Entry # 2: Retirement & Affiliate Marketing

Hi! Did my earlier post make you realize how important it is to prepare for retirement? Have you ever had the chance to think about it? Make a concrete plan on how to achieve that target retirement fund that will assure you a comfortable retirement? My hubby and I did start preparing for that in our mid-thirties. However, life will sometimes throw you a curveball that will make you lose your balance. It certainly did happen to us which gravely affected the nest egg that we had built. We had to work faster and harder to get our nest egg back on track again. We tried our hands on a small printing business which we both considered "somewhat" a success. Yet, our life took another detour when my husband needed to work outside the country again. Without him being the designer in our printing business, I had a difficult time looking for someone who can fill his shoes. I was not happy with the quality of work each time I decided to outsource the jobs I received. I eventually decided to sell our equipment and close the shop.

You might be wondering what my printing business has to do with retirement and affiliate marketing? My printing business is a traditional business making it different from the wave of new businesses being served via the internet. Remember my promise of sharing ideas on how to make money? My first idea to share is Affiliate Marketing. Affiliate Marketing, as defined by Google, is a marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referrals. This is exactly what I am trying to achieve with this website. My blog is just my way of developing the creative side of me and the links to those products & services found on this site represent the entrepreneurial side of me. Every time you click that link you find in my website, it will lead you to the vendor's website and when you decide to purchase the item, I'll get a commission. Yes, you heard me right! I earn something from that transaction. That's the easy part of this deal. However, the challenge is how to have that volume of traffic that will visit your website and for people to actually purchasing that product you featured. That is where the marketing-mix comes to play. I am praying and hoping that this is something that can help me build up my retirement fund.

Anyway, before I go any further let me just make a disclaimer that I am no expert in any of these subject matters. I only have a simple desire to share what I've read and personal experiences that I went through as I go along in implementing these ideas. Feel free to share your ideas as well....