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Creating_an_Affiliate_Marketing_Budget
| Creating an Affiliate Marketing Budget
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.
About the author:
----------------------------------------------------- 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
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