Ha, I didn't even see that one, thanks for quoting it so I could.

No one said improvement and being little excluded you from proper planning and execution.

Sure, many companies in this industry lean more towards dropping the ball than running with it. But the point remains -- no one plans to fail, they just fail to plan. The established programs got that way, by and large, by coming into power during an era where it was a no-brainer. I'm not putting them down, they've done so big things, but to establish a program *now*, you can't just toss up the same shit as in 1996. :2 cents:

can someone give a breakdown of whats involved in starting an affiliate program cost wise then?

You can launch it with $10k and have it up and running for a couple of months as much.


1 ) Visa fees = $750 (accumulated = $750)
2 ) NATS = $1500 (accumulated = $2250)
3 ) Tours and galleries design = $1000 you start with a cheap design... a couple of tours for $300 each and several galleries templates (accumulated = $3250)
4 ) content = $2000... asuuming you get a good blowout deal. you don't need much more to launch the site, but you will have to spend more after that on decent content once sales start rolling. (accumulated = $5250)
5 ) Server = $500 two months. I assume you get a decent P4 box (accumulated = $5750)
6 ) Promo traffic = $1000 split $500 for google and $500 for gallery spots (accumulated = $6750)
7 ) Unexpected bills = $1000 (accumulated = $7750)
8 ) Other different bills, like buying a gallery submit software or paying someone to install a couple of scripts on your server = $1000 (accumulated = $8750)
9 ) $1250 for adjustments on the prices showed in the before points. (accumulated = $10.000).


Happy with this breakdown? You will not have the best site, but you will have something working and ready to make sales.
the total cost to get something decent will be near $20k, but you can launch it with $10k and then reinvest 100% of the profit it generates.

and yes... this breakdown requires lots of work from your part. If you are lazy, then you will lose the money. If you work, then you have a chance to make profits.

unless you plan on starting REAAAAAAAAALY REAAAAAAAALY slow, $10k wont last a month for PPS.

Whatever it is you are smoking, I WANT SOME!!!!

I would say 20-50k would be a nice start

I wish I had those magic joinlinks you were using :(

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

30 sales a day at $35 per sale. In a month you're down $31,500.

You sure about those numbers? At that rate you're down $100k in less then 3.5 months. Not too many pps's pull a profit that fast.

that's probably the best post of the thread :thumbsup

No money can make you smart, so use your brain and cross your fingers :winkwink:

Did he say PPS? If yes than you are right ofcourse, I was thinking revshare :thumbsup

No he didn't. Im 100% sure he meant PPS, but no he didn't make it specific.

Thus you're not really wrong, my apologies.

If you budget is $10K or under - just forget about building good affiliate program. Content, design, programming ( + customizing the existing solutions like nats) and bunch of other things - the real action starts from >$200K.
P.S. No need to mention - content is the king. :)

Traffic is king :smokin

A lot of variables in play here...

Right off the bat I'd say skip real 'program' thoughts immediately with that budget...small site with bare bones affiliate program -- maybe...

...however from a basic site perspective, consider the following:


CONTENT:
- The niche and your connections will determine cost of content
- Custom or off the shelf? Forget custom with this budget...
- Do you already have it?
...or at least a significant amount built up that is fully compliant?

MARKETING:
- Do you control a significant amount of traffic yourself
- Who do you know that is WILLING and ABLE to push your site in exchange for return traffic, cross promotion, % cut (don't go PPS until you can handle floating a load of cash) -- make a list, check it twice :pimp
- Do you plan on buying traffic? Where from, how much...


All that being said, there is nothing sweeter than recurring sales that YOU control...

which leads to the additional variables...

How often do you plan on updating your site to keep retention high? Do you know the average retention on the niche you're considering building a site for? Have you done much market research on it...

Do your homework, make a plan...then

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2...ations7jb7.gif

:pimp

Some people could start a profitable program with $10k. Most couldn't. Same thing at $50k or even $100k. There have been plenty of businesses started with lots of money that failed. I mean, entire airlines have gone out of business. The cash on hand didn't save them. Then again, some people have made a lot out of nothing.

Interesting answers :)

Indeed.

:upsidedow

Agreed. But you can still start something small with relatively little investment and reinvest all profits. Granted, if you drop the ball, as you said, then you're fucked either way, no matter how much or how little you invest. :)

Traffic is GOD
Content is King