How long...

Lawrence Hudson · #1 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 12:12 PM

Hi,
I'm still gathering the cash to buy SBI and I have been doing my homework (Thanks Lisa for the demo link - I'm sold!). From the sound of it, I should not expect to make any money for about a year. Here's a few of questions:

1. As a fast learner and hard worker, if I have 2 hours per night to devote to building my site with absolutely no knowledge of webpage building or any of the technical stuff, approximately how long would it take to get a well developed site up and running in "non-commercial" mode.

2. With a good site, given the time it takes to build a site and the wait before going commercial, how soon before I might make some money?

3. If I do an information site, will I be able to maintain it, add to it and enhance it adequately with only 12 hours a week to devote to it?

Thanks for all the help.
Yours,
Lawrence

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 12:38 PM

I edited your title and removed my name. I try to discourage people from addressing questions directly to me because that often discourages other people from replying and they may have good advice to share as well.

Now on to your question....

I would never answer that question simply because there are still too many factors that determine how fast you'll make money. The key to your success is largely based on how well you fully grasp Internet marketing and how creative can you be when it comes to drawing in and keeping your targeted visitors. Yes, SBI! will give you the guidance but ultimately it's up to you.

Someone can work on a site for 10 hours a day and never make a dime if they are spending their time doing the wrong things. So ultimately it's up to you to build a useful site in your niche and learn how to market it in the right ways. "Right" is a relative term. What I did to market my SBI! site (which was virtually nothing but wait on search engine traffic) may be different from someone else.

So I never answer that "how long" or "how soon" question because quite honestly I don't even know. I've seen hundreds of different scenarios. Jazzy mentioned recently that it only took her 3-4 months to make her investment back with SBI! while I have other friends that took a year or longer. Again, because every site and niche is different, that's a very difficult question to answer.

But let's just assume you really grasp the marketing, write well and capture a targeted audience, you can start making money as early as 3 months but more than likely it will be 6 months or more for the average person. Again, this is assuming you succeed in building traffic.

The point I'm trying to make is it doesn't matter how long you work, it's how productive you work and there are too many factors and variables to predict the "how long" question.

Sorry to be so vague but that's how this business goes. Your success largely depends on you and without knowing about how quickly you'll pick up on things and how creative you'll be with marketing, it's hard to give anyone an estimate.

Make sense?

lisa · #3 (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 12:44 AM

Oh and I didn't address your last question really. Sorry, just realized that. There is no right or wrong amount of time. Just understand it will more than likely take you longer to make money then if you could devote 30 hours instead of 12. So 12 is fine, just keep your expectations in check.

Lawrence Hudson · #4 (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 11:09 AM

Thank you...I'm still learning the rules and culture for all this on line stuff. Your answer to the "how long" question makes perfect sense and I probably would have figured it out myself if I had thought about it a little more.

The second question has to do with wanting to replace my salary and still continue being a pastor. You indicate on your "How To Make Money With An Information Site" that it is possible to bring in substantial income with only a few hours per month. Once a site (or a couple of sites) are up, running well and traffic is flowing is it possible to make say $50,000 a year with my 12 hours per week? I know every situation varies and I am only trying to temper my expectations here, my question is - is it possible- do you know people who are doing this? This site amazes me - finally personal attention to my issues- haven't found it anywhere else. THANKS!!
Yours,
Lawrence

lisa · #5 (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 03:31 PM

It's definitely possible. My sites are established enough now where I'd make that amount and more without devoting hardly any hours but of course I still do because you have to stay up on the latest trends or your sites will die eventually.

But it takes time to get to that level and it's also key to find income sources that pay you long term. For example I resell domain names and hosting and I earn on residuals. So even if I got 0 orders this month I would still get paid from customers who are renewing their hosting, domains, etc.

So whatever your topic is, look for programs that pay residually. www.lifetimecommissions.com is a site that lists programs that pay on that scale.

So anything is possible, just understand it varies and takes a lot of work and time to get to that point.

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