There have been so many questions about BANS over the last few days that I wanted to take a moment and compile those there in one place as a general FAQ about this product. BANS stands for Build A Niche Store, and is an awesome script for easily creating your own niche affiliate sites.

I 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 through my experience, shows you screen shots as I develop my very own niche site in less than 30 minutes, and offers some great ideas you can use with the BANS system.

I arranged an exclusive Special Offer on this product for my readers which officially ends in about an hour. Actually, less than that by the time you read this. Since there are still so many questions, I negotiated an extension on that offer - it is now good until Thursday at Noon EST.

So if you were worried you might have missed out, and were still on the fence about using BANS to create your own profitable affiliate sites, this is your chance to get your questions answered and make a final decision!

Below you will find all of the questions I’ve already answered (as a BANS user myself), and you can post any other questions you have in the comments section at the end. I’ll answer each of them personally. Not only do I have personal experience with BANS, but I am also a member at their Members Only Forum - so if I dont know the answer, I’ll find it for you

What does bans offer? website template or content?

BANS is a script that allows you to easily create niche affiliate sites based on the eBay affiliate program. You can add as much content & customization as you like, and even monetize it with additional affiliate programs (or even your own products).

Can you customize each store to look different than anyone else’s?

You sure can! I actually have a 3-part review published on BANS now, which includes screen shots and a link to my own BANS site which I created during the review.

How much customizing can you do so that your BANS site(s) are truly unique and don’t start looking like cookie-cutters of everyone else’s?

I know you’ve been busy digging into the script, but just wondering how much you’ve been able to get in to the css to be able to tell how flexible it is (or isn’t)?

It is VERY flexible.

I am incredibly impressed with it, Patty. Not only can you edit every element, but the code is clean and simple. You can add content pages, edit the pages the script itself generates to add/arrange content, etc. There is no end to the potential with this one!

Definitely not cookie cutter like so many other “site builders” I’ve seen.

Do you have a tutorial for making your own header graphics?

I dont - but there are some good resources in the Graphic Design section at the forum. And you can usually find tutorials for any of the popular programs. The header graphic I made was fairly simple, using a stock image from iStockPhoto and then adding text in a graphics program.

Did you go through the entire 74 page manual? Being the lazy me, i’ll normally just click and learn along the way.

I did go through the entire manual as well as the members area (which offers a lot). I did that to give the product a *thorough* review. And I must say - I’m super impressed with the documentation and ongoing support!

How do you get from the What’s Hot listings to actually deciding what to put on your store? I see level 2,3 4 categories. Do you take one of those categories and go into Ebay and see what’s there? Then choose what you want to offer?

As I said in the original post, there’s no real science or magic to choosing the niche you want to work with. I went with a broader niche, you can just as easily go with a more focused niche (like “guitars” instead of “musical instruments”). Its all just totally up to you!

I guess what I meant to ask is: For example, on the hot items by category list, there are books. The only things listed under books are catalogs and agriculture. Does that mean you should stick with one of those? I saw in one of the custom stores someone selling kids books. Would that not be a good idea?

Also - do you know what the difference is between level 2, 3 and 4?

The levels are category levels. So Level 2 is a sub-category of the main category and Level 3 is a sub-category of Level 2. This helps you choose a micro-niche within a niche if you want to do that.

There is no limit to what you can decide to create with BANS. You can even combine categories or use search results - its VERY versatile. I was simply using the What’s Hot list as a starting point to get ideas.

Are your eBay commissions handled by CJ.com?

Yes

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

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.

I can’t remember if you have to be an eBay affiliate for the whole deal, or only if you want to get paid for the people who sign up for an eBay account through your store.

Yes, you want to be an eBay affiliate to really capitalize on your new niche store as the site created revolves around the eBay listings. Obviously you can monetize the site in many other ways as well, but you might as well make the commission on the eBay listings too!

Does BANS only work on ebay affiliate? I have join ebay affiliate via cj but only ebay co.uk, italy and sweden. I was declined to join ebay.com. Is it still possible to use BANS?

BANS does support the UK eBay program, so you would be fine there.

Ebay has lots of product. Do I need several domains to promote different items?

You can create as many niche stores with BANS as you like - you get an unlimited user license with it. So you can create a custom store using a combination of categories, or create multiple stores each using specific product categories.

You could set up subdomains on a general shopping domain name, or you can register unique domain names for each store (which is what I do). At less than $10 each, its a small investment to give your new site its own domain.

Once you finish setting up your site, does their package include any tools which help you promote your site, or is that part completely up to you?

The marketing is going to be up to you no matter what tools you decide to use. That said, BANS *does* offer great support and also a very active members only forum with a traffic section.

See this link for the 10 free marketing methods that I use myself:
http://www.clicknewz.com/633/traffic-tips-for-new-sites/

I’m trying to figure out whether to go with the Datafeed Import Script you’ve recommended, the staticblogging thing (also recommended), something called Semiologic Pro (similar, kinda related) and now BANS. And I can’t remember if there was something else that was similar / along these lines. (call me overwhelmed). How to choose?

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. As someone who is new to it all, I recommend you start simple. BANS is simple - but read through the review so you can get a good feel for what to expect, and whether it seems like a good fit for you.

I’m curious to hear some discussion about the whys & hows of building a niche affiliate site with BANS, and/or Static Blogging.

Deciding between BANS and Static Blogging comes down to what you want to create. Obviously you see that I am using both - and I have plenty more sites behind the scenes on a variety of models.

BANS is great for creating a niche affiliate site around eBay’s affiliate program. Static Blogging is great for developing ANY kind of website. Whether it is a sales site, an affiliate site, a content site… you name it. It is more of a website with blog features, or a blog with website features.

BANS, on the other hand, is for creating affiliate sites around certain product categories. While you could easily add other affiliate programs and products, and plenty of content pages, its not really set up like a blog at all.

I love them both - but each for their individual features in creating specific types of sites!

My dart site (created with Static Blogging) is monetized by NetShops, which pays 10-12% commission on product sales. The musical instruments site (created with BANS) is monetized by eBay, which pays a small percentage of eBay’s profit per sale. I intend to add products from other affiliate programs as well down the road, of course - but the core of the site is based around eBay’s affiliate program.

You could easily add a blog to your BANS site. You could easily add a BANS store to your current website or blog.

My initial response would be: Static Blogging for a site you are more personally involved with, BANS for creating quick niche affiliate sites in ANY niche. But thats not really true - as both offer so much functionality you could go either way with that…

I suppose - since you’ve called me out on this lol - I would have to say that BANS is easier. More for the newbie, and also much quicker for actual development. Static Blogging is more complex, but it also offers more perks (feeds, commenting, all that cool Web 2.0 stuff).

I’m just all over the place. Aff. Marketing, PPC Classroom, Static Blogging, BANs, SEO, PPC. I want to start somewhere and just go with it. At this current time where’s the best place 2 start?

If you want fast & easy, I would start with BANS. As you know, I have my hands in most of those same honeypots… and I cant recommend BANS highly enough for a quick start.

Regardless though, you are right - you have to pick just ONE and go with it start to finish. That’s the only real way to succeed!

Awesome review! Will you be updating us on how well the site actually does in terms of traffic and revenue?

Yes, I should think that would be fun to revisit this often and use my new BANS site as a case study for traffic generation and other tutorials!

I’ve read your review. It’s great script. I’d like to try it. Is your offer ($20 off) still available? Please send me the link.

I think you’ll love it!

You can get a $20 discount by using this link:
{Special Offer Has Ended / Link Removed}

Click Here for details

If you still have questions that werent addressed here, leave them below in the comments section. There is 24 hours left on the Special Offer, and I want to help you make an informed decision about whether this is right for you.

Best,