As I have stated time and time again, to truly succeed in affiliate marketing, there is a lot of hard work to be done. But there are also a myriad of costs associated with online marketing that can leave a dent in your wallet. If you plan out your budget though, you can ensure that you don’t go overboard, yet still spend the money needed to get things done.

In my opinion so far, there are 4 levels of spending that can define how you are approaching affiliate marketing. You can easily climb the ladder as you succeed, and eventually reach a level where you are spending a huge amount, yet seeing even more being earned! That is the goal of every affiliate marketer, and it is totally within reach if you are dedicated to the task.

Here is my view of the budgeting ladder:

Level 1: Very low funds, Very low spending.

If you are just starting with affiliate marketing online, chances are you won’t want to spend money on something you don’t know much about, and that’s fine. This can actually be a great learning stage. Make it a point to read, research, and listen to successful strategies, and conduct smaller scale experiments.

It is entirely possible to just buy a domain and some hosting, costing you only $10 a month, and you would have your own website to work with. Then you can freely experiment with some basic web development, and learn how create a site that could grow over the long term while you test marketing methods.

If you want to focus only on marketing, than you can actually create a site for free using a service like Squidoo. Since these domains are not “sandboxed” by Google, you will see results much faster. The only drawback here is that you won’t have as much freedom to experiment, and there is no guarantee of where Squidoo will be in the long term.

In my own experience, I started here by buying a basic hosting plan and a domain, and setting up a blog (not this one). This was over a year ago now, and while that blog has long been completely inactive, it did serve as a training ground to learn the basics of creating websites. It was definitely a worthwhile experience, and it did not cost much to get started on the road I am still traveling to this day.

Resources:
Bum Marketing
This is a great newsletter about marketing with zero money.
Squidoo
Make a lens for free, good results among the IM community.
Hostgator
My review of the best hosting I’ve used to date. Easy, cheap, and great support.
Namecheap
My favorite domain name registrar.
Warrior Forum
Fantastic resource for new and experienced Internet Marketers.

Level 2: Some capital, Some spending

If you have some starting funds, then it is totally fine to start on this level. It can accelerate your learning when you can invest in some info products. However, I definitely recommend you watch your spending, and limit your purchases to those that you are sure you will read and apply. Don’t get addicted to infoproducts.

Anyways, buying infoproducts isn’t exactly what this level is for. The more important thing is that you can begin to invest in some tools of the trade that can help you get more things done, and explore some new marketing techniques. For example, you could buy some PLR, try out an article distribution service, buy a webcam for some video marketing… A good way to look at this is if you can afford to hasten the long monotonous tasks you do on a regular basis, it would be a wise investment.

I would keep close tabs on your spending though, because trust me when I say things can escalate much faster than you think. It’s easy to lose track of what you are buying with internet marketing, because you could have a few recurring payments going, or you could be paying for services you might not even be using. (Donating to AWeber?)

You could also carry out some small scale testing with Advertising. This can help you find profitable niches and affiliate marketing campaigns faster.

In this level, you can reach the point where you can finally see the scale tip in your favor, and begin to see earnings. Observe what works, and drop what doesn’t.

Resources:
Confessions of a Lazy Super Affiliate Review
Pretty much the best Affiliate Marketing Ebook I’ve ever read, this will give you so many things to try! All proven to work too.
Adwords
What can I say, the most respected ad service.

Level 3: More earnings, More spending

A great time to enter this budget level is when you are seeing some substantial earnings. Even $50 a day, if you can do this consistently, is a good starting point for this level. The point though is that you are now earning some decent money, but not really enough that you are that satisfied.

Here is when you have to take your affiliate marketing to the next level. By now I would imagine you have discovered a system of sorts that earns you this money, and now you want to earn even more. Well, you could continue to build, or duplicate the system.

Either way, you have a “proven” money system here, so perhaps it’s time to test outsourcing some of the tasks that take you the most time. For example, you can easily outsource some content creation, link building, or design. Then you can get more income streams up and running much faster than you could on your own.

Of course, you may not want to outsource, and just want to remain a one-man (or woman :D) operation. That’s fine too. There are most likely some more expensive tools that could help you, or maybe you can spend more money in advertisements.

The goal here though is to take this smaller income stream, and use it to create more and more until you achieve a “full-time” income and beyond!

Outsourcing sites:
Elance
Get A Freelancer
Guru.com
among others.

Level 4: Big earnings, Big spending

Congratulations, if you are at this level, then you have definitely seen some great success in the internet marketing game! Now, you must maintain this income (or help it grow even more!). Now you have a “guaranteed” money making system, so you can maintain, build, or duplicate at will.

Now you may want to look into outsourcing, as well as virtual assistants, to help you. You can build a real business out of this.

Of course I can’t really offer you tips, because you are the one that got to this point, so you know what works! All I can say is that you should definitely continue to pay close attention to your budget, because you never know when things can turn for the better, or for the worse. The internet is still a fickle thing.

Resource:
The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
This book is highly praised, I can’t wait to read it myself.
Get Friday
Virtual Assistant services

So, plan your affiliate marketing budget to increase your chances of climbing the ladder, and reaching the income you’ve always dreamed about!

What level would you consider yourself on, and how are you trying to climbing the ladder?

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