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PROVEN METHODOLOGY

There’s a saying in sports that states, “It’s all about the W.” It means that, no matter what, getting the “W,” or the win, is the only positive outcome to strive for in a ballgame. If we could make an analogous statement about e-business, we would say, “It’s all about the profits.” No matter how expensive or beautifully designed a commercial website is, if it’s not generating profit, then it’s really a pointless endeavor. The Internet is full of slick, flash-laden websites that don’t turn a dime of profit.

SBI! is completely focused on making your site a success by making it profitable. This is perhaps SBI’s greatest strength. We can verify that SBI! owners are consistently more profitable than D-I-Yers. From the beginning of the whole process, and throughout the process, SBI! consistently ensures that you never lose sight of the fact that, ultimately, “It’s all about the profits.”

The Bad (and The Ugly)

But for all its many positive aspects, SBI! isn’t without its faults. Let's go over them now.

CLUNKY TOOLS

A number of SBI!’s Internet tools are somewhat clunky to use. For example, the web page upload tool is not the most intuitive tool in the world. It can quickly become frustrating if you don’t follow the exact instructions.

For the more technical among our readers, you are not allowed direct FTP access to the SiteSell web servers when uploading your web pages. In the SBI! paradigm, pages are not uploaded directly to a web server, but instead stored in a central database by using the webpage upload tool.

SiteSell explains that the advantage of storing webpages in a database instead of directly on a web server is that your web pages are automatically set up to be submitted to search engines on a regular basis, saving you tedious work.

To be fair, it does save you grunt work. But we still wish there was an easier way to upload pages, especially for sites built with custom HTML. Those who are used to using FTP to upload their pages directly to a web server will most likely be at least a bit frustrated by SBI!'s system. Basically, it takes away a measure of control in order to ensure you don’t do something potentially harmful.

Beginners who have never been exposed to FTP (or even know what FTP is) may find this whole subject a non-issue.

As another example, the e-business conceptualizing tool is quite powerful and effective, but it can be quite unwieldy at times. It isn’t completely SiteSell’s fault, as any concept-finding tool on the market is quite complicated by nature (see http://www.wordtracker.com as an example). But the interface of SBI!’s tool is also partially to blame. As part of the concept-finding process, the user is required to download a file, save it onto his or her computer somewhere, and then load that file back into the SBI! tool. This is something we feel the tool should handle for you.

UGLY INTERFACE

SBI! obviously took a “function over form” approach when building its tools. The tools all work as advertised, but their design and layout is, quite frankly, ugly. The SBI! subscriber site also has the propensity to use a depressing drab yellow color for all its pages in general.

Now this may all seem to be more opinion than fact, but we think you’ll agree with us once you personally lay eyes on the SBI! subscriber site. In contrast, the main SiteSell sales site is quite a bit more attractive. And lest you think this is all purely a cosmetic issue, we strongly feel that an attractive interface can actually improve usability.

POOR WEBSITE NAVIGATION

The SBI! subscriber site as a whole is sometimes hard to navigate and can even seem to be a jumble of information. Part of this is simply attributable to the complexity of the subject matter, as Internet marketing is a very deep, even potentially overwhelming, subject. But some of it can be attributed to poor design.

In addition to making the tools a little easier on the eyes, it would be nice to improve the overall usability of the site. Fortunately, SiteSell is very open to suggestions, and Ken Evoy has promised redesigns for the future. Since SBI! is constantly adding new features, subscribers should keep their fingers crossed.

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