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Many times each month, I hear from folks on my affiliate team or read posts on different business forums dealing with the subject of spending money. Many of these folks are concerned that they don't have any extra money to invest in their businesses, and want to do everything for free. You might even say, that investing money in any business requires a leap of faith. For those who are new to the business world, I give the following piece of advice. Whether you are involved in affiliate marketing, or own a brick and mortar operation, the advice applies equally.

There are only three things that you can spend when it comes to generating a profit in any business.

1. Time - It may seem free, but if you think about it, it is one of the most expensive things that you can spend on a business. Just consider the amount of time that it takes to produce a newsletter. If I had to send them individually, even cutting and pasting the completed product into an email and sending it. It would take many days of hard work to get it out to every member of my team (about 550 letters). Time is money, so therefore, I use an autoresponder to send the letters out to everybody in just a few minutes. Imagine how much time this would save if there wer several thousand members on my mailing list.

2. Effort - As you can see from the above paragraph, I spend quite a bit of effort in order to share information with my team each month. But, lets look at another example of effort.

One of the first marketing methods that I used to build my business was free advertising. If you have looked into this method, or tried it, you are painfully aware of the amount of work that goes into creating a series of ads, finding places to show them, sorting through the tons of junk mail that result from these ads, and trying to track and duplicate your efforts in an ever changing marketplace. This method works, but it is vey labor intensive.

All of this in the name of trying to save a few dollars and do something for free!

3. Money - This is something that is probably in short supply for many new folks, but if used wisely, it can save an incredible amount of TIME, a ton of EFFORT, and increase your chances of earning a large PROFIT in a short period. I spend only a few dollars on my autoresponder, but it saves me hundreds of hours each month. Not to mention, it comes with an affiliate program, and pays for itself in commissions each month AND returns a small profit!

There is an old saying in the business world, and it applies to all of us. Ya Gotta Spend Money To Make Money!

In many affiliate programs, there is a strong incentive to spend some money on some of the company's products or services. I will use SFI as an example, but many other companys have similar incentive programs. By spending a few dollars with SFI each month, you can become an Executive Affiliate. It only takes about $30.00. By spending this $30.00, you stand to make a few bucks through the T-Net Network! You qualify for wholesale pricing on many SFI products! You can qualify for the VIP program, get your vitamin products at a drastically reduced price, and your commissions are doubled on all retail sales! There are also several valuable tools made available, such as a basic autoresponder called the contact manager, a hit tracking system, and a CO-OP management system.

Sure you have to invest a few bucks each month to be EA qualified, but many of the products that are available through SFI can replace other products that you are paying for now. You can buy things like Long Distance Service, Internet Service, Business Advice Resources, Nutrition Supplements that are better than anything on market and some of the finest and safest cleaning products in the world. By simply replacing products that you use at home already, your costs can actually decrease.

The above strategy can be used in many affiliate opportunities besides SFI, so whichever affiliate program you are part of, take a close look at the incentives that are offered. They aren't simply gimmicks used to make sales. It is actually to your benefit to use them to build your business. You might just find, that the products that you buy are superior to the ones that you are already using, you can save a few bucks, and you can learn about the products that you are actually marketing to your potential customers.

Go ahead, take that leap of faith, invest a few dollars each month, and watch your business take off!