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Build Your Own Site
And make money while you travel

You don't have to be a genius to build your own site. The fact that I own and manage this website never ceases to amaze me.

Not very long ago at all, I had no idea I would own a website, let alone build it myself.

I didn't know what HTML meant (I still barely do - but then I don't need to). I had no idea how the written word (on the screen) got inside the computer and into a website.

I had no clue about how to get people to come to my website - and I certainly had no inkling that you could make money (and very decent money) writing about a passion.

I started my career as a journalist, although most of my webmaster friends had no writing background at all when they started their sites. One of them was a biochemist, another a saleslady, one was an aid worker, another a chef. I say 'was' because these friends (and many more) now make a living with their websites - their new careers.

I digress, so back to the newsroom for a moment. I started in newspapers, and I still remember the day our first computer screen appeared in the newsroom (not on my desk, thank heavens). We all took turns tapping out a headline. We played around, made it bigger, smaller, sillier. How fun, and how magical!

When my turn ended I was tremendously relieved I was a writer and would never have to deal with that monster machine again. Right...

So when I started this site, it was with a rather large dose of skepticism and trepidation. A website? Me? I can barely manage email!

My brother, who does know about computer things, threatened to move to another continent when I started my site. He fully expected to be bombarded with questions at all hours of day or night - how do you... why is the... how come it...

Yet here I am. My homepage was up within a few days of starting my website, and soon I was writing and putting up a page every week. And you all came to read them.

How did I do it?

I'm still not sure but if I can, you can. If you can surf the internet and write a Word document, you can do this. No special skills, no knowledge needed. Just passion, and persistence.

For me it was a question of making money both to travel and as I traveled. Building a website seemed a nice, 'portable' profession, one I could practice from anywhere. I got lucky.

I say lucky because most courses or companies that help you build websites either assume you already know something or try to sell you a get rich quick scheme or try to take you for an awful lot of money - sometimes thousands of dollars. I know, because I tried quite a few of them before coming to my senses.

I eventually found a company that had an awesome reputation, and spoke to some people who had built their websites there. They raved about all the training they were getting, the free materials at their disposal, and the speed at which they were building websites that Google liked. So I took a chance.

I started from scratch, and I learned the ropes much faster than I expected. And they seemed honest - no scams, no spam, just a great community of people who decided they wanted to make a change.

This sounded perfect! If I could put up a website that brought in money, I could then maintain it from anywhere in the world. What a great way to combine earning with writing and travel!

So I took the plunge.

At first I wasn't sure where to start but SBI's tools make it all crystal clear, even for an absolute beginner like myself.

Within days I had built a travel website - or at least I had started one. Now I'm having so much fun I can't wait to get back to it every day - and I'm building sites about other topics, now that I know how!

Don't take my word for it - have a look at what other members of the SBI community (that's the name of the company) are saying. They've built their own websites and many of them are far more advanced than I am.

If earning money from home or on the road appeals to you, you can build your own site about anything under the sun. I've started another website which has nothing to do with this one and have ideas for three or four more that I'll launch over the next year or two. If you have a hidden passion (even if you don't know what it is yet) tere could be a website lurking somewhere in your future too. The video below is one of many I've seen where people explain why they built a website this way. As an example, here's how horse breeders in southern Spain built their own site.

Update September 2011: I now have two websites running, am a partner in a third and researching a fourth. My earnings are starting to rise, especially since I've been putting in the time and the effort (that's the only way you can build your own site). I still have a day job because I love what I do, but if that stopped, I'd have some pretty good options which would include travel, money and fun!