Creating an Affiliate Marketing Budget
by Jude Wright
Your first thought on seeing the title of this article is probably, "I'm not going to need a budget because I'm not going to spend any money." I'm sorry, but that's not how it works. If you don't want to spend ANYTHING, you are not going to succeed.
Now that you know you must spend some money, it's time to decide how much money you can afford to invest in your affiliate marketing business.
There are some expenses that you will have if you want to be successful. There are others that you can put off until the time you start earning income from your affiliate products. The below suggestions are not carved in stone - they are just a guide. This is an Annual Budget - for the first year of business. Some items that will need to be budgeted for are:
* Domain Name. There is quite a span between the low-cost and the high end cost of domain names. Why does Network Solutions charge $35 when you can get your domain name for much less elsewhere? I don't know, but when I got my first domain name, I went through them because I didn't know any better. Now, I get my domains through http://godaddy.com. They're a big enough company that they're not likely to "go under" and their charges for
domain name registration is only $8.95 per year. If you shop around, you may even be able to find something less expensive. But make sure it's a well-established company! You don't want to lose your domain name once you have decided on it! You will likely get a better "deal" if you register your domain name for two or more years in advance.
* Website Hosting. Here again, fees for web hosting can vary dramatically from company to company. Set up a comparison chart and write down each company you are considering, with columns for Company Name, Price, Disk Space, and Bandwidth. Go to http://google.com and add the first twenty that come up to your chart with costs, etc. When you actually get to the point when you will be purchasing your web hosting, you will drill down further to see what each company offers. Hosting fees will run from $7.00 to $25.00 per month or more. Shop carefully.
* Merchant Account. You probably won't need a Merchant Account, as such, unless you are selling digital products or products you'll be shipping to a customer. It is a good idea to set up an account with http://paypal.com because a lot of affiliate managers are using PayPal to make payments to affiliates. There is no charge for using PayPal.
* Software and Scripts. You will need, at the least, some kind of spreadsheet to track your expenses and income from your affiliate business. Eventually, you will need a more robust program like QuickBooks or Microsoft Money. If you don't have a spreadsheet software application, you can get one free from http://openoffice.org. This is a suite of tools that works like Microsoft Office. You may or may not need website scripts - depending on how elaborate you want your website to be. Examples would be article management or "tell a friend" scripts. Let's just set at cost at $50 just in case.
* Advertising. For the first few weeks, you will not be spending money on advertising or promotion. But since we are working on an "Annual" budget, let's estimate it at $50 per month or $600. I know that sounds like a lot, but if you want to get the word out, you'll need to set money aside for pay-per-click search engines and ezine advertising.
* Education. Ongoing education is going to be extremely important to your affiliate marketing success. You will not have to purchase a lot of educational materials - if you don't want to. There are many free resources, such as newsletters, that you can study. For now, we'll set a zero budget, but allow a certain amount later for ebook or how-to videos.
What is the final total? Approximately $800.00. Does that seem extreme? Remember, this is for an entire year. Where else but on the Internet can you start a business for under $1,000? Keep it in perspective. If you intend to have a "real" business, you must treat it as a real business -
which includes real expenses.
-----------------------------------------------------
Jude Wright has been an Internet Marketer for three
years. She has just created a product that will help
other Internet Marketers keep all their marketing
information in one database. Check it out at:
http://i-marketingorganizer.com/organizer.htm
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Affiliate Promotion Articles
More By Developer Shed
 developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
You'll get answers to many questions and more from David Barnes, Lead Evangelist for IBM Emerging Internet Technologies. David will discuss aspects of Web 2.0 that bring value to corporations, academia, and government. He'll also discuss IBM's vision around Web 2.0, including the importance of remixability and consumability. The discussion will culminate with examples of various IBM Software Group solutions you can use to get ahead of the Web 2.0 adoption curve.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Attend this launch webcast with Scott Hebner, Vice President of IBM Rational Marketing and Strategy, for an overview of Rational’s new software offerings and resources to help modernize and accelerate software innovation on i on Power Systems – while ensuring past application investments are protected and continue to grow. Learn how these solutions are helping customers extend their core i5/OS solutions toward modern architectures such as SOA and web technologies to deliver business improvements that stand the test of time.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Learn how you can extend modern application lifecycle management to IBM System z through the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform (SDP). The Did you say mainframe? e-kit includes podcasts, webcasts, tutorials, white and red papers, demos, and articles designed to help ease the challenges of modernizing your enterprise. This complimentary kit for mainframe developers is a practical, how-to guide for making the most of an existing development environment, including the skills and infrastructure already in place at an established enterprise.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Download a free trial version of IBM Rational Developer for System i V7.1, which provides a complete development environment for traditional i5/OS application development. IBM Rational Developer for System i is a new eclipse-based workstation offering for i5/OS application development that provides a comprehensive Integrated Development Environment for edit/compile/debug of traditional RPG/COBOL/C/C++ i5/OS applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join us for this web seminar to learn how you can defend your web applications from attack. Learn about the 3 most common web application attacks, including how they occur and what can be done to prevent them. We’ll also discuss manual versus automated approaches for scanning and identifying web application vulnerabilities and how IBM Rational AppScan, an automated vulnerability scanner, can help you automate more of what you are doing manually today.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Ken Krugler, co-founder of code search company Krugle, and Laura Merling, vice president of Marketing and Business Development for Krugle, join to talk about the ins and outs of code search and what it means as a new feature for developerWorks users.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Because access to government information continues to be an area of concern for many U.S. citizens with disabilities, the U.S. government enacted Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in 2001 to ensure that government agencies create accessible Web content, enabling all citizens to access the information they need. A fully accessible Web site makes Web content accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities, who may be accessing Web content via a variety of user agents. Common user agents include standard Web browsers, text-only browsers, assistive devices and mobile devices such as cell phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join this webcast to discover the key requirements for successful change and release management. Learn how to extend your .NET environment to improve productivity and collaboration, and address core problems afflicting team development. In this webcast, we’ll review typical challenges faced by customers and how to resolve them with the IBM Rational Change and Release Management solution, including Rational ClearCase, Rational ClearQuest and Rational Build Forge. Replay is available for 9 months.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
As organizations have grown increasingly dependent on online software, the risk of malicious attacks has also become far more serious. Fortunately, well-governed organizations can protect their Web applications by injecting vulnerability assessments and ethical hacks into their software development and delivery processes. This paper describes 12 of the most common hacker attacks and provides basic rules that you can follow to help create more hack-resistant Web applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Attend this launch webcast with Scott Hebner, Vice President of IBM Rational Marketing and Strategy, where he will overview Rational’s new offerings and programs to help customers accelerate software innovation on System z. He will discuss how these solutions help organizations extend their core business processes toward modern architectures such as SOA and web technologies to deliver business improvements that stand the test of time.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
|
