In the film ‘Field Of Dreams', Kevin Costner's character was told ‘If you build it they will come'. Providing you have done the necessary search engine submissions, this will be true for most websites – eventually! Problem is, most of us want it done faster and more easily than that, which is why affiliate schemes are hugely. However, the key, as it is to any business, is to attract (and keep) customers quickly. Problem is how can you do this if you have next to no budget?

I have had a Plug In Profit (PIP) site for a couple of weeks now. I chose PIP because I truly believed (and still do) that it was the best of the ‘internet guru' schemes and the most likely to make me money. However, due to a very small budget (and little available time) I have had to think long and hard about how I attract visitors, and more importantly targeted traffic, people who are likely to ‘sign-up' (and make me money by doing so). Although the suggestions below refer to PIP, you could apply them to virtually any internet scheme you are running.

The strength of PIP is that it has been established for so long – there are many PIP sites out there, there is a strong support network and it is a proven product. However, its strength gives new PIP members a problem, especially if their budget is limited. How do you get people to sign up to your site if there are many PIP sites out there? This is a classic Catch 22 (if you'll pardon another film/book reference) – how are you going to attract visitors if you have almost zero budget, and how can you attract new customers who haven't ‘seen it all before'?

Basically, if you are going to commit to and run your PIP site to its full potential you really need to sign up to all the affiliates on offer. Add hosting costs and you don't have a lot of change from $100/£50 per month. Of course, if you attract visitors, get them to signup then you will start making money – but what if your budget (like me) is only $100/£50 per month?

Here are some of my suggestions which I am just starting to put into practice. If these take off (and I am sure they will) then the intent is to plough back any profits into a higher budget campaign. Speculate to accumulate is all very well, but it is important not to spend more in time and money than you can afford. With that in mind, here are ten almost zero or low cost (under $20/£10) strategies which I am aiming to put in place over the next couple of weeks. You can find more details about most of them in the PIP training (if you signup).

i) Write an article (such as this one!) and manually submit it to the article distributors described in the PIP training (note: you can also get this automated starting at around $20 per month for 5 articles per month. This will save you a lot of time and I would say it is worth it). Because your article is automatically very widely distributed to directories and the like, it has the potential to appear on other people's websites for years to come. This seems to me to be about the most powerful form of low cost advertising you can do.

ii) Join a PIP support. The WarriorsPro forum is free when you signup. You will get lots of support here, be able to post questions (and answers if you have them). Both new and experienced are here and you can benefit greatly by participating.

iii) Publish a Blog – you can get a blog site for free these days and use it to promote your website. You can publish articles to your blog and then distribute it across the web.

iv) Tell your friends and family – a tricky one this as my view is that I will only attempt to sell to friends and family a process which I know works and will benefit them. I have not had any signups so far, so while I think it will make money, I so far have no proof. Having considered it I think the best way would be to send a simple eMail explaining the system and it then becomes them opting in by responding (rather than you trying to ‘sell' directly). Of course once I really do start making real money, I will gladly spread the word)!

v) Include a link or banner advertisement for your PIP signup page or website on any website you run – it may be you are promoting a product or selling items on your website – why not include a page entitled ‘home business opportunities'. It may be that you can promote a site promoting something completely different (with lower advertising costs) and and at the same time promote your plug-in-profit site.

vi) Use local classifieds/free adverts – online. Do an online search for ‘free advertising' (or some equivalent search term ) within your country or local area and place a free advert. (note: the examples in the training are more globally based, chances are you will be able to find a route locally, or within your country, where nobody has advertised PIP before)

vii) Use local classifieds/free adverts – offline. As ‘online' but local newspapers, free papers, message boards etc.

viii) Distribute your ‘signup page' locally. Print out 100 copies (or more) of your PIP ‘signup' page (you will get this when you signup). Make sure you include your affiliate link on the page. Go round the local supermarket or car park putting the page under windscreen wipers of the parked car (check if you need to ask permission to do this). As an alternative you could produce another splash page in your own words with a more ‘local' feel.

ix) eMail signature. Put a small advert as a ‘signature' on your eMails and include a link to your signup page. Whenever you send out an eMail your recipient will have an option to ‘opt-in' by clicking on the link.. (note: be careful at work though – you may not be allowed to do this!)

x) Design a screensaver or a car sticker advertising your site. Make sure you include your affiliate link. It is surprising what you will read and pick up inadvertently if you are stuck in a traffic jam or looking over someone's shoulder on a train.

These suggestions can be applied to any website of course, but if I have whetted your appetite for PIP then please do check it out at the link below.