Benefits of Building Your Own Site vs. Article Marketing, etc.

Let me start by saying that I don't think there is only one "right way" to create an online income. Different things suit different people and personalities better.

But there are some basic fundamental truths that should be considered when you decide what type of marketing you are going to pursue.

This was brought vividly to mind again this week in my own online marketing efforts and I thought it would be beneficial to some by giving you this example of the benefits of building your own site vs. article marketing, etc.

When you spend your time researching keywords and writing content for your own website, you grow and own your traffic and so if anything happens with the particular company/products you promote, you can swap them out for something else suitable and not lose your entire business and all the effort you have put in.

Here's an example. On one of my sites I added an affiliate promotion at the beginning of the year. It has done really well and brought in over $500 extra each month over the last 3 months.

HOWEVER, I received an email from this particular company this week to let me know that they were canceling the program on April 1. So disappointing, but not devastating.

Because I was promoting this service on MY site, to MY traffic, all my promotional efforts are not wasted. I simply have to swap this out for another service that is comparable to this current one.

If I had been promoting this program through writing articles for article directories or writing classified ads, or forum postings, etc., there would be not much I could do about it except start all over again with another promotion and build a foundation all over again.

I know this is a bit long-winded and may be confusing to some, but I am trying to stress the importance and value of having your own unique niche based website for the best long term results.

There are always going to be ups and downs and changes in the online world over which you have no control. But you will create much more longevity and stability for yourself and your business when you put the majority of your efforts into YOUR site (instead of building up article directories, etc).

Just some food for thought based on my own recent experiences. Hopefully it will help someone else to make some wise choices when it comes to your own online efforts.

Blessings,
Angie

SO true! I have had very similar experiences on one of my sites and you are so right. All I had to do was go in and change the link, traffic didn't change, pages are still all there ( and actually, because I had to go change those links, I added some more content, revised things a bit which only ADDED to my site rather than take away from it!)

Thank you for sharing that!

I am actually at this minute preparing my strategy for a new SBI site.

Do you happen to know a GOOD and EASY to use place to get pictures from that are free to use on websites...?

Congrats on the new site Viola! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Here are a few places that "I think" are free photos. Double check the terms in case they have changed...

http://www.sxc.hu/
http://www.stockvault.net/
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery
http://commons.wikimedia.org/
http://www.artbible.info/art
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/
http://www.preceptaustin.org/bible_maps1.htm
http://www.bible-history.com/
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
http://freestockphotos.com/
http://www.morguefile.com

And, of course, there is always Flickr and their creative commons photos. http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Just be sure that you give credit when you are supposed to and there are usually photos to be had!

Have fun!
Blessings,
Angie

Yes agreed. Just this week I got my first real website up, it's in beta testing, but I so see your point. Just today, I had to go change 21 links on individual articles that were pointing to a squidoo lens that got shut down for who knows what reason.

This is also a good reason why it's good to have a domain name for your lens etc. At least that way you can redirect the domain to somewhere else and not have to edit every individual article.

So much to learn, but this week alone, most of my efforts have been put into my site and I am super excited.

Thanks Angie and I will let you know once my site is up and the first 30 pages are done. It has been crazy around here but things have slowed down a bit.

Had all 5 kids around for awhile plus our oldest son got engaged last weekend, EXCITING!! ... but our two oldest are heading to S. Africa next week for a 6 weeks mission trip so things should be fairly quiet around here again. lol

I love my kids but I also love my quiet time when they are all out and about.

I look forward to it.

How lovely to have your family all home for a bit. I know it isn't very "productive" but great for cherished memories. You can never have enough of them.

Although, I can certainly appreciate quiet time, too! I'm planning a visit to the US in June to visit family (which I love), but with 20 nieces and nephews, it can be quite chaotic! I love to see them and I love to have a break from them.

Cherish the moments!
Blessings,
Angie

Question for you Angie on whether or not to use the css / upload your own html versus the blockbuilder....

What is your take on that?

I understand the theory of having all the files on your own hard drive in the event something would happen that SBI goes down... but I want to GET ANOTHER SITE BUILT!!

I am so afraid I will get hung up in trying to figure out the css thingie that I will get side tracked ... even though it pretty much makes sense now. The block builder is just SOO convenient...

Any advice?

I have to agree with this as I remember writing over 30 articles for article marketing on a product that was discontinued few months later. I spent so much time writing and rewriting, and submitting to several article directories.

mountainmom5: Question for you Angie on whether or not to use the css / upload your own html versus the blockbuilder....

What is your take on that?

I understand the theory of having all the files on your own hard drive in the event something would happen that SBI goes down... but I want to GET ANOTHER SITE BUILT!!

I am so afraid I will get hung up in trying to figure out the css thingie that I will get side tracked ... even though it pretty much makes sense now. The block builder is just SOO convenient...

Any advice?
I guess it's really a preference thing. I do all my sites in the blockbuilder (and probably always will). I did start angieberg.com uploading my own coding with css, etc., but it was challenging to say the least.

I only had about 15 pages done and then my mom got so sick and I had to put that all on hold for about a year. By the time I got back to it, I really had lost all desire to learn the css thing all over again.

So, guess what? I swapped it all back to the blockbuilder method!

Now there are plenty of SBI users who do upload their own code and absolutely love it. They say the advantages are mostly the ease of being able to make site wide changes with a couple of quick actions.

That is a great advantage, but with the new right column and the upcoming release of the new improved blockbuilder, I don't really think those advantages are going to hold much weight.

Apparently the new site builder is going to be pretty awesome (can't wait to give it a test drive) and make what is already pretty easy even more so.

As for having the files on your own hard drive, you can still do that. I actually write (or copy) each page into notepad and save it offline so I have it. But, you can also use HTTrack to periodically copy/back-up your entire site from time to time for your own peace of mind.

Like I said, ultimately it's really a matter of preference and I very much prefer the blockbuilder method.

Blessings,
Angie

kailo: I have to agree with this as I remember writing over 30 articles for article marketing on a product that was discontinued few months later. I spent so much time writing and rewriting, and submitting to several article directories.

That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I was referring to in my opening post. It is just so much better to be able to have the flexibility to own your own material and traffic and make changes to your content and promotions without losing too much ground.

Hope that frustrating experience was a lesson well learned that pointed you in the right direction.

Blessings,
Angie

Thank you Angie - that is what I was feeling, I just needed some backup.

No problem! It's always a pleasure to help in some small way when I can.

Blessings,
Angie

Seems to me the longer you do business online, the more likely you are to experience an uncontrollable setback of one kind or another. It's simply the way it is!

The best you can do is set things up at the outset to minimize the fallout from some unexpected events and be in a position to get back on track as soon as possible.

I've also had to swap out discontinued affiliate links on a Squidoo lens for a similar product. I have no idea how long the original product was discontinued before I discovered it, but it took only minutes to find a suitable replacement product and redirect the links.

However, nothing beats having control of your own websites. It provides the greatest ability to bounce back from events beyond your control that could threaten your business activities.

Hermas

Help Angie!!

I just bought my second site but it only logs into my old one.... where do I access my new one? I am heading to the forums as I am thinking I will find the answer there but just in case you are still online....

You probably got it figured out by now, but you should be able to login to all of your sites using the same login. Basically, when you login, if you have more than one site, you should be given a drop down menu asking which site you want to access. You just pick the one you want to work on at the time and it will be there.

HOWEVER, if you haven't chosen your domain name yet for your new site, you probably just need to access the new site via the welcome email for it. It's been a while since I started a brand new site and I can't remember exactly.

If you still are having difficulty, just shoot an email off to support and they will sort you out lickety-split.

Blessings,
Angie

ya... I got it figured out...

impatient me.... sheesh!

I know there is something so exhilarating about getting started on a brand spanking new site, I don't blame you in the slightest.

Have fun!

Blessings,
Angie

OMGoodness - I am having a blast and because it's been awhile since I did my other one, I am having to brush up a bit but I will have a ton of fun for awhile.

The cool part is that it goes WAY faster this time than it did the first time around to get those first pages built.


Will shoot you a link when I have my first 30 pages up then.

Just had my first traffic from google to my new SBI site and it's been barley a week since I started building it. I only have 9 pages up so needless to say, I am REALLY motivated to add more pages.

Goal is to have my first 30 pages built by the end of this month and submitted to several directories. Fun. Fun.

And here is something interesting for those that like numbers.... I was checking my adsense stats for the last 3 years...THREE years ago my adsense earnings per month was about .$75....TWO years ago ( after I started using SBI) it was at about $7 a month and then ONE year ago it hit $75 a month... This month, 2 years after I started my first SBI site, I am on my way to hit $700... the numbers are not like that for every month but I just thought it was interesting ...

Both my SBI sites were started in April... two years apart... so as I build my second one... I am very curious what NEXT April will look like.

I use various methods to monetize with my SBI sites but those were my adsense numbers....

SO glad I didn't give up those first few years!!

Good job, Viola! To be getting free traffic already is awesome! I'm sure you'll reach your 30 page goal by the end of the month. You can do it!

Thanks for sharing your Adsense stats, too. It's interesting how the income climbs, isn't it. (Although it looks like you need to move the decimal point in the first amount to show $.75 to clarify.)

You're going to be surprised to see how those numbers just continue to grow over time, too, particularly when you are expanding your business by adding a site. You'll be wearing a Cheshire cat grin!

Looking forward to visiting your new site.
Blessings,
Angie