Curacao 2008 Photos
November 14, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
Photos for our Curacao Trip from September 08. Enjoy -MJ
Curacao Sept 13-20, 2008
October 26, 2008 by Shannon · Leave a Comment
Curacao Sept 13-20, 2008
We just returned from a wonderful trip to another one of the ABC (A= Aruba, B=Bonaire, and C = Curacao) islands. This was our first trip to Curacao! Curacao is a small island slightly north of Venezuela. We chose to go there because our trip took place during hurricane season, and the ABC islands are generally considered to be out of the hurricane belt.
We chose to stay at Lion’s Dive resort, as there was a reputable dive shop on site, and it was attached to the marine park. Any resident of Lion’s Dive has free access to the marine park for your entire stay. The hotel, in our opinion, was adequate, although there were a few frustrations here and there. When we first arrived they didn’t have a lock to our safe, as promised, and we couldn’t get it until after noon the next day, which was quite inconvenient to us. We also had a ton of mosquitoes floating around our balcony, and several slipped into our rooms for nightly visits! I left with many more mosquito bites than I care to have had! People we met from other hotels said they did not have issues with mosquitoes, so not sure if it was the position on the island, or what… but definitely if you go here, bring your DEET! In general, however, the front desk staff was quite friendly and helpful. The rooms were OK, but not quite what we noted on the website. A little smaller, and a little more plain, but the oceanfront view was nice, and there was a refrigerator for our beverages. It was adequate for our needs. You don’t really spend much time in the room anyway!!
Lunch and dinner was most excellent at both Nemo’s and Hemingway’s, the hotel’s two restaurants. We ate a wonderful dinner at Nemo’s the first night we arrived, although the food there was pretty expensive. We frequently visited Hemingway’s for their wonderful cheeseburgers, pizzas, and sandwiches for lunch. The Nemo staff was excellent, but the staff at Hemingway’s, one of the two hotel’s (less expensive) restaurants varied a bit. Many of them were friendly, but it seemed they were a little inconvenienced by some requests. Prepare yourself for no split bills (as it plainly says on their menu). There are no split bills, and there are no exceptions. Our friends and ourselves (four of us on this trip) started sitting at different tables so we could easily keep our finances straight. Oh, and just an aside, if you happen to be a ketchup freak like myself, buy a bottle at the nearby store, and take it to your meals, both on, and especially off the hotel grounds. After two packets of ketchup at the local Kentucky fried chicken, you have to buy each packet!! Breakfast at Nemo’s was just so-so, and I didn’t think worth the $13 and some cents price tag. We only did that one day, and stuck to our granola bars and store bought stuff the rest of the week. They also informed us they didn’t give change at Nemo’s for breakfast, so you lost even more money if you didn’t bring exact change (if you decided not to pay for the entire week ahead of time like we did). After a few days, we rented a car, and hit a nearby grocery store, and the cost for meals came down significantly.
Lion’s Dive dive shop is Ocean Encounters. It was a well equipped facility with very nice dive boats. The staff there was very accommodating to the changing needs of our group. Sherman was one of my favorite divemasters… he was very funny and fun to be around. The diving was good. BE SURE to go to the Mushroom Forest as that was one of the most, if not THE most beautiful reef I’ve ever been to. It’s mushroom after mushroom of coral reefs with so much marine life there. It’s $40 extra as it’s about an hour boat ride each way, and lunch is provided, but it’s worth every penny. After that far of a haul, I was disappointed we only did one dive there, and then a second at a nearby site. The second one wasn’t nearly as good. However, I imagine they do that so as to keep that reef as pristine as it currently is. Also during our surface interval we snorkeled to the edge of the rocky shore, dove down, and came up in a cave with an air pocket where we could all see and breathe above the water. That was pretty cool. It was a much better than the average ‘sit around on the boat’ surface interval.
One difference between the dive shops at Bonaire and Curacao, was that Bonaire was much more structured and informative to divers when they got to the island. I felt this way with both the shops I dove with there. First day in Bonaire, you sit down with a dive shop member to pay your marine park fee, fill out your paperwork, and then go over dive procedures on the island. In Curacao, there was no marine park fee (paid at the dive shop, anyway), and there was not much of an introduction. We basically felt our way around and asked lots of questions along the way. Being experienced divers that was no big deal. For new divers, however, this would be a little more of a disconcerting way to get started. Proper orientation is a lot more comforting than being thrown into your dive day, and figureing out your check-out dive, schedules, and procedures all on your own.
Sherry, Crystal, and myself also did the dolphin dive. It was about a 30 minute open water dive with, in our case, two dolphins. The dolphins, Annie and Tayla were both pregnant and preferred to spend a lot of time together, so they were both present on our dive. They came very close and everyone had 4-5 opportunities to touch them. George, the marine biologist, gave us a very good briefing prior to the dive and then met us at the site with the dolphins following his boat out there. It was a wonderful experience, I’d do it again in a heart beat, even for another $200!! We have the video and have included at the bottom of this post.
The Sea Aquarium next door was a little small, but definitely worth a visit. There is a schedule, and you can watch the dolphin and sea lions train, as well as feeding of the fish. We also have some great photos of Crystal and Sherry feeding the nurse sharks. You can schedule a time to snorkel with the dolphins or sea lions if you like. Sherry and Crystal scheduled private time with the sea lions where they were allowed to touch one, get a kiss from one, and then snorkel with several in their pens attached to the open ocean.
One of the biggest highlights for me on the trip is that I was introduced to Dolphin Assisted Therapy. At the sea aquarium they have a two week therapy session for the disabled. They take anyone from childhood to young adult. The facility is staffed with physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers and speech therapists, who work with the patient dockside. As part of their therapy or behavior rewards for the child, each child gets to interact with the dolphins. A dolphin trainer is also present at each platform to work with the therapists. Because of my background as a therapist, I was encouraged to come learn about the center, and was permitted to observe as the sessions were going on in the water. It was a wonderful thing to see. The director of the program introduced me to the program itself, and gave me information to bring back home. As most of the participants are from Germany and Holland currently, she was hoping I’d take the idea home to the Americans. It is only one of a very few facilities of its kind in the world. She said she had seen some phenomenal results, as kids come back year after year. It is $6000 US to participate, but it appeared to me to be worth every penny. She also stated they were building more hotel rooms right next door that were being designed to be more handicapped accessible, not only for program participants, but also for the general population that has more difficulty getting around, due to age or disability.
Towards the end of the week we added a few non diving activities to our agenda. First we went to the Aloe Vera farm, where you could see aloe plant after aloe plant after aloe plant. Their products are 98% aloe vera, which is supposed to have very healing properties. It was a quick stop, but I thought worth the trip. Right next door, we went to the Ostrich Farm, which was some of the most fun we had all week. We climbed up on a big old German world war two vehicle that had been outfitted with benches for tourists. Our guide took us around the farm explaining facts about, and the habits of the ostrich. There is a restaurant onsite were fresh ostrich is served, if you desire to partake. We just took the tour out of pure interest. For $10 it was worth the trip. At one point we got off our vehicle, each held a big pan of ostrich food, slowly backed our way up to the ostrich pen, and all these ostrich heads appeared curling around in front of us going crazy on that bucket of food. You couldn’t help but just burst out laughing! Later we actually got to hold a 3 day old chick and we each stood on an ostrich egg because they’re so strong they can hold up to 400 pounds! They have to, because the males fertilize them! We learned they’re not the smartest animals, but that they are some of the strongest! Their method of defense is kicking forwards with both of their legs. They can defend themselves and kill a cheetah by kicking them in the head. They broke both the forearm bones of a hired hand awhile back the guide told us. “He didn’t come back after that”, the guide said.
We also went to a small cave in the area which was a fun diversion. It was the first cave Mike had ever been to, so he found it very entertaining. There were plenty of bats on the ceiling, and interesting formations inside to be found. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Most people on the island spoke Dutch and English, so wherever we went there was someone who could speak to us in English. After the cave we drove north and hit the coast line. We walked over a natural bridge, went into caves the sea ran in and out of, and hiked along the coastline to see what we could see.
The last couple of days we went downtown for a little shopping. They had a very quaint little, Dutch styled downtown. There was a waterway dividing the two sides of town. Connecting both sides of the town was a bridge you could walk across to get from Punda to Otrabanda. The interesting thing about the bridge is that it had a motor at one end. When the large cruise ships or cargo ships went through, they engaged the engine on the bridge and pushed it to the side to allow the ships to pass. During this occurrence, people were shuttled from one side to the other via small ferry. We used both methods of transit during our stay just for the fun of it. Also downtown we saw the floating market. This was where all the small boats gather that carry produce across the ocean from Venezuela. Locals go there to purchase their fresh produce and exchange goods. We saw some fun artwork in their alleyways, an old beautiful church with white sand for its floor, and lots of the local wares. Of note, the map given to us by the hotel had many unmarked roads on it. Also some of the roads on the map were marked very poorly with lack of street signs on the island. It took a little bit of getting used to getting around on our own, but with a little help from the front desk for directions, by the end of the week, we were getting around to just about anywhere we wanted to go.
All in all, it was a very fun trip. Curacao is definitely a place I’d return to. We’d been to Bonaire 3 times, as we liked it very much. We expected Curacao to be very similar, and in many ways it was. The language, the laid back people, and the diving was much the same. However, Curacao is a bit more developed. It’s larger with more to do than on Bonaire. So, if non-divers were participating on the trip, I’d have to pick Curacao over Bonaire, because there’s more places to go and more things to do. Nightlife is also more plentiful in Curacao, as compared to Bonaire, for all you party hounds our there!
We hope you enjoy.
Shannon
Weekend at Table Rock Lake 7/25-7/27/08
July 22, 2008 by Shannon · Leave a Comment
July 18-20th
Michael and I spent last weekend down at Table Rock Lake with some friends of ours, Sherri, Sherry, Allyson, and Crystal (fellow Prairie Divers). Instead of diving under the water, though, we decided to try some ‘on the water’ activities. Allyson and Sherri have an awesome ski boat, and a lovely pontoon which served as the platform for all of our activities. The temperature was quite warm – mid 90’s, but the intermittent swims in the lake, and the breeze kept the heat tolerable.
After a smorgasbord of fruit and muffins, we started out each morning on the ski boat. Michael tried out some activities he’d never done before. The first day he worked on mastering wake boarding, but getting out of the water proved to be quite the challenge for the newbie. After many tries and a little rest, he decided to try an alternate skill. This time he successfully achieved a constant upright posture on both the knee board and the, ever so cool, surf board! He did so great! I was proud of him! As for me, I prefer to avoid the activities which could mame me!. At the lake I’m just as happy being in the boat, watching the others try their tricks, and saying “They’re down!”, all the while thanking God that their last crash on the water was not mine! J
Our skilled boat driver, Sherri, did her usual wonderful job of keeping us safe. Crystal was the Wakeboard Queen, while "Ms. Balance", aka Sherry worked on mastering her new, and very slippery, water skateboard. Later she showed off with the surfboard by landing on the boat (while it was running). She stepped right off the board on to the moving boat (don't try this at home, folks!). Allyson is the slalem master, but can do it all upon request. All in all, quite a skilled bunch!! After many runs, it was time to return to the house for a little rest and some lunch.
In the afternoon, after everyone was rejuvenated, we headed back out for the pontoon boat. This time we were to meet Crystal’s parents at the marina to take them for a spin. It was a very pleasant visit, and a good time was had by all. We finished up on an entertaining note for them, as Sherry and Michael decided to do a little tubing on something of a ‘two seater’. They bounced around and around, and up and down. They even swapped seats with each other multiple times. I thought they were crazy! Sherry told me she and Mike couldn’t stop laughing throughout the experience, even when she was taking in lake water!! I consider those two to be the dare devils of the group!
Our final stop of the day was at the “jumping rock”. Usually the jump is ridiculously high which makes it for dare devils only. Due to the heavy rainfall this year, the lake was up, and there was only about a 6-12 foot drop from the jumping rock, so almost everyone decided to try it. After the jumping rock it was time to head for the house. It was getting late, and everyone was ready for a rest.
Saturday evening was very relaxed. There was much story swapping and some burgers on the grill. The lake house we were at had a great view overlooking the water. We sat outside for every meal to soak up the ambiance. Everyone turned in to bed early that night, as the sun, wind, water, and activities had taken their toll (or we’re all just getting old! J). It was time for a good night’s rest so we could do it all again tomorrow.
Sunday morning we headed back to the ski boat. The skiers and boarders did their thing. Michael tried the skate board and the wake board, which he finally got up on, but was unable to stay long before being thrown off by the water! Still, he’d come a long way for never doing it before. The next time we go down I think he’ll have it mastered!! Sadly, the noon hour came too soon, but everyone decided it was time to head back to the house, gather our things, and head for home.
All and all it was a fantastic weekend on the water. Aside from some sore muscles, and some minor sunburns, everyone came out of the weekend unscathed. It was a good time had by all. We’re all looking forward to the next time, and will keep everyone posted on future events.
Thanks for the read, and enjoy the photos!
Scuba Class 6/28/08-6/29/08
June 30, 2008 by Shannon · Leave a Comment
Saturday
The pool at Shawnee Mission North was one busy place this weekend! There were 3 different classes being held simultaneously! Fortunately for us, the pool there is a big one, and there was plenty of room for all. We didn't even bump into each other! Mike and I assisted one of my favorite instructors, Beau, with the biggest class.
The class consisted of 10 eager students who all did a great job. Saturday we covered the usual... appropriate gear assembly, entries, gear donning, purging the regulator (2 methods), retrieving the regulator (2 methods), mask clearing, and buoyancy skills. Most got to work on ear clearing and proceeded to the deep end to practice their skills in the deeper water. One remained behind, as 'in the mouth - out the nose' breathing was quite the challenge for her. Mike went with Beau and the class, while I stayed behind with the one student to let her get used to the idea of breathing under the water.
For my student, as with many students, anxiety was playing the largest part of the problem. Sometimes it takes a little longer for people to get comfortable with the procedures, or just to get comfortable with the idea that they're depending on equipment to breathe underwater. Clearing the water out of one's mask always proves to be the biggest challenge. That's usually where I come in. I always hang back with the students having a little more of a problem mastering their skills or relaxing in the water. I generally try to provide a 'no pressure' experience, because pushing a student too fast can lead to even more anxiety, which only worsens their problems. It's very important that the first experience with SCUBA, even in the pool is a good one. Without a lot of patience, and letting people get used to the idea at their own pace, you can push students away from what I consider to be one of the most awesome experiences in life. Proceeding at their pace, even if it takes more than a weekend to complete it, in my opinion, is the best way to introduce someone to the sport. Honestly, I much prefer to work with the more challenging students, as I get a great sense of accomplishment helping people relax, and being around during their "ta-dah" moment, when everything falls into place, and they're finally relaxing and 'getting it'.
My student ended Saturday on a great note. She finally made it through her skills in the shallow end, and came down to play with us in the deep end. She learned lots, and was obviously feeling more comfortable by the end of class. We still had a ways to go to get there, but she had made giant strides from the beginning to the end of class. The rest of the class was a group of fish and made Beau look smart, as usual :) Everyone had smiles on their faces when leaving which was a very good sign that they would return the next day, and complete the confined portion of their SCUBA training.
Sunday
Didn't know if my 1:1 student would feel more comfortable entering the pool on the second day, or be just as nervous the first. She came into class with a smile on her face, but still had some trouble getting started with flooding and clearing her mask. After much practice she was finally able to pull the mask completely off and place back on her head to clear it. YEAH!!! Suddenly there was a change in her demeanor. We proceded toward the deep end and she performed every skill I asked her without hesitation! She whizzed through the air sharing, the emergency ascent and even donned and doffed her gear underwater. Even though it took her awhile to get her gear back on, there was never any panic, she just calmly worked it out, which was where I wanted her to be. For starting the weekend taking 2 hours to master regulator purge and retrieval, she finished with a bang!! I was so proud of her! She overcame her fears, and actually finished her skills with enough confidence to head to her open water class in 2 weeks. She had a trip to Costa Rica planned, and I think she might make it in fine form! One other student spent some time with me just on mask clearing, but after adding a mask strap to her gear, her task became so much easier, and felt much more comfortable with the idea. Funny how just a little tweak here or there makes a big difference. Everyone else in the class passed with flying color with Beau and Mike's assist. Our class did so well, that Michael actually ended up helping a young boy in another class that was in the pool, also.
All in all fears were conquered, skills were mastered, and there was a lot of fun had by all. They all planned to complete the open water portion of their training either down at Beaver Lake in Arkansas, or on their upcoming vacations. They were 1/2 way to becoming certified divers, all with great potential to do so.
Mike and I are looking forward to our next class. Will keep you posted on the details!
Ciao for now!
Adventure Sports
June 24, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Since we are affiliated with Adventure Sports of Kansas City, I would like to share some information about our local dive shop.
Adventure Sports is a full service dive shop servicing the Kansas City Metro Area. The shop services anyone who wishes to pay a visit, schedule a class, or even participate in SCUBA travel. They opened in 1987 and have been offering scuba training, travel, repair service, air fill station, rentals and equipment sales ever since. They offer certifications in PADI, SSI, and NAUI.
Both Shannon and I are from the land locked Midwest. To get our diving fix we often make short trips to the Adventure Sports lake house on Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas. Beaver Lake is actually in a dry county so the boating traffic is generally at a minimum. This enables divers to experience relatively clear water, and safe diving conditions. The lake house can sleep about twenty-five people (maybe more). They advertise that they can sleep twelve comfortably, but if you willing to pack the sleeping bag you can bring 24 more of your favorite friends. :) The dive weekends include lodging, and diving comfortably from a 40' barge style dive boat with plenty of room for divers and all their gear. If you wish to find out more information about Beaver Lake, wikipedia.org has some great information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Lake_(Arkansas).
For more information about Adventure Sports, please visit http://www.adventuresportskc.com.
Scuba Cat
June 23, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
Cats can scuba like us..
-MJ
Back in the Swing of Things
June 23, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
It has been a while since Shannon and I have been in the swing of things. I will not blame it on the over inflated gas prices....I wish I could. To be honest, we have just been so busy as we purchased a new home.
Next weekend will be the first weekend in a while that we will be assisting future divers in the pool. We are excited about it and can't wait to get suited up and in the pool to start assisting the instructor with his students. What is even better, we will be heading down the Beaver Lake with Adventure Sports to assist divers in the open water in August. Not only is this fun for us, it will get us prepped for our upcoming trip to Curacao in the fall. We do plan on assisting in more pool classes this year. We will keep you posted.
-MJ
The Diver’s Checklist
June 9, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
Preparing for a dive trip can be stressful! There are so many things to remember! To help make for a more pleasant experience I have put together a list of important items to consider when planning a dive trip. The list is not exhaustive, but it is extensive. All items on the list may not be appropriate for every trip, or there may be others you require, so pack as needed. This list is designed merely as a guideline to help you remember some of the most important things.
MUST HAVES:
( ) Plane tickets
( ) C-cards (specialty and other)
( ) Cash (spending/tips)
( ) Credit Card
( ) Dive Insurance Card
( ) Emergency Contacts
( ) Passport
SAVE A DIVE KIT:
( ) allen wrench
( ) crescent wrench
( ) clips
( ) medical scissors
( ) computer battery
( ) duct tape
( ) fin straps (pair)
( ) mouthpiece (spare)
( ) mask strap (spare)
( ) dive light
( ) needle nose pliers
( ) 0-rings
( ) Zip ties
( ) batteries ( for dive lights, etc.)
( ) superglue
( ) string
( ) hair ties
( ) suit cement
( ) talcum powder
( ) spare high pressure hose
( ) Swiss Army Knife
SCUBA GEAR:
( ) fins
( ) boots
( ) wetsuit
( ) dive skins
( ) vests
( ) drysuit
( ) mask
( ) snorkel
( ) regulator
( ) computer (and any cords/accessories you might need)
( ) tank (if traveling locally)
( ) BC
( ) BC pockets
( ) weight
( ) mirror or other signaling device
( ) safety sausage
( ) knife (for BC or leg)
( ) slate/pencil
( ) tank banger/knocker
( ) dive light(s) - 2
( ) weight belt
( ) whistle
( ) mask defog
( ) compass
( ) dive watch
( ) battery powered light stick for night dives
( ) dive reel
( ) dry box/dry bag
( ) gear bag
( ) gloves
( ) hood
( ) Dive Log
( ) Dive Tables (regular and nitrox)
CAMERA GEAR:
( ) Batteries
( ) Camera
( ) Strobe
( ) Instruction Manual
( ) Disposable Camera
( ) Film (slide/print)
( ) Digital Memory
( ) Lenses (Macro/Wide Angle)
( ) Underwater Housing
( ) o-rings
( ) Video Equipment
( ) silicone
MEDICAL:
( ) First Aid Kit
( ) Motion Sickness Meds (bonine/Dramamine/patch, etc.)
( ) decongestant
( ) Swimmer's Ear (or equivalent)
( ) Tylenol/Advil
( ) band aids
( ) anti-diarrheal
( ) antacid
( ) any prescription medications
( ) benadryl
( ) sunscreen
( ) tweezers
( ) emergency oxygen (if traveling locally)
( ) cortisone cream
( ) anti sting solution
( ) eye wash
( ) bug spray
NECESSITIES:
( ) deodorant
( ) toothpaste
( ) toothbrush
( ) blow dryer
( ) hairbrush
( ) combs
( ) hair ties
( ) make up
( ) sunburn medication/lotion
( ) nail clipper
( ) eye glass kit
( ) glasses
( ) sunglasses
( ) shampoo
( ) cream rinse
( ) towel
( ) soap
( ) toiletries
( ) feminine products
( ) floss
( ) lotion
( ) facial cleansers
( ) contacts (+ case an solution)
( ) curling iron
( ) fanny pack
( ) Kleenex
( ) razor
( ) travel alarm
( ) vitamins
( ) cell phone
( ) garbage bag
( ) zip lock bags
CLOTHES:
( ) swimsuit
( ) underwear
( ) shorts
( ) socks
( ) pants
( ) belts
( ) hats
( ) sandals
( ) rain poncho/parka
( ) shirts
( ) shoes
Subsidizing our Scuba Trips - Part II
May 16, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
Here is how we are making money on eBay
When you hear "eBay" and "money" in the same sentence your probably think of becoming an eBay seller.
You place product listings in the eBay marketplace, buyers bid, you pay your eBay seller fees and what you have left is your profit margin.
There is, however, another way to build a business which still revolves around eBay but which doesn’t involve you selling a single thing in the eBay marketplace.
This alternate opportunity is based on the eBay affiliate program. It is a great tool which makes entry into this opportunity not only possible but also super easy. This tool is called "Build A Niche Store".
Now if you don’t know – an affiliate program enables you as an individual internet entrepreneur to promote the products of a company in exchange for a commission on all sales that you refer.
You are basically operating as an internet middleman and connecting internet browsers to particular products and companies through your own network of websites and marketing methods.
If we return to the eBay affiliate program, eBay actually invites you to promote all of the product listings in the eBay marketplace and, in exchange for your efforts, we will pay you up to 75% of the revenue they make from each sale you refer. In addition, you will receive up to $35 for each new active eBay member you refer.
You can read about the eBay.com affiliate program here
What this means is that you can earn up to three quarters of eBay’s revenue simply for connecting people to the products listed in the eBay marketplace.
Not only do you get to partner with the best branded marketplace in the world, you also get access to and control over ALL of the products listed in this marketplace. The eBay product inventory becomes YOUR product inventory and yet you do NOT have to stock items, deal with customers, organize shipping or process refunds.
You are no longer limited to selling only those products which you can buy and sell for a profit margin. You can choose ANY niche market and promote those eBay products relevant to your chosen niche outside of the eBay marketplace, funneling targeted traffic through to eBay and into your own affiliate commissions.
Baby clothers, SCUBA gear, golf equipment, automobiles, sports memorabilia.....
If you know eBay you know how BIG it is – there are NO limits.
At this point you might be thinking - well this sounds interesting but in reality is there any money in it? Well, here’s the shocker – eBay's top affiliates make over 1 million dollars a month. That’s right – 8 figures a year without stocking, selling or shipping a single thing!
Now eBay does provide some basic free tools to help you succeed as an eBay affiliate and build an affiliate business BUT it has been the development of a tool outside of eBay that has really opened this up as a legitimate business opportunity.
The tool, as we mentioned earlier, is called "Build A Niche Store" and what it enables you to do is build eBay affiliate websites targeted to any eBay niche you want. These act as the medium through which you funnel targeted visitors to eBay.
Here are several live store that we built targeting Several Different niches. Not all of our stores are listed.
- Fin For Yourself.com - Scuba & Camera
- Sports Memorabilia - Sports Store
- This Way Baby - United States Baby Store
- This Way Baby - United Kingdom Baby Store
- Bogey Beater - United States Golf Store
- Bogey Beater - United Kingdom Golf Store
As you can see, these are professional looking websites that contain all of those eBay products related to their target niche inside a searchable store format, each of which automatically contains our eBay affiliate/Partner id.
These stores then automatically update as new products are listed for sale and old listing expire from the eBay marketplace. The software has built in development features which enable you to create new store pages, add content to these pages, create content pages, modify your template etc etc.
Basically, in the space of about 10 minutes (once you are familiar with how the software works) you can create a fully functional eBay affiliate website targeted to the niche market of your choice.
Your store content is all search engine friendly. This will provide the foundation for attracting targeted traffic from the search engines. You can then use the development features to attract more targeted visitors which will in turn mean more eBay affiliate commissions.
It really is a brilliant concept. We've been hearing great things about the team behind the project and the member forum which you get lifetime access to when you purchase the product.
Build A Niche Store comes with a step by step user manual which will walk even the most technically inexperienced through setting up their eBay affiliate website. The software has nine professional template layouts which can be customized (from inside your admin panel) to match your target niche, lifetime member forum access, comprehensive product support and possibly most importantly – an UNLIMITED domain license which means you can build as many of these niche websites as you want for the small one time fee.
Think about how many niches eBay caters to!
How big could your eBay affiliate business be?
This product gets our full recommendation – we recommend you check it out today…
Click Here To Read More About Build A Niche Store
We just want to provide you more details behind our eBay affiliate niche stores. We personally created several templates which are based on one or more of the many templates that the Build A Niche Store software provides.
We advertise some of our niche stores with Yahoo's Publisher Network, Google Adwords, and Microsofts Ad Center. Most of our BANS stores are hosted with HostGator.
All of our hosting domains have been purchased through www.GoDaddy.com. I also purchased a hosting package where we host a few niche stores.
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Our next article will include information regarding publisher networks, and placing ads within our niche stores.
Thanks!
Mike and Shannon
Subsidizing our Scuba Trips - Part I
May 16, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
One of our most recent endeavors was looking into ways to make extra money to subsidize our SCUBA trips. There are so many places we have yet to visit! Unfortunately, SCUBA can be an expensive endeavor. We decided to research ways we could use the world wide web to assist us. The journey started in February, 2008. After much searching we stumbled across a software package for an Amazon affiliate store called Associate-O-Matic. The cool thing about Amazon is they have an affiliate program where anyone can earn up to 10% for every sale generated through their web site using this Associate-O-Matic Software. Associate-O-Matic offers a free version of this software which is not as flexible as the full version. We opted to invest in the full version. The cost is not bad. It is $99 for the first year and $20 per year thereafter. Essentially this is pretty much a lease. This full version does include unlimited email support and forum access. If you start a business, all related expenses are tax deductible. Also of note, Associate-O-Matic allows you to create unlimited stores without additional purchases.
Getting started was amazingly easy. This was the path we followed to creating our first successful store.
- We registered with the Amazon affiliate program here.
- We then purchased our first domain called finforyourself.com from GoDaddy since they were inexpensive.
- We purchased a hosting package from GoDaddy.
- We uploaded the Associate-O-Matic software to GoDaddy and configured our first Amazon Affiliate store called Fin For Your Self.
We really like our store. We posted the store link in the Associate-O-Matic forum and asked the members to critique it. Several members provided great feedback. We received very helpful information on how to improve the aesthetics of our site to potentially attract more customers.
The beauty of it is that we do not have to worry about many of the things a typical store would. As with most retail stores you are required to have inventory, order processing and fulfillment systems. With this software, and being an affiliate of Amazon, you don’t require any of this.
No programming experience is required to use the Associate-O-Matic software. The installation procedures are easy to follow and can be found on their web site.
We have gone on to create several other Amazon Affiliate stores with this software. These stores are:
- Fin For Your Self - US Scuba Store
- Your Sports Support - United States Sports Store
- Your Sports Support - United Kingdom Sports Store
- Christian Books - Christian Book Store
- This Way Baby - United States Baby Store
- This Way Baby - United Kingdom Baby Store
Even now, we continue to brainstorm for new store ideas. Future articles will discuss another affiliate program which offers services similar to Amazon. Until then, thanks for the read, and safe diving.
