Since I've gone through the process of optimizing my store for the search engines, it's now time to start building backlinks. Soggy hooked me up with a guy on the BANS forum who has a social bookmarking service. So far my pages have be reindexed as well as the front page of the store. Good news. Also, organic clicks are beginning to come in as well. I expect to keep rising in the SERPS as the backlinks increase. I realize that I'm in a tough niche and have been considering doing some ppc to increase targeted traffic. That's just a thought. Lately I've been reading up on SEO and PPC. I bought Perry Marshalls Ultimate Guide to Adwords and I'm hoping it gets here today. The prospect of getting targeted traffic to the store for just a few cents a click is tempting. However I do see alot of other competition in my niche doing the same thing. These are important lessons that I can't begin to put a price on. My biggest wish was that I identified a less competitive niche to go after. Fortunately I've got a few in mind and will run these past Soggy. He's turning out to be a great mentor. Check him out at Soggy's Blog
I thought that being in IT would give me an advantage in Internet marketing but it doesn't. The thought process is different, but once you learn the process, it's pretty straightforward. The hard part is making sure you're doing the right thing and getting good advice. There's alot of shitty advice in the BANS forums, one reason why I haven't been there in awhile. Like my mom says, you can't eat from everyone's kitchen. Words to live by..........
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Slow going
It's been slow going updating the store pages. mainly because I don't want to write shit, but original content is key for this portion of the exercise. It also led me to a revelation. I have too many store pages. My previous theory was the more pages the better, kinda like the big store theory. But in retail sales are tracked per sq ft meaning you've got to make money on every inch to the store in order to pay expenses and make a profit. Well in the case of BANS, you only need a few high traffic "aisles" aka store pages. By optimizing those and getting organic search results it can push your profits upward. Plus it's just a flat out pain in the ass to have to write content for 20some pages. BUT its the path I'm walking. I'll go ahead and finish it today so I can move on to the next phase of the project and that's getting those all important backlinks.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
More work on the Niche Store
The work continues on my BANS. Alot's been accomplished over the past week, yet there's still more. Last week, I rebuilt the outer shell of the store, changed the template, optimized each page for my keywords and set the store pages up to reflect the content in the link. Meaning, when you go to the batteries page you get - yep you guessed it Batteries. Now my mission is to write a short paragraph or 2 for each store page keyword optimized describing what can be found on that page and giving some background information. This is tedious work, but once it's done it's done.
This past week I haven't done much work on the store as I haven't gotten much rest due to job duties and after work obligations. So after getting home at 10 pm after having been gone since 7:30, I basically don't feel like doing shit. And I haven't. I'm making up for that today. Once this is done, the next task will be submitting to the directories. Now truth be told, I'm not hand submitting these, I'm going with a company to do it for me. It's too tedious and not worth my time. I'm a big believer in outsourcing low $$$ projects in your business to others so you won't get bogged down in the details. so I'll probably go with submitedge. I've used them before and they're pretty good. After that's done it'll be good to get some backlinks, and next up for that will be articles for backlinks. Well, I have about 7 more store pages to do a writeup for so it's back to that work. Enjoy your Sunday.
This past week I haven't done much work on the store as I haven't gotten much rest due to job duties and after work obligations. So after getting home at 10 pm after having been gone since 7:30, I basically don't feel like doing shit. And I haven't. I'm making up for that today. Once this is done, the next task will be submitting to the directories. Now truth be told, I'm not hand submitting these, I'm going with a company to do it for me. It's too tedious and not worth my time. I'm a big believer in outsourcing low $$$ projects in your business to others so you won't get bogged down in the details. so I'll probably go with submitedge. I've used them before and they're pretty good. After that's done it'll be good to get some backlinks, and next up for that will be articles for backlinks. Well, I have about 7 more store pages to do a writeup for so it's back to that work. Enjoy your Sunday.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Globat support sucks ass!
I'd been using domainsarefree to register my domains at 3.99 a pop. I figured I'd save a few bucks. But now it's causing me headaches as they cancelled one of my accounts and of course no one knows why, they keep asking for my credit card number to activate it.
Can you believe this shit? They cancel it and need my cc number to activate an account they hosed. Not only that, it's damn near impossible to get anyone on the phone. I was just on hold for 20 minutes and the line mysteriously disconnected. Trust and believe I will be using godaddy or some other registrar in the future. And it's not like I'm using them for hosting, I'm with hostgator and they rock. I'm going to see about getting a discount with them as I plan on registering another 30-40 domains this year. And I had planned to register one for my next BANS this week. Not with these numbskulls!
Do yourself a favor, DON'T fool with these clowns. Use another registrar, or go with hostgator for registration and Hostgator for hosting
Can you believe this shit? They cancel it and need my cc number to activate an account they hosed. Not only that, it's damn near impossible to get anyone on the phone. I was just on hold for 20 minutes and the line mysteriously disconnected. Trust and believe I will be using godaddy or some other registrar in the future. And it's not like I'm using them for hosting, I'm with hostgator and they rock. I'm going to see about getting a discount with them as I plan on registering another 30-40 domains this year. And I had planned to register one for my next BANS this week. Not with these numbskulls!
Do yourself a favor, DON'T fool with these clowns. Use another registrar, or go with hostgator for registration and Hostgator for hosting
Links are SEO'd - hopefully
This SEO stuff is taking longer than I expected. It's also more work too, but the rewards will pay off. It's already paying off in lessons learned. I've had more than a few aha moments while doing this. In the short term, I'm seeing more visitors in the pays 3 days than the site's seen in any 3 month period, and I'm talking all of my BANS, all 4 of them. I'm tempted to log into epn (eBay partner network) to see how many clicks and bids this store's gotten. But I'm going to hold off and keep working on making this into a high traffic site. I've emailed soggy for him to check it out and see if I've overlooked anything.
Lessons Learned: a well thought out keyword strategy can speed SEO along drastically. Link Descriptions are VERY important as are link names. This improves your score in the eyes of the ever so present search engines. Having a mentor, the right mentor/coach even in an informal capacity is a necessity to anyone serious about business. In my opinion you can't afford not to have one.
Lessons Learned: a well thought out keyword strategy can speed SEO along drastically. Link Descriptions are VERY important as are link names. This improves your score in the eyes of the ever so present search engines. Having a mentor, the right mentor/coach even in an informal capacity is a necessity to anyone serious about business. In my opinion you can't afford not to have one.
Monday, July 14, 2008
More SEO, of the link rewriting variety.
Tonight I'll be doing more keyword research and optimizing my site. I'll also be rewriting the descriptions. I expect this to take awhile. However it is encouraging to see the number of visitors increase. Although I have to take into account some of those visits are me and Soggy checking things out. Once it's more together I'll post the link to it. It's not quite ready for public consumption yet so hold your horses.
Soggy's got some slick templates at his blog too. I meant to post the link friday but forgot, here it is Soggy's Templates
Remember fellow BANS and future BANS owners. Change that default template ASAP!
Soggy's got some slick templates at his blog too. I meant to post the link friday but forgot, here it is Soggy's Templates
Remember fellow BANS and future BANS owners. Change that default template ASAP!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
No Store Page Left Behind
Last night I began the arduous task of customizing my store pages at HRS. Why, they weren't optimized and used the same site wide title tags which is a big no no. It's the sign of a thrown together plain jane out of the box BANS that'll make a whopping sum of not much. I did some keyword research and made some interesting discoveries along the way. And these lessons will be with me when I set up my next niche store. It's got to be keyword based on what people are actually searching for, not what I "think" they're searching for.
What I did was pick 3 keywords that were getting a good amount of searches, with avg competition and changed the title and description tags to match them. This took alot longer than I expected and was somewhat tedious, but the good news is, once it's done it's done. The next go round it'll be much much easier and will go faster.
Lessons: Thou shalt customize all niche store pages.
Thou shalt master keyword research and use tools to get it done faster.
**I will be renewing my subscription to NicheBot ASAP
Just what is nichebot you ask? It's a sweet keyword research tool that pulls from wordtracker and other databases and combines them into one interface. It's cost effective as you don't have to subscribe to the other services and it's VERY affordable.
What I did was pick 3 keywords that were getting a good amount of searches, with avg competition and changed the title and description tags to match them. This took alot longer than I expected and was somewhat tedious, but the good news is, once it's done it's done. The next go round it'll be much much easier and will go faster.
Lessons: Thou shalt customize all niche store pages.
Thou shalt master keyword research and use tools to get it done faster.
**I will be renewing my subscription to NicheBot ASAP
Just what is nichebot you ask? It's a sweet keyword research tool that pulls from wordtracker and other databases and combines them into one interface. It's cost effective as you don't have to subscribe to the other services and it's VERY affordable.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
SEO Action
Today was another good day, or has been a good day so far. Anyday I learn something that can put $$$$ in my pocket is a good day. I worked on one of my BANS,
Radio Sales
and in the process I'm learning to optimize it for the search engines.
This morning I did the following:
1. Added robots.txt - basically this file tells the bots what files and directories to index, or more importantly NOT index.
2.Optimized it for my keywords. That is after deciding which 3 keywords to optimize it for. I basically changed the title, added the keywords and adding it to the meta tags
3. Updated the sitemap with priorities for each page. Google in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like the fact that all your pages can be just as important as the others. setting priorities is important and alleviates those pain in the ass errors you may sometimes see with your sitemap in google's webmaster tools.
4. Added a privacy policy. I also created an email address specifically for that.
5. Tested my homepage at SEO Test
which is a really cool tool to see how well you've set your site for your keywords.
For my 3 keywords I got a score of 38,38 and 35 so I'm pretty well optimized. Which is a drastic improvement over my original scores which was 1,1 and 1.
6. I added a javascript hit counter which tells me how many visitors I get and where they came from. Very Nice!
Lessons: SEO is very important, more important than how a site looks in the beginning. Next, original content with your keywords embedded naturally is also important for improving your rankings as well.
Radio Sales
and in the process I'm learning to optimize it for the search engines.
This morning I did the following:
1. Added robots.txt - basically this file tells the bots what files and directories to index, or more importantly NOT index.
2.Optimized it for my keywords. That is after deciding which 3 keywords to optimize it for. I basically changed the title, added the keywords and adding it to the meta tags
3. Updated the sitemap with priorities for each page. Google in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like the fact that all your pages can be just as important as the others. setting priorities is important and alleviates those pain in the ass errors you may sometimes see with your sitemap in google's webmaster tools.
4. Added a privacy policy. I also created an email address specifically for that.
5. Tested my homepage at SEO Test
which is a really cool tool to see how well you've set your site for your keywords.
For my 3 keywords I got a score of 38,38 and 35 so I'm pretty well optimized. Which is a drastic improvement over my original scores which was 1,1 and 1.
6. I added a javascript hit counter which tells me how many visitors I get and where they came from. Very Nice!
Lessons: SEO is very important, more important than how a site looks in the beginning. Next, original content with your keywords embedded naturally is also important for improving your rankings as well.
More SEO Action
Today I got up early around 6 or sound and got cranking online. Mainly just to familiarize my self a little more with the BANS interface and code. I'm glad to say I'm beginning to find things alot easier, which means the next SEO project with BANS will go much quicker. But, I will say this, I might stumble and fuck up in the beginning but when I learn something I get it downpat, cold and move swiftly into the next skillset. I learned to fix copiers on 1 week of training so once I get this I will blast my income into the stratosphere, but first things first- crawl, walk, run, Win Gold Medals. (Thats' not mine, it's a quote from Sherman Ragland)
In any event, Soggy gave me a list of things to do today and while it took me awhile longer than I wanted, I got them all knocked out. I'll post about them in a few because I'm still synthesizing what I did, and how it can help me. Once I've made sense out of if I'll write it down more coherently. Why? Because this is my template for future projects and I dont wanna write some shit that makes sense now, but none 3 weeks from now. Kinda like those notes you take at seminars.
One thing is apparent, I'm getting an SEO book and printing SEO posts from forums to read on my long commute to work. This is a very important topic to anyone who wants to make a business online. Kinda like marketing is to the offline entrepreneur. Any businessman who doesn't learn marketing is well, a dumbass. SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) are my next topics of study or shall I say mastery. Later for all that creating products shit. That will come later. Too many business models gets a man unfocused, and with me, since I have a short ass attention span, it's very easy for me to get distracted and try something else. That might be why I've only made $30 the whole 8 months I've had BANS. Hmmmmmmmm something to think about. Well this is my Phenomenon year and I'm taking focused actions (whether I understand it or not) and implementing quickly. I gotta go do laundry.
See ya in a few.
In any event, Soggy gave me a list of things to do today and while it took me awhile longer than I wanted, I got them all knocked out. I'll post about them in a few because I'm still synthesizing what I did, and how it can help me. Once I've made sense out of if I'll write it down more coherently. Why? Because this is my template for future projects and I dont wanna write some shit that makes sense now, but none 3 weeks from now. Kinda like those notes you take at seminars.
One thing is apparent, I'm getting an SEO book and printing SEO posts from forums to read on my long commute to work. This is a very important topic to anyone who wants to make a business online. Kinda like marketing is to the offline entrepreneur. Any businessman who doesn't learn marketing is well, a dumbass. SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) are my next topics of study or shall I say mastery. Later for all that creating products shit. That will come later. Too many business models gets a man unfocused, and with me, since I have a short ass attention span, it's very easy for me to get distracted and try something else. That might be why I've only made $30 the whole 8 months I've had BANS. Hmmmmmmmm something to think about. Well this is my Phenomenon year and I'm taking focused actions (whether I understand it or not) and implementing quickly. I gotta go do laundry.
See ya in a few.
This is NOT overnight riches
Affiliate marketing is NOT the road to overnight riches.................in the beginning. Why? The learning curve is steep, you have to learn How to drive traffic, SEO, SERPS and how to get a better ranking, creating good, original content and a whole bunch of other shit. There's tons to learn regardless of what model you choose. My suggestion- pick 1, roll up your sleeves and expect to put in a few months work without making much if anything. Then once the proverbial light comes on, you'll start to see the results of your actions, you can get more done faster, more sites = more profits and the Phenomenon that Dan Kennedy speaks of will begin.
I've decided that for me, this is my year and come hell or high water I'm going to take, and am taking MASSIVE ACTION to implement and implement fast suggestions on getting better at it but it takes time and practice and more important than learning what to do is they why.
I've decided that for me, this is my year and come hell or high water I'm going to take, and am taking MASSIVE ACTION to implement and implement fast suggestions on getting better at it but it takes time and practice and more important than learning what to do is they why.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I had another discovery
Last night while going through some keyword lists, I had another discovery- while looking at keyword stats, I was focusing on the totally WRONG stats. I was focusing too much on competition and not the actual monthly searches. WRONG WRONG WRONG. The competition really doesn't matter that much. The mere fact that they're there means there's obviously "gold in them thar hills" so to speak. Damn the competition, focus on monthly searches, start in the middle of the road with a good amount of searches and start with those keywords and optimize the tags and page for each.
BANS facelift
Today I gave my one of my niche stores (aka BANS) a much needed facelift. I thought it was doing well but after reading what a pro said about it, it was pretty shitty. I didn't put much effort into it and after looking at it and thinking it over, it showed. Plus it was getting like NO traffic. Only the google bots were nice enough to stop through. I'm not sensitive, so I said f*ck it, this has got to change NOW. Fortunately Soggy was cool enough to give me a template to use and I uploaded it. (He's got some pretty slick templates over at
check 'em out sometime - like umm now. Well not now, finish reading the post) I also changed my adsense block to match the site. Personally I think it looks 10,000 times better. Keep in mind it's a work in progress, but it's coming along. By this time next week I think it'll look alot better than now.
Sooooooooo what did I learn through today's exercise? BANS defaults are USELESS. CHANGE THEM ASAP! And when thinking about it, it's like a new pc. I've NEVER accepted fresh out of the box installs without tweaking them and making them my own. This should be no different.
check 'em out sometime - like umm now. Well not now, finish reading the post) I also changed my adsense block to match the site. Personally I think it looks 10,000 times better. Keep in mind it's a work in progress, but it's coming along. By this time next week I think it'll look alot better than now.
Sooooooooo what did I learn through today's exercise? BANS defaults are USELESS. CHANGE THEM ASAP! And when thinking about it, it's like a new pc. I've NEVER accepted fresh out of the box installs without tweaking them and making them my own. This should be no different.
My goal
My goal is to replace my day job income online over the next 1-2 years. Between affiliate marketing and real estate I believe, no, i KNOW it's possible. But I'm taking baby steps. So far I've broken my goal down to smaller, incremental steps.
1. make $1 a day from each BANS (Build a niche store).
2. make $5 a day from each BANS.
3. build a new BANS each week after becoming proficient at SEO and driving traffic to it.
4. 1/09- make $100/day online
5. 6/09- make $150/day online
6. Run 20 profitable BANS.
I'm also interested in learning ppc, creating my own info products etc. But first things first getting this BANS to $1 day is objective #1.
I'm sticking with BANS and focusing on that and I will make some money with it come hell or high water. To find out more about BANS and how you can make some money with it visit: More on that later. For now, it's Friday night and I've got some keyword research to to. I gotta get this done early so I can watch the Dallas Mavericks Summer league game tonight. One of my homies is a sports agent and his client just got invited to play for the Mavericks so I gotta pull for my folks. After that I'll be right back online. Work now and play later. In case I didn't tell you, BANS is paying for my trip to Brazil next year. I'm flying 1st class and I plan on being there at least a week. You Dig!
1. make $1 a day from each BANS (Build a niche store).
2. make $5 a day from each BANS.
3. build a new BANS each week after becoming proficient at SEO and driving traffic to it.
4. 1/09- make $100/day online
5. 6/09- make $150/day online
6. Run 20 profitable BANS.
I'm also interested in learning ppc, creating my own info products etc. But first things first getting this BANS to $1 day is objective #1.
I'm sticking with BANS and focusing on that and I will make some money with it come hell or high water. To find out more about BANS and how you can make some money with it visit: More on that later. For now, it's Friday night and I've got some keyword research to to. I gotta get this done early so I can watch the Dallas Mavericks Summer league game tonight. One of my homies is a sports agent and his client just got invited to play for the Mavericks so I gotta pull for my folks. After that I'll be right back online. Work now and play later. In case I didn't tell you, BANS is paying for my trip to Brazil next year. I'm flying 1st class and I plan on being there at least a week. You Dig!
The Preamble
This blog is a journal online of my adventures with Build a niche store. Here you'll see the good the bad and the ugly as I build a business online and push my site - www.hamradiosupplier.com into profitability. I feel as though this is a new beginning after flailing around for a few years bouncing back and forth between different business models, buying and downloaded countless ebooks, I've finally found someone to point me in the right direction while I look over his shoulder. I believe this will shorten my learning curve. I'll also talk about affiliate marketing and how to get started, or more important how I'm moving and progressing.
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