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What is BANS?

Build A Niche Store (BANS) is a software product that allows you to easily create an online store providing affiliate links to products from eBay.  BANS sites are often referred to as “Niche Stores” as they target a small subset of items from eBay rather than an entire market.

An example of this would be a site that sells “pink ipod cases” rather than just “ipods”.

How does it work?

When a visiting customer to your site clicks through to eBay, a cookie is dropped onto their PC and anything they buy from eBay in the next 7 days gets attributed to you and eBay credit you with a proportion of their fees for the sales.

eBay also give bonuses for signing up new users who register from your website and then confirm their new account via the automated email eBay send them.  This bonus can be as high as $25 per signup.

How do I use BANS?

To set up a store using the BANS software, you will need to obtain several things:

1. An account with the eBay Partner Network (EPN).
2. Purchase the BANS software.
3. Have web hosting capable of hosting a PHP and MySQL site.
4. Have the ability to complete analysis and research of your chosen “niche”.
5. Have the time to commit to the maintenance and development of the BANS site.

Common Misconceptions

BANS is not a “set and forget” site.
Google loves sites that are crawling with unique information and quality articles.  If you install BANS “out of the box” and do nothing to make your site unique, informative or “value adding” to your niche market, Google will drop you from their indexes.

BANS does involve work.
Working with the BANS software is a dream and it makes the setup of the store a breeze, but there is more to it than that.  You need to be able to commit time to promoting the site through internet marketing techniques, writing pages of information, getting quality back links and directory submissions.

I would expect 1 BANS store to take at least 1 hour of work per day to slowly become profitable.
This hour would need to continue even after the store has become profitable.

eBay and Google can kill your site - dead.
There has recently been a tide of account terminations from the eBay Partner Network initiated by them in a drive to weed out “bad affiliates” and sites that send them “low quality visitors”.  There are many possible pitfalls to setting up a BANS store and being dropped by eBay is just one of the ways your store could come to a prompt close - possibly through no action of your own.  Being de-indexed from the Google results also makes your store somewhat invisible to searchers - unless they use alternatives such as Yahoo or Live.com.

Research, research, research!
People who buy BANS expect to be able to create a site in 10 minutes that sells the latest games console or MP3 player and then get tons of visitors within hours who will buy through them.

This is the most common pitfall of the 1st time BANS user.

If you created a BANS site that sold iPods, then you will be competing with the other 371 million pages on Google that also feature the word “ipod”.  And how many of them do you think sell iPods?  Lots.

To succeed with BANS, you need to be able to grasp the concepts of keyword research to find out what people are looking for.  You also need to know which products sell and what people are actually typing into search engines to find them.  Be prepared to learn as much as you can about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and keep abreast of the latest internet marketing techniques.

What to do next.

Firstly, and if you are serious about starting using BANS as a way of making money online - I would get yourself a website and set it up with Wordpress.

Secondly, I would start writing about something you love - a hobby or something you are passionate about.  But also think of how you could make money from that passion too.  Are you interested in Stamp Collecting?  If so, an enthusiastic blog written about the subject could drive sales of stamps, albums and books.  If you are passionate about Mustang Cars then you may be looking to link people to sales of those cars, car parts or modifications on eBay.

Also, it’s easier to write about things you know and love.

• Write for your visitors.
• Give them information and advice.
• Respond to any comments and questions.
• Drive people to your site who are looking for that information or product.

Thirdly, and once you have your site up and running and are starting to get visitors and searches from Google, apply to the eBay Partner Network and list your site as part of your application.  It’s certain to “grease the wheels” and speed through your submission to acceptance.

If eBay do not accept your application, there are other affiliate networks available you can join, but ones that do not work with the BANS software:

• TradeDoubler
• PepperJamNetwork
• ClickBank

Sites like these will help you hook up with other affiliate deals related to your website.

Sign up for the PepperJam Network and get a $10 sign on bonus

eBay accepted me!  What’s next?

Well done!  You are on the way to making money online as an affiliate marketer.

Head over to the Build A Niche Store website and purchase your copy of the BANS software.

I strongly recommend using Dreamhost as your hosting provider.  I have used them for several years and have had no issues with either Wordpress or BANS running.  Hostgator, as recommended by the BANS owners often gets blocked by eBay and looses people money in the process!

• Read the BANS manual!  it will tell you all you need to know to get started with BANS.
• Join the BANS Forum where you can get help from established BANS users - some of whom are making 1000s a month from BANS.
• Hook up with Soggy at his website and purchase the combined BANS and Wordpress templates that will allow you to easily link your existing website we talked about earlier with the BANS software.
• Make money!

Once you have cracked your first store and are making money from it, replicate the same principles and make another - and another!  Then you will be making three times the amount.