O ne popular method for making money on the internet is to create a niche blog and pull in content and auctions from eBay.
While this method is promoted heavily, it’s not what it used to be.
First of all, it’s much harder for someone new to get into the eBay Partner Network, EPN.
Here are a list of blog posts I’ve found that strategies and techniques for getting your site approved by eBay.
- EPN eBay affiliate network.
7 Tips for Getting Accepted into EPN – eBay Affiliate Network
The other thing that’s changed is the way EPN calculates their payout. The majority of forum posts I’ve read from long-term affiliates cite a loss in income with the new structure. In many cases as much as 50-60%.
Zizish feels that going for an EPN based niche blog for your first venture in internet marketing may not be the best choice. Still, as you develop your knowledge and skills in site building, blogging, traffic building, etc., the niche store build may be something to consider as an additional source in your multiple streams of income.
And eBay isn’t the only game in town. In case you decide the EPN store option is not what you want, or you’re thinking about alternatives to the eBay Partnership Network model, you may find this blog post interesting.
10 Alternatives to eBay Partner Network for Affiliates
more tips:
The eBay Partner Network
The rules for joining the eBay Partner Network have recently changed. Joining is still free, but in order to successfully apply you really need to have a website already set up and running. So take a moment to review what you need to do first if you want to use this program:
Purchase your own domain name, with hosting (preferably a top level domain such as .com or .co.uk) for a period of 2 years or more. Choose a domain name relevant to your niche (e.g. www.antique-razors.com). You will need to be able to use PHP 5, and free hosting is not recommended as it may mean vital functions have been switched off by the hosting company which could prevent the successful operation of your niche store. A good hosting company in the UK is Streamline, at www.streamline.net, and a basic package (domain name with hosting) costs about £25 a year.
Create a basic site, which contains product reviews and articles relevant to the niche you are targeting. Probably the best thing to do at this stage is install a free blog platform (e.g. WordPress), and use a suitable site theme (such as the one provided here). You can get free articles from sites like Articles Base and Ezine Articles.
Include a Privacy Policy in your website, with a link to it on your front page (e.g. at bottom of page). See here for an example.
Include an “About Me” or “About this Site” page in your site.
DON’T include any adverts or widgets from other programs or publishers at this stage (i.e. no AdSense, etc).
Once you have a basic, fairly attractive site in place with some blog posts, articles and interesting content relevant to the niche you are targeting, you can then apply to the eBay Partner Network.
When you apply to the eBay Partner Network, make sure you select the Natural Search/Website Business Model, and specify your website address.
This should hopefully get you accepted into the program, after which you can create your own niche stores using the eBay program.
