All New Build A Niche Store Mission & Forum

For those Web Masters who use Build A Niche Store Software you are probably aware that the BANS website was turned off 8/10/08 for upgrading. The developers of BANS only said that they where updating the forum software and improving the way support is handled. The site was scheduled to re-open 8/13/08.
On 8/13 the BANS developer's sent out a Email stating they are finishing up the updates and plan on being up and running as planned.
The BANS Developers have also given us a preview of the changes users will see when the site opens back up.
Heres a quote from the pdf sent via email: "
We want this forum to be a positive place for moving forward with BANS...whether that be getting over the initial learning curve, expanding your understanding of the capabilities inherent in the software and how you can use them in your own site building projects or getting to grips with core development and marketing principles that will bring targeted traffic to your sites and revenue into your eBay affiliate accounts"
(1) First they have given a very firm reminder that the forum is for everyone. In my eyes meaning anyone who has paid for the software. Whether the user is a novice or expert webmaster everyone deserves respect in all posts. Basically no more RTFM, or some frivolous statement that dose no good for the community. Users are not obligated to reply. A similar situation to Web Master Forum Politics post. I totally agree with giving this warning because if it wasn't for the BANS Forum I wouldn't know half of what I know without it. Actually I would probably still be making ZERO $. It really comes down to this, don't respond to any posts if you don't have anything good to say, or your out. Here another quote "
Questioning and hence learning is an acceptable (necessary) part of making progress and posts which aim to attack, belittle, undermine etc other BANS users will not be tolerated and there will be no second chances given to people who post with such attitudes " & "
Such forum members will simply be deleted and BANS life will continue on without them".
(2) Secondly the forum has become overwhelmed with advertisements. The ability to have a signature in posts is being removed. As part of the continued development of BANS and it's authority of the Niche Store concept advertisements are bad. By removing the signatures and disallowing links in posts and responses will give more authority to the responses themselves. To many users on forums hide behind a rouse of a "Have You Used This Tool" thread when all they want is to promote the product they are asking about. Or try this LINK. The days of marketing on the BANS site is over.
No discussion of competing products like PHPBAY and the like. Well that kinda falls into the above category and fair INMO.
The Build A Niche Store Forum is being rebuilt into 13 sections with Sub Sections.
If you are a new member or established user of BANS it would be wise to read through the entire BANS News and Community Rules threads before posting. It's a good time to get familiar with the forum before posting.
In closing the changes announced today should make BANS a even more valuable piece of software that will only get better. Learning how to build websites and become a proficient webmaster isnt easy. If you have never heard of BANS and are looking for a place to start for learning how to build websites Build A niche Store is the place and always was. Its just written in stone now. So if you have debated about giving bans a try now may be a good time. Try BANS

New Search Engine CUILL AKA (Cool)

Have you heard of cuill AKA COOL Search Engine. Cuill is a new search engine developed by a former Google Employee. The claim is the Cuill SE brings back 3x more results relevant to your search. As I was using Cuill it went down due to high traffic. Typical cliche's for new sites. The spelling itself should draw attention. It pronounced Cool, Spelt Cuill and has cuil.com as a URL
Here's what they say about themselves.
"The Internet has grown exponentially in the last fifteen years but search engines have not kept up—until now. Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else—three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft.
Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuill searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. When we find a page with your keywords, we stay on that page and analyze the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page’s coherency.
Then we offer you helpful choices and suggestions until you find the page you want and that you know is out there. We believe that analyzing the Web rather than our users is a more useful approach, so we don’t collect data about you and your habits, lest we are tempted to peek. With Cuill, your search history is always private."
Cuil has a cool layout as well with a choice of 2 or 3 columns. Look nothing like Google. Cuil Also has Newer Features. Should be interesting to see what cuil will bring to Search Engine Marketing and how Web Masters SEO there pages. Check out CUILL AKA COOL Search.
After the site comes back online we will be doing a review.

Directory Submiitter Gets Updated Bling

Ive been using Directory Submitter! for about 6 months. I Love it. Set up accounts for each site and with the click of the mouse you site is submitted to seo friendly directories. Well I haven't been to Directory submitter for a about a month and decided to submit some sites today and what do you know ? There's a update. Alright !
Here's the updates:
Two new columns have been added to the software. They are “Category” and “Title”.
2. An auto-save option has been implemented: Every 15 seconds program saves all user data, so in case of a PC freeze or power outage, you will not lose any of your data.
3. We’ve added a new auto-rotate feature. Now, if you have more than 1 title and description entered into your project information screen, Directory Submitter will rotate between each of the titles and descriptions combinations every other directory. Simply check the check box to enable this feature. ( This has been working for some time)
4. They added a new “Report Directory Error” context menu so you can let them know if there is a “faulty” directory in the software that does not load. This way we can keep a very updated list for all users.
5. When new directories are added to our database, you will be notified on software start up. This way you can download the latest list of directories to your software.
6. And last, but not least, they added more than 500 new directories, both free and paid AND speciality directories to the software!
This is a great free software. Personally I have had success with saving tons of time and money with this tool. You need to have your sites in directories. Why because thats how search engines find you and since directories approve sites at different time tables your submissions look natural too. So if you already have Directory Submitter open it up and get the download. If you haven't used it you should. Directory Submitter will save so much time submitting your web sites to SEO Friendly sites. Its Basic SEO

Submit Your Website To Thousands Of Website Directories Instantly!

BANS ePN and Pepper Jam Team Up $10 Sign Up Bonus

Whether your into affiliate marketing, online marketing, affiliate program management, affiliate network, or CPA network this post is for you.
Thats right there's New Kids On The Block and they are PepperJam . These folks have taken the affiliate marketing world by storm. First PJ has scored with eBay's Partner Network, aka ePN by being authorized to approve, track and Pay eBay Affiliates through there (PJs) in house system*. So this is great news for ePN Affiliates that were not approved by eBay or simply aren't happy with the workings of the new ePN. An alternative to ePN is a welcome face for many. Where not going to rehash the ePN issues here, but Pepper Jam is definitely needed IMO. If ePN denied you try PJ.
Whats even better is Build A Niche Store has provided its users with a mod to change there new and existing BANS Stores to PJ. If your not familiar with BANS it is probably one of the best ways to build web sites today. BANS gives web master to quick and IMO a easy ways to build and monetized web sites while using the power of eBay's ePN. One thing about BANS is that it is what you make it. More work = more money, but that's more for a SEO post. I will say Build A Niche Store is the most powerful site building script I have ever purchased and Ive had them all.
One more thing to come from these partnerships is that PJ is offering a $10.00 sign up bonus for new affiliates. Not sure how long it will last so you should Join Pepperjam Network today!

The PJ vs ePN Comparison. I have put up some PepperJam driven BANS sites and some ePN BANS site over the last couple weeks to try and make some comparisons. Not to find out if the tracking is different. The commissions through PJ are the same as ePN. The traking is a little different in the way of speed. PJ is faster so far. What I want to find out is what kind of assistance and opportunities each provides. In the short period of time I can say PJ blows ePN away when it comes to customer service. After all ePN has 10's of thousands if not 100.000's affiliates to deal with. PJ has dedicated Partner Managers for each merchant. Every email I sent so far has been answered within hours not days like ePN. Now to tracking. Pepper Jam seems to be faster. Most clicks and commissions are reported almost in real time. Don't ask how. I don't know and don't care PJ dose update much faster most days though. Between the two groups of sites I have put up both have done about the same in traffic and sales. Two weeks just is not enough time to start showing numbers, but both made around a $100 the first 7 days after launch. Stay tuned the results of this un-scientific test will be posted when I feel there is enough data.
Over all I like Pepper Jam more than ePN and plan on building many sites using them as my affiliate marketing base.
Good luck all. Try looking through my past posts for more tips and even free stuff