Anyone use/heard of Site Build It?

[Meenub]

It looks really interesting, especially for newbies. I was just wondering if anyone has used their services.

thanks

Meenu

[angienewton]

I have heard of it but not used it. I chose the XSitePro web design software over it because I wanted to only pay a one time fee not monthly. From what I understand, there is a monthly fee for SBI.

[Engage]

Yes, SBI has been around for some time, and is well known to veterans. I had an account for awhile, but never used it. I coded my own SBI instead, because I'm addicted to programming. :-)

What made SBI a ground breaker is that it's a web host that really does focus on helping you have a successful site. There are extensive marketing manuals, and a large supportive forum community.

At the time that SBI came out, one of it's big selling points was that it had a point and click site builder suitable for non-technical people. This advantage has been destroyed by the widespread development of similar systems, the most famous of which being Wordpress.

Ken Evoy, the owner of SBI, is one of the pioneers of the web publishing field. He is very articulate (unlike most web hosts) but also quite verbose. I used to joke with him that he's the only guy on the Net who can type more than me, and he agreed, he wins that contest.

Point being, his manuals can be extremely long winded, and not very in touch with the reality of web reading psychology.

Ken has sold thousands of accounts, which means, like any big host, that clients deal with his employees. Like any host, some of the employees are great, and some of them are confused. Like any big host, it's luck of the draw.

Unlike one host I could mention, but won't, you don't really get to deal much with the person you are giving your money too.

Finally, there's the price. It used to be $300 per year (paid yearly upfront) per domain. I'm not sure what the current pricing is.

You don't really need to buy SBI to learn from Ken, as many of his manuals have been released for free. If you can fight your way through the manuals, you can apply the principles to any site, with any site builder.

Many people used to sell SBI accounts, due to a lifetime commission program (the most complicated program ever created) but the fever has died down in the Wordpress era, which indicates SBI accounts aren't selling like they used to.

Perhaps current SBI users can update this report.

[Meenub]

Thanks for the input guys.
I do like what I'm seeing and reading on Ken's site. I have also been in touch with one of the account reps and he's been very helpful.

I will most likely go with them. As with anything I'll get out of it what I put into it but I think for me it's a good place to start.

Thanks
Meenu

[Satu]

Hi!

I know of Site Build It but I have not tried it. I think they have a new version of Site Build It now.

Ken Evoy's free ebooks can be found here:

http://www.site-buildit.com/free-ebooks.html

[marymac]

Hi Meenu,

I've had my SBI site for about three years now. I think it's a pretty terrific program. Being a little technically challenged I opted to have one of their certified webmasters build it for me. That is an option. Back then though they had them listed on their site and you could select one. I think now you have to get in touch with SBI directly to go that route.

Mary

[Engage]

Meenu and Mary, perhaps we can help each other?

Meenu, before you give SBI hundreds of dollars, please try my service for free, and see if it will meet your needs. If my service does meet your needs, it could save you $300 per year, per site, for years to come. Three sites for three years would equal a $2,700 savings. Worth an hour of your time to find out?

Mary, if you are paying someone to build your site, plus paying for hosting, please consider this same offer. I'd very much like to see if a self described "technically challenged" person like yourself would feel comfortable using my service. Don't move your SBI site, no big decisions, just take an hour see if you could build future sites yourself.

I apologize for being so direct, and for posting a blatant ad in the forum. I'm committing this sin because I need your help.

I'd like to provide members of this forum with something more useful than my big speeches.

I know I can, but I don't know if I can communicate that so you'll understand.

Given the time I'm investing here, it would be very helpful to me to come to an answer on that question.

Ok, sorry, end of spam. Happy to hear from you, or not, either way you'll be helping me. Thanks!

[TrishL]

I actually bought SBI a number of years ago - and recommend it as a learning tool. I justified the cost by looking at it as investing in a formal class on building an online presence.

SBI (and Rosalind Gardner's Super Affiliate Handbook) are really how I got started online.

That said, however - I would NOT use it for a site I plan to build and maintain for years. (First, I found their site builder to be cumbersome and frustrating to use). Also, if I recall correctly, the cost is in the $300 - $400 per year range - and you have to renew that annually. (Correct me if things have changed).

That is a high price to pay when you can get a hosting account for around $100/year and use Wordpress to build unlimited sites within it.

I bought the developers version of the Thesis theme, so now have a premium theme I can use on all sites - so each new site costs me the domain registration fee + about $25 for a custom header.

I am very happy with what I learned from SBI, but am glad the site I learned on turned out to be a 'throw away' site versus one of my main business efforts, simply because of the ongoing costs to maintain it.

[Engage]

I bought the developers version of the Thesis theme, so now have a premium theme I can use on all sites - so each new site costs me the domain registration fee + about $25 for a custom header.

Perhaps you can educate me on Thesis.

I'm using a 1344 X 840 monitor resolution on a 20 inch monitor, which my web stats show to be pretty typical.

All Thesis sites I've seen require horizontal scrolling to see the entire page. Typically, in my use, the entire right sidebar is off screen, and so is ignored.

This could be something unique to my situation, but I can't put my finger on what that might be. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious? Suggestions?

[TrishL]

I'm not a certified "techie" by any stretch - so am not sure if I can answer this for you.

I just checked on my own system (adjusting the resolution from its normal 1680 x 1050 down to the lowest my system will allow (Windows XP) - 1280 x 960 - and opened each of my sites and was able to see the entire thing.

(I ran this test in both IE and FireFox).

I normally configure my sites to be 900 across (without the built-in padding Thesis has between columns which bumps them up a bit) and now use a 2 column design as standard.

Are you using Mac or Windows - (as I have seen that issue once on an older Mac)?

finally - what browser are you using and which version?

Among the sites I used in this very informal test are:

webcopyresults.com
financialplr.com
plrconnection.com

plus several others.