What are affiliate networks?

Ok, so since affiliate programs have gotten so ridiculously popular, it is easy for companies with such programs to get lost in the crowd. There are hundreds of webhosting providers that offer generous affiliate programs, for example, so going to each one individually to see which one is the best to promote becomes tedious. That’s where Affiliate Networks come in.

An Affilaite Network is just a company that handles the relationship between the company with an affiliate program. An affiliate can sign up to an Affiliate Network and then select from thousands of different products and services to promote, and can easily see exactly how much they will get paid per sale/lead/signup/whatever. The Affiliate Network handles recruiting and paying the individual affiliates, so they never have to have a direct relationship with the Merchant/Advertiser. In return, the Affiliate Network takes a small(well not always small) cut of the commissions. With enough affiliates sending enough sales, Affiliate Networks get rich just for being a middleman.

So why would you work with an Affiliate Network instead of with the Advertiser directly, knowing that they take a cut of the money you are making? Well, there are a few reasons. First, and most important, is payment terms. A lot of merchants will only agree to pay you Net 30, or worse. This means that after the month is over you need to wait 30 days to be paid for that month’s commissions. This can suck if you’re spending a lot of money on advertising their products and can’t afford to continue for 60 days without being paid. Affiliate Networks generally have much better payment terms, often giving affiliates weekly wire transfer payments if they are generating a decent amount per week (usually around $1000 is the standard threshhold). Also, many Merchants don’t want to deal with a bunch of affiliates, they just want an Affiliate Network to just handle it all for them, so even if you wanted to you couldn’t work with them directly.

Fuck yeah.

Affiliate Marketing Intro

Sometimes it seems that everywhere you turn, someone is trying to sell you something. Especially on internet, almost all sites are crowded with ads, subtle ads, blatant ads, text ads, banner ads, catchy ads, ads distracting you, ads intriguing you.

Ever wondered why? Internet Advertising deserves a whole new post, so I won't mention it any more. Today I'm starting a new category for Affiliate Marketing and this .

This post will discuss some basic concepts of affiliate marketing, and give you some sites where you can start, and sign up to become an affiliate marketer.What are Affiliates?Think of affiliates as salesmen.

Anyways, affiliates are saleswomen/men who earn for promoting the product/ service etc.What is Affiliate Marketing?Affiliate marketing is a method of promoting web businesses (merchants/advertisers) in which an affiliate (publisher) is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber, customer, and/or sale provided through his/her efforts.There are different kinds of promotions, some advertisers pay per sign up, some pay per click, etc.

The PTRs, GPTs and Reward sites are promoting the advertisers, and when you shop through them, they earn from the advertisers and share the revenue with their members. Here is a list of companies who are a link between the affiliates and advertisers. They provide tracking links, and maintain a record of the affiliates' earnings, and pay them when they reach minimum payoutAll of them follow similar procedure, affiliates sign up, and then browse through the merchants. Some merchants review the application before accepting the member as an affiliate, and some merchants accept everyone. After that, a tracking link is provided to the affiliates, which they are supposed to promote in order to earn the commission.

Sounds like Rocket Science? It does the first time you read it, but it starts making sense after a while.

Affiliate futureI'm using this site at the moment and I really like it. For Uk Residents, the minimum payout is £20 and they are paid through bank transfer. For International affiliates however the payout is £100 and payments are made through cheques. Other Affiliate networks are:Commission JunctionTrade DoublerMoreNiche Another good site for promoting health related products.ClickBankWith Clickbank, you can promote Digital products. No postage cost to visitors, hence more chance for profit.Affiliate marketing is no joke. Lots of people are earning, and have earned a lot by it.

Take the time to learn about it, and then become an affiliate marketer.