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Build Your Own Website! Own Your Future!

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Would you believe I never set out to build my own website? Growing up as a TCK (Third Culture Kid) was really fun most of the time, but it was also sometimes painful and has had everything to do with the paths I've chosen in life. TCK's around the world have found that they have a lot in common: a hard time fitting in (both in foreign countries and at home), feeling misunderstood, feeling like citizens of nowhere. If anyone knows about standing out (or maybe in my case it was sticking out) it's a TCK. There's a reason they call us global nomads! Most of us, at some point in life, go through an identity crisis. Just ask a TCK "Where are you from?" and watch them go blank.

But standing out is good. In many ways. Positive ways, if you choose to see it that way, because after all life involves choice (after choice, after choice, after choice).

I've had a burning passion to change the way the world sees Latin America ever since I was in grade school. I've always wanted to find a way to explain, describe, tell about "my other countries" and my experiences growing up overseas in the hopes that other people would understand me and other TCKs better.

Of course, the internet didn't exist way back then! Would you believe that initially I set out to write a book? But you know what, there is so much to say and share about Bolivia, and things change so quickly here that I was having a really hard time organizing my thoughts.

So I turned to the internet. And I was fearful about that at first, because I had no idea how to use it to write about Bolivia. I just knew I had to do something about this intense urge to inform and get the information out to as many people as I can - real, first-hand, live information in English. You can't imagine how this one decision has changed my life and my perspectives about life - and people! It's been like ...

Out of the fog and into the sunlight!
So why it did it take me over a year to share this?

I didn't, and still don't, want my own website to come across as a sale pitch. And I didn't want anything to distract from the quality or sincerity of the information I provide (I personally write and design each and every page myself). I want you to have access to the information on this site because I want you to know Bolivia - really know it! In fact, as I say on my About Bella page, I want you to COME HERE and GET TO KNOW US! So I just quietly built my site and spent the past 15 months learning. I don't recommend anything to anyone unless I've personally checked it out - sort of like all the information you get on my site. Yup! If it's on the site, I've been there.

But I also want you to know how seriously creating this website has changed my life. And now I feel so strongly about it that I finally decided to share this. So for those of you who've asked me HOW I built my site, here's my gift to you: ENCOURAGEMENT!

This year choose to own your future!

Work at something you feel passionate about, be your own boss, and you'll never turn back! I already knew how satisfying being my own boss was - I've been a freelance translator and haven't worked for anyone else since 1998. So business was not my primary motivation when I started creating my own website in 2007. But it's brought me so much satisfaction to be just a LITTLE selfish and do this for myself, and all by myself (really, no one else works at BoliviaBella.com) that now, after just over a year online, loving what I do and why I do it, I'm READY!! I just HAVE TO share this with those of you who are considering creating your own website.

Some of you are just curious about WHY I create this site and many have written because you want to know HOW. So for those of you considering creating your own website, please read below and follow the links because they really do give you a great understanding about why it's not only important to put your passions to work, but also why it's so important and FULFILLING to use use the right tools to get you where you REALLY WANT TO BE IN LIFE! And I'm guessing it's not anywhere near a boss like this one, am I right? >>>

Do it yourself! Here's why I do:

First off, let me say that the rest of this is going to sound like a sales pitch! I want you to know that you can literally change your life and from this sentence forward, I hope you'll read my story while you consider the idea of creating your own website to fulfill that dream. First: I will get paid if you purchase the tools I'm about to describe by linking through my site. But that's not my true motivation. I want you to love your life! So if you'd like to see how I make my site but it bothers you that SBI will give me a commission if you purchase your own website through the links below, you'll find a DIRECT link to SBI at the bottom of this page. Just so we're clear on my sincerity OK?

Many people choose SBI because they have a product or service to sell. I didn't. Like I said, initially I wanted to write a book, then considered a blog, then chose SBI. I just want everyone to love Bolivia! Now, I encourage everyone to

PUT YOUR PASSIONS FIRST. Change the way you live and work.

"YOU designed your own website!?" I get a lot of comments like that and it's no surprise people are so shocked at my (um...apparent...) abilities, considering I really knew absolutely nothing about it when I started. I wasn't even REALLY sure what a blog was!

But yes, I design my own website - I don't pay anyone else to do it. And I love doing it! So for those of you who are looking to contract someone...I'm going to tell you why you should consider designing your own website! Besides the fact that many SBI website owners build profitable businesses through their sites, others like myself, just wanted to be able to build one at all, and want to feel the satisfaction and fulfillment of that! I consider myself completely technologically inept. I had no idea how to build a site! I have no formal computer training at all (OK, I can write a document but other than that...) and everything I do know is self-taught. And HTML coding? Don't even start me on that one!

When I decided I wanted to use my experience and travel to project Eastern Bolivia to the world (besides the fact that this region of Bolivia is grossly under-represented online) initially I thought I'd just build a blog although I was still in the process of figuring out what that was exactly. Here's why I didn't. It never occurred to me that I should (or even could) build my own website!

And then, in my search for some sort of blog-thingy-or-something that might not be too complicated for me (dang, I even thought Blogger sounded hard at the time) I came upon a website someone else had made that I was immediately visually drawn to. It was really nicely organized, simple, direct, and written in the first person.

When I scrolled to the bottom of the page I saw a little POWERED BY SITE BUILD IT thing, so I clicked on that out of curiosity and came upon a site that explained really clearly what SITE BUILD IT is in language so simple I actually GOT it. With a little more probing, and several hours later (I was so enthralled I read every single page the SBI explanation pages linked to plus I took the video tour and I watched the slide show and everything) my decision was made! I was actually going to try to build my own website without knowing anything about how to do that.

Truthfully I was totally interested, but totally nervous at the same time and even a little doubtful right at first, especially because SBI sites cost more than many of the other low-dollar options and anyway, everyone seemed too happy for it to be true - I mean, when you watch the "I Love SBI" videos you kind of get this "no way it's not real" feeling. How could anyone be so happy they'd actually make a video about making their own website!? Turns out they do! (Maybe I will when I can figure out how to! Yup, told you I'm not a techy!)

Anyways, initially I wasn't completely sure I was willing to pay for something I hadn't actually tried yet - like buying a pair of jeans without ever trying them on. (Stupid, I know, but would you believe I actually do that? I absolutely DETEST store dressing rooms (especially their mirrors - am I right?) I buy the stuff, take it home, then return it if it doesn't fit right.)

Then I read SBI's 100% money back guarantee and I realized that's just what I was being offered! Take it home, try it on, return it if you don't like it. OK, so that took away some of my doubt, but what really convinced me to invest in myself? Several things.

1. SBI promises to enable you not only to build your own website, but also to teach you how to ensure your site will actually be SEEN! (Duh, cuz otherwise what's the point, really). And there is nothing I want more than for Bolivia to be seen!

2. I watched the videos other SBI owners had made and they all commented on how EASY it was and how fun building their own website was - and yet how successful they are (and some of them have sites about the weirdest stuff too). And most of all, they all seemed not only happy but thankful! And like I said before, first I was like finger-down-the-throat thinking "that's totally made up". But I figured "hey I'll just return it if I hate it". (Sort of like what I'm famous for with jeans.) And now it's me blubbling about SBI! And I'm totally going "wow, they really meant it!"

Amazing. Anyways, now that I've built hundreds of pages on my own website (I know, you're going "Hundreds! No way!") I can tell you personally that being an SBIer is like belonging to a sort of cool club or something. I meet people online all the time - through the forums when I post questions (dumb ones but they all tell me they're not cuz they're so nice), and through my own website (because sometimes others contact me when they like something I did and want to know how to do it), and stuff like that.

Everyone learns from each other and shares suggestions, and even helps spread the news about new sites. Everyone is incredibly open and sharing - no jealous guarding of secret solutions or feeling like you're competing to be the best site on the net. And that's because SBIers are all convinced that PAYING FORWARD is totally the right thing to do - that means you give BEFORE you receive - who does that anymore in the corporate world!?

SBIers are truly happy with their decisions. They are believers and it shows! Today I'm happily building this site every single day. It's how I release my creative energy (being a document translator is not exactly Carnaval in Rio you know).

If you think you don't know enough about something to build your own website, you're wrong! SBI even includes software that helps you figure out what you want to do! And the funny thing is, now that I actually sort of know what I'm doing, I still feel this incredible sense of awe when I see a page I've just finished go live. It's still like "I did that?" I know! And when my website climbed to the TOP 1% of all websites in the world just 11 months after I started, you should have seen me! I was bouncing off the walls!

I absolutely LOVE building my own website!! And my own personal motivation is projecting Bolivia out to as many people as I can reach! But that's not easy with a country like Bolivia. I mean, "Bolivia" is not exactly the world's most popular search term, you know? But now BoliviaBella ranks among the top 1% of all sites in the world because SBI provides everything you need to accomplish that.

That's the advantage of SBI really. They don't just hook you up to some cool site-building software and leave you to figure out the rest! They also give you all the information and tools you need to make your website visible and rank well. And if you're using it to build a business, SBI teaches you how to monetize your own website and turn a profit. In fact, before you actually start building your first page, you HAVE to spend time thinking and planning - but it's totally worth it. The process takes you to what you're really going to LOVE. So if you want to have a business site that is successful, I've gotta tell you: SBI is it! But if you want your own website because being creative and sharing about stuff you love with people from all over the world makes you want to do the cha cha, then SBI is still IT!!!

And if you just clicked onto this page cuz you were vaguely curious about how I make my site, then all I can tell you is, some part you wants your own website and you know it! So just do it already!! �� We all want something to call our own - something in life that allows us to proudly say "I'm the boss of that!" �� You KNOW it's true!

Why you should NOT invest in SBI!

Despite all the links I gave you above, my complete enthusiasm about SBI (and the fact that I AM AN SBI AFFILIATE AND I WILL GET A COMMISSION if you decide to build your own website with SBI and link through my site to purchase one) please DO NOT purchase an SBI site if you are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. SBIers are successful because they are dedicated to what they do and they are dedicated because they create their own websites about subjects for which they really feel love and passion. If this isn't you, SBI is not the way to go. It's a process and it takes time. You've got to feel it and you've got to want it! With your own website you WILL be your own boss. Ready for it?