*
In the past I had been posting the profits I’ve made with my BANS (Build a Niche Stores) business and my other EPN (eBay Partner Network) profits here on the blog. If you haven’t been following along you can take a look at my BANS profits for June 2008 ($203.36), my BANS profits for July 2008 ($269.41), my BANS profits for August 2008 ($531.51) and my BANS profits for September 2008 ($821.74).
I got very busy while competing in the Blogging Idol competition in November 2008 so I didn’t get around to posting my profits for October 2008 … which were $733.33. It also meant that I got so busy that I didn’t spend any time whatsoever working on (or promoting) my BANS stores in November 2008.
At that same time (November 2008) EPN switched over to their “Value Based Pricing” commission structure for their ACRUs (Active Confirmed Registered Users) payout. The main reasons I see for this change is to insure a higher quality traffic and to reduce ACRU fraud and abuse. They basically structured a pay “range” for ACRU payouts … so instead of being paid a flat $25 per … the commission switched to a pay range … ranging from $1 per to $40 per. What did that change mean for me? Well, November’s ACRU commissions dropped down from $25 per to $10 per and my total profit for November 2008 (under the new payout) was $315.81. December really took a dive and was a mere $186.11.
I suppose you could say that there was a “vicious cycle” going on where the less I made the less I felt like working on the stores and, of course, the less I worked on them … the less I deserved to make.
Well … I have no idea what eBay based their decision on but I’m happy to report that my January’s ACRUs went up to $40 per and my January profits were $613.83. The ACRUs are still reporting at the $40 for February and I’m “tracking” to do about the same for this month. Of course this has prompted me to want to get back to work on my stores and to possibly even build a couple new stores.
I’m sure there are some lessons to be learned here and for me the biggest remains to diversify your online marketing efforts – never put all of your eggs in one basket.
If you are interested in learning more about BANS and/or the EPN program … I encourage you to contact me BEFORE you apply for the program and before you purchase the BANS product. It’s getting more and more difficult to get approved by eBay and I want to help you with some information if possible.
So are you a fellow EPN and/or BANS user? How have you been affected by the new system for ACRUs? Are you putting as much (or more) effort into your stores? Do you have questions about EPN and/or BANS? I’d love to hear from you below in the comments section. *SmiLes* Suzanne
September 2008 – $821.74 (ACRUs $25)
October 2008 – $733.33 (ACRUs $25)
November 2008 – $315.81 (ACRUs $10)
December 2008 – $186.11 (ACRUs $10)
January 2009 – $613.83 (ACRUs $40)
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Hi … My name is Suzanne Franco (Land) and I’m a wife (newlywed actually) and mother to 5 amazing kids (my 3 and his 2 – ages 9 to 16) and we live in the Texas Hill Country where we try to spend a lot of time in the water (river, boating, wakeboarding, the beach, etc.) and running from one kid’s sporting event to the other (mainly football, cheerleading, and soccer).
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Yo! I think you may have asked me over at Facebook about my ACRU’s.. yeah mine dropped from $40 to $25. Hopefully it’ll pick back up!
I’m with you! I need to focus on the stores that are working and maybe do a couple more!
Congrats on your earnings!
btw, what’s weird is my Campaign Quality score since december has been HIGH! Makes no sense to me!
i’m not understanding (not fully) how they are “rating” us … *sigh* … but i will keep plugging away. i’ve had several store ideas on the back burner so i will do the “number crunching” this week and pick one or two to implement. hope your acrus go back up!
Wow, those are great numbers! I’ve read in several places on line that the BANS program is “dead”. I don’t know much about it really but from the look of your numbers, I’d say that the people saying that are way off.
@ t ~ well … i don’t know about being “dead” but it has changed quite a bit … it’s not working out so well for those who pumped out junkie sites … “thin” sites as we call them with no content and just a bunch of links … let me know if you need any help
hey Suzanne,
~ Steve, the trade show displays guru
I can’t really remember..
Thanks for publishing REAL numbers. I’ve heard about BANS but not seen any real numbers. It seems a bit “whip saw-ish”, and is a good reminder as you say to NOT put all your eggs in one basket.
PS. Were you going to include a “quote of the day” in each post this year?
trade show displays guru’s last blog post..Do Trade Show Giveaway Pens Work?
Really it is nice post and thanks for sharing it.
Yep I’ve noticed most of the naysayers are those that just put up garbage and got Googlized lol. Great numbers keep it up!
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Guest Bloggers Wanted/Needed Right Here
Hi! Thanks for the informative post and you really have some good ideas here. Keep it up
Jacques’s last blog post..Why People Fail At Making Money Online
May be this one sound bit stupidity but will you please tell me what is Build a Niche stores and what is ACRU.
If you have described this in your earlier post than please let me know so that I can enhance my knowledge. Sorry for the new bie kind of question, but I know you will reply it as well
@pet fence ~ it’s not stupid at all! here you can read about bans (http://www.suzannefranco.com/build-a-niche-store-bans-ebay-affiliate-stores) … it’s a software that is used to set up niche stores to promote the ebay affiliate program and an ACRU is one of the commissions we make through ebay … it’s for driving a new referral to ebay who registers for ebay for the first time (and who bids or purchases within 30 days of us sending them there). I’m happy to answer any questions at all … please don’t hesitate to ask … and I asked a lot of questions when I was first introduced to it too! That’s how we all learn and if you asked … no doubt others wanted to know more and just didn’t want to ask *huGs* Suzanne
I signed up and purchased the BANS software last year and because I am so technically inept, I never did anything with it. Your post has been a real eye opener in terms of the income that can be earned using the program. I really need to get my butt in gear and start using it.
@ diane ~ please let me know if you need any help
@ Diane – BANS can be some of the easiest money you’ve ever made! It gives you so many options for using different merchants! That along with Suzanne helping you, you can really have a great income from it
I’m a big fan of BANS and happy to report that my BANS income is growing every month. I don’t advertise – it’s all been organic search thus far. I believe that content is queen.
The negative comments about BANS in some of the forums sound to me like they’re from whining babies who didn’t think they’d actually have to do some work to make money with BANS. I hate wasting my time with such negativity, so I avoid those posts as much as possible.
I’m also amazed by the sorry quality of a lot of the BANS sites I’ve seen (can’t understand why people don’t bother to cloak “powered by BANS…”).
ePN’s policy is that it won’t explain why some affiliate applications are rejected, but my read is that at least some of those rejected didn’t even fill out the application correctly. When I joined, I didn’t even have a web site. My plan was to promote through my Squidoo lenses. ePN accepted me. I went on to create 6 BANS sites (more on the way), and I still use Squidoo and other non-BANS methods. My next BANS site will be my first combining Wordpress and BANS. I’m on the hunt for a template that I like.
I belong to some other affiliate programs as well — I agree that one shouldn’t put all of one’s eggs in the same basket.
Keep up the good work Suzanne!
Sallie’s last blog post..And yes, he’s included Squidoo….
Really it is nice info and thanks for sharing it.
Yes, the demise of BANS has been greatly exaggerated.
Good to see some others are doing well with it too. Google definitely has made it more difficult now to make money with it but the way I look at it, that’s a good thing because eliminates the more empty looking spammy sites.
The people who are moaning are the people who got their ‘thin’ sites de-indexed. About a year ago, you could throw up a BANS site with hardly any content and you would make money. It was like free income to some people and now they’re mad they have to work for it. Lol, there will always be complainers I guess.
Do you have any more insight on how EPN is evaluating ACRUs? You must be doing something right because my ACRU rates are dismal compared to yours and I think I provide them pretty good traffic. I’m not going to complain though as their program has performed pretty well for me.
Niche Affiliate Marketing’s last blog post..Site Build It Reviews: Power To The People
I wish I had some insight on how EPN is evaluating ACRUs trust me … I get a bit worried that I’ll log in one day and I’ll drop from $40/per back to $10/per … but what can you do? I try to build good sites so that way if they “look” at them they will see they are not thin worthless affiliate link farms LOL and I just continue on. Good luck … I hope your ACRUs go up soon! *SmiLes* Suzanne
Great post thanks for all the info
Make Money’s last blog post..Make Money Online Gurus Suck!
Amazing article and very useful information to share with us that cool . the readers will definitely take advantage from this.It seems a bit “whip saw-ish”, and is a good reminder as you say to NOT put all your eggs in one basket. you can get more information from this.
Money like this in such a short period of time? I didn’t even know it was possible. Great job, I hope you only get more successful with it. I might try it myself.
Over $600 for one month is a pretty decent ammount. I wish I had the skills to make that much.
Bans is great.Very happy that google have tightened the screws, more money for us that actually do what is the real purpose with it ; adding value combined with great products.
Let people think Bans is dead,at least we get rid of the lazy,quick schemes people.
@gry dla dzieci ~ thanks … have you tried it yet? let me know if you need help.
@tkaniny obiciowe ~ what skills are you lacking? Maybe I can help?
@pike lures ~ I agree 100% … I will keep working at mine! Have you tried phpBay or ReviewAzon *SmiLes* Suzanne
woooow 600$ for one month is impressive! Thnx for published a real numbers, great post!