Introduction from Rochelle

February 4, 2008

Hi!

My name is Rochelle (aka neeznoodle on the BANS forum). I’m 38, married, and mom to two young girls, ages five and seven. I have a degree in Business Administration and am currently a stay-at-home mom.

My youngest daughter was born with health problems and she first became ill at two months old. She was born without the ability to fight off respiratory illnesses. Whereas most young children get a cold every now and then she would get them, often and badly. Because her body couldn’t fight off illnesses her colds often turned into really bad ear infections, bronchitis, even pneumonia. And each illness left her that much more suseptible to another illness. I was actually able to predict her illnesses and at her worst she was sick every twenty days.

I stayed home with her for her first 18 months but then got a job and put her and her sister in daycare. It got to the point, though, that I quit my job to get her out of daycare. This was in April of 2006, little over one year before she would start kindergarten. Her doctors and I agreed that it would be best for her to have that time to rest her immune system before being surrounded by classmates.

She started kindergarten last August (schools start early in Florida). We weren’t sure what to expect but she’s been doing much better than I dared hope.

The point to all that history is how I came to Build A Niche Store (aka BANS). Last summer while looking for something unrelated I stumbled across BANS. I could see the potential immediately and, two days later, convinced my husband of it. Since becoming a stay-at-home mom I felt guilty that I was no longer contributing financially to our household income. I thought BANS would be a possible solution to this guilt.

I purchased BANS in August, 2007 and have since created about 12 stores. I made the (somewhat common) mistake of jumping right in, making a few stores, then realized I didn’t know what I was doing and my stores were a horrid mess. I began reading and posting on the BANS forum (something I highly recommend all users do) and have learned tons from the wonderful members.

One of my strengths is creating an aesthetically pleasing store. But a good-looking store doesn’t guarantee sales. One of my weaknesses is researching and promoting stores. I’m very much looking forward to Mark’s help with this as a member of this group.

My hobbies include creating websites, which I’ve done for myself since 2000. When I started my goal was to make money with the sites I made but my almost total lack of knowledge prevented that from happening. Some of my non-BANS sites include:

• Celebrity Blog Directory
• Tools For Better Auctions

My intention is to (someday) transfer both those sites to the BANS format, as BANS is actually an easy way to create non-BANS websites. They don’t make much money but I can’t seem to let them go.

I have no formal training in web design and such. All that I know is entirely self-taught. But I have a knack for picking this stuff up and I love it. But, I get bored fairly easily and tend to leave projects unfinished. Being a part of this group will be great for me because it will force me to stay on track and finish what I start.

Some of my BANS stores include:

• Beatrix Potter Store
• Harmony Kingdom Store
• My Little Pony Store
• Nancy Ann Dolls Store
• Pez Dispensers Store

One thing you may notice about the above BANS stores is that they are all built off the same URL. I made subdirectories for each of them. If you are looking to save money this is an option. Purchase a single URL then make subdirectories for each store you want to add. Search engines see them as seperate URLS. The one thing to consider about this, though, is that people wanting to see BANS stores who find your URL can easily find all subdomains listed in search engines for that URL. If you want to hide your stores from prying eyes (i.e. potential competition) then this wouldn’t be the way to go.

If you haven’t noticed yet I also enjoy writing. One of my other strengths is writing instructions. I created a website where I am posting ‘How To’ instructions and strategies for niche store creators. If interested, you can see it at Niche Store Strategies. I have quite a bit more I will be posting as time allows.

Lastly, I also created a toolbar that many BANS users have found helpful to them when creating niche stores. It is free and has links to many sites and resources. You can download it at BANS Toolbar.

I fall into the category of participants who will be somewhat bored during the first two or three weeks of this tutorial since the lessons for this time are ones I already know. I will probably take that time to update the toolbar (which is in need of updating) while I wait for the meat of these lessons to begin.

This is very exciting and I’m grateful to be a part of this, and to Mark for putting this together.

To all our success!

Rochelle

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