This is what I can say about PBNs.
Back in 2012-2013 I was able to buy my first house (paid in full) by building out 50-100 page local sites, sending them over to my main PBN supplier, having him rank them #1 on Google then using a broker to sell the leads for 4-5 figure commissions. He was able to do it 1 site after another and they ranked like clockwork always within 6-8 weeks. It was astounding how we were able to outrank franchises and even rank NATIONALLY for some of our sites.
Although I've had other successes in marketing, like selling web design, getting on national tv, tapping into clickbank parasites.... the BULK of the money I have now is mostly thanks to PBNs.
Then around 2014 my PBN supplier (CeasarSEO) went to shit. I started sending him sites, they were no longer ranking. At some points I was waiting 6 months and still not hitting the top 3. Then sites starting getting penalized, there was a shitstorm of all his long term loyal customers bitching and Ceasar went AWOL.
Even though all that went down the way it did (on WF) that guy is still a legend in my books. Cause I had used so many other SEO suppliers, companies, etc... and Ceasar proved to me that if you not just own a powerful PBN, but actually know wtf you're doing, you can get push button rankings for nearly anything.
Fastforward to 2015, I feel a bit different about PBN's now.
Examples: I haven't ordered any PBN links from public sellers in at least 18 months. One of the main reasons why is I simply haven't found another service like Ceasars (and I've spent months analyzing services / asking questions). If you find his thread over at WF, and read the whole thing, you see'll some very weird things about his service. For instance, he's the only PBN service I've ever seen shut down due to too many people ordering bulk. He had to shut down various times just to expand his staff (then again when G finally wiped him out). Also, I've never seen a seller reject so many new clients just to keep their network secure. And I've never ever in my life see SO MANY screen shots of #1 rankings and SO MANY people leaving SO MANY awesome reviews SO QUICKLY. It wasn't just him posting the screens it was tons of long term members including myself. And what's crazier is he NEVER ONCE solicited for reviews like the guys on here who have to practically beg for them.
There's not 1 person on this entire forum (even well respected top members), or the whole of WF that has a thread like his. Even though it's dead now his thread still makes all the BEST CURRENT PBN links sellers on BHW look like a joke.
Ceasar (real name was "Isaac") was obsessed with getting those #1 ranks more than anyone I've met till date. And I don't know what happened to the guy. He may have made enough money to retire for all I know. But after you use a service like that there's no going back to ordering PBN links from anyone else. I see guys on here selling links but I see rarely see PROOF or screenshots at all. You might see like 10-30 at most but not 1000+ like Isaac had. And I'm talking about clients posting this shit not just him. There were some weeks I'd see 10 guys I personally knew saying, "hit page 1 again Isaac, thank you very much". On here, those types of reviews are few and far between. You see guys talking a good game but none of their customers are **REALLY** excited. Nobodies raving about what they have to offer. They're not emptying what's left in their bank account like I did cause I KNEW I was gonna get a massive return every single time I ordered (right up until the end).
Anyway, that experience taught me a lot.
It proved to me on a level I never thought was never possible, that PBNs can make you a SHITLOAD OF MONEY.
But I'm also more concerned cause I haven't really been in the game for over a year. One thing I've heard from a lot from marketers on here is "new sites just don't rank like they use to". Which is depressing. Cause you don't know if they're saying that cause they CAN'T RANK a new site at all or if they've actually persisted long enough and done enough testing to see that new sites just take a few extra months to rank. But in the end they're still all ranking like they use to. Like there are guys on here saying "not all sites will always hit #1" but in 2013 what wasn't my experience. Every fucking site I sent over hit #1 till my last couple sites. So it's really hard to read the waters without jumping in.
And ultimately, I've decided it's time to invest thousands into my own PBN. I've been doing research for months and the more you learn the more you learn how little you really know. So I've decided to use a domain broker I trust. To hire a VA I trust. To combine 3 experienced minds (or more) and not go about this 100% solo.
Last thing I wanna do is invest $2-$3k just on sites then fuck up the hosting or overlook some dumb stupid shit cause this is my first time and I "forgot" to do something important.
Anyway, in a few months, when my PBN is up and running, I'll be sure to let the forum know my thoughts. If I can build a PBN that's even half as effective as what I use to use back in the day, I'll be in a great position financially. Only time will tell.
-BB
