SBI! Review – How this content website gets me projects that my "Portfolio Site" never does 

I never worked for Pixar; I don't have a shot from a major motion picture to put in my showreel, so how do I convince potential clients that I am what they need?

Solo Build It! Showed me how. (SBI! For short)

If you browse this website you won't find any sales pitch. Know why? 
I don't need it. 
This site does one important thing for my business: It closes deals.

Here's how SBI! works for me:

I apply for a project I want. (At this point in my career I prefer to go after the projects I like, rather than hang out the "for hire" sign and see what comes.) 
I send my application, with a few choice examples of my work that are relevant to the specific project in question, and a link to THIS website. 

The potential client gets a bunch of applications, with a bunch of portfolio sites.
They all look more or less the same.
Then she clicks on my link and gets a rich content site that shows my passion for animation.

She writes to me – "Your site is very impressive! So, what's the next step?" and I get the job!

The problem with portfolio sites is,

That while they do showcase your work, they say very little about what YOU are like. 
A content site not only stands out from the "all look the same applications"' but also implies your level of dedication, passion and professionalism. 

This is how I got an ongoing contract with the internal education branch of Bank Mizrahi-Tfahot, a major bank in my country. 
It's a freelancer's dream. 

How do I know I got it thanks to this website?
Because they told me so: "We loved your website. When can you start?"

You can do this too.

Starting from scratch

When I started this website, back in 2006, I knew NOTHING about building a website, let alone a web business.
I mean, zero.
I wasn't even sure what a "hosting service" was.

I found SBI! In a book about internet marketing – a paper, glue and ink book! LOL.  The guy recommended SBI! - a manual for building a web business. I found it online and was hooked.

My success is not the classic kind.

Yes, I did make money with an affiliate program Toonboom had, and a bit with Google ads, but the best thing this site does, as I've described – is help me close the deal.

SBI! takes you by the hand, step by step. 

The system takes all the "web building" stuff out of the way, so you can concentrate on your storytelling, and business building. 

The Action Guide takes you from brainstorming ideas, down to the nitty-gritty of 'place that link here' and 'do that there'.
Very detailed. Very comprehensive.
They don't just teach you how to use their system; They teach you a business mind set, and also walk you thru setting up all the satellites you need around your website – a compatible Facebook page, twitter, Pinterest, etc. How to sell your own products. It's all covered. 

The Forums are the place to go, to get help and pay it forward, and share your online adventure with people on the same road.

The BrainStormer is worth the price all by itself. 
It's a keyword research tool. You put in one word or phrase, and it digs up for you related keywords (and topics) from all around the web, with an estimate of demand and supply. 

It's an irresistible toy for creative people. You can play with it for hours.

The biggest thing I got from my SBI! journey? 

The courage to Dream BIG

At some point, I thought I could try and sell some files online.
I found help in the forums and set up a humble test for "The Animators' Shop".

It worked!

I sold a walk cycle, in an open Flash file you can customize, for 15$. 
And it kept selling, over and over again. 

Fast forward 10 years. 
Flash is dead but Stock Sites flourish. 
Last year I've jumped into the deep end of the online biz ocean, and I'm building my own start-up company, to sell animations online.

I never would have got here if I didn't go to "SBI! School" first.

Now I need to warn you about fake SBI! reviews

If I got you interested, you'll google SBI! and find reviews that seem to talk about SBI! -
but then they just end up pointing you to another product. 

These fake reviews make me mad for two reasons:

1. It means someone is paying people to bait and switch you – you think you found a review for the product you're researching, only to be led to a different, inferior product.  
This Study puts SBI! and the other guy head to head.
There are 33X more SBI! Sites in the top ranks than the competitor. Your chances for success with SBI! are that much bigger!

2. And,
it means that this same thief wants to make YOU use your storytelling abilities to deceive people. 
What they do is, instead of teach you how to build a great online-animation-service, or how to showcase your expertise in 3D rigging, you, my friend, will find yourself writing fake reviews about a product you know nothing about, in an effort to make 2 dollars.

Do you have a red line?

---

When I just started out as a freelance animator I was hungry and basically willing to take anything. One day I got a project for an online casino. It paid really well – I animated some cards with sparks around them, and beautiful people around a roulette table. Cool, right?

Then they asked me to design a pop-up window. 

The brief said – make it look EXACTLY like a 'Windows System Message'.
I couldn't believe it.
I called my contact and asked – is this even legal?
He squirmed a bit and said something like, you know, it's not 'not-legal'.

What really bothered me, was that I was using my talent to deceive people, and help cheat them out of some money. 
I was under contract, so I puked in my mouth a little, did the job, collected the pay cheque, and never worked for them, or anyone like them, ever again.

I did work for SiteSell, the company behind Solo Build It! 

I love lurking in the SBI! Forums, and one day the staff asked for recommendations for illustrators to draw a series of cartoons. I wrote in and offered myself, and got a commission to do a bit of animation for them.

Now, once you cross the line from "Customer" to "Contractor" you get a whole new view of a company. 
I just totally fell in love with these people.
How many companies do you know whose face on the inside is as beautiful as the face they put on their brochures?

Hey, my job – your job – is creating that outside face. But how many times have you worked for a company whose culture made you glad you're just passing by?

With SBI! What you see is what you get.

The same people who give it all they've got in the Action Guide and the Forums, are the wonderful people I got to work with. 
Great communication. 
Great teamwork. 
The paperwork was the most streamlined I've ever seen, wish all my clients were like that. 
I did a whole bunch of videos for SBI! over a couple of years, and I love being a part of that family. I also love the little polar bear stamps on the envelopes that came in the mail. OK so maybe that one is just me.

Now there's an inferior competitor out there, luring honest people into writing fake reviews about SBI! without knowing anything about the product and company they are slandering.

Please - Learn to recognize the fakes and judge for yourself:
who has your interests at heart, and who is just looking to bait you.
Here's another real, and successful, SBI'er - Karen from San Francisco. This is her story:
http://www.inside-guide-to-san-francisco-tourism.com/solo-build-it-review.html

I don't get any commissions from this review.
SBI! has been my online home since 2006 and they just get better and better.

SBI! Is a creative-type-friendly environment

The system itself is a simple drag and drop page builder, but is open to lots of things you can do if you have programming skills.

They filters all the noise for you, so you can focus on building your business.

Since you're browsing this website, I'm guessing you yourself are a talented storyteller, looking to make a living from your art.

Go for the real thing.

Go to www.sitesell.com

Home > About > Solo Build It! Review