I promised that I would continue giving you as much information as possible in a blog for starting your own affiliate marketing websites. While there is only so much that can be taught through blog posts, the affiliate networks you choose are important.

One point to remember when you apply to a network, they often base your acceptance upon the website you have at the time. While some are more picky than others, it’s good to have something that looks halfway decent finished before you apply to any of the major networks. If you are planning a variety of different websites representing different products or markets, I’d also like to suggest that you create a ‘Branding Site’, or “The Mother Ship” as my son calls it.

Our branding site is in need of updating, but we simply use the front page of a self-hosted Wordpress blog and call it “Family Choice Marketing”. Many of the websites listed there have made it, others haven’t. You’ll find you change course as you learn what works . . . and what does NOT. We have several websites that we don’t list for copyright purposes, too. You’ll find that certain sites will mimick what you write – word for word -and create a competing campaign, which can really hurt – or completely harmless, just annoying. Who or why they do that, I’m not sure, but if you’ve put a great deal of research into a campaign, don’t list it on your branding site.

The Difference Between Affiliate Networks and Affiliate Programs

Once you have your identity established, and a decent website up, you’ll want to find products to sell. If you have a product in mind, you can find information about their affiliate program (usually) at the bottom of their web page. Often, you will see a small link that says something like “Affiliate Program” taking you to a detail page. Sometimes companies handle their own program, but bigger companies will go through a network, like Commission Junction. CJ is an excellent example of a network that handles many different company’s affiliate programs. A network will give you stats and tracking information on the different programs that helps immensely in choosing which program to invest your time in.

It’s very helpful to have all your affiliates in one place, although that is a rare luxury. A good network also protects you with a guarantee that you get paid what you are owed. Yes, it’s not uncommon to have individual affiliate programs be unreliable in their payments to you. That’s the advantage of working with a network. However, all networks are NOT the same, nor do they offer the same level of protection. When in doubt, it’s always helpful to do a Google search on that company’s affiliate program and see if there is much complaining. Not always the best indicator, but can be a red flag.

Keeping track of all your programs can be time consuming, so don’t sign up for too many programs. Find the products you want to represent and join those first. You’ll figure out as you go along which ones are worthwhile.

Here’s the top 10 to consider:
• Commission Junction – by far the best network online, and has some of the top companies represented. Hint: Don’t apply to every company when you first sign up, many will deny you and won’t reconsider. Wait until you are better established. Pays every two weeks.
• LinkShare – notched directly under CJ, Linkshare carries many of the big companies, yet does not enjoy the favor that CJ seems to. Good tracking and stats, pays monthly.
• ClickBank - with over 10,000 digital products (ebooks), Clickbank is one of the easiest to use and pays some of the highest commissions online. Hence, the competition is stiff.

• Affiliate Window – is a UK based network, which can be good because savvy affiliate marketers know that promoting in other countries can be easier than the saturated American market.

• Link Connector -  is a relatively new  network (2004) that offers Pay Per Click, Pay Per Sale and Pay Per Lead. I’m not familiar with it, but SelfSeo.com says it’s worth checking out for their different types of new affiliate technology such as Direct Linking which passes pagerank along to the merchant’s site.

• ShareASale – advertising real time tracking and on time payments, Share a Sale may not have as many to offer as the bigger networks, but they do have better customer service. (They try harder)

• Click Exchange – has many of the smaller companies with some good payouts. Excellent stats.

• ClixGalore- a smaller network with some great offers.

• Amazon – not really a network, or manager of programs, it deserves a place on this list because it’s a must sign up. Paying only 4% at first, once you sell more items, it can go up to 10% of the sale you send to Amazon. Incredibly easy to use, they are slow to respond to applications, so be patient.

• Google Affiliate Network – Google is well known for the money-making possibilities of Adsense, and now it’s created it’s own true-blue affiliate network and is growing rapidly (big surprise, right?). Yes, I do believe Google is taking over the world.

That’s plenty for today, if you have more questions, or want something covered in more detail, feel free to email me.