The Big-Brand Affiliate Networks
by David Long
For those not familiar with them, a little prelude. Affiliate networks act as middlemen
between merchants and affiliates. They provide a central “meeting ground,” as it were. They (at least try to) offer a value-add with tracking and reporting tools, payment processing, and — of course — access to thousands of affiliate programs in one, easy-to-access location. That’s the theory, anyway, and — to a great extent — it does work in practice.
Whether joining a network benefits any particular affiliate is, of course, a matter of individualcircumstances and goals. To help you decide, it’s useful to look at some of the big players in the field and find out a little more about what they offer. It’s also helpful to know about some of the potential “gotchas.” Here we go.
Be Realistic
First, some general points.
Fraud protection is a basic service provided by all the major affiliate networks. They provide methods to minimize the odds of CPC (cost per click) fraud. How well they do that is a matter of debate, but most are sincere in trying.
The majors are pretty upfront about their services. But what they may not tell you is that you can be dropped from the program. Be sure to read the fine print. You don’t pay to sign up, but you do invest your time, and you don’t want to waste it. More than one affiliate has found an account closed because they complained a little too loudly. Some may have deserved that fate; others, no doubt, got shafted. Buyer, beware.
But be realistic. The major networks have thousands of affiliates, and like any big company, they can’t give lengthy individual attention to each person.
Most will try to resolve problems — disputed sales, programs, and materials they provide that don’t work right, and so on. Still, even when you are assigned an individual account manager, remember that that person is tasked with helping out many people and there are only so many hours in the day. Unless you are the exception — a super affiliate who brings in millions in annual sales — you should not expect a lot of hand-holding.
The Networks
http://www.cj.com
CJ has hundreds of high-end merchants signed up that offer a vast array of products and services. Their affiliate programs cover an equally wide variety. CJ’s merchants run the gamut, from eBay to Citibank and everything in between, including Dell, Lending Tree, and AT&T
Some affiliates prefer to push only those products or services for which they have a personal passion. That helps them stay motivated. Others just look for high commissions. Whatever you’re looking for, CJ merchants offer it.
CJ’s merchants offer pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead, and some offer performance bonuses for those who generate over a certain threshold of sales in a given period. In short, anything and everything is possible.
The network has monthly payout and their reputation for honest dealing is among the best.Sure, every affiliate will have his or her horror story. But CJ stays in business by being pretty above board.
They let you know which companies are earning the most money for affiliates. So, if you want to go after that (and, hey, that’s not a bad idea!) you can. Some commissions are as high as 50%, but 5%–10% is typical.
They offer two-tier programs, which means you earn commissions on sales and also b referring someone new who joins Commission Junction. Afterwards, you can earn 5% of the commissions that person makes. Their merchants offer two-tier programs, too.
Unlike some other networks, commissions from different merchants are pooled, so you reach the needed threshold to get paid more quickly. (Individual affiliate programs outside the network typically require you to earn $25–$100 before they cut you a check.) If you have 10 merchants that paid a commission of $10 each in a given month, you get a check without waiting to reach any individual merchant’s minimum. Direct deposit is also an option.
CJ’s online tools are pretty easy to use, and they provide a lot of information in a very appealing format. Some affiliates will get a feeling of information overload. Others wil welcome all the detail. That’s just one of the reasons why choosing a network is an individua affair. Daily stats, exact product sales, EPC, Total Commission, and more are not a hassle to see and explore.
They also offer something CJ calls “smart zones.” These are rotating product banners for your affiliate site. That gives a graphic alternative to those text-based Google AdSense ads.
Just about everybody sooner or later will want to join Commission Junction. Whether you stay with them, or care later that you did, you will (not surprisingly) depend on your personal experience with them.
LinkShare
http://www.linkshare.com
LinkShare is another huge affiliate network, and one with a good reputation among experienced affiliates. Since they have millions of affiliates, you’ll naturally read a mixed bag of responses on forums. The majority of those opinions, though, are positive.
The network offers merchants such as Disney, Sony, Playboy, and hundreds of others. L.L.Bean, Avon, Hickory Farms, Office Depot, and many, many more are signed up with LinkShare.
It isn’t any surprise, then, that the affiliate programs are as different as those companies. Unfortunately, unlike CJ, they don’t pool commissions. So, you’ll have to read the individual program’s fine print to find out when (not if — think positively!) you’ll get a check. Typical commissions are in the 5%–10% range.
LinkShare’s Publisher Dashboard, an online interface for tracking sales and other data, is pretty straightforward. It’s easy to find and join affiliate programs and locate links to feature on your site.
It’s also easy to generate reports, and there is lots of data about sales, leads, and more. They can track down to the transaction level. Their LinkShare Signature Technology makes it easy for you track programs and their results for you.
Their sub-id tracking is good, but sometimes long URLs will get mangled by email servers. Such is life. But, they do have subsite options that allow you to add more than one to your profile. It’s pretty easy to choose individual products from the merchants to highlight.
They offer merchants the ability, through the Virtual Storefront, to create dynamic pages of specific product links. That makes it simpler for affiliates to feature them, potentially targeting higher margin products.
They offer all the standard creatives, including banner ads. But they also offer pre-written emails, which can be a big advantage for those of you who want to do newsletter marketing but fall a little short in the content creation skill area. They offer product feeds, rich media,Flex Links for video, widgets, and other helpful eye candy to help you generate sales.
Like any large network, their customer service is good, but limited. Smaller networks, like smaller businesses in general, do a better job of providing individual attention. That’s one of the competitive advantages any smaller business has to offer.
DoubleClick/Performics
http://www.performics.com
With Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick, you can expect changes to Performics sooner or later. However, as with all things Google, you can never predict what those changes are going to be. Still, Performics will undoubtedly continue to be a major affiliate network for the foreseeable future.
Like the others, they offer hundreds of high-profile merchant brands, such as Adidas, Circuit City, Eddie Bauer, Verizon Wireless, and more. Again, typical commissions are in the 5%–10% range. Payments are made semimonthly, and they offer electronic payments, which is a plus.
Their tracking system and reports are fine. Tracking and reporting are done in real time, and you have the option of having reports delivered to your email inbox.
Performics has a reputation of being willing to pick up the phone, which isn’t always the case with affiliate networks. How satisfied you’ll be by what you hear will vary from person to person. Like any big company, unless you’re making them oodles of money, follow-up attention will likely be slim.
ShareASale
http://www.shareasale.com
While it’s not the largest affiliate network, ShareASale is a favorite of many. They tout over 2,000 merchants, including Pets Warehouse, Moab Sports, Sendflowers.com, and (of course) many more. They aren’t always the biggest-known merchant names, but keep in mind that small and midsized businesses generate huge revenues in the U.S. and elsewhere overall.
They have a great reputation on both sides of the affiliate marketing fence. No worries here about cookie theft, getting paid on time, or other sadly too-well-known affiliate hassles. Their commissions range generally from 8%–15%, a slightly higher average than the other major brands.
They offer product feeds and deal feeds. They also offer BHO-free programs, pay-per-acquisition, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-sale like the rest. Any affiliate who is looking to sell physical products should consider signing up with ShareASale.
ClickBank
http://www.clickbank.com
ClickBank, by contrast, offers only electronic products. They’re kind of an odd duck, since it’s hard to really classify them as an affiliate network like the others. But, they’re large enough and well known enough to warrant a few words.
They offer long, very long lists of ebooks, software, and tons of other downloadable merchandise. Sometimes that sort of thing has pretty big margins. (Microsoft’s margins on sales, for example, are about 40%. By comparison, the margins for oil companies’ products are closer to 5%.)
Big margins open up the possibility of big commission percentages. However, many of these items sell for fairly low prices, so building up appreciable commission dollars can take a while. Still, not a bad network to have in one’s “portfolio.”
European Networks
There are hundreds of smaller American affiliate networks, some of which are pretty good. We just don’t have space to cover them. But the larger European networks certainly deserve a mention.
Outfits like TradeDoubler, DGM, Buy.at, and Zanox, among others, have been doing business in the UK and Europe for years now. For anyone based in or focusing a lot of their efforts there, joining one or more of these is a really good idea. Some of the major brands discussed above tend to focus heavily on U.S. companies. Here the focus is local to the UK and the continent.
Parting Words
One of the main lessons to be drawn from researching any of the networks, large or small, here or there, is to have realistic expectations. Networks can help you make money easier, but they can’t make you money, per se.
Being a successful affiliate requires zeal, dedication, and never-ending effort, not to mention a lot of creativity. But, after all, it’s exactly that entrepreneurial spirit that makes anyone want to be an affiliate in the first place. Hats off to yourself!
About the Author
David Long is a freelance writer and editor with over 20 years of experience. His PLR articles and ebooks have appeared on
hundreds of websites. They cover Wine & Beer, Travel, Gardening, Health & Fitness, Pets, Stocks & Bonds, and dozens
more subjects. He can be contacted for hire at JDavidLong@gmail.com
Affiliate Program information Related
Affiliate Program information
The Big-Brand Affiliate Networks
The Big-Brand Affiliate Networks
by David Long
For those not familiar with them, a little prelude. Affiliate networks act as middlemen
between merchants and affiliates. They provide a central “meeting ground,” as it were. They (at least try to) offer a value-add with tracking and reporting tools, payment processing, and — of course — access to thousands of affiliate programs in one, easy-to-access location. That’s the theory, anyway, and — to a great extent — it does work in practice.
Whether joining a network benefits any particular affiliate is, of course, a matter of individualcircumstances and goals. To help you decide, it’s useful to look at some of the big players in the field and find out a little more about what they offer. It’s also helpful to know about some of the potential “gotchas.” Here we go.
Be Realistic
First, some general points.
Fraud protection is a basic service provided by all the major affiliate networks. They provide methods to minimize the odds of CPC (cost per click) fraud. How well they do that is a matter of debate, but most are sincere in trying.
The majors are pretty upfront about their services. But what they may not tell you is that you can be dropped from the program. Be sure to read the fine print. You don’t pay to sign up, but you do invest your time, and you don’t want to waste it. More than one affiliate has found an account closed because they complained a little too loudly. Some may have deserved that fate; others, no doubt, got shafted. Buyer, beware.
But be realistic. The major networks have thousands of affiliates, and like any big company, they can’t give lengthy individual attention to each person.
Most will try to resolve problems — disputed sales, programs, and materials they provide that don’t work right, and so on. Still, even when you are assigned an individual account manager, remember that that person is tasked with helping out many people and there are only so many hours in the day. Unless you are the exception — a super affiliate who brings in millions in annual sales — you should not expect a lot of hand-holding.
The Networks
http://www.cj.com
CJ has hundreds of high-end merchants signed up that offer a vast array of products and services. Their affiliate programs cover an equally wide variety. CJ’s merchants run the gamut, from eBay to Citibank and everything in between, including Dell, Lending Tree, and AT&T
Some affiliates prefer to push only those products or services for which they have a personal passion. That helps them stay motivated. Others just look for high commissions. Whatever you’re looking for, CJ merchants offer it.
CJ’s merchants offer pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead, and some offer performance bonuses for those who generate over a certain threshold of sales in a given period. In short, anything and everything is possible.
The network has monthly payout and their reputation for honest dealing is among the best.Sure, every affiliate will have his or her horror story. But CJ stays in business by being pretty above board.
They let you know which companies are earning the most money for affiliates. So, if you want to go after that (and, hey, that’s not a bad idea!) you can. Some commissions are as high as 50%, but 5%–10% is typical.
They offer two-tier programs, which means you earn commissions on sales and also b referring someone new who joins Commission Junction. Afterwards, you can earn 5% of the commissions that person makes. Their merchants offer two-tier programs, too.
Unlike some other networks, commissions from different merchants are pooled, so you reach the needed threshold to get paid more quickly. (Individual affiliate programs outside the network typically require you to earn $25–$100 before they cut you a check.) If you have 10 merchants that paid a commission of $10 each in a given month, you get a check without waiting to reach any individual merchant’s minimum. Direct deposit is also an option.
CJ’s online tools are pretty easy to use, and they provide a lot of information in a very appealing format. Some affiliates will get a feeling of information overload. Others wil welcome all the detail. That’s just one of the reasons why choosing a network is an individua affair. Daily stats, exact product sales, EPC, Total Commission, and more are not a hassle to see and explore.
They also offer something CJ calls “smart zones.” These are rotating product banners for your affiliate site. That gives a graphic alternative to those text-based Google AdSense ads.
Just about everybody sooner or later will want to join Commission Junction. Whether you stay with them, or care later that you did, you will (not surprisingly) depend on your personal experience with them.
LinkShare
http://www.linkshare.com
LinkShare is another huge affiliate network, and one with a good reputation among experienced affiliates. Since they have millions of affiliates, you’ll naturally read a mixed bag of responses on forums. The majority of those opinions, though, are positive.
The network offers merchants such as Disney, Sony, Playboy, and hundreds of others. L.L.Bean, Avon, Hickory Farms, Office Depot, and many, many more are signed up with LinkShare.
It isn’t any surprise, then, that the affiliate programs are as different as those companies. Unfortunately, unlike CJ, they don’t pool commissions. So, you’ll have to read the individual program’s fine print to find out when (not if — think positively!) you’ll get a check. Typical commissions are in the 5%–10% range.
LinkShare’s Publisher Dashboard, an online interface for tracking sales and other data, is pretty straightforward. It’s easy to find and join affiliate programs and locate links to feature on your site.
It’s also easy to generate reports, and there is lots of data about sales, leads, and more. They can track down to the transaction level. Their LinkShare Signature Technology makes it easy for you track programs and their results for you.
Their sub-id tracking is good, but sometimes long URLs will get mangled by email servers. Such is life. But, they do have subsite options that allow you to add more than one to your profile. It’s pretty easy to choose individual products from the merchants to highlight.
They offer merchants the ability, through the Virtual Storefront, to create dynamic pages of specific product links. That makes it simpler for affiliates to feature them, potentially targeting higher margin products.
They offer all the standard creatives, including banner ads. But they also offer pre-written emails, which can be a big advantage for those of you who want to do newsletter marketing but fall a little short in the content creation skill area. They offer product feeds, rich media,Flex Links for video, widgets, and other helpful eye candy to help you generate sales.
Like any large network, their customer service is good, but limited. Smaller networks, like smaller businesses in general, do a better job of providing individual attention. That’s one of the competitive advantages any smaller business has to offer.
DoubleClick/Performics
http://www.performics.com
With Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick, you can expect changes to Performics sooner or later. However, as with all things Google, you can never predict what those changes are going to be. Still, Performics will undoubtedly continue to be a major affiliate network for the foreseeable future.
Like the others, they offer hundreds of high-profile merchant brands, such as Adidas, Circuit City, Eddie Bauer, Verizon Wireless, and more. Again, typical commissions are in the 5%–10% range. Payments are made semimonthly, and they offer electronic payments, which is a plus.
Their tracking system and reports are fine. Tracking and reporting are done in real time, and you have the option of having reports delivered to your email inbox.
Performics has a reputation of being willing to pick up the phone, which isn’t always the case with affiliate networks. How satisfied you’ll be by what you hear will vary from person to person. Like any big company, unless you’re making them oodles of money, follow-up attention will likely be slim.
ShareASale
http://www.shareasale.com
While it’s not the largest affiliate network, ShareASale is a favorite of many. They tout over 2,000 merchants, including Pets Warehouse, Moab Sports, Sendflowers.com, and (of course) many more. They aren’t always the biggest-known merchant names, but keep in mind that small and midsized businesses generate huge revenues in the U.S. and elsewhere overall.
They have a great reputation on both sides of the affiliate marketing fence. No worries here about cookie theft, getting paid on time, or other sadly too-well-known affiliate hassles. Their commissions range generally from 8%–15%, a slightly higher average than the other major brands.
They offer product feeds and deal feeds. They also offer BHO-free programs, pay-per-acquisition, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-sale like the rest. Any affiliate who is looking to sell physical products should consider signing up with ShareASale.
ClickBank
http://www.clickbank.com
ClickBank, by contrast, offers only electronic products. They’re kind of an odd duck, since it’s hard to really classify them as an affiliate network like the others. But, they’re large enough and well known enough to warrant a few words.
They offer long, very long lists of ebooks, software, and tons of other downloadable merchandise. Sometimes that sort of thing has pretty big margins. (Microsoft’s margins on sales, for example, are about 40%. By comparison, the margins for oil companies’ products are closer to 5%.)
Big margins open up the possibility of big commission percentages. However, many of these items sell for fairly low prices, so building up appreciable commission dollars can take a while. Still, not a bad network to have in one’s “portfolio.”
European Networks
There are hundreds of smaller American affiliate networks, some of which are pretty good. We just don’t have space to cover them. But the larger European networks certainly deserve a mention.
Outfits like TradeDoubler, DGM, Buy.at, and Zanox, among others, have been doing business in the UK and Europe for years now. For anyone based in or focusing a lot of their efforts there, joining one or more of these is a really good idea. Some of the major brands discussed above tend to focus heavily on U.S. companies. Here the focus is local to the UK and the continent.
Parting Words
One of the main lessons to be drawn from researching any of the networks, large or small, here or there, is to have realistic expectations. Networks can help you make money easier, but they can’t make you money, per se.
Being a successful affiliate requires zeal, dedication, and never-ending effort, not to mention a lot of creativity. But, after all, it’s exactly that entrepreneurial spirit that makes anyone want to be an affiliate in the first place. Hats off to yourself!
About the Author
David Long is a freelance writer and editor with over 20 years of experience. His PLR articles and ebooks have appeared on
hundreds of websites. They cover Wine & Beer, Travel, Gardening, Health & Fitness, Pets, Stocks & Bonds, and dozens
more subjects. He can be contacted for hire at JDavidLong@gmail.com
Affiliate Program information Related