Newbie with a niche to mine needs info

Ok brand new here and this is my first post. Not entirely new to marketing over the internet but have been out of it for a while, I have marketed physical products (built by my company) been a hosting affiliate, been a hosting company etc. So not totally new but going down a different path now.

I am putting together a niche in the survival / prepper area, plan on a website with a blog, facebook page and some informational products written by me as well as some affiliate ads.

The primary question I have after trolling here on the Warrior forums is what is an acceptable cost of customer acquisition ? How do I know if I am digging a hole? I mean if I am spending $2 to get a $3 sale that's not bad in my mind, obviously better targeting could yield a better ratio if the advertising is truly compelling....just wondering if there are some basic formulas to start out with.


Also wondering about including a forum community for customers and potential customers to join and discuss all things survival / prepping...which of course I would later monetize, thoughts?

I already have hosting as I have a couple dedicated servers that I run some charitable websites on and have a good day job with some disposable income to put toward this project, just don't want to waste money coming out of the gate.