If you're reading this page, chances are you were visiting one of my stores and want to build one of your own. If that's not why you're here, but you're still interested in building a store, or even just a website, feel free to stick around.
 
A few months ago, I began reading the blog of a man who supports himself entirely through affiliate marketing. What that means is, you place an ad for someone else's product, and when someone clicks through your ad to buy that product, you get a cut of the cost of that item without driving up the cost to the buyer.
 
There are a lot of companies that offer affiliate promotions, and one of them is eBay. Build A Niche Store took advantage of the sheer marketing power that eBay has and harnessed it in a way that only a few other programmers have been able to do. And with Build A Niche Store (BANS), you don't need to know how to program, it's all built right into the software for you.
 
What happens is, you buy the Build A Niche Store program. They include step by step instructions for setting up the store (including how to register a domain, find a host, etc), and how to actually build the store- from choosing colors, to uploading a logo, to picking a template, and what products you want to sell. I know nothing about programming, and even find setting up a blog to be a good enough reason to panic, but the steps they outline are so detailed that even a technophobe like me managed to set up my first store in under 20 minutes. Now that I'm comfortable with the program, I can set up a very basic store in 5 minutes.
 
Once you buy BANS you own it, period. All updates and new versions are free for BANS owners. You pay once, and that's it. The program as is allows you to set up an affiliate store for auctions on eBay. You can make your store about anything- Golf (broad), golf clubs (narrow), Ping golf clubs (niche), Ping golf clubs previously used by Pro's on PGA tours (micro-niche).
 
You can set up a BANS site to host nothing but your own auctions, earning you affiliate cash in addition to publicity for your own goods. You can set up a BANS site for another eBay member, or several. You can set up that golf site using only your own auctions, or make a mixture. The possibilities are endless. If it's on eBay, you can have a store.
 
Build A Niche Store also offers instructions for setting up their program using other site builders, such as WordPress blogs. Some builders aren't totally compatible, or haven't been tried yet, so check the site first to make certain that it will work if you want to use other templates or your own site building skills.
 
Plus, you're not limited to eBay for income, as nice as their program is. BANS is set up so that you can throw your own advertising above and below the auctions as well as along the sides. You can use AdSense (pay per click), Amazon, Commission Junction, PepperJam, ClickBank, and any other affiliate ads you want. You can even sell regular advertising to regular businesses, just as you would on any other site.
 
But my favorite thing about BANS, is that while I can set up as many affiliate sites as I want, I can use it to build a simple, easy to navigate, clean and attractive regular old website. For example, the site that you're on now, if you remove the “store” links, you're left with a small and simple website introducing the art of garb making for renaissance faires. I could have done that with a WordPress blog, or a GoDaddy Website Tonight package, but guess what? I've used both.
 
The Website Tonight package is, well, a pain in the butt, and takes hours of tweaking to make it presentable. WordPress is great for out of the can attractiveness, but navigation isn't as smooth. BANS makes everything so simple, and so clean. And it's so easy to update and change. If you want to make sub-pages out of a regular page, it's just a click into Edit, and a drop down menu in the corner. Simple!
 
Now, I'll admit right now that the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click them and then sign up, I will get cut. It will not affect your price in any way (for Build A Niche Store- eBay doesn't charge fees except for product purchases and sales), and I will not be offended if you decide to bypass my links. Disappointed, yes, but not offended.
 
I'm no great expert, but I have built a fair few BANS sites. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. This is not my main email address, so I won't be checking it every day, but I'll eventually get your message and I'll get back to you. Email: BANSLove [at] gmail [dot] com Or Click Here! to see for yourself what they have to offer, and click here to sign up with the eBay Affiliate program.