SiteSell invented the concept of "CTPM" (Content - Traffic - PREsell - Monetize).

But Here Is My Personal Definition Of "CTPM"

Have the Courage to believe in yourself.

Monetize and "Live Life like you Mean It".

Hello my name is Luisa and I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.

I have a wonderful family. I am able to spend as much time as I want with them because I work from home.

And I get to share my knowledge and passion for my most favorite destinations in the world.

Allow me to tell you a bit more about myself, how much fun I am having with my travel business, and how it has added more of the M to my life (Money and Meaning)...

My Background

I am from the enchanting island of Puerto Rico. I married a handsome and kind American who is a CPA and we have a very energetic strong 5 year old boy who currently wants to become a professional baseball player and a train engineer. Our son loves my work because it gets us to the beach quite often.

I earned a degree in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and I worked for a total of seven years in the mental health field. My dream was to have children and stay home to care for them, so I knew that I would eventually have to quit working in mental health.

Even though we are blessed to have a good income from my husband's job, I still wanted to have something of my own. As a mother, I needed some variety in my day. Plus I really wanted to help my husband, David, to retire early. (The good news, it is going to happen!)

Getting Into the Travel Business

In the back of my mind, I always wanted to have my own business in travel, so I enrolled in a AAA Travel Institute class. Soon after graduating, I spent nearly 2 entire months online searching for the perfect opportunity to work from home and build a travel business.

As you have probably found, most of the sites out there promise you lots of money and all you have to do is dish out a few thousand dollars up front (sound familiar?), put up their cookie cutter website which you are supposed to customize, and you will be making thousands of dollars in just a short period of time.

I fell for the marketing and got the membership, and the cookie cutter website. But I did not make any money. I not only lost money, but I also lost much time and energy, and in a way, some hope that I could make my dreams work.

COURAGE to Follow my Dreams

I am very determined and passionate about what I want, so I kept on going after my setback. I continued to search. Some sites are so convincing that I almost jumped into other highly promoted schemes. My husband helped me -- you know, when someone helps you by reading the site's promotional Web page out loud to you, the "hype" becomes obvious.

I was (almost) becoming discouraged. But I knew there had to be a real program out there, not a scam, that would help me to reach my dreams. (I am always optimistic.)

My instincts were right. Once I landed on SiteSell.com, it felt like the missing piece to a puzzle falling into place. The more I read, the more my life felt as if it had changed.

I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything that I was looking for in a hosting program was offered through Site Build It!! (SBI!), and so much more, at a very good price.

I told my husband about my SBI! discovery. I had to get the purchase approved by my husband since I had (ummmurrrhhhh!!) wasted so much money already on programs that did not work.

By this time, my husband was at the "not another one" stage. But he was also impressed by SBI! and he offered his support. I must say that I was nervous the day I purchased SBI!. But since the day I bought my subscription to SBI!, I have never looked back.

TRUST the SBI! Program

Ken Evoy truly writes in a way that makes you feel as if he is right by your side guiding you through the entire process. SBI!'s Action Guide is written in very simple language, none of that fancy web or HTML terminology, just simplified instructions which I call "dummy terms" (I needed that).

I read the Action Guide, took notes, and simply trusted the CTPM System. It was very simple to build a site. I just did it one "block" at a time.

And, because I didn't start with any web business knowledge, I am learning more by reading each SBIX e-zine than I used to get from spending hours and hours of research on the internet.

Sprinkle PASSION Into It

Originally, I thought my travel business would be like a typical travel agent's work, which is to sell vacations to all destinations around the world. As I was reading the Action Guide, Ken spoke about picking a topic that you know a lot about, and most of all that you are passionate for. BINGO!

As I mentioned earlier, I am from Puerto Rico, so of course if there is an island or location that I really wanted to market and knew a lot about, it was "Puerto Rico".

I decided to create my first "test" site about an offshore island of Puerto Rico named Vieques.

This is an island that I am truly passionate about and that I could sit for hours and hours to write about.

I simply took lots of photos, put my knowledge of the island in writing, and put it all together using "Site Build It!", one block at a time.

Having the opportunity to share Vieques and Puerto Rico with so many people around the world is a great satisfaction. As a bonus, I get to go on a tax-deductible vacation every year.

I can visit my beautiful island, ride my jeep, take lots of photos, meet great new people, and write travel guides about places I love. I felt that money would just be the icing on the top. Of course, I did not realize how much icing my cake would have. Speaking of money...

M is for MONETIZATION

Just six months after I was building my site, I began to monetize. Here is an e-mail that I wrote to SiteSell at that time (I wrote them 3 in all). I was so happy!!

Honestly, I could somehow not believe it "worked". Of course, I understood that it "should" work. It all made sense. And the tools really enabled me to build a quality Web site that built traffic.

But it's not until you see the dollars flow in, does it really hit home. This works!

I began to get inquiries from local businesses to advertise on my site. Now my site provides them with the most amount of inquiries and they love me for it.

Today, I make an income through AdSense and affiliate programs. I provide ad spaces, and listings on my site. I also make commissions on luxury villa rentals.

I am earning as much, working for myself part-time from home, as I used to in my full time job. But whether I am working or not, I still earn money. Even if I am away for a month, my income is the same. That is a great liberating feeling.

People write messages through my site to thank me for introducing them to the island of Vieques and my home town of Cabo Rojo. They are thankful for all the information I have provided on the site. I write back to thank them, and if my time allows, I answer any additional questions they may have. Then guess what? Many times I get to make a sale for one of my advertisers or partners!

It is really that simple, and it can happen to you.

It is up to you how far you want to take your travel business online. There are so many opportunities. I keep on adding things to do on my list, including start new sites. The best part is that I get to do them on my own time, at my own pace!

I personally wanted to earn a living but only spend about 3 hours working everyday. I am still managing to do that. I am successful because I have set up my travel sites to work for me, not the other way around.

I remember how anxious I was in the beginning to compete against the big travel companies online. Guess what? I rank first in many keywords like "Vieques Hotel," "Puerto Rico airline tickets", "puerto rico lodging guide", and many more on Google. I am beating priceline, expedia, trip advisor and many other big travel companies as well as other sites that have been online for many years.

From time to time, the "big" travel companies contact me requesting that I join their affiliate programs. Now that is a reason to jump for joy and say "Bravo to Site Build It!".

And M is for MEANING: "Live life like you mean it!"

When you first start, you think... "Ok, maybe I will make some extra money". I never really thought that SBI! would help me "Live my life like I mean to live it".

I am now able to make a contribution to my home. My husband will be able to retire much earlier than planned.

We will be able to simply enjoy life, and each other, and do the things we love to do because we won't be spending a third of our day at work.

When you reach financial freedom, you realize how many things in life just passed by because you were too busy working.

Building a travel site was one of the best things I did for myself. My whole family is a part of it and we all enjoy it very much. We are getting paid to simply share our favorite places with the world.

My work-at-home dream equation?

Passion for Travel
+
Site Build It!
-----------------------
Fun and Profit.

A fun, profitable travel business that allows you to "live life like you mean it".

I wish you happiness, success and safe travels,
Luisa Cupeles
http://www.viequestravelguide.com/

P.S. I have started two more Site Build It! sites since Vieques Travel Guide. The second one is already showing the same growth pattern and the third is just starting. I'll tell you more about these in an update.

When I first purchased SBI!, I noticed how SBI! is not only the only product of its kind, even the success stories are unique. They are more than successful -- they are passionate about SBI! and they update their growth stories, which really told me a lot. So I'm going to save something to tell you in a few months!

Luisa's story takes a sad turn. Read Luisa's 2008 update.