Initial cost of starting a PPS program?

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by HoneyBlond

Some of BillPMB numbers on a PPS program:

http://www.oprano.com/msgboard/showthread.php?t=37817

:-)

Hi HB How you doing ?

That is a great thread, thanx for finding it. I have it bookmarked now

[xenigo]

I see what you guys are saying. From what I'm seeing, it depends on the immediate financial goals of the program. I'd like to have 3k active recurring members by the 1 year mark. The projections you guys are referencing far exceed that, and far exceed the amount of debt I'd take on to reach that goal.

Do my initial projections look close to what I'd incur with these goals?

Originally Posted by JR

you are looking at things backwards in my opinion. you are trying to figure things out based on what you might make, potential income and revenue, expenses and so on. thats a very naive approach to business. you should be asking the first and most important question. you should be asking yourself is "how much money am i willing to lose and how fast would i burn through WHEN everything goes wrong"... and then work forward from there and see if it makes any sense at all.

jmho.

I hear where you're coming from JR, but I think you're nuts. I'm a little more calculated, and don't take risks without knowing the upside and downside. PPS definitely has a curve, but the depth of that curve has to do with what you're willing to lose. It can be controlled, and not burn out of control like the crazy inferno you're referring to. Then it can be increased as you grow, and scaled up.

[JR]

Originally Posted by xenigo

I see what you guys are saying. From what I'm seeing, it depends on the immediate financial goals of the program. I'd like to have 3k active recurring members by the 1 year mark. The projections you guys are referencing far exceed that, and far exceed the amount of debt I'd take on to reach that goal.

Do my initial projections look close to what I'd incur with these goals?

I hear where you're coming from JR, but I think you're nuts. I'm a little more calculated, and don't take risks without knowing the upside and downside. PPS definitely has a curve, but the depth of that curve has to do with what you're willing to lose. It can be controlled, and not burn out of control like the crazy inferno you're referring to. Then it can be increased as you grow, and scaled up.

you think i am nuts. i think you are being naive. your "projections" are guesses and like all startups born from enthusiasm and optimism, they are going to be more optimistic than you ever dared to believe. i am not saying that it is not necessary to have some idea of what might happen and build some sort of forecast model with revenues and expenses - but it is still a guess.

this is the internet. you can't fully know what the upsides and downsides are until you have live sites and test and tweak them for a few months, test traffic, test different layouts/formats and designs and so on.

what i am saying is that the only thing you can absolutely control is how much money you are willing to lose. you can't control how fast you will learn how to make money and how fast you will make money, the accuracy of your projections, how fast you will get traffic, how fast you can find affiliates THAT MATTER and so on.

I really wish you luck. its going to be tough.

gonzo just offered the best advice. get real help and shorten the curve as much as possible. dont assume you know and lose money. not sure about how to choose between a russian and a pikey though. maybe there isn't a good choice.

[HoneyBlond]

Originally Posted by sarettah

Hi HB How you doing ?

That is a great thread, thanx for finding it. I have it bookmarked now

Hi Sarettah,

No probs upon reading this thread I just had to go find Bill's posts ;-)
Hows life with you ?