So following on from my background post I started to build sites (see below) but I got hit this week by the changeover from Commission Junction to the Ebay Partner Program. I upgraded some of my sites, I thought without problem, but I see there have been many issues and a further update was issued on Wednesday I think it was. So I’m a bit frustrated becasue I don’t know if the sites I have built are now working correctly but that’s going to have to be a job for early next week.

I’d been following Mark’s plan and I’d done a bunch of research using the following tools that had been recommended to me and are freely available.

• Wordtracker
• Wordtracker G Trends
• Ebay Pulse
• Terapeak
• Google Trends
• Ebay – Hottest Items Report (although this seems to have been discontinued – unless you know better?)

Off the back of that I bought a dozen domains via GoDaddy using the discount code OYH3- thanks again Mark.

I set up a hosting account with Host Gator – what a fantastic deal. I’m actually in the UK and was used to paying $15 per month per site. As of writing this I’ve got 16 sites to develop at a cost of just $9.95 per month – what a saving. Any other UK residents reading this move to Host Gator – great service, great site and I’m over the moon with them.

With that job done I got down to work following the nichestorebuilder worksheet. So as of right now I have 6 sites built with link building outsourced to the excellent Submit Edge. I have two more 75% done which I might finish over the weekend although I am away so maybe that’s over optimistic. I aim to have another 4 completed by 11 April which will bring me up to 12.

I heard about BANS from Kent via the Wealthy Affiliate which we both recommend unreservedly. If your serious about making money online you really should check it out. Kent had experienced some great success with BANs and I would recommend you check out his Blog at (add when known) . Anyway, I joined via his affiliate link and he gave me a few freebies to let me know how he had succeeded. What a great guy.

So I got my hands on the BANS software 18 March 2008. I didn’t realize at the time but this was only a couple of days after the launch of BANS 3.0. Unfortunately for me that meant I installed the script on a domain and promptly had to do some updates.

Now before I go on I should give you some background. The business I worked for failed in 2006 and I had to decide what path to take. I decided to have a crack at working for myself and got by until Dec 2007 when I decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I started to explore different options and decided to go full time into internet marketing towards the end of January.

I have always been interested in computers but would not describe myself as a techhie. I can knock up a website in Frontpage using bought templates and that’s about it. Since January I have been learning the ropes and unsurprisingly made very little money- about $200 which would be a loss after expenses. That said I didn’t set out with short term intentions but I do have a goal to be making $5000 per month by the end of the year.

I settled on two monetization models for this year BANS & Internet Marketing using the Affiliate Cash Secrets system.

For my internet marketing education I became a member of Wealthy Affiliate Member and also purchased the excellent Profit Lance course. I have no plans to outlay any more money on training in the short term but I am very tempted by Wordtracker. I currently use Keyword Elite but I am not sure it is right for me based on where I’m currently at.

Back to the BANS story. Rather than dive right in I had a look through the forums and cam across Mark who had launched his Build a Niche Store Empire Series back in February. I read through what he was proposing and as he knows what he’s doing I decided to play catch up using his excellent instructions and videos.

I started work on my first site 20 March and played around for a week trying to get to grips with everything that was going on. It might seem simple but I think there is a lot to understand if you want to make money but more on that in a later post. I outsourced the link building work to Submit Edge 1 April.

I noticed that many BANS users work to generate immediate profits using adverts in USFreeAds, Craigs List and others. I will use this strategy in a few weeks but for now I have chosen to take a slightly longer term view. With the inbound links being taken care of courtesy of Submit Edge, I have got on with building other sites.

Due to it’s length I’m going to end this post now and write another shortly that will bring you up to date with my exact position. I will then post every couple of days to let you know what I’ve done, the ups and the downs and I will also report any earnings as they happen. At the moment my BANS income stands at $0.00 but I wouldn’t expect anything else given what I’ve done so far.

Welcome to my Build a Niche Store Blog. Also known as BANS – Build a Niche Store is a product that enables you to create an ebay store empire.

Take a look at the (as yet unfinished) hydroponicsstore.net for an example.

I have chosen BANS as one of my main monetization models because it allows me to generate revenue from ebay, adsense and other related affiliate programs of my choosing.

It is also a rapid development tool as it is possible to create a store in approximately 2 hours when you know what you’re doing.

This blog is going to record my progress as a BANS member and I will include earnings reports as a measure of progress.

Tell me more about BANS