HomeWhen I first started out with Affiliate Marketing a few years ago, my primary goal was a very simple one. I just wanted enough money to pay for my hosting, which at the time was an ungodly $40 per month for a small website. Of course, these days you can host a hundred websites for $40 and have tons of features, but back then this was normal.
As the years went by, my affiliate sales grew slowly to around $500 a month. It was then I realized that maybe I could turn this part time income into a full time salary. I had not really devoted a lot of time to researching affiliate programs. I would simply find one that would pay off, and use it. The day I realized I could earn more than the $500 per month, I set down some goals to get me started. I have fine tuned these goals over the past 24 months, thankfully I had to because to be honest, I was obliterating my financial expectations.
So, my goals in the beginning were pretty simple:
1. Find an affiliate program that pays $50 per month to cover my website hosting fees. 2. Make sure it is related to the content of my website.
Not much there huh?
A year ago, these were my goals:
1. Earn $500 per month through the Major Affiliate Networks 2. Look into smaller affiliate networks, including independant merchant. 3. Create websites devoted to the product or service I am marketing. 4. Change hosting providers to allow for up to 100 domain names / websites. 5. Continue to learn more about new affiliate oppurtunities.
As you can see, my goals grew substantially. I am proud to say I met all those goals within a few months, instead of the year I had planned.
My goals from 2004:
1. Earn $3000 per month average through June 2005. 2. Earn $5,000 per month average from June 2005 until December 2005. 3. Continue to create websites that reflect a postive buying experience. 4. Write more articles and website content promoting the products I am marketing. 5. Create an ebook that will help others learn the affiliate business. 6. Teach family and friends what an affiliate actually does! 7. Create a website devoted solely to affiliate programs and list the many programs available. 8. Become a merchant in the sense of marketing my ebook using an affiliate program. 9. Write a true business plan for my affiliate business. 10. Learn the tax laws so I can properly prepare my taxes.
Wow! That is a long list of goals for one year!
Here is where I stand on those goals.
#1. Earn $3000 average. My PROFIT for Jan 2005 was over $6,000. #4. I try to write 2 articles every day promoting a product. #5. I have created an ebook available at http://www.internet-cash-system.com #6. I have started teaching my friends and family what I do. #7. I have created an affiliate directory at http://www.affiliate-directory.us #8. I have created an affiliate program using Clickbank for my ebook. #10. I learned the tax laws and statues I needed to do my own 2004 taxes.
So, as you can see, I am making great progress already.
Now, you may ask why have all these goals? The answer is simple. I think that goals equal success. Goals give us something to strive for and reinforce our belief we can reach those goals. A few years ago, I never dreamed I would making the kind of money I do today. Now, I plan on evaluating my goals every six months, and making changes as needed.
To see my best performing affiliate programs, visit the Affiliate Directory.
About the author: J. Ratliff is a successful affiliate. He has an affiliate directory to share the best affiliate programs and a personal blog at www.jamieratliff.com.
