Niche Store Script

Ok, this first version of the script is really crude, but is still very useful if you are curious what items on eBay you have received commissions from. This will spit out a list of item numbers with a link to each auction. It is a direct link without any affiliate info so you don’t have to worry about it affecting your CJ stats.

Download one of your sales reports and choose PIPE delimited file and save it as “cj.txt”.

Open it and remove the first line or two that looks something like this:

Date|Event_Date|Action_Name|ID|Action_Type|Status|
Corrected|Sale_Amount|CommissionWebsite_ID|
Website_Name|Ad_ID|Advertiser_ID|Advertiser_Name|
SID|Order_ID|Click_Date|Action_ID|Ad_Owner_Advertiser_ID

After you delete that, move the data below it up so that the first entry is on the first line.

Upload your cj.txt file and this script to your server and then open it in your browser like:

http://www.yourdomain.com/cj.php

That should do it… you should then see a list of eBay auctions that gave you a commission.

Once again, this is VERY crude… if anyone wants to add on to it, or knows of a better script, feel free to comment. The main thing that is needed is a script to process your Commission Junction reports that is NOT on someone else’s server… because you know for sure that person is looking through every report to see what niches are working and which ones are not.

Download the Commission Junction report script here

Just saw this post and wanted to make a note of it - Finding A Profitable eBay Affiliate Niche. That’s all I need is another excuse to build another BANS site. Ok, now I’m really going to bed.

Well, last week (on February 8th) I was at $8.26 and I set a goal to get to $20 by February 15th. I am happy to say that I have far exceeded my expectations and am now sitting at $52.38! I’m definitely impressed and a bit shocked as well! I guess those 7 day cookies are starting to pay off.

I think I’m pretty much convinced that the best way to go is by getting an individual domain for each BANS site. I’m getting some traffic from some of the subdomains I have set up, but it still seems the domains are doing far better. The best strategy I’ve found is to use the Google keyword tool and try to find a domain that matches the exact keywords in a niche you are considering. So, if you want to start a BANS site on “heart shaped cookie cutters”, see if heartshapedcookiecutters.com is available.

I’m a little unsure about USFreeAds at this point. I have noticed that some of the ads I place will rank very high in Google shortly after posting them - BUT…. it seems I get virtually no traffic from the ads. I have heard that you can pay extra to have the ad link redirect to your site for a few extra bucks, so I may try that out and see what happens. I need to poke around USFreeAds and see what everyone else is doing. Maybe I’ll notice some tricks that others are using and can try them out. Overall though, I can’t complain as I’m still on a free trial with them.

One thing you should definitely do is make sure you get some kind of stat counter for your Build a Niche Store. I use SiteMeter, which is free. I’m using one sitemeter for all of my sites. If one starts getting a ton of traffic, I’ll get a separate one for that site. Until then, traffic is still pretty manageable (about 120 uniques/day) so I’ll stick with one counter.

Definitely keep an eye on incoming search terms and adjust your store accordingly. If you see incoming searches and you don’t have a category for that search term, then make one. Did I mention this last week? If so, sorry!

It also looks like the pipe dream of setting up “out of the box” BANS sites with no content is not the best plan to have. Google loves UNIQUE content, so take some time to add at least 2 or 3 paragraphs to your home page that describes what your site is about. It’s probably a good idea to add content to each category, too. I have barely added any content and am getting traffic, but almost everyone says to ADD CONTENT. Do it when you can.

I think I’ve built about 20 Build a Niche Store sites so far and am ready to level off for awhile. I definitely need to add content to each of them and design a masthead for each as well. Right now they look a bit too spammy and I will probably get more clicks by spicing them up a little bit. By the way, when you use a SiteMeter counter you can see the “out clicks” so you can see if people are clicking any of the eBay auctions.

Well, that’s about all for now. Hmm… I wonder what goal I should set for next week? How about…. $100? Sounds good to me!

Well, I thought I wouldn’t update until later in the week, but I’m shocked to announce that I’m already almost up to $20 in earnings from the Build a Niche Store script. When I lasted checked in on Friday I was a little over $10. I figured I might not reach $20 till a week later, but it looks like I’m ahead of schedule!

So, it seems there could be an exponential earnings thing going on. It’s very slow making money at first, but there seems to be a snowball effect and each day you earn more and earn it faster. I’ve set up 3 or so more BANS sites since Friday and have lost track of what they are. LOL. Maybe tomorrow I’ll update my list so I know what I’ve built.

I did notice in Commission Junction that I have $4.10 in “locked” commissions. I did some research and a locked commission is a good thing. It is basically money you should definitely see and the advertiser is unlikely to try to reverse it. But, never say never. I need to send in my tax forms to CJ and get everything squared away. Not sure when I’ll see my first check but guess it won’t be for a couple of months.

I made a little discovery to uncover “hidden niches” that you might not otherwise find. I noticed some of my commissions were on sales that were not on any of my build a niche stores. One guy went on eBay and bought quite a bit of one particular item… and with a little research it looks like it could be a good niche. I followed these instructions to see exactly what items were purchased on eBay. Then I pasted the item number at the end of this URL so I can see the item with out affecting stats at CJ:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=

So anyway, it’s pretty cool to see what was bought. I sometimes check my sitemeter stats and see what the outclicks are to see if there are any bids. I need a more efficient system. It would be cool if the outclicks could be collected and converted into working links so you could see if anyone is bidding. For now… I’ll have to do it manually.

Another thing on the to do list is collecting incoming google search terms. It’s a good idea to adapt your Build a Niche Store site according to what people are searching for. I’ve been slacking on this, but will catch up soon. Well, that’s all for now… I wonder what dollar amount I’ll be up to on Friday. Hmm….

Well, it’s been a little bit more than two weeks since I first discovered and started setting up an army of BANS sites (Build a Niche Store) and since I have started, I’m now up to $8.26! Ok, it’s not a ton of money but considering a lot of my BANS sites haven’t been fully indexed yet, I think the progress is good. My friend just beat me and is over the $13 mark in less time. That sucks!

So I’ve experimented around with installing the Build a Niche Store script on domain names, subdomains and folders and so far it seems that installing on your own domain is best. Subdomains work well if on a site that has been around for awhile. I’ve discovered that it is best to find a niche that is related to what your main web site/blog is about and “sponge off of the success of it”. So, if you have a blog about digital photography, you could make a subdomain on that same domain and you should rank pretty good with it. For example - your digital photography blog is MyDigitalPhotographyBlog.com. Make a BANS store off of that like - DigitalCameras.MyDigitalPhotographBlog.com.

Got it? But…who knows. I’ve heard that many people have success using folders (Whatever.com/bans)… so who really knows? Especially after only 2 weeks.

I did discover an interesting little site that I was skeptical of at first, but then amazed at who well it worked after I tried it. I signed up for USFreeAds.com and I can post unlimited classified ads for $9.95/month. The amazing thing is that sometimes I would post an ad and it would then show up on Google within hours of posting it! I still need to mess around with it as I really haven’t got that much actual traffic from the ads. But… I think I have heard that these ads actually help boost your rankings.

I’ve really slacked off about adding content to my sites. I really don’t want to, but more than likely it will be necessary. I think I will wait and see…cuz I’d much rather slap up a thousand bans sites without unique content. But, we all know there’s no such thing as something for nothing!

All for now… I think I’m going to go out on a limb and set a goal to be at the $20 mark by this time next week. Stay tuned and see!

Well, it has been a week since I first bought the Build a Niche Store script and so far I’m pretty impressed! Ok, well, my earnings aren’t very impressive, but I’m still optimistic as most people that have been using BANS are doing pretty well with it. It does take time to get indexed in the search engines, so I need to be patient. Even when you get indexed it will take even more time before you start seeing those wondeful organic search results coming in.

Anyway, so far I have made $2.51 in my first week. Woo hoo! I don’t think I’m going to give away too many of my niche ideas, but one thing I will recommend that you do is be sure to use a sitemap with your Build a Niche Store. A Mogul to Be has a sitemap script that is easy to install and I highly recommend. Be sure to submit your BANS site to Google Webmasters, too.

One thing I hope to fix this week is the drop down menu as it can sometimes give funky results in your Google listings.

Overall, I definitely recommend the Build a Niche Store script. If you want to make money on eBay, but don’t want the hassle of dealing with wholesaling, shipping, etc. you can sell ANYTHING on eBay with this script. For more information, go to Build a Niche Store.