Why I built a German Shepherd Site

I actually grew up around cats. But as an animal lover, I've always had a soft spot for dogs.

No matter what kind of day you've had, you know you will be happily greeted by an eager dog when you get home. Their unconditional love is truly inspiring.

I was a pet sitter for several years and longed for the day when I could get a dog of my own.

Though my cats went with me everywhere, for many years, my lifestyle and living arrangements never allowed canine companionship. I finished moving around, sold the condo and settled into a house. Finally, it was time.

And I knew just the dog I wanted.

Why GSDs?

The German Shepherd dog has always amazed me.

Their courage, athleticism and intelligence are matched by few dog breeds.

My parents are from Germany and growing up, I had heard so much about this incredible breed from both of them. Here is my Mom with former Hannover police dog, Alfi.

So, I decided to get one of my own.

Not knowing any better, I found an ad in the paper and visited a backyard breeder. This was merely the first of many mistakes. Since then, I have learned so much.

The Intelligent German Shepherd

After I brought Schatzi ("Schatten Jäger") home, I realized I had a lot to figure out. The German Shepherd is a very intelligent breed. I knew that. But, what I didn't realize, is that they are so smart, they will sometimes try to get out of doing what you are asking.

Schatzi obeys commands, but every now and then, she will "talk back." In puppy class, after the fifth round of repeating "sit" and "down," she loudly voiced her displeasure. The other dog parents looked at me, wondering why she was causing a scene. But, she wasn't being a brat.

She was bored.

Once she learned the commands, she had no interest in repeating them incessantly. While the other dogs were content to "sit" and "down" over and over, Schatzi wanted to learn something new.

We didn't last very long at that particular school. ;)

So Why a Website?

This site allows me to share my knowledge and the lessons I learned in raising a GSD. To a worldwide audience.

And it's fun. I love "working" on my site. And discussing German Shepherds with people all over the the world.

But there's another bonus. Did you know...

Your Knowledge Can Become Your Livelihood

I learned this quite by accident after a routine surgery left me injured...

Years ago, during wisdom tooth surgery, I suffered a nerve injury. The novocaine wore off, but my chin was still numb! Scared that this may be a permanent, I scoured the web for information on nerve damage.

I found a forum full of many others like me that had suffered nerve damage from all kinds of oral surgeries. I tried a ton of products during my search for a cure. Some helped, and others, not so much.

I blogged about my recovery and recommended products that had helped me. To my delighted surprise, the blog began making money.

Wow.

I was helping people. And making money at the same time. It was a true win-win situation.

Initially, it wasn't much. And oral nerve damage is a relatively limited topic.

But then the lightbulb went on. Could I do this for other topics?

I started blogging and building websites. On things I knew a lot about, or wanted to learn about. 

But the sites got little to no traffic. And I became discouraged. What's the point of building a website if no one is going to see it?

Secret Weapon

Enter SBI!

Ironically, I heard about this company back when I started my first blog. But, I didn't fully appreciate everything they offered. And I honestly thought they held your hand a bit too much. LOL

After all, I'm smart. I can do this myself, right?

So, I found a cheap webhost and built my niche websites. And they sat there... doing next to nothing.

But why? I was providing useful and interesting content.

It didn't matter. Because very few people could find my helpful information in the glut of over 100 million Internet sites. Even the site I worked the hardest on only managed to get 20 visitors per day. Most sites average about 50.

Looking back, I now know that "niche" was way too large. And I didn't know how to help people find it through the search engines.

I decided to give SBI another look. And I'm SO glad I did.

They taught me how to brainstorm topics that I had a passion for. And showed me which ideas had the most promise. My initial thought was to build a website on dogs. But their brainstorming tools showed me that was way too saturated.

I narrowed it down to my favorite dog breed and used their integrated toolset to build my site.

Bingo!

Immediately, I started getting traffic. In a short period of time, it received more visitors than all of my other sites combined. It now receives well over 20,000 page views a month, and still climbing.

Within a few weeks, the site began generating income. At first, it wasn't much, but it was enough to keep me motivated. The site paid for itself within the first few months. Then it earned a small profit.

It began paying for my cell phone bill, and is now on track to make my car payment. Over time, it will pay the mortgage.

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