All businesses / Content site with affiliate

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a content site with affiliate: the real numbers

Monetised guides and tools. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€100–€600

Hours / week

6–20

First income

~32 wks

Net margin

95%

Saturation

high

Realistic ceiling

€300–€3,500+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Costs almost nothing and the margin is near total. But the first eight months are complete silence, which is why most of these die before traffic arrives.

The route, in five steps

  1. Check search volumes before buying the domain
  2. Write twenty articles on one question, not twenty topics
  3. Build a free tool: that's what attracts links
  4. Join affiliate programmes only after the first thousand visitors
  5. Add your own product once traffic is stable

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every content site with affiliate pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

domainhostingSEO tool

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack