I purchased Build a Niche Store simply because the creators offered me something more than words and ideas. They provide real tangible software with free updates forever and an unlimited domain license (yes, you can use BANS on as many domains as you like). I like that a lot. Build a Niche Store (BANs) is in version 3 now. FREE updates and a great forum where you can get support if you need it as well as great creative ideas on how to make your niche store even better!

But wait? What is Build a Niche Store? BANS works with the eBay affiliate program. Did you know that eBay recently brought their affiliate program in-house? Ebay pays up to 75% of winning bid revenue as well as $25 for every new active user you send their way. You can also take advantage of 12 eBay countries….and they work with BANS! The possibilities are enourmous. Even if you don’t use BANS, you should at least look into Ebay’s affiliate program!

BANS (Build A Niche Store) is a website builder that enables you to create a network of traffic pulling, money making niche websites focused around the fabulous eBay affiliate opportunity. The12 eBay marketplaces that BANS currently supports (Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, India, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States) hold a combined product inventory of over 60 million products. Can you imagine how many different different niche markets that is?

Did I mention that you also get 9 templates that you can customize?

Here is a taste of my experience with Build a Niche Store.

I downloaded the software, which came with 2 PDF manuals: Installation and Setup. I already had a domain name that I planned to use for my niche store as well as web server space so I was anxious to get started.

I followed the steps in the Installation guide and everything went smoothly. In this step I uploaded the niche store files to my web server, changed permissions on a file, added a SQL database and user. I never created a SQL database and user but the instructions were very clear.  Then I completed the installation from an Internet web browser. The basic niche store was setup in under 15 minutes.

Next, I setup the basic framework of my niche store from the Niche Store Admin panel (this is where all the real magic takes place) with my ebay affiliate ID and ebay categories that I planned to target. I did a little ebay research to find the correct category and entered the category number in my niche store admin panel. I then setup a new eBay affiliate campaign and entered that number in my admin panel.

Voila, the store was setup with functioning categories and eBay auction listings. The menu doesn’t just include one category… all sub-categories display in the niche store menu on your niche store site so you can have a pretty long list of categories.

The category store pages are automatically generated based on eBay auctions. You can format your auctions five ways too! You can also leave the eBay store pages as the default or you can add text, your own meta tags, menu navigation text, and ads — all from within the admin panel.

You can also add your own static content pages. This is a great place to add interesting articles that will attract visitors and search engines. Again, you do this from with the admin panel.

There is also a place in the admin panel where you can place ads on the top, left, right, or bottom of your eBay niche store. You can ad affiliate links, Adsense, or anything else you want.

The generated pages seem to be SEO friendly so far too.

The technical work is fairly easy. I found the instructions extremely clear and easy to understand and follow.

My next step is to start doing a little marketing as well as adding some content pages to make my niche stores more interesting.

So, the truth is that Build a Niche Store is a great tool for me to build a store in a content management type environment. And I love the possibilities: 12 countries, 60 million products. Plus I am having a lot of fun with customization and just thinking of a new niche market to target. My niche store has already paid for itself. At just $97, it was a really good deal.

But again, it is a worthwhile investment for me because it is software that I can actually create something with (a niche store) in a short amount of time.

It truly is easy to use.

You owe it to yourself to read more about Build a Niche Store, and see how you can benefit from what BANS has to offer. You will learn more than I can ever brag about here.  Click here for more information about BANS.

eBay hosted their affiliate program with Commission Junction for years. eBay recently announced that they are moving their affiliate program in-house starting on April 1, 2008. The new in-house network is designed to give affiliates better access to revenue opportunities across eBay Inc.’s global platforms.

Although the launch date is April 1, we heard that “the eBay Partner Network and Commission Junction will run in parallel for one month through this process, so please plan to complete your migration by May 1st, 2008.”

Why should you care? If you build niche sites with Build a Niche Store, you will need to grab and make some updates to your Niche Store’s software.

Kelvin and Adam, the creators of Build a Niche Store, are well aware of eBay’s plan to launch their new in-house affiliate program and will update Build a Niche Store as required.
Stay tuned for announcements about the update!

Let me introduce you to Clickbank. Maybe you are already acquainted, maybe not. Either way, read on and maybe you’ll find a tidbit or two to help boost your sales.

Clickbank is an online payment processor and affiliate marketing system. It allows you to sell other people’s stuff. When you do, you get a commission based on the terms of the product agreement.

Unlike many other affiliate programs, Clickbank is geared primarily towards digital products like downloadable software and ebooks. Before getting into Clickbank, here’s a quick detour on a couple of things to do before getting started.

If you are thinking about writing niche articles or creating a niche website, the first place to start is finding your niche. That is not what this article is about so I won’t be focusing on that. So let’s say you find some keywords that are likely to make you a profit. Now what? Well you have to find some products that match those keywords.

But not just any products. You want to promote top notch products that are going to make you a PROFIT! That’s why you are blogging, isn’t it? To make a profit.

OK. Now let’s say you have your top notch, money-maker keywords. The next step is finding the affiliate products. Clickbank is a great place to start. You can find thousands of affiliate products to sell within a variety of categories. All it will cost you is the time and energy to find the products and create your niche articles.

Take a look at how to find products that sell really well.

1. Go to Clickbank.com.
2. Click Marketplace (located at top right).
3. Type a keyword in the keywords field and click Go. You can also narrow your search by selecting a category.
4. A list of products that match your query display in a list. Each Clickbank product displays information similar to the image below.

What does all that stuff mean?

• $/sale: The amount of money you earn for each sale.
• Future $: Average rebill revenue.
• Total $/sale: Average total $ per sale, including all rebills.
• %/sale: The percentage of the product sale price that the sale represents.
• %/refd: Fraction of publisher’s total sales that are referred by affiliates.
• grav: The measure of how many affiliates are promoting the product. This is a weighted sum and not an actual total. For each affiliate paid in the last 8 weeks Clickbank adds an amount between 0.1 and 1.0 to the total. The more recent the last referral, the higher the value added.

The Gravity indicator will tell you how well a product is selling. So a gravity score of 100 means a product is potentially selling better than one with a gravity score of 20. What if the gravity score is off the charts, like 450? Maybe the product is selling too well and you can’t compete with that type of competition in an already saturated market. I like to stay within the 70 to 100 range for gravity. Occasionally I will go for a lower gravity number especially if the product is new to market.

Once you select a product, check out the sales page. What are they selling? Would you buy it? If no, then why would someone else? Think about that.

Other things to consider in your Clickbank adventure. Let’s say the percent of the Clickbank sale to you is $20.00. Sound good, huh? If you are using Pay Per Click (PPC), be careful and do your math. If you pay 20 cents per click and it takes 100 clicks before a single person buys the product, then you have not made any money. You will break even. Even it takes 120 clicks before someone buys the product, then you have lost money.

It will take the same amount of work to promote a product that pays $46.00 as it does for one that pays you $20.00 so choose wisely. Now if you are just blogging on about stuff, and not using PPC at all, then it doesn’t matter so much except for your bottom line.

I am proud to say that in January, The Success Space made $499.00 with Clickbank products. This total took into consideration one returned item. So get blogging and start your own Clickbank profitable niche!

What are your Clickbank stategies?

As a confessed, long-time affiliate marketer, I can tell you that creating lots of small web sites can be a very tedious task. Don’t get me wrong. I love getting checks in the mail as much as the next person but I knew there had to be a better, more efficient way to create these niche web sites.

I heard lots of blogosphere chatter about using Wordpress to create static web sites. Wordpress is a fantastic Content Management System (CMS) that is typically used for blogs and ongoing conversations with the people who read them. It’s easy to manage because once you write the articles, the hyperlinks (like monthly archives, categories, and pages) take care of themselve. Everything in a tidy neat little package.

Usually, when I select a new affiliate marketing niche, I look at profitable keywords or products, and build a site around it. High maintenance is out of the question! Who has the time for that. I like sites that bring in two things: traffic and money!

I had the good fortune to meet Caroline Middlebrook. Caroline has done the hard work friends, and written an ebook about creating the very thing I wanted to create. A low-to-no maintenance niche web site using Wordpress. I like it already!

I downloaded the ebook with no expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Caroline has a technical background but has written her ebook so mere mortals can actually understand it!

She starts out introducing the subject about niche sites and then launches into a nice overview and how-to about installing Wordpress. Caroline also targets the important points in the Wordpress Admin panel and how to get your Wordpress theme going.

It was a nice Wordpress refresher but then she reveals the real gems of creating your niche static web site with Wordpress:

• Setting up Adsense
• Essential Wordpress plugins and how to install them
• Site subject and monetization
• Static pages
• Link structure
• And much more!

All in all the “How to Develop Money-Making Niche Sites with Wordpress” ebook is a quick read with some great information and tips. Your mind will be flowing with new ideas when you finish this one!

Download it for FREE at Caroline’s blog.

Check out  iThemes Wordpress Themes, my favorite Wordpress themes for creating niche affiliate sites.

The beta testing will start between the 14th and 16th of January. Barring any major unforeseen problems, the creators of this worthwhile software are aiming to release Build a Niche Store (BANS) Version 3 in either the last week of January or the first week of February.

With Build a Niche Store, you now get four national markets and 60 million products under your control, the opportunities are literally endless.

When you purchase Build a Niche Store you receive one licensed copy of the script which entitles you to build as many niche stores as you want. You also receive a downloadable 72-page ebook that gives you detailed instructions on how to do it.

I am still working on my Niche Store 30-Day Challenge and will post the results after, well, the 30 days are up. Read more here. Upon completion, I’ll also provide a complete review of this amazing program.

If you have parked domains (like me – I’m addicted, what can I say?) don’t park your domains … build a niche store and make more money!

Can’t wait to see what other goodies these guys have in store for Build a Niche Store version 3!

Stay tune’d.