This is Part 3 in a review on BANS, aka “Build a Niche Store”
See Part One | See Part Two
If you are not already familiar with BANS, it stands for Build A Niche Store and its a cool new product for developing affiliate sites that is getting rave reviews. It is super simple and incredibly fast to get a website up and running with this program. Click here for more information on BANS
Once you have your first BANS site created, its time to dig in and add your personal touch to it. In this third and final phase of the BANS Review, I’ll walk through some of the customization options and share some tips to help you make the most of your new niche website…
In Part Two of this review, I walked through the setup and installation of my first niche affiliate store using BANS. In less than 30 minutes I had a brand new site up about Musical Instruments:
As I was getting familiar with the BANS features, I began to realize that this program works very much like a CMS - a Content Management System. You can add your own static pages easily, customize each of the pages the script creates for you, and basically create a fully functional affiliate site out of the tools & options in the Admin panel of your BANS setup.
In short, this system ROCKS! 
I’m not a big fan of automated systems or site builders with limited functionality. They usually generate websites with very little unique content and very limited features. That could even be said about BANS if you whipped up a site real quick and tried to market it “right out of the box”.
That said, BANS is incredibly versatile compared to most site builders on the market, allowing you to customize the entire site - even the product pages it creates - to suit your needs. As I said, it works more like a CMS than a turnkey site builder and offers plenty of room to grow.
BANS definitely gets a thumbs-up from me for being easy to set up, easy to use, and as a super-fast way to create affiliate sites…
Developing Your BANS Site
Once you get your new niche site up and running, which should only take about 30 minutes at the most, it’s time to flesh it out a bit and start customizing it. We’ll take a quick look at some of the features and options that BANS offers, and the elements you should consider adding to your core site…
I started out with the basic site that you see in the screenshot above. The first thing I want to do is customize the template, and basically just make it look nicer. As you can tell, my basic colors are black, red & white. I created a quick graphic header and changed the page background to black - so now its time to make the rest of the site match that theme.
I’m not really a creative type, so I headed over to the BANS site to check out some of the styles that other users created. (You can see them by going to BANS and clicking Customer Stores). In addition to picking up some great ideas there, I checked out the Template Guide offered in the members-only area. This is an awesome detailed resource for every modification you can imagine!
Making changes is pretty much as simple as changing out the color codes in the style sheet. Even if you are not familiar with CSS and stylesheets, the Template Guide has simple instructions and screen shots for every kind of change you might want to make.
In fact, with a few simple changes to that one file, I got a whole new look:
Like I said, I’m not all that creative. But the difference between the before and after images you see here took all of about 10 minutes of tweaking. That’s it!
Making Your BANS Site Unique
We now have a fully functional niche affiliate store. You could easily start promoting this site through Pay-Per-Click advertising, article marketing and other means. But in order to truly make your site unique, and ultimately rank well in the major search engines, you want to make it unique.
In addition to fleshing out your BANS site for good Search Engine Optimization, you also want to consider Visitor Optimization. This just means making it the best resource possible for your target market (your ideal visitor).
As you’ve probably already guessed, I know nothing at all about musical instruments. So writing up a bunch of cool unique content on the topic is not going to happen. But that’s okay - there are other options
I’ll start by doing some keyword research to find out what my target market is looking for, in the way of information. I’ll choose some keyword phrases and create new content pages around them. This is easy to do in the BANS admin panel of course - you can create as many content pages as you like, and put whatever you want on them.
Ideas for new pages on my musical instruments site might include: Instructional Guides, Learn To Play Guitar, Musical Instrument History, Antique Musical Instruments, etc - honestly I am just guessing at the moment.
Once I do the in-depth keyword research to get a feel for what my market wants, my next step will be to locate content. I’ll need content for the site, for a free report I may want to offer, for articles to submit, and even for an autoresponder series.
As for the actual content, my first task will be in locating PLR (Private Label Rights) Content that I can modify and use. Second is to outsource the writing to a freelancer. I might have them create resource pages, write reviews (based on reviews shown on Amazon, for example), and do the research to write How-To articles.
Of course, if you choose a niche you are familiar with, you can do this type of work yourself.
Adding New Streams Of Revenue
The basis for the BANS site is to build a niche store that uses the eBay affiliate program. While this is a great way to monetize the site, you’ll want to add additional revenue sources to your new site as well.
Ideas include:
- Google Adsense
- Books/Products from the Amazon.com affiliate program
- Affiliate Programs for Related Products
- Your own Reports/Info Products
I’ll be looking heavily into PLR, and also into info products related to the musical instruments market to see what kind of JV’s I might be able to strike up. At the very least, I want to put together a free report to encourage visitors to get on the mailing list for the site.
I havent set up the mailing list yet, but that’s definitely on the list. You MUST have a mailing list
I hope this overview helps you decide whether BANS is right for you. If you are looking for an easy way to set up your very first niche affiliate site, I would highly recommend you go with BANS. Even as a seasoned affiliate marketer, I am absolutely in love with the system and will be using it to create new niche sites… over and over and over.
This ranks right up there in my tool-set with WordPress!
Best,
P.S. If you want to see my BANS Site, to get an idea of the end result, you can check it out for yourself: www.SearchMusicalInstruments.com
90 responses so far ↓
Chris Jacobson // Dec 3, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Are your eBay commissions handled by CJ.com?
Lynn Terry // Dec 3, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Yup
Travis // Dec 3, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Lynn:
Awesome review! Will you be updating us on how well the site actually does in terms of traffic and revenue?
I’ve been on the fence about purchasing this product so any evidence you can provide that this tool actually “works” (i.e. produces revenue) would be helpful in making a final decision.
Travis
Fione Tan - eOneNet.com // Dec 4, 2007 at 2:18 am
Yes, working with site builders / templates systems are fast and easy to handle. It just takes some creativity.
Rgds
Fione Tan
http://www.eOneNet.com
mike // Dec 4, 2007 at 3:18 am
Lynn,
What if a person is NOT already an affiliate
with CJ.com and has no website to show
to CJ.com during the signup process.
Could they buy the BANS, set up a website
and then sign up and easily be approved as
an affiliate at CJ.com
Thank you,
MikeT
Lynn Terry // Dec 4, 2007 at 6:28 am
Good question, Mike. You can go to CJ.com right now and sign up for an account to see whether or not it gets approved - even before you order BANS. And of course BANS comes with a 90 day money-back guarantee through ClickBank so you can easily ‘return it’ if you are unable to use it.
Lynn Terry // Dec 4, 2007 at 6:29 am
Hi Travis,
Yes, I should think that would be fun to revisit this and use it as a case study for traffic generation and other tutorials!
Shannon // Dec 4, 2007 at 8:00 am
I created a few bans sites myself. You’re right, the script is awesome!
Ana // Dec 4, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I would think getting a list together would be a formidable project if you know nothing about the subject. How will you communicate with your list members, if they know you are not up on the topic? This is definitely something that I’ve always heard: to have a real list, they have to know why *you* are qualified to run this site.
I’ll watch to see if it makes any money.
Lynn Terry // Dec 4, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Now that’s a whole new topic in itself - which I will be addressing this week in a post titled Passion vs Profit
A list is something every site should have, even your little niche affiliate sites. You dont necessarily have to write out an expert newsletter every week or month - there are other ways to set up mailing lists.
Great topics - I’ll address these in detail in coming posts this week!
Margaret MacGillivray // Dec 5, 2007 at 4:06 am
Hi, Lynn - great series of articles - I have been running a few BANS sites for a while - I’ve linked to one of them here. I agree that the script rocks - and that you can use the content management section to do lots more. Here’s one of mine
http://www.diamondearringandnecklaceset.info
Best
Margaret
ps - Make mine a solitaire LOL
Darina // Dec 5, 2007 at 4:15 am
Great review Lynn thanks for that
Sherri // Dec 5, 2007 at 6:00 am
Great review. My first BANS site is up and still under construction as to content. Thank you for the other ideas to optimize these sites. Being new to all of this I thank you for your insite and helpful hints - your experience is very helpful. My first site is a very competive market, but I already had the logo and name so I figured it was something to start with & learn. Check it out:
http://www.YourWeddingDayAccessories.com
It was easy and fun - I will definitely do more of these.
Sherri - http://www.WebAffliateMarketingOnline.com
Lynn Terry // Dec 5, 2007 at 9:51 am
Very cool - you both have some nice sites!
I’ll be sharing more tips in the near future, as I continue to develop my own BANS site.
BANS FAQ: Your Questions, My Answers // Dec 5, 2007 at 1:01 pm
[...] have a 3-Part Review on BANS that you can read if you missed that and are not familiar with the product. The review walks you [...]
Lynn Terry // Dec 6, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Just a quick update…
As you probably know, the eBay Affiliate Program is handled by Commission Junction (CJ.com). I love to work within networks like that, as they combine commissions into one check every month - making it easy to meet minimum payouts. Plus, its just easier to get all your affiliate information organized under one network when you can.
Anyway, I did a few searches today and found a handful of music related affiliate programs that are also managed by CJ - so I already have several more programs to work with to add new products & revenue sources to my niche site!
For those of you creating your own BANS sites, be sure to search for other related programs within your CJ account for additional ways to monetize your site!
Lynn Terry // Dec 7, 2007 at 11:47 am
Another update for those that are following along…
BANS comes with SID Tracking so you can keep track of which pages/categories are performing best on your site.
Also, and I didnt realize this before, BANS gives you a whole zip file full of header graphics and logos to use with both of their template sizes!
Martha D // Dec 10, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I don’t know how everyone else says this is so easy!!! I’ve been trying to do my first BANS since yesterday and still not finished.
As a “newbie” I really expected it to be “simple” as your review states. I guess “simple” is still too advanced for me!!! Right now I’m finished up to the template area but find the “template guide” very hard to use and understand. Sooo many steps and requires you to go back and forth from the set up page to the guide for more things than I can understand.
Maybe I’m the exception but I feel I’m at a standstill with this program. Will check their forum page and your’s to see if I can get a better understanding but that too requires time. At this rate it may be weeks before I can see a finished site - to say nothing of course about any income!!!
Margaret MacGillivray // Dec 10, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Hi, Martha - if you’ve got the site running as far as modifying the template, then you’re most ways home.
Getting the look of the site right is important, but not as important as getting the content and getting it marketed.
Like Lynn, I use wordpress and bans to promote affiliate products - and one of my best performing sites is a basic wordpress template; nothing fancy at all. Yet, because of the keywords used, I am getting quite a bit of traffic and it’s converting to sales.
To build good traffic to your site is what’s going to take the time - and how it looks is secondary to that. Put in the products, start promoting it, back-up the database files and then work on tweaking the template so that the site’s appearance starts to improve. There’s still time to make a few sales before Christmas
Best
Margaret
http://macteddy.com/ - this is one of my basic wordpress sites
Lynn Terry // Dec 10, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Hi Martha,
The BANS support forum is excellent so if you get hung up on ANYthing, just pop in there and post your question. I did that myself, and got the answer I needed right away - so that will go a long way towards helping you stay on track.
Best,
Lynn Terry
Lynn Terry // Dec 10, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Neat blog, Margaret! Are you using the datafeeds through ShareaSale with a plugin, or just posting manually?
Margaret MacGillivray // Dec 11, 2007 at 3:57 am
Hi, Lynn - depending on the time of day and inclination of … whatever, GRIN, I sometimes use the datafeeds with the Teli Adlam script, I sometimes use Shareasale’s Make a Page editor - but then, I have to manually edit it to remove all their table code and CSS styling and I sometimes add in a coupon code .
The latest wordpress is also great for adding in Goldencan feeds ….. loads of options.
I use the Make a Page feature and some of the GoldenCan stuff on BANS as well - http://pjbux.com/category/webkinz-coupons/ shows the Golden Can feed integrated into a wordpress post and this page shows a goldencan feed integrated into bans.
If you can find an RSS feed for products, they also go nicely into a Squidoo lens, although this doesn’t display the pics, which is what really makes the difference. http://www.squidoo.com/coupons-and-bargains
Margaret
Margaret MacGillivray // Dec 11, 2007 at 4:39 am
Hi, Lynn - I’ve tested the widget feature on Shareasale as well - it clips neatly into a bans store
… but I can’t get wordpress to play … yet.
I just keep telling myself that the work I do this year should really reap extra rewards next!
LOL
Thanks for the nice comment.
Margaret
Lynn Terry // Dec 11, 2007 at 6:24 am
That’s true of course - consider it in an investment in yourself and your online business. The key is in being both consistent and persistent and continuing to move towards your goals
Martha D // Dec 11, 2007 at 8:29 am
Thanks Lynn and Margaret, I have posted my question (confusion!!) to the BANS forum and heard back pretty quickly from them so I’m sure I’ll get there - eventually!!! I think you’re right Margaret, I might be worry too much right now on these changes. I might just skip over this for now and see what else I can finish. I’m do sometimes get myself stuck on following “to the letter” since I always feel like I don’t know what the heck I’m doing!!!!
Thanks for your responses.
Martha D
Lynn Terry // Dec 11, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I’m glad you tapped into the BANS forum - its an awesome resource. See you there
Margaret MacGillivray // Dec 12, 2007 at 4:46 am
Hi, Lynn - I put up a video which describes most of the steps required to get a BANS store up and running -
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=533696901148391576
Just realised I have to go back and put in the bit about signing up as an eBay affiliate - DUH - I’d appreciate someone else’s eyes giving this a review before I make the change(s).
Thanks
M
Martha D // Dec 12, 2007 at 8:21 am
Margaret, this is an awesome video!! Thanks for making it and sharing with us. Definitely helps a lot. Do you think you could do one on the customization section?? That’s where I’m still having some problems. Playing around with the colors - where they show up, when, remembering the color #’s, etc.
Thanks Margaret, really a fantastic help!
Travis // Dec 28, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Lynn:
Any update on how this site is doing in terms of traffic/sales? I’m sitting on the edge of my seat here hoping this is going well for you;)
Travis
Lynn Terry // Dec 29, 2007 at 11:48 am
Hi Travis,
I’ll be using this site as a case study for traffic & monetization throughout the coming year, so I’ll definitely keep you updated through those posts.
I havent yet done any major updates or marketing with the site, as I am busy with year-end work… but it is already indexed and earning some revenue - will give an update with those details in the next week
Neo Anderson // Jan 2, 2008 at 12:06 am
Wow, lots of great info on BANS here. One thing I cant figure out and maybe someone here can help me. How do you get the title page to NOT show up in the header? I am worikng on designing a new header but I dont want the page title that BANS sticks in the header to show up!
Any ideas would be great. Here is the site I am working on
http://mediazene.com/celebrity-pictures/
Thanks
Neo
Lynn Terry // Jan 3, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hi Neo,
You can edit the header in the admin panel - you have direct access to the css file and the templates. There is also a template guide in the Members section of BANS, and of course the Members Only Forum is a great help too.
Good job on the site!
Wes // Jan 7, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Hey Neo,
I was having the same issue. I played around with the styles.css access through the admin section under templates.
/* Logo Site Name Start */
h1#title, h1#title a, h1#title a:hover{
font-size: 4px;
Change the font size to zero
Wes // Jan 7, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Need honest opinion, especially from Lynn. What do you think about my first BAN site header? Does it look amateur? Should I go with an higher resolution stock photo? Any advice on improvement would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Lynn Terry // Jan 8, 2008 at 9:07 am
I do think a higher resolution image would look much nicer.
Yan // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Hi Lynn, pretty nice review. Started using BANS a week ago and just found out your review and it seems nice.
Now if you could come up with a few marketing tips and how to get more trafic to the websites, it would be an even greater review. That’s so far my only complaint about bans, their tutorial don’T talk a lot about attracting trafic to your site and sinc eI’m new to that, I’m making tons and tons of searches on the net to have more information on that topic
Lynn Terry // Jan 22, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hi Yan, Thank you! You’ll want to see my tips on that here: 10 Free Ways To Drive Traffic To A New Site
NetShops Announces Commission Increase // Jan 31, 2008 at 6:10 pm
[...] sign up and add NetShops as a new source of revenue. These products would be a great addition to a BANS site, for [...]
Darwin // Feb 8, 2008 at 12:18 am
Lynn,
Great review. I know why you are successful. I found you through research reading at 5staraffiliate forum. You were referenced on a post by Telian Adlam.
I saw BANS before and thought it looked interesting, maybe even too good to be true. The example sites looked very professional and clean.
I asked the owner of the blog about BANS and the reply I got was, “excuse me, but what is BANS?” So I knew I had to search elsewhere. I found my answers here. A very informative and comprehensive review.
Good Job!!!
Darwin
Lynn Terry // Feb 8, 2008 at 6:42 am
Thank you, Darwin - Glad you found it helpful!
Al // Feb 9, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Hi Lynn
I’ve been meaning to read this post since I found your site. I bought BANS about 6 months ago. I had major issues hosting with my domain registrar, GoDaddy. I love GoDaddy but BANS just doesn’t interact with their control panel very well. I switched to Hostgator, as told in the members forum and all problems went away. I really have not marketed it, just too busy.
One thing with customizing is that you will still need to edit the php and css files at times. One note I’d like to reinforce to anyone somewhat uncomfortable with doing this and that is: open notepad and copy/paste/save the code (file) as a backup. Without a doubt that should be rule 1. That way if the edit doesn’t work the way intended just copy/paste the original back. Saves alot of potential headaches. Came in very handy for me when I tried a couple of mods to create a user site map that just didn’t want to work for me. Just put it back the way it was.
I had time over the holidays to play with mine add some customization. It was a good learning experience.
It stills all comes down to marketing in the end. That is the main reason I decided to go for mass control. It is not “Field of Dreams” just cause you built it doesn’t mean anyone comes.
BANS, I like it and plan to build more. I do wish it integrated better with WordPress, though.
Al
Lynn Terry // Feb 10, 2008 at 9:42 am
Hi Al,
Yes GoDaddy can be difficult - you did the right thing by switching to HostGator. As for marketing, that’s the challenge with any type of site or blog you create of course, not just BANS.
You can easily add a WordPress blog to your site in a new directory or on a subdomain. I assume that’s not what you mean - how did you want to integrate it exactly?
Al // Feb 10, 2008 at 4:34 pm
My only negative regarding BANS is the look. The templates are limited to a few. Most of the stores have the same basic look. If you want to be more distinctive you really have to get in to the code. On my BANS site I played around and finally had it where I was happy with it, although not finished.
That being said it would be nice to be able to change the look on the fly, as with WordPress. Find the template you like, from 1000’s, upload, select, done. Maybe not always that simple but it gets my thought across.
In all fairness, once I started playing with my site and everything started coming together, it was a nice feeling of accomplishment.
Al
Technology // Feb 11, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I started to hear a LOT about how Build a Niche Store was working really well for some people, with stories of users making $100+ a day from a variety of Niches. So how does it work? Build a Niche Store creates a complete web site from any ebay category you want (of which there are hundreds) and builds all the links, pages, images etc without you having to do anything?
Lynn Terry // Feb 11, 2008 at 4:57 pm
That’s right
Asus Eee PC Store // Feb 17, 2008 at 5:10 am
@technology
That is the sole reason BANS is so popular. The hard part is driving the traffic, and making sure that traffic converts on your BANS page.
Eee PC Store
Zal // Feb 26, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I have a question for Margaret,
I discovered this wonderful site and Lynn, a wonderful person, just today early morning.
I saw your very neat looking WordPress about pyjamas. Is it made with BANS ?
You mentioned Shareasale. What is it ?
Thanks!
Zal // Feb 26, 2008 at 1:11 pm
one more question for Margaret,
all the stuff on macteddy, you make it ?
Is it pure WordPress ?
Margaret MacGillivray // Feb 26, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Hi, Zal - thanks for the nice comments.
OK, the pyjama site is a wordpress site pure and simple. I put in products from shareasale, which is an affiliate network like BANS. The same goes for the Macteddy site. The only thing I make these days is baking for my coffee shop
Wordpress will run with eBay affiliate feeds; the Editor Kit can give you code to put into your blog.
There are so many ways to use these sites …. and I suspect they’ll continue to grow as companies realise the value in having a whole lot of affiliates driving traffic (and sales) to their web sites.
Margaret
Zal // Feb 28, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Thank you Margaret, and your sites look awesome!
I have another question now related to BANS, I hope Lynn will have some time to read it.
I contacted BANS to ask if it works with Mac.
I’m on Mac and using Safari only.
Adam from BANS said that Safari has some problems with HTML. He knows that from their forum. And their forum is for users only.
I don’t want to install another browser, because Safari is as perfect as the browser can be.
If anybody uses Safari here with BANS, I’d appreciate to know any tips.
I posted this question on Lynn’s forum, but so far no replies. Am I the only one with Mac ???!!
Al // Feb 29, 2008 at 6:12 am
Hi Zal
I’m not sure that I totally understand your question. Wouldn’t the browser be client side versus server side? BANS application is installed server side. The problem with the website would be browser specific related.
I would suggest viewing BANS customer stores (http://www.buildanichestore.com/customer-stores.php) in your browser. Then I would suggest entering their url at: http://browsershots.org/ , there you can select many browser viewing options and see a screenshot of the site as it appears browser specific.
If you have specific questions, let me know and I will see it I can find you answers in the BANS forum.
Al
Lynn Terry // Feb 29, 2008 at 8:20 am
Al offers good advice. Try that Zal and let us know
Zal // Feb 29, 2008 at 9:00 am
Thanks Al and Lynn,
Here is what their support said:
“It doesn\’t matter whether you are using a Mac or PC as our software is a web-based application but Safari does cause problems with the built in WYSIWYG HTML Editor inside the admin panel and so you would need to use FireFox to add content to your store.”
I guess there should be some way around this problem. For example, would it be possible to use an external WYSIWYG HTML Editor to copy and paste ?
Which one do you recommend(free one if there is) ?
Thanks a lot!
Zal // Feb 29, 2008 at 10:59 am
ok, bans support guy told me that yes, those who have problems with Safari, can use external WYSIWYG Editor. Here is what he said:
>>>When you upload a BANS store there is a folder named - scripts - which controls the built in WYSIWYG HTML editor…
If you don’t upload the - scripts - folder then there will just be a plain input box that you could then paste HTML into using an external WYSIWYG HTML editor
Zal // Feb 29, 2008 at 11:01 am
…and btw, a new bans v 3.0 is coming out on Monday.
Lynn, did you know that ?
Margaret MacGillivray // Feb 29, 2008 at 11:39 am
Ahh MACs - and the old line ending code
- now I understand your problem.
OK, you love Safari (my sister has this too and seems quite content with it) but there definitely used to be a difference between Macs, PCs and they way they handled line endings when using server-based script editors. Macs could definitely corrupt the display be adding in line endings instead of displaying the wrapped input text in a paragraph, for example. I’m glad there’s a solution to this.
Looking forward to Bans 3.0 on Monday.
best
Margaret
Al // Mar 1, 2008 at 7:11 am
Now I see where you’re going. Interesting workaround. One piece of advice would be to wait for BANS 3.0 at this point if you haven’t already built.
Let us know how the external editor solution works out. One thing a lot of people do with post that request help, is that they rarely end the string with the outcome and details. They just leave it hanging. To me that is annoying. When searching for a solution, finding the perfect thread, and after reading every post it just ends with a “played around and fixed the problem”
Al
Zal // Mar 1, 2008 at 9:57 am
Hi Al..zal..al..zal..al…;-)
I guess you’re using BANS, how long ?
do you like it ?
I like the idea very much, they are smart people there.
Does it work with say, half.com and amazon ?
ok, I’ll tell you why I posted the follow up, I like this site! I like Lynn! I think she is a gem!;-)
I feel that this site is one of the few very best ones offering help for almost nothing.
Whatever I discover I’ll post here and on forum.
I just need to come up with $90 to get bans.
maybe I go and sell something on ebay…
Lynn Terry // Mar 1, 2008 at 10:41 am
It works specifically with the eBay affiliate program, but you can add other promotions to your niche store once you create it - in addition to the eBay affiliate listings.
Zal // Mar 1, 2008 at 11:04 am
Thanks Lynn,
wouldn’t it be nice if they make it work with Amazon and half.com ?
I’m sure they have it in mind..
Al // Mar 1, 2008 at 11:37 am
Hi Zal
You can really do about anything you want to. BANS allows you to easily ad content pages which can be monetized. I easily added 3 featured sellers wby using additional feeds from ebay tools. I also added ebooks. I guess what I’m getting at mostly is that BANS initially sets up as an eBay category niche store but, then you can pretty much add revenue streams as you see fit.
My store hasn’t done very much but, that is my fault for not getting it out there yet. That will be happening soon as I have learned a lot more about the marketing end of the business. I learned a lot about modifying my BANS store as I wanted a different look to it and not a cookie cutter look. That meant I had to invest the time to learn some html, css, and php. That can all be applied to other sites.
Al
California Jerry // Mar 1, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I’ve decided not to build my BANS sites just yet. Whatever site one builds, whether a BANS site or a blog, it will require the same amount of time and effort in generating traffic and pre-qualified visitors.
I’ve decided to continue building my primary business for now and to focus all my energy on that. I’m feeling much more confident now that I am focused instead of being scattered all over with every new thing that comes along.
I’m not saying that people shouldn’t use BANS, I’m just saying it doesn’t fit into my schedule at the moment. BANS will come later when it fits into my business plan, and when I’m ready to branch out into secondary revenue streams.
Florentina // Mar 14, 2008 at 10:01 am
I’ve heard about BANS sites only recently but from what I read it involves a lot of work to make a decent amount of money because ebay commisions are so low. Reading your article makes me think it isn’t so hard to create this type of sites. I’m thinking of giving it a try.
Lynn Terry // Mar 18, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Its pretty simple, really. And you can monetize them with more than just the eBay affiliate program too, which helps a lot.
Travis // Mar 26, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Lynn:
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but any updates on this site in terms of traffic and revenue? And is this the only BANS site you have running so far?
Travis
Lynn Terry // Mar 26, 2008 at 3:17 pm
It is the only one so far, yes. I will sit down and check my stats on the site once I get caught up here (I just bought my first home & moved - its been nuts here!). I’ll be sure to post an update soon
California Jerry // Mar 27, 2008 at 4:35 am
Lots of changes happening at eBay too I hear. Will those have any effect on BANS from what you can tell? Looking forward to hearing about your site. Hope all is well with your new home.
Lynn Terry // Mar 27, 2008 at 7:35 am
Yes, I heard about that as well and I’m looking into it - hopefully there will be an easy integration. Thank you, and thank you for the kind words on your blog this week!
Best Website Builder // Mar 30, 2008 at 4:50 am
Lynn,
Just wondering how your BANS website is doing right now? I mean, how much income the website is generating right now… BANS looks pretty interesting but IMHO, I’m not sure if it works since your sample don’t have enough content.
Lynn Terry // Mar 31, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I havent worked on it much since I initially set it up, but as I said above I will check the stats and report in on that - and I’ll also be using that sample site in case studies throughout the rest of the year. Stay tuned
Nell Taliercio // Apr 1, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Can you download the software (I’m assuming it’s a program you run on your own computer) on two computers? I need it on my laptop and desktop. I emailed supprt and have not heard back and checked their help files and found no answer to this question.
Lynn Terry // Apr 1, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Its actually a set of files that you install on your hosting server, so all you would have to do is burn them to a CD or transfer them through your home network.
Long story short - you’re good to go
Nell Taliercio // Apr 1, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Oh really? Sounds like something I’ll have my VA do. LOL Thanks Lynn.
Allen // Apr 8, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Great info. Thanks!
Alison // Apr 23, 2008 at 4:10 am
I am teetering on the edge of purchasing this, so it would be great if you could do an update on how you have got on and how many visitors you have had or if you have made any money.
Many thanks
Lynn Terry // Apr 23, 2008 at 6:28 am
Will do - I’ll work on publishing some updates soon. In the meantime, for even more ideas for your BANS sites, see: http://www.clicknewz.com/1225/passion-vs-profit/
Work at Home // Apr 23, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Hey Lynn I have been following along on your bans reviews. I have over 200 of these sites now and I’m getting anywhere from 4-20 unique hits per day. Trickle traffic that pays. I’m getting on average about $1 per day per site. some do much better (as you make $25 when someone signs up for ebay) and some don’ t more than $.20 a week but on average I’m getting about a buck a day.
With bans it’s all about quantity quantity quantity and proper keyword selection. That’s what everybody really needs to know to make money with bans. If you work the right keyword strings and get your links you WILL start to rank. All you need is like 20 uniques a day…and the right keyword. I go semi broad on the index and super targeted on my pages. For instance my index might be ” Gibson Guitars” but my other two pages will be “Gibson Les Paul Custom 1960 re-issue” and “Gibson Les Paul Standard Pickups”.
In my experience, time is better spent making another bans site and getting links with anchor text (or else you wont make money) rather than slaving over one site and making it super pretty and special. That’s a waste of time and you can’t make any money that way. I aim to make a buck a day…from 200 ( it will be 500 soon) sites. That’s how it is really done.
Although your header looks nice and it is wise to change the header to something less generic. But again, experience tells me this, not the experts. Just like I’ve learned from experience that mixing diff types of monetization on one site is a loser idea. It just doesn’t work and anyone who says it does doesn’t make any money online. Sure, diversify your income but do it with different sites.
20 uniques a day—$.50 to $1 per site—build hundreds of sites. Keep building and building and building and getting links and more links and when your links get counted you will make money.
Look, I’m reading your blog and the comments from your readers and you are all having fun with bans. It’s easy etc…but I can tell that all of you are totally clueless!
You all seem like nice folks here at this blog and it kills me to see you all are like the blind leading the blind. Do what I said and you’ll finally make money.
Good luck all!
Travis // Apr 23, 2008 at 1:46 pm
We’re totally clueless, ey? That’s a rather bold statement. While I agree a lot of the people posting in this thread are learning, I wouldn’t say they are clueless. If you read the posts, it’s people wanting to learn more about the BANS system - and how to use it effectively.
The fact that you have to build 200+ sites to make $200/day leads me to believe that BANS is not for me. I make that with just 2 sites. Now you tell me who’s clueless?
I’d rather build QUALITY sites that will withstand the test of time - rather than build a bunch of thin affiliate sites that will sooner or later get knocked out of the top results.
And you can integrate eBay with your WordPress blogs through the phpBay Pro plugin, but you already know that since we’re all so clueless.
Travis
Lynn Terry // Apr 23, 2008 at 2:09 pm
There are several long-winded comments on the BANS review threads here at ClickNewz by this same person. I havent decided yet if I am going to remove them or respond to them. Its not worth a big debate, but does leave some points open for clarification.
At any rate, I’m down with a feverish cold and not up for it today. So that’s that for now.
Frank // Apr 25, 2008 at 6:29 am
I have looked at your SearchMusical…..com site and it looks exactly the same as eBay. As a customer, why would I go to your site instead of just going to eBay myself? Are you offering anything else of value that isnt on eBay? Please tell us if you are making any profit. Y ou havent answered that question yet.
Lynn Terry // Apr 25, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hi Frank,
That site was set up as a ‘demo’ while reviewing the BANS software, and used as an example for visual results during the review.
I will be using it in case studies for future posts, but havent actively worked with that particular BANS site as of yet.
Many of the sites I share publicly get ‘ripped off’ in one way or another and so dont make for good long term studies but rather visual examples. Make sense?
To answer your question, the goal is to get your BANS site in front of the target market in other ways. Sure someone can go straight to eBay and search for products, but your goal is to get in front of the people in user groups or that search on the search engines and then redirect them to eBay from there.
Social Marketing and SEO are both excellent means of funneling that traffic.
Work at Home // May 1, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Travis, you make $200 a day with two bans sites or blogs? Which is it? Hey travis, what happens when the algorithm changes or something else happens and your 2 sites are suddenly not making money. This happens to everyone at one time or another. Remember all the folks who built up their sites and rank using reciprocal linking? Well they’re not ranking like they used to.
It took me 2 weeks to set up those bans site because it’s so fast and easy! Of course, I didn’t make money right away (on a couple I did with a pre-owned domain and a sweet link from a pr4 blog).
Travis, I know you can be successful with a so called quality site but it takes a long long time that way. The way I do it you can start getting paid almost right away. Great for beginners too because it’s not complicated and THEY can make money…even if they are clueless…with a hundred sites.
Besides, I doubt you are making that…show us one of your sites. Mine look like shit but they rank and make money. Let’s see your $200 per day sites. I doubt you’ll post it.
Lynn, if you can’t tolerate an opinion that is different than yours or a personality thats different than your then delete my comments.
Do you even make any money with your bans sites? And if so show us a step by step to make it happen. I dont give two hoots about making it look pretty, I want to know how to make money with them.
I challenge you to show us JUST ONE bans site. I’ll make one along the same keywords and in 4 months we’ll see who ranks where on the serps.
I’ll show my ONE bans site if you do. I know it’s not usually something you want to do (showing sites) but lets show your readers who knows what about getting targeted traffic and ranking.
Like a case study. I’ll tell you right now you don’t stand a chance because I actually do this for a living.
Travis you too. Show us your site. I’ll build a shit blog with crappy content and outrank you with seo too.
Lynn, I have to say you ‘ve been pretty tolerant with my long winded comments, but at least I add some fresh content to your page:)
neo2012 // May 1, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Gee, I hate stepping into the middle of a good pissing contest but I gotta at least ask….. Why is everyone so secreative about their BANS sites? I thought the whole point of starting a website in any form is to get your site seen and used. How can that take place with the “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” point of view? Hell, some of my sites make a little money and others dont and I actually encourage people to take a peek….
http://mediazene.com/disney-collectibles
http://shop-vintage-guitars.com
http://mediazene.com/all-about-guitars
Sorry Lynn - You can kill the links if you think its inappropriate. My point is we have all put in the work to get our sites listed and looking nice (or not), lets show em off and get people to use them like we originally intended.
Travis // May 1, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Frank:
I don’t use BANS. My point is, a guy can either build hundreds of websites to make $200/day OR one or two quality sites and make the same thing. I’d rather do the latter.
As for immediate income, I do that too - with PPC.
And I have already posted one of my sites. You didn’t catch it? Again, who is clueless here???
Travis
Work at Home // May 2, 2008 at 1:51 am
Lynn, thanks for putting up with me I know I seem like a dick but I’m speaking the truth and sometimes it sounds ugly.
Travis, I didn’t see that you had posted one of your sites on this post. My bad. I should have taken one more look.
Travis, how long does it take to make money off of a “QUALITY” site? %99.5 percent (!) of the people out there trying to build this “Big A-Lister” site don’t make it. It takes friggen forever. And besides, money is made by far and large off of search engine traffic with a need, not off of stumble readers and feed readers, which is what the A-Listers keep spouting off about.
I don’t know anyone personally making tens of thousands each month with bans but for me it’s gravy. Two weeks and I had two hundred sites set up. I’m making money almost right from the start. Even a clueless noob can’t screw it up. It’s not this big deal to set up 200 bans sites. I did the whole thing in two weeks. Promotion and all. Some of them are still half ass but I’ll get to them.
You make it sound like its a big friggen deal to set up 200 sites! It takes 10 minutes to do one. I do it all day and night and it’s over.
Neo2012–It’s not always wise to show your sites that make you money because people can cause you trouble if they want. Especially if your upfront and to the point like me.
Yeah, you can start your own flagship site and maybe in a year you can make some money. But with bans for noobs, the easiest and quickest way to make them money is with quantity.
Lynn Terry // May 3, 2008 at 8:40 am
Opinions and personalities are always welcomed here at ClickNewz. Foul language and being rude & obstinate are not - so watch your step
Work at Home // May 3, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Lynn if you think I’m foul here you should see me on a political blog!
Eric Badgley // May 11, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Interesting, I was just reading another guys blog he was saying that 14 of his bans sites go slayed by google and kicked out of the index. I wounder why?
work at home // May 11, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Probably because he put it on a dot info domain. Spammers love dot info domains and goog is making it harder for them to get indexed. All I do is create a folder called ‘blog’ and install a WP blog, do ten or fifteen posts, a couple solid pr 4 links and it’s indexed.
Eric Badgley // May 12, 2008 at 12:27 am
He did say it was a .info site. Must be the reason why he was kicked out of the index.
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