WHAT IS AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM?

Simply put, an Affiliate Program on the Net is a partnership with an online merchant (a Web site that sells goods or services). The webmaster or web site owner places links in the form of buttons, banners, or text links to the merchant's site. A visitor comes to webmaster's site. If the visitor clicks on one of the Affiliate Program links the webmaster have put on their site, that visitor goes to the merchant's site. If that visitor buys something on the merchant's site, the webmaster gets a commission.

There are different types of commissions available depending on the type of program. The main methods are:

• pay-per-click (or other action) programs,
• pay-per-lead programs,
• pay-per-sale programs,
• or a combination of any of the above.

PAY-PER-CLICK

A good example of a pay-per-click (or other action) program is GoTo Search run/tracked through beFree. GoTo pays webmasters to put a search box on their web site... for each search a visitor makes using the search box they pay $.02/search.

PAY-PER-LEAD

A good example of a pay-per-lead program is Club Mom run/tracked through beFree. They pay $1.00 for each unique new registration to their site originating from a webmaster's site.

PAY-PER-SALE

A good example of a pay-per-sale program is Monica's Flowers and Gifts run/tracked through Commission Junction. They pay 10% commission on any goods/products purchased on their site from visitors coming through the webmaster's affiliate link(s).

COMBINATION

A good example of a combination program is Commission Junction who pay 2 ways... They pay $2.00/unique referral who signs up, and 20% of sales.

WHAT IT IS NOT

Don't be fooled by all the hype. An Affiliate Program is NOT easy money except under the ultimate conditions. In a perfect world you already have tons of traffic to your site, you've found a program that pays you well, the marketing materials to market the program (buttons, banners, storefronts, etc.) are excellent "pullers" generating tons of click-throughs and the conversion rates on those click-throughs is well over 50%... Okay --- so we can dream --- can't we?

In reality --- build trust in your visitors by creating a good web site, build traffic by marketing your site well, choose your affiliate programs well to ensure you can be proud of what you are recommending to your visitors (try keeping it in context with your content) ... and you will make money. Be sure to review the other links to the WebPower Affiliate section to gain the edge on generating a good income. In particular visit the single-tier and 2-tier sections to familiarize yourself with the different types of Affiliate Programs available in both of these and the difference between them.