Jeff,
I do agree that you have to spend to make. It's just a necessary evil of the biz. hehe. As far as PCC, if you find the keywords that the top dogs are using in the niche you're competing in and can stay within the top 10 PPC ads on the first page, sometimes you can bid a couple cents per word. Affiliate Elite is definitely the cat's pajamas for doing that sort of thing!
One thing that I was determined to do is to get an arsenal of great information and software around me so that I can have all my ducks in a row and start out strong. So far, I've accomplished that pretty well.
There is a ton of great info out there for free, too. A lot you'll find on my site, which has helped me tremendously.
I honestly think that you can get some decent organic traffic going by doing some of the things outlined in ebooks like Confessions Of A Lazy Super Affiliate, Make Your Site Sell, Search Engine Optimization Made Easy, SEO Fast Start, and Google Adwords Made Easy. All but the first are free and you can get them at my . The Definitive Guide To Google Adwords is like the Bible of PCC. I really like that one!
Also, Jeremy Palmer just re-released his High Performance Affiliate Marketing as a freebie. Get that one for sure.
I'd at least consider either SEO Elite or Keyword Elite. They make things a lot easier for me.
Absorb all the information, but more imprtantly, put shoe leather behind it. Anything you learn is worthless unless you put it into action.
There is no substitution for hard work.