Happy, carefree and travelling!
On her site, you can also book tours, accommodation, activities, flights and more… You will also meet Marly, her traveling teddy bear.
Q: Hello Marlene, you built your site using Sitesell (SBI). How long have you been using this platform?
A: Several years ago I had 2 previous SBI sites but I bought a business, became sick and didn’t have the time to devote to them, so I sold them. My travel site has been going since 2006. I have since bought another SBI site already built and started another one of my own.
Q: Why did you decide to set up a site around that niche?
A: I have had a passion for travel ever since I was about 10, when my father and I went for a joy flight in a Cessna. I love travelling and would get on a plane and fly somewhere all the time if I could. I decided to start the website as a hobby and share my passion for travel with the world. However it has taken off and grown. I now make money from Google Ads, Affiliate sales, my ebook and advertisers approaching me for ad space on my site.
Q: How many unique visitors do you get a month?
A: I work on page views and that is around 25,000 a month.
Q: How many months did it take you to make 1,000 euros a month?
A: It took a few years because I started the site as a hobby and wasn’t actively monetizing it. It started taking off late 2009.
Q: What were you doing before you set up your first content site?
A: When I started my sites (I’m including the previous ones here), I was a stay-at-home mom. I had worked in retail part-time, earlier on.
Q: How has your life improved since you started your first content site?
A: My life has changed a lot. I am much more confident, happy and content with myself. I have grown so much as a person. I have achieved so many things. Years ago, if people had told me I would be doing what I am today, I would have said they have rocks in their head. I attend seminars and meet amazing people. At the time of writing this, I am going to a 3-day seminar with Donald Trump and Anthony Robbins in September. I have also travelled a lot more!
Q: What do you enjoy most and least about running your own site?
A: I enjoy everything about building my site and working on it. If you love what you do, it is not work or a chore. I have to discipline myself not to spend too much time on my laptop. I love learning about the places that Marly, my travelling teddy bear goes. Have you heard of Zadar? I hadn’t until Marly went there. I don’t have any dislikes about working on my site. The only downside is that I have so many ideas and I can’t keep up with implementing them. I have notes on my laptop and iPad, with things I want to do.
Q: Have other opportunities come up for you as a result of your content site?
A: Yes. I was asked to build a site for someone else, which I did and I have taught some people things that I have learnt along the way. I have been paid for those things.
Q: What challenges or hurdles did you face along the way?
A: I had a big learning curve, which looking back, wasn’t so hard after all. When I started, I didn’t know anything about building websites or html, anything! SBI makes it so easy and the forums are full of an amazing group of people. I have learnt a lot in the forums.
Q: If you had to start again would you do anything differently?
A: If I started from scratch again, I would still use SBI but I would have more of a direction that I want to go. The site has just taken on a life of it’s own.
Q: How many hours a day do you work on your site?
A: It depends on what is happening with the site and with my personal life. If I have a lot of things to do, I might spend 4 or 5 hours one day doing things. If I am sick or just going out to movies etc., I won’t work on it at all. If I’m away travelling, I won’t work on it at all. I just keep up with the emails.
Q: What task do you find easiest? And the most difficult?
A: Anything technical I find is a challenge but I go to the forum and usually find a way to do what I want. If not, I Google it and work it out from there. Anything else to do with building the site, I find easy.
Q: What plans do you have for the future of your site?
A: I am continuing to grow the site and I have big plans for Marly, my teddy bear.
Q: Do you plan to launch other sites?
A: I have other sites: book-writer-promotion.com is the one I bought that was already started and I have grown that up and changed it around. How-to-sites.com is the one I started from scratch. I still have a lot of work to do on that one yet.
Q: Would you recommend others to start their own content site?
A: I would recommend it because it is a great way of making passive income. If you can’t or don’t want to go out into the work force, you can make an income from home doing what you love. It lets you have independence and freedom.
I agree with everything Marlene says in this article. I use SBI too and has been an amazing journey. My first website went online in July 2007 and just launched the 4th one in March 2011.
My income has been growing steady month after month and have many plans for the future. If everything keeps going as it is now, I should be able to quit my day job and only work on my websites in 1-2 more years. Can´t wait.
Thanks SBI