of time researching and figuring out how to make the script works on your site. In the end, you can't make it work and you wasted your hard earned money..., and more importantly, time.
It is a norm that most business sites just want to sell to all and sundry. They care less about the importance of the "level of entry" of each of their customers (i.e., newbie, intermediate, or professional).
One last example. Take me for instance. I am from Sabah, Malaysia Borneo. I saw a site promoting a best-seller Internet Business Course endorsed by all the top marketing gurus. It guarantees that I will be an Internet millionaire if I follow all the guidelines in the course. The author of the course is also a well known marketing expert who had appeared in CNN, CNBC, etc. I bought the course instantly. After reading through chapter 3, I found that all the tips thus far were to utilize PayPal as the main payment processor and ClickBank as the main affiliate program system. Alas, a Malaysian can only draw out their PayPal funds into a US-based bank account (thus rendering it almost useless as a payment option), and a Malaysian can't even apply for a ClickBank account (as yet).
So, in the context of this Blog, as I do not know your level of experience in terms of using the Internet as well as your main online objective (building full-time/part-time income, personal leisure, etc), I feel that it is imperative that you know the level of my experience and less importantly in this respect, my location, then, you can get a comparative idea of where you fit in, if you were to think of utilizing some of my experiences/tips/suggestions/etc. as far as SBI! and perhaps Internet marketing/business is concerned.
Hope the above makes some "common" sense?
The Purpose of this Blog
I have only one real objective for creating this blog.
After purchasing Site Build It! (SBI!) from SiteSell on 18 August 2005, I decided to document my experience in utilizing the well acknowledged all-in-one tool to build a web/internet business.
I will share my on-going experience (success and failure) with you as I build a profitable web site using SBI! as well as related Internet business/marketing issues/subjects.
- For those who have heard of SBI! but are in two minds about purchasing it...
- For those affiliates of SiteSell who may or may not think they need SBI!...
- For those who are thinking of starting an online business...
- For those who are planning to expand their online business...
- For new SBI!ers who may want to have a first-hand account of the stages of building your SBI! site.
- Or for those who just want to get more information on creating/building a web business...
...This Blog is for you.
Will my SBI!-powered site (domain name and content theme still unknown at this stage) succeed beyond my wildest expectation?
Or will SBI! turned out to be a dud (and this blog will have to be renamed SBI Sux! Blog)?
I think this must be one of a handful of Blogs fully dedicated to Site Build It! Yes, I have also seen some SBI! related blogs, but they are mostly about reviewing or preselling SBI!, or for SEO or earning Adsense income (as most Blogs shamefully seem to turned out nowadays).
This is a genuine Blog - a journal of my daily/weekly/monthly journey into the nitty gritty of the SBI! process first and foremost.
You are most welcome to follow my development and progress through this Blog, and get updated by subcribing to its feed at http://richadz.blogspot.com/atom.xml
I need you to accompany me in this journey into the unchartered SBI! territory. Feel free to provide me with any feedback, advise, comment, etc... by posting them at this Blog.
If you have any question on SBI! or related, I will try to reply.
My advance thanks to you.
