My Life in Cape Town...

... and how I made a website about Cape Town

Let me perform a quick introduction, now that we’re going to be on first name terms!

I’m Alison -- Ali to my friends. I’m a soon-to-be 38 year old, married mother of two, and a Chartered Accountant in my ‘before kids’ days.

I was born in Zambia, grew up in Zimbabwe and have lived in Cape Town for the last 20 years, all while travelling on a British passport thanks to my Dad. I wonder what nationality that makes me?!

What brought me here?

When I finished school, I decided to study further and chose the University of Cape Town (UCT) perched high on the slopes of Devil's Peak as the spot to get my Bachelor's Degree.

What a spectacular spot! My campus bedroom looked out across the Cape Flats (beautiful, though a local friend described it as the most shameful view in the city, looking out over apartheid townships and shacks) to the Hottentots' Holland.

The library where I did most of my studying offered tranquil views of the tree-clad mountain slopes.

Well, the idyllic student days passed and before I knew it I was entering the world of work and Qualifying Examinations. My focus shifted to the Cape Town city centre and I joined the world of little grey people in little grey suits.

By the way, I met my husband Ian while I was studying. He's also a chartered accountant, now turned financial planner and yes, our friends tease us about who balances the cheque book! But we are proof that accountants have personality and are full of fun ;-)

We were married in 1993.

To the UK and back to Cape Town

As many young South Africans do, Ian and I travelled “overseas” (read: outside of Africa) after qualifying. We went to the UK and worked there for a few years, enjoying the close proximity and cheap flights to Europe and other destinations.

We enjoyed our time in the UK seeing our 'roots' - we each have a parent who was born in the UK - one in Scotland, one in Wales.

But despite the lure of all those bright lights and all that history, the Northern Hemisphere wasn't ever going to be home for me, long-term.

I’m definitely African. I yearned for the sun, the wide-open spaces, fewer people and the smell of the bush. (There’s not a lot of bush and wilderness in Cape Town, but it’s better than London. The wilderness is just a couple of hours’ drive away.)

A month before we had our first child we returned home to Cape Town and put down our roots for good.

Cape Town and the best of both worlds

I guess it’s human nature to always be looking for a little bit more. It could be a bit more challenge, a little more comfort, something to stretch for.

I'm the first to admit that there are times when I miss the mental challenge of work, the problem solving and the sense of achievement when something comes together.

I also miss having a space of my own where I am just Alison, a competent individual rather than mother of So-and-So and wife of So-and-So-Else.

I had resigned myself to doing without that so that I could be 100% here for my kids because I’m an all-or-nothing kind of person!

But I’d always harboured a dream of having my own business someday. I’m not an empire builder but I wanted to work, earn, create and contribute to my family without compromising on my own terms.

“Yeah right!” I hear you say. “In your dreams maybe. We’d all like to make a living only doing what we love...”

But it is possible. Malcolm Forbes answered the question “How to succeed?” with this: “Try hard enough”.

... was right at my fingertips, as it turned out.

You can make a living doing what you love on the Internet. In Cape Town or anywhere. No Spam. No Scam. I’ll show you how I am working towards it.

In my time at home I had discovered the Internet and gone on some wonderful mental journeys via my mouse pad. I thought about freelance writing but that meant external deadlines and constantly hunting the next assignment.

Then last year I stumbled across SBI.

SBI stands for Site Build It! And it shows you how you can turn any passion or hobby into a viable online business. Did you know that almost any topic can make money with a website? Me, build a website? No way! I'm an accountant remember? A web surfer, not a techie. (But this website was built with SBI, so you see... anyone can do it.)

SBI puts reality to the saying "If you can dream it, you can do it."

You don't need any programming skills or web design knowledge. No existing business or product to sell. Just a passion for your subject, along with your brains and motivation (those are important). SBI provides the tools and takes you by the hand to go step by step through the process.

SBI helps you find the perfect topic, build your site, get traffic to it and then make money out of it, no matter what it is about.

We accountants are cautious and thorough...

We look before we leap and we investigate everything. So I did...

I took a quick tour because I wanted to see what was involved in the process.

That looked do-able, but I wanted proof that the Sitesell process worked to deliver visitors to a website. So I checked out some of the successful sites that have been built using SBI . (There were hundreds listed.)

Hmm, reasonably convincing. But could it really work for absolutely anyone? Weren’t they all internet gurus beforehand? I decided to check out the case studies too.

Of course, you can’t do a real investigation from material provided by the company you are looking into, so I looked for whatever negative stuff I could find about SBI all over the web.

Everything I found pointed to a real, honest company with a good process and highly esteemed track record.

In the end I was still somewhat sceptical, so I e-mailed an actual SBI user. Finally there was nothing left to investigate.

It was time to make a decision. That wasn't such a big deal, especially as SBI has a full money back guarantee. They're happy for you to try it out to see how you like it. All I was risking was my time.

I took the plunge and I haven't looked back. This website is the result.

I spend my life living and writing about things I really love. Our family trips count as research for tax deductions. In a way, I'm getting paid to be me!

It's amazing to discover that anyone can make money doing what they love.

And anyone includes you!

Take a look at SBI!

It'll show you a new way of looking at your life.

SBI has shown me that I can have the best of both my worlds!




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