Build a Niche Store BANS Review - eBay Power Selling
Need an Idea for a Sucessful BANS Store to Sell Your eBay Favorites?
First off I think eBay is a great opportunity for new Internet Marketers to "Get their Feet Wet". It's easy to make a quality site and the affilite opportunity is tremendous.
I have a great interest in a specific type of Automobile. And the automotive niche is huge, here's why:
- There are 1,020 cars for every 1,000 people in the USA (More than 300 million!)
- Cars are "Consumables" they break down and need repair and replacement
- Cars are "Big Ticket" items, and so are the parts/accessories (Commision Opportunity)
- People always want new cars, it's called "Buyers Itch"
- Cars can be customized to suit an individuals personality
As you can see the market is huge and wide and there is plenty of money being spent on Automobiles. So I set up my BANS store and added it to my existing automotive site, and viola! I now am a reseller of automobile parts and accessories. The site is AUTOMATICALLY (This is extremely important) updated with the newest items. I don't have to do anything to the BANS site, but track the stats and tweek the layout accordingly.
So if you're looking for a good niche, a good place to start, think BANS and something in the Automotive Industry.
A Little More Detail About BANS and How You Can Use it to Make Money
For those of you who know me and have worked with me, I only review software I actually use. I purchased BANS in early June 2008. BANS is a script that allow you to set up a CMS system based on eBay. eBay offers the affiliate marketer nearly unlimited Niche opportunities. Unfortunately you would need to be a programmer or hire a programmer to set up an effective method if not for this software (Or a similar product like PHPBAY for Wordpress).
This script is very easy to set up and is 100% compatible with Host Gator reseller hosting. Remember this is a "Niche" store builder. This is why reseller hosting is important. It would cost way too much to buy individual accounts for each store you set up. And to be effective with BANS you'll want to set up at least half a dozen targeted niche sites. It's not uncommon to make $200-$400 a month from this type of website marketing. I personally stack as many as 40 domains on a reseller account with no problems.
The BANS script uses a MYSQL database (Which is simple to set up using the "wizard" feature on any CPANEL host like Host Gator). Here is a trick that will save you a ton of time when installing the script. Don't unzip the script on your computer and FTP. Instead open CPANEL, create a folder Called "BAN SCRIPT", then upload the Zipped (Yes I said ZIPPED script to that folder). After it's uploaded you simply use Cpanel, select the ZIPPED Script and select EXTRACT. Once extracted you open the US Folder (Or one of the other 11 countries supported) and simply drag the files to your root level. This is so much FASTER than FTP.
Installation is a breeze, you change permissions on one file, go to your domain and follow the onscreen instructions. It took me a bout 15 minutes start to finish (Including uploading and creating the MYSQL Database) to install this script.
I spent about 2 hours going throught the manual feature by feature. About 2 hours later I had created a Header Banner, inserted my eBay Code and adjusted all the setting. So start to finish having never used this software before in 5-6 hours I had a completely functional eBay Powered Website installed. A site that will require almost ZERO MAINTENANCE. Now all I have to do is promote it - which I did by plugging it into an existing site with an IFRAME.
The next day I created another BANS site in about an hour! Powerful! Most people will want to create a half dozen sites and then go out and promote them. This is so powerful because you don't waste any of your time "Designing" or worrying about SEO (Beyond selecting and placing your targeted keywords). This frees you to focus on marketing. And if you want to there are additional Content Creation tools so you can write your own articles. Or (cringe) even copy and paste related articles.
Simple, Easy, and effective if you can drive traffic and market your new niche sites. This is a great way for a beginner to get their feet wet with a proven affiliate opportunity.
Build as many sites as you want with as many products as you want. Your license is not limited for your own use. If you build for clients or sell one of your sites then the buyer will need to aquire their own license.
FYI: BANS has an extremely simple ADVERTISEMENT layout. All you have to do is copy and paste in your affiliate code to any product you would like to sell in addition to your eBay Niche Products. Yes you can promote Google's NoSense program, or Adbrite, or Bitvertiser, or CJ, or anything else. Your ads can appear above your listings, on either side, or below or all of the above. And you can easily display one set of ads on your homepage, and entirely different ads on all your content pages. Simple!
A Good Place for New Marketers to Start
As mentioned in the review above BANS is a great way to jump-start your affiliate marketing career. Starting out in Affiliate Marketing can be Tough! Where do you start? What do you sell? How do you set up a great looking website? How to you find Affiliate Programs willing to work with you and your new site?
Might I suggest a new angle. Don't try to sell "Make Money From Home". Don't try to do what everyone else is doing. There are a whole lot of marketers that are very experienced ready to crush your dreams. Pick a niche product and get to work.
Sell What you Know!!!
Do you have a hobby? What do you collect? What do you know about? Photography? Tennis? Golf? Electric Trains? Sports Cards? Baby Stuff? The list is quite extensive! Sell what you know! But how do you do that? You won't always find an affiliate opportunity in your niche, but you know that people are buying products and services related to it don't you?
Lets take Tennis for example? You could make a website about Tennis and try to outrank all the others. You could try to find affiliate programs for Tennis Equipment, or Tennis Vacations? How easy would that be? Probably not that easy. But there is an opportunity - from a well known company that you can sell.
BANS and eBay to the Rescue!
Nearly everyone with a computer has heard of eBay. I have friends that buy all kinds of crazy stuff from eBay. Vintage Clothing, Sports Cards, etc. What you can't find in your local city or store probably exists on eBay.
But just throwing up your "Tennis" website with a few eBay banners is not going to cut it. What you need to do is LINK DIRECT to the Tennis Equipment! Don't make your customers "Dig" for information. If you want to make money make it easy for them! Try it, go to eBay and type in "Tennis". You'll find all kinds of stuff related to Tennis. And you don't have to sell it you only have to link to it!
Here's How you LINK DIRECT to eBay Product Pages
You need to buy BANS - For less than $100 you get a complete package! You get all the tools and software you need to create AS MANY EBAY STORES AS YOU WANT! I'd suggest you purchase a Website Reseller Account (You can learn more about Reseller Hosting Here), then buy your domains and and set up your stores. Then promote your stores. While everyone else is out there "Grinding it Out" you'll be promoting REAL PRODUCTS that people actually buy!
|
