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When 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 per month for a small website. Of course, these days you can host a hundred websites for and have tons of features, but back then this was normal.

As the years went by, my affiliate sales grew slowly to around 0 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 0 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 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 0 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 00 per month average through June 2005.
2. Earn ,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 00 average. My PROFIT for Jan 2005 was over ,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.