some questions
 

The whole sponsor thing is it necessary and if so why? what if I already have a backing and sites willing to sponsor me by putting my banners up on thier sites already? any pointers to this newbie hit me up icq # is
#266701699

your talking about starting a paysite right ?
If u have an affiliate program its much better, can increase your sales by zillon percetage. Trust me your Back Up Plan is not good enough .

Having a banner on another site is a notoriously lousy way to get good traffic. Not only does an affiliate program get more people working to ACTIVELY promote your site but it also tends to help your SE rankings and of course it helps a lot with branding if you're trying to get your name known.