Midway Battle - SBI! vs GRWeB 3.0

I just reached midway in both SiteBuildIt! and Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0. I have promised you a review, so..  Let's make them battle!

Yes, I know this is not an even fight. SiteBuildIt! is an all-inclusive passive income business building program, while Getting Rich With eBooks is a course for making best-selling ebooks. But, for a newbie they stand almost on the same line.

"I want to start earning passive income online - tell me what to do!" - They both promise to deliver that.

Also, SiteBuildIt! costs $299 per year and Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0 costs $400. So why not compare them?


Time required - Winner: Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0

I used about 40 hours to reach the midway in SiteBuildIt!

Reaching midway in Getting Rich With eBooks took me 8-10 hours.


Getting things done - Winner: SiteBuildIt!

After SiteBuildIt! day 5 I have:

• Preliminary site map for my future site. That is, plans for 57 pages with SEO-friendly keywords
• Draft for my site's home page. It is not search engine optimized yet, but otherwise ready
• A domain. Included in the price, it is registered and ready for me
• Learned a lot on copy writing and search engine optimization
• Learned how to evaluate my ideas
• Knowledge that my site has commercial potential
• Monetization plan for my site

After video 4 of Getting Rich With eBooks I have:

• Homework to write the whole book
• Homework to invent a top-selling book title
• Homework to buy a domain
• Homework to design graphics for my book and web site OR to hire a designer to do that
• Homework to check legalities around my subject OR to hire a lawyer to do that
• Learned how to evaluate my ideas
• Learned some valuable tips and tricks about eBook writing and publishing 
• Knowledge that my idea has commercial potential

In SiteBuildIt! you'll do the work during the course, not as an extra homework. It is like a parent holding your hand when you have to face something scary. Whenever it is time to do something, it says: "Do it now and then come back to me".

In Getting Rich With eBooks you'll watch the video first and then you get an assignment for the next week. After the first 3 videos I felt that the homework was reasonable. The video went through the information needed to do the tasks. But the fourth video was different. It skimmed through an awfully large topic - writing a book, and then gave an assignment to write it. Now I have a horrible list of homework to do.


Extra costs - Winner: SiteBuildIt!

When I joined these courses, I did expect to have some extra costs. I expected that I need to buy a domain and get some graphics for my site/book.

SiteBuildIt! gave me a nice surprise gift - the domain is included in the price. Not only that, also the WordTracker credits needed for keyword research were included. So I now have this impression that with SiteBuildIt! there might not be any extra costs for me at all. We'll see.

Getting Rich With eBooks gave me a disappointment - it suggests that I should hire several experts to help me with different issues. Well, it does say that I can do them myself too, but that it is not worth it. I assume Vic is right here. It may not be worth it to do everything yourself. But it sure would have been nice to know there are so many extra costs *before* I joined the course.


Simplicity - Winner: Getting Rich With eBooks

SiteBuildIt! will overwhelm you at the start. You'll get this feeling that it pours so much information to you that you'll choke. It has its own concepts, abbreviations and tools. And you'll lose some precious time learning them. But on the other hand, the tools save you a lot of time.

Getting Rich With eBooks is not complex. It tells you the minimum what you'll need to do and then asks you to do that. Simple tasks after another. The downside is that you'll start to wonder if the course really told you everything that is important. If it does, he offers nice counterbalance to SBI! Maybe all those well planned steps are not required to succeed. If it doesn't... well, then your chances of succeeding may be smaller.


Worth per penny - Winner: Who knows?

Worth is very hard to evaluate. It might have been either of these two courses that gave me the critical piece of information. If you take the opportunity, I think one can succeed with either of these programs.

However, I do think Getting Rich With eBooks costs too much compared to what I have got from it this far. Especially taken into account that it contains very little information that SiteBuildIt! wouldn't have.

I bought SiteBuildIt! with the monthly subscription option. It costs me $30 per month and I think it is reasonable priced. However, if you don't know how to transfer domains and web pages away from SiteBuildIt! system, they will charge you the monthly subscription price for as long as your site is up.



Worst this far

In SiteBuildIt! the worst is definitely "The Way of The Tortoise". Everything proceeds so slowly!

Another thing that I have grown a bit annoyed is the repetition and constant material over-delivery. They want to make sure that everybody surely get the main points. I feel that is a bit outdated thinking and would prefer more condensed course, implemented in a way that I would not feel that I'd miss something important if I took the shorter route. But both of my problems here are just minor annoyances.

In Getting Rich With eBooks the worst for me is the lack of trust. It feels like I would be dealing with a car salesman. Can I trust what he says?

Also, the videos are of poor quality. They are not cut in any way, even to hide the technical problems they had in the live courses where the recording was made. I'm not really interested in waiting 15 minutes if someone raises her hand or not. While in SiteBuildIt! the slowness comes from the huge amount of study material, in Getting Rich With eBooks the slowness comes from laziness. This man supposedly sold eBooks for million dollars, yet he cannot afford to get his videos properly edited.



Best this far

SBI! has removed the pressure from my project. I don't need to hassle around, worry and get everything ready today. With this program, it is easy to believe that I will succeed. But it may take a bit longer than I expected. Fortunately, there is still plenty of time before my goal deadline.

That is my best benefit, but then, I am a programmer with over 10 years of experience. I'd bet that most people would say that the best thing in SiteBuildIt! is that it frees you to concentrate on the business. It handles all the technicalities for you so you can focus on the issues where the money is.

Getting Rich With eBooks has taught me an effective way to do simple keyword research. Even though I now have all the nice tools that SiteBuildIt! offers, I still do quick sanity checks for the main keywords using Vic's method. Simple, fast and easy.

Another great thing in Getting Rich With eBooks is the Affirmations Audio. That 20-minute recording is a work of art. It has perfect affirmations needed to succeed in a passive income project. I do have my own affirmations, but I really like these. I still listen to this audio almost every day.


Conclusion

I think SiteBuildIt! is the winner for me, no doubt there. I feel that it will teach me everything I need to know about passive income web business. If something, it may teach me too much!

I also like that in SiteBuildIt! I can access all the information there is after the initial $30 payment. You cannot access all the tools right away, but that is not needed. Right now I feel that the biggest reason for Getting Rich With eBooks to hide parts of the course is that if people would be able to see everything right away, they might turn back and never return.

At the end of my first review I thought that Getting Rich With eBook did offer value for a newbie. But then I found SiteBuildIt! Of course, they work on a bit different subjects, but this far Getting Rich With eBooks has contained very little information that is not available in SiteBuildIt!

If after all this you are still interested in Getting Rich With eBooks, here is my advice:

Pay the initial $12, watch the available two videos and download Vic's keyword research excel. Also get the affirmations audio. After that, evaluate the situation again! Do you really want to continue? If not, just remember to cancel your subscription so that they don't continue charging you. 

Right now I'm really exited about SiteBuildIt! It is a solid program. It is so good that I am thinking whether or not I should buy a one year subscription for my sister as her birthday gift.

My second advice to you is:

Visit SBI! Order Page right away and take their monthly subscription option. That will give you access to a goldmine of passive income study material and still leaves you a nice way out if you find out that the program is not for you. They do have 90 day money back guarantee too, so there really is no risk seeing the course material.

Even though I no longer recommend Getting Rich With eBooks, I'm not resigning either. There are 4 videos more even though the eBook is (or should be) ready already. Vic has several times mentioned how important the steps after the book creation are, so I am really eager to hear what he has to offer. But you'll have to wait some time for the next review... it will take me some time to write the book!

Overall, I'm glad that I have two programs instead of just one. It gives me some perspective on what things are really important to earn passive income online.

Week 11 - Relaxing Pays Off

Look at this:

That is 19 hours!

I can honestly say that Freckle saved this week. I had a feeling that I did very little for my passive income project this week. But Freckle says I did over 15 h of SiteBuildIt!, which is more than in any previous week.


So, what changed?

I stopped trying so hard.

When I wrote my last week report I was a bit fed up. Things were not proceeding with the speed I was hoping for and the sparkle of this passive income project was wearing off. I definitely did not start this week with enthusiasm and motivation. As my goal states that I should have fun and relax, I did that. I decided that this week I would concentrate on other things and do my passive income project on the side, only when I feel like it.

On monday, I did not really feel like doing SiteBuildIt!, so I stopped just after half an hour. But on several other days SiteBuildIt! just captured me. Still, I did A LOT of other things, including some things that I have been waiting to do for a long time.

If I would not have Freckle I'd say that I just skimmed through the week doing things that I enjoy and visited my passive income project every now and then. But the pulse disagrees - telling me that this is the best week this far.

I definitely need to continue taking things more easy!


Halfway there!

Freckle tells me that I have now put 40 h to SiteBuildIt! That have taken me to the end of day 5 and I am now officially halfway to finish that course.

I am also halfway in Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0 after spending little over 4 hours on it. Quite a difference.  But I do think I may have spent couple of hours to this course before I got Freckle, so the actual amount might be 6-8 hours.


Tip of the week

This one comes from Steve:

Getting too excited or passionate about a goal actually pushes it away. You wouldn't feel so excited if you were already there and living it. It would just feel normal to you. Excess emotion, even positive emotion, can be a source of friction that makes it harder to achieve your goals.

Why I Choose To Pay

I'm 10 weeks into my passive income project. By now I have bought several eBooks, joined Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0 course and become a member of SiteBuildIt! My former self would be asking me now:

She is a smart person. Why on earth is she buying that stuff when there is so much material and tools available for free? 

Well, dear former self, I have several compelling reasons.


I want to attract nice and happy customers

If you act like a poor customer, you'll attract poor customers. No matter what your affirmations say.

Yes, that is about mindset issues. Soon after I started this project, I was getting feelings that I should change my shopping habits. At first I did not realize why I was so compelled to do that. Then I read this wonderful article series by IttyBiz: Your 5 Customers, or How To Sell To Damn Near Anybody. That is a bit long read, but you will not regret it.

While I was reading, I was trying to find out which customer I am myself. I did not perfectly match to any of the categories, but I did find myself somewhere between Bob and Daniel. When I read the personality description for those customers I was shocked:

Bob - He is anxious, concerned, and risk-averse.

Daniel - He’s pessimistic and has a low tolerance for risk. At any given time, he’s pretty sure things are not going to work out in his favor.

I realized that even though I had worked on changing my limiting beliefs, I had not changed my behavior accordingly. I was still acting like a whiny poor customer. Doing that, I would come up with business ideas that appeal and attract people like that. People who don't buy so much and tend to need extra customer support.

Since that day I've made some extra effort trying to think and behave like Amy:

Amy is a basically happy and logical human being. She’s reasonably confident, mostly optimistic, and her purchase is a fairly logical act. She has a high risk tolerance.

Who does that describe too? Well, to me it describes a successful person.

This approach has already paid me off. I have recognized several product possibilities that would appeal mostly to Daniel and Bob. I have thrown those ideas away. I have plenty of better ones now that target to happy Amy.


I want to feel the abundance - I want to be generous 

You need to live according to your beliefs. Telling yourself that you live in abundance has little effect if in everyday life you feel that you cannot afford the things you want and need. Successful people let other people help them. When someone offers them a helping hand, they accept it smiling.

The loser instead, he thinks that he gets cheated by everyone.

My current affirmations include (but don't limit to) these:

World is a wonderful place full of opportunities. People are always friendly and everyone wants to help me. I accept help and I am glad to help others. I live in abundance. I have a beautiful home and a lovely husband. I have plenty of money to buy what I need and what I want. I can select where I live. I can select which projects I take part in. I achieve my goals easily and I enjoy life.

With a worldview like that, why wouldn't I buy products that sound interesting? I especially enjoy buying from little bootstrapped businesses and people like you and me. I prefer those over large companies. And what my affirmations say is true - I really can afford it.


I need to benchmark level of service and delivery methods

How can I offer good service to my future customers, if I have not experienced it firsthand online?

I am to produce services and product that are either used online or downloaded. That means I definitely need to know how that works from the customer point of view. Buying books from Amazon is not enough. I need to get some idea what good buying experience is about. I need to know the differences between the service providers.

I already know I'm not going to handle the charging of people's credit cards myself, nor am I going to implement secured product delivery myself. It is just not worth the trouble, and those parts are critical. If something goes wrong there, I want to be able to just switch the provider instead of crashing and burning myself. That means I need to find a service provider for those services.

So every time I buy something, I check who does the actual delivery. Did I enjoy buying through them? Could I use this service provider myself?

While I go, I evaluate my buying and usage experience. I carefully check what kind of support options I have. I give feedback and see how the seller reacts. If I have the slightest reason to get support, I do that - just to get the feel of how they provide it.


I don't want to waste my time

I want to learn from an expert who already lives on money earned online. Nothing beats the experience.

Put your ego aside and you'll succeed faster! For long I had this stubborn idea that I want to succeed on my own - but not anymore.

Let me tell you an example. Some years ago I learned silver jewelry-making. I learned that online, using only free resources. I read forums and blogs and browsed through web pages that had free courses. I had great fun and the jewelry looked great. But eventually I wanted to meet other people doing jewelry too and I signed to a silver jewelry course.

In the very first lesson we did a trivial but a time consuming preparation task while the teacher approached me. She gave me little tips and tricks that more than doubled my speed on that task. I did a mental head-desk when I realized how much time I could have saved by taking the course earlier. Plus that change in technique fixed a little quality problem that I had long struggled with.

I have also learned that the same lesson applies on computing world - except the effect is much greater. An experienced programmer can be tenfold faster than a beginner and still produce better code.

The same applies to the process of making good money online. Unlike in real life tasks, just getting something done is often not good enough. There are others who already know the tips and tricks - they'll run right past you. In the web "not good enough" is spelled "failure".


I need to know that I know enough

As a newbie to passive income, my biggest problem is: "How do I know that I have not missed anything critical"?

You might have thought that the biggest problem would be how to get information. It is not. World wide web is here. There are plenty of free tools, courses and material. Don't be disillusioned and think that good stuff is not available for free. There is plenty of free good stuff. More than we can digest.

You can learn all the bits and pieces for free. But bits and pieces are worth nothing if I don't see the big picture (or process) and be able to apply them in practice. As a beginner, I don't have that big picture - I don't know the process.

For example, look at this demographics report from Quantcast:

The report shows the site visitor demographics for my competitor site. I had no idea that these kind of reports are available for free on this detail. I might have stumbled on this by accident though - or then not. Even if I had, I may not have known that this is critical information for me.

I know I'm not missing any critical steps, when I learn the process from someone who already earns his/her living online. Just to gain that confidence is worth the course. When she/he tells me the things I need to know, I don't have to wonder around the net reading "just a little more" to make sure I know enough on some subject. I accept help and let other people solve that critical problem for me.

That is also the reason I joined two courses instead of one. As a newbie I cannot objectively evaluate the information given to me on a foreign subject. When I was younger I thought I could do that. But I've grown wiser. So while I follow the courses I pay attention to the differences in them and the emphasis each puts on different steps of the process.


Final Thoughts - Let other people help you!

The prerequisite to make this approach work is that I have chosen good courses. And that's where Steve comes in. I have decided to let him help me.

I am well aware that the products Steve recommends are his affiliates. But I have chosen to trust Steve. Of course he has different opinions and worldview than I have, but he recommends quality stuff. I may not like all of what he recommends, like Sedona Method and Marty Lefkoe's method. But me not liking them does not mean there is no value in them. There is just no value for me, at this point of time.

There are thousands of products with affiliate programs and Steve is in a position where he can pick the ones that are really good. I believe I need to let people help me in order to succeed. I am letting Steve, Vic, Allan, Amy, Ken and everybody else with the right knowledge and attitude to help me. Including you. Thank you so much!

Week 10 - Enthusiasm Wearing Off

Here is my Freckle pulse from last week:

That is 16 hours. Most of it went to SiteBuildIt and I'm ready to start the course day 5. That means I now have my site concept (idea, monetization, structure) studied and I'm ready to refine the concept and register a domain name for it.

I also watched the 4th webinar of Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0. It is going to take a while before I'll get to watch the next part. The assignment for this week was to write the book and get it ready for publishing. I'm not going to do that in one week, not even in one month. I want to make it good and properly collect some material for it.

The overly enthusiastic feelings about my passive income project are finally wearing off. I welcome that as it makes my life more relaxed. I no longer dwell on my ideas while I should be sleeping and imagine what it will be like when my "web empire" is ready. This leaves me energy to spend on other things and that is nice.

I want to have a daily routine that is not only hard work. 10-15 hours of work per week that actively takes my project forward is enough. Thanks to Freckle, I now see where my time goes. Sometimes I feel like I did much and then it says I did, but only wrote blog articles or did something else that does not actively take my project forward. This week 11 hours of the work I did was taking me forward. The other 5 hours did not.


Tip of the week

Carry a notebook or a journal. When you get business ideas, just write them down. Then you don't have to dwell on them, but you don't forget them either.