About Me, My Passion,
and In-and-Around-Columbus.com

About me ... I am Ann Gobel, the Webmaster of in-and-around-columbus.com, and a native of the Columbus, Ohio area.

I am a WAHWWA...Work At Home Woman With Attitude. Why attitude? Because attitude has gotten me through life's changes and challenges over the past few years. So it is a good thing!

Let me explain...

Up until 1999 I worked outside the home for someone else. My background was in real estate and transportation.

In 2000 I was contracted by a manufacturer near my home. I was ecstatic! The biggest plus was I got to work from home.

For five years life was great, then in 2005 my job was taken back in-house by the company I contracted for. Suddenly I found myself without a job, and that wasn't a good feeling at my age.

I was also trying some other resources from 1999 to 2005. I tried several "work-at-home" or "home-based-business" ventures. Unfortunately, the ones that I tried were GRQs (Get Rich Quick Schemes) and all I did was lose money.

Don't get me wrong - there are legitimate home based businesses for women, but as luck would have it I was out of luck! I didn't find a legitimate business at that time.

Over-Qualified Without A College Degree

So there I was in 2005; out of a job and out of money. From September of 2005 until July of 2006 I applied for dozens of jobs in real estate and transportation. The responses were either that I was "over-qualified" or that they'd love to employ me if only I could have had a college degree.

Sound familiar?

In July of 2006 I found an opportunity that would teach me how to build my own Web site and be successful at it.

• I was never told I was over-qualified or that I needed a college degree.
• I didn't have to wait in line to get things done and I could work at my own pace.
• I wasn't promised I would get rich quick!

But they did promise success if I was willing to bring my own motivation and learn.

Without any knowledge of how to build a Web site, I signed up to give it a try. I was passionate about women's health and wanted to help others as I had been helped.

Because of SBI (SiteBuild It!), I now have two successful Web sites: Today's Women and Health and this one, In and around Columbus, and I am just starting my third.

After being successful with my first Web site I truly wanted to write about my other passion, where I come from, hence In-and-Around-Columbus.com became a reality.

Update 2009 Since this began in 2006 - I have created not only my 3rd website, but I now have 6 websites (the 6th site is in the works) and a business!:
Coffee Makers Et Cetera
Diet Reviews Guru
NetEffectsPro

What Do Others Think About SBI?

Nantley from www.whyvancouvernow.com knew there was something she could do on the internet - but she didn't know where to start! Her story...

You may ask yourself - but what can I do?... See what Clint did...

There are many SBIers that are sharing their passions. The wonderful thing about SiteBuild It! is the simplicity.

But don't take just my word for it. SBI also has a very unique forum where people help each other. Let me share some of the other comments from the SBI Forums from REAL PEOPLE that have built successful Web sites.

Paul from best-recipe-scout.com shares: SBI has a great forum with a lot of great people, I can rely on the SBIers who've been there and done that to save me time and money and then pass it on.

Darren from bigmixentertainment.co.uk shares: The SBI! Action Guide shows you step by step how to build a Web business. You can read it or watch the videos - whichever you choose it is the most comprehensive niche finding, site building and internet marketing guide available.

Bob from Idaho-insider.com shares: The block by block site building system is great for non-techies. It is a sure-fire way to build an attractive and functional website without great technical skills.

Monte from diy-computer-repair.com shares: If you are a Webmaster, you can still upload your own HTML. SBI makes it easy for the non-techies and the pros to create or modify their own design specifications.

Tracey from fiction-writers-mentor.com shares: Brainstorm It! allows you to provide what people actually want and takes all the guesswork out of it. No assuming or imagining - it gives me the facts so I provide the content my visitors are looking for.

AJ from loveofroses.com shares: You get top class support. If I have a problem, I know I can rely on getting an answer, and some help with it quickly. That's something that is lacking in a lot of other places.

Larry from best-cat-art.com shares: A Tortoise Mindset helps to remind me to keep on keeping on even if I'm not seeing immediate results. Slow and steady wins the race when you keep it real.

Renee from models-fashion-advice.com shares: Content 2.0 is a new feature created by SBI. My visitors can upload their stories and photos, and other visitors can comment and participate. Everyone gets to share their passion.

Rohit from website-squad.com shares: SBI stores our web sites in a database instead of a typical hosting web server. All the activities including search engine spiders, rankings, and traffic is tracked and analyzed based on the content of the pages you have written, the changes to your pages and its effect on rankings, spidering, and traffic etc. SBI is the authority on what the Search Engines require and does all the behind the scenes work, and provides solid advice that we can use to make our sites more successful.

Erwin from customerservicepoint.com shares: Dr. Ken Evoy is not only the man 'behind the scenes', but he also makes himself available for all his customers in a way unheard of in normal business. And I agree with Erwin - Dr. Evoy is the founder of SBI and you'll find him posting in the forums often. There is nothing typical about SBI!

Success Means Many Things to Different People.

My version of success is very simple. I'm working from home at my own pace, setting my own hours with NO boss to report to, and although I'm not rich (yet) I am making a nice income doing something that I love to do.

In the process of learning all this, I made a life-changing discovery: I LOVE to build websites! I enjoy building Web sites so much that I am training to be a certified webmaster - I'll be fully qualified and accredited by the end of 2007.

Update 2009 - I did complete my course and I am a Certified Webmaster. It is possible to make a living on the internet - the problem is knowing where to start and who to trust. It's also important to know it takes work, time, and a small investment to start earning an income. Done correctly, it will work - I'm proof of that!

SBI changed my life by teaching me to reach out for my dreams and share my passion.

Who would have ever thought it?

To your success,

P.S. Are you ready to change your life and share your passion? ... Click here for more information.