A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Let me tell you a little bit about how I started this website and the wonderful opportunity available to anyone to have their own online business, making money working from home.

I know this site is about food and recipes and if you're looking for a recipe and not a tiny bit interested in how to work from home with an internet business, then click here to return to the home page.

How It All Started

I was at home for a few years whilst raising our 2 children. I found that very enjoyable and rewarding, but soon I was needing to look for work. I searched for work that had flexible hours, that I could work around school hours so I could still be there for my children after school, but as most Mums know, that type of work is very hard to find.

I knew that work through the computer and on the internet was the latest thing, and it didn't matter what part of the world you lived in. So, I started to research work via the internet, that I thought would enable me to work the hours that suited me and still be around for my family. With my son into soccer and my daughter involved in dancing, including competitive dance, I wanted them to still be able to continue with their sports, which is hard to do when you work full-time and the children need to be transported to different venues, sometimes both on the same day. So, flexible hours were very important.

Researching

Well, I don't know if you have ever looked into internet businesses, but there are a lot of scams around. I would say I normally veer on the side of caution, but there are a lot of claims that were amazing. And although you know its too good to be true, you just can't help but be swayed by some of these claims. I can tell you I looked into everything. Most of them were Get Rich Quick Schemes, which generally leave you poorer quicker than you get rich!

Ebay, sounded good, read a lot about people who made it and were a success, but a big problem was finding stock that you could still make a profit from. Plus, I realised all the success stories, were mostly about making their money selling their "secrets", not actually selling goods, so ebay was out.

I had also read about passive income. Now that sounded interesting, make money even after I've finished working. That's how this site mostly works. I put a lot of work into the site initially, write all the recipes and articles. Then it slowly gets noticed by more and more people and I get paid by different people, long after that page was written.

I also heard about affiliate marketing. That's when I recommend a product I like to people, they go along and purchase it and I make a small commission for sending a customer their way and the customer doesn't get charged any extra. Sounded good, but how do you do that? I came across one site that was offering a free masters course on affiliate marketing. So I downloaded that and spent the next week or so reading all about it. It didn't take long to know I was heading in the right direction.

There were quite a few times I felt like giving up and going and getting a "go out to work for little pay" job. But I'd look at my kids and think of all the things I would miss and they would have to give up, and that did spur me on to search some more.

Working From Home

Another site I came across had a wonderful review by several women who had all built their own websites and turned them into profitable online businesses. It was called the WAHM Guide - Work At Home Mums. This is wonderful reading and will answer any questions you may have, you don't have to be a Mom to read it! Once I read that I was really sure that this was what I was looking for. They didn't make ludicrous claims of making thousands of dollars straight away, just slow and steady. Although I really wanted to make lots of money, this appealed to the common sense part of me.

It was possible to do, it would be a strong learning curve but once learned the possibility to go on to do more sites was available. The way I figured it out, if I had to go to college to learn some more skills to get a better job it would take me some time before I started earning good money. Read about how other Work at Home Moms spend their time doing what they love!

Here's a short video from a work at home Dad and his online story.

Site Build It

What I had noticed was all these reviews and guides to internet businesses were all recommending one company, Site Build It. It was more than just a web hosting company, it was a one stop shop for tools to everything you needed to put up a website. Click here to read a page that explains all about the tools at Site Build It and will answer your question "Just What Is In Site Build It?"

Site Build It took care of the practical side of website building, which was great as I didn't have a clue about all that stuff. What I had to do was write the content for the site. But Site Build It - SBI helps with all that. They help by showing you how to find the best subject for your site, then how to research it, how to put links up, how to upload photo's (I love photography, but clicking was the extent of my ability, now I know how to crop and minimise pixels, and arrange them on the site!). They show how to optimize your site so you get found by all the search engines and finally the best ways to earn income from your site.

Making Money

Now I know your ears just picked up when you saw income. Just how do you make money from a site about recipes? Well, when you see a page that has links to other sites and underneath it say Ads by Google, everytime someone clicks on one of these ads, I get paid. The wonderful thing about Google's adsense program is that we can make money from writing about something we love, without even offering a service or selling anything. Want to learn more? Click Here!

I also get paid a small commission if people buy a product from someone I have recommended. There are so many other ways to monetise, but don't worry, SBI has a whole section just on different ways to earn income from your site.

When I started this site, I had a big learning curve, but I loved the mental stimulation of learning something new. SBI also has a great forum to go to and ask questions and get help. It is such a friendly place and other SBI'ers are so helpful and willing to share all their knowledge. I hadn't ever visited a forum before, but they are so easy to use.

Passion

Don't think you could find anything to write about? You would be amazed at the range of topics some SBI'ers have turned into successful websites, such as interior decorating, juggling, sports, musical instruments, gardening, make up, dancing, etc. Anything you are passionate about, you can write about. Check out these results pages of a few successful SBI sites.

Once I decided on my subject of Greek Food and Recipes - that wasn't very hard, I love cooking and I am always talking to my friends about it and sharing recipes so it was a natural progression onto a site. SBI recommends picking a subject that you're passionate about, then write like you're talking to a friend, so, that wasn't very hard and then I just kept writing and building pages.

It is very easy though, to become distracted with all the outside noise, and personal circumstances do sometimes interfere and take you away. Try to always focus on the end result.

Here is a short video from Dr Ken Evoy, the founder of Site Build It.

Growing the Business

Now, after the initial work on my site is done, I am making money from my site. I haven't finished this site, there is a lot more to add, but I am confident now, knowing it is successful and will continue to grow in size, the amount of traffic visiting the site and income. I also have lots of ideas for more sites, I have already started a second site Dance for Kids.com

What makes me so happy though, is I have something that is mine, something to show for my hard work, brings in an income and most importantly, enables me to be there for my children when they come in from school. This year my daughter's dance school competed in the State Dance Festival, and I was able to take time out and go away for a week's holiday and watch her dance in groups and solo's. Many of the Mums who go out to work were not able to make it and I felt so lucky. I can go to all my son's soccer matches, school sports carnival days and just be there when they are sick and need some comforting. This website enables me to do all this and that for me defines success!

If you would like to have that type of success click here to read more about the opportunities for you.

Thank you for reading this page, for visiting my site and making this happen for me and my kids!


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