Who Has Made this Website
and Why?
My name is Katrin and I live in north Queensland in Australia.
For me, this is paradise.
I have been living just at the doorstep to the beautiful and remote Cape York Peninsula for almost nine years now and I absolutely love Cape York.
But how did i get here...
I was born in the cold northern Europe, in Estonia, and moved to Sweden when I was young. I never liked the snowy climate we had - it was just too cold and miserable most of the year.
I was always different from other people, just not happy with the "normal" life that people live. I always had to travel more, discover more and learn more about the world. I wasn't afraid to put in a lot of time and work to make my dreams to come true.
I wanted to experience staying in other countries for a while, so I went to study in London to practice my English, and to Paris and French Riviera to practice my French. Every time I had a break, I travelled.
I have always loved nature and been interested in science, so back in Sweden I started a science degree. That degree took me later to New Zealand, where I fell in love with Down Under. I liked how things were opposite here from the Northern Hemisphere, and this was when I decided to come back and spend some time in Australia.
I came back as an international student, to do the last part of my science degree in Sydney. And I ended up staying in this beautiful country. I love it here - love the friendliness of people, the warm climate, and the space and the variety of nature on this huge continent.
I moved to north Queensland after two years in Sydney, and have stayed here ever since. Here, the climate is even warmer, the people are even friendlier, and the nature varies pretty much between tropical rainforests and coral reef. I feel I always belonged here.
So, What Have I done Since I Came to Australia?
So I decided that I was going to try to make myself more flexible and try to work from home. I knew I had to change my direction, but I was still going to make use of my science degree.
I took a uni course in journalism and had a go at writing for nature and popular science magazines. I did get jobs, and enjoyed writing and getting published, but I soon realised that in the long run this was going to be a very hard way to earn proper money.
I had a go at travel writing, with exactly the same result.
But travel writing did do one thing - it reminded me of my real passion. It reminded me that I no longer had time for travelling as I used to, and I was missing it. The more I thought about it, the more I was missing it.
Confused, But NOT Giving Up My Dream...
I am not the person to give up easy.
I took a job within mining exploration, and in my confusion even started, (and by now almost finished), a geology degree... (which was very interesting, don't get me wrong), but I never gave up my dream. I kept looking for opportunities and thinking of ways how to turn my passion for travelling into an income.
So, Finally, the Solution.....
I was looking, until, one day in 2008, I thought I would make a website and try to sell my photos that I have taken on my travels.
But of course, I had no idea about how to make a website. So, naturally, I went googling "how to make a website".
And what did I find? Different options. Everything from making a free website which gets no traffic to some middle-range options which give you limited chances to make some money, and finally to a top range one which gives you all chances to make full income not only on a travel website, but any information site on whatever is your hobby. It may be pets, kids, family, cars, gardening, cooking, parties, relationships, you name it - the list is literally endless - you can turn any passion or skill into income with a website using that top tool.
That top tool is called SBI, which stands for Site Build It. It is a fantastic tool, which teaches total beginners step by step how to choose the best topic for your site, how to build your website, how to create traffic and finally, how to actually make money out of your own website, whatever the subject. All the tools that you need are provided so you don't have to go looking for anything elsewhere.
You don't need to sell anything - you earn money from advertisers and affiliate programs. (Of course, you can sell things, and there are many, many other ways to make money, which SBI teaches you all about).
And - it's simple. You need no webmaster skills. I started with average computer skills and they were more than enough.
Let's Face It - Is it Easy to Make Money on the Internet?
The answer is NO.
If it was, we wouldn't have people working in supermarkets and post offices - most people would take the easier option - earn money on the internet, from home, on their own time and own conditions. Who wouldn't like it??
Many people try - they try hard, very hard, without knowing that it is next to impossible for a total beginner to enter the already so competitive internet scene and simply start earning money, unless you use a tool like SBI.
Have a look at the SBI Video Tour, or the Quick Tour, which both explain how it all works.
And have a look at all the other successful SBI websites.
I feel sorry for beginners who try to run a web business and haven't come across SBI. Or people who run into scams that promise so and so much earnings from home... they all end up wasting time and lots of money with absolutely no success.
So, Back to My Story....
I quickly abandoned the idea to make a website to sell photos, for a simple reason - it would never have been successful.
What large search engines, such as Google, want, is information, unique information. That is one thing you have to do if you want to succeed as a beginner - write lots and lots of unique information and don't even dream about copying it from anywhere - it will give you no success because search engines want unique content (SBI would ban you anyway). But writing is not a problem since SBI will give you all the help.
So, I, too, got into writing, and spent a lot of time creating unique content. It is a lot of work in the beginning, because first comes writing and then comes the pay. You won't start earning money straight away, but over the time you build yourself a solid, successful business that you can rely on. I now earn an income from my websites, but it has also been a lot of work. (Note that I don't earn everything from this website, I have five more websites that all add to the total).
Passive Income???
Yes and no.
Well, once you have done the hard work and written all the information, it really is a passive income in the sense that you will earn money even on days that you choose not to work. You can take time off, go on holidays, or do anything but work and in the end of the day you have still earned the money that you would have earned if you worked that day. Neat, isn't it?
Answering reader questions while on a 4WD trip
But, in the long term, you still have to maintain your website(s), reply to readers' questions, update information, and follow the trends to not to loose traffic. So, in the long term you will still be working, even though much less than in the beginning when you set it all up.
However, there is one big difference - you work for yourself, where you like, the hours you like, on your own conditions, and have no boss to please. You can be creative and write about your passion, which doesn't feel like work. It is very satisfying and - almost addictive. You put a lot of pride into your work, and it is very rewarding to see how many people read and love your websites. So, you are likely to keep putting up more and more websites, which, of course, only means more money ;-)
"How to succeed? Try hard enough." - Malcolm Forbes.
Bottom line is, YOU can do it, but don't think it comes without work.
People often think I am "lucky". But it's not the whole story. It's not like I got anything for nothing.
I am just a hard worker, and I am prepared to take the extra step to make my dreams come true.
Feel like doing the same? Well you are already a step ahead of where I originally started.. YOU have already found SBI!
It took me until 2008 to do even that, so you are off to a great start :-)
Anyone can make their dreams come true with enough work and willpower. Yes, so can YOU.
"I once heard that only 3% of people are committed to designing the life of their dreams. That sounds about right. Most people spend more time planning grocery lists than thinking about their future." - Steve Jobs.
P. S. Please note:
The content of my sites is strictly protected by the Law of Copyright.
Copying and redistributing ANYTHING is ILLEGAL and copycats are tracked by Copyscape.
On top of that, copying would not get anyone anywhere. What it creates is so-called mirrored pages, which will not get listed in search engines and the new site would get no traffic, which means no money.
To earn money it is vital that the content you create is unique.
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