The most common mistake that people make when it comes to getting started in PPC / Pay Per Click affiliate marketing is doing too much too soon. People sign up to the likes of Google AdWords with a $10,000 limit credit card with a view of diving in at the deep end. They set their click prices higher than everyone else on poorly researched phrases and cross their fingers for a profit. This is obviously the wrong approach completely.
I find that when it comes to PPC, it’s best to start small. I am not talking about small from a budget / spending point of view. I am talking about small as in small profits. To achieve this, the simple rule to follow is to copy what others are doing. Using keyword spy applications and general ppc software, you can often find out what the competition in your niche is bidding on (keywords), how much they’re paying and the sort of click through to conversion rate they’re getting. If you emulate this, you’re almost guaranteed a small profit (providing you copy someone who knows what they’re doing) and you can then build on this amount day to day or week to week. It’s a much better way to learn PPC as is often fairly risk free.