Affiliate Programs & Networks

written by Keith James Lock

I have been using the Commission Junction affiliate network ever since I got involved in affiliate marketing and have been getting steady checks from them since the beginning. I have branched out a bit as far as affiliate networks go and I also take advantage of in-house affiliate programs.

Searching For Affiliate Programs

If the product or service I would like to promote is not available on any of the networks I am part of I quickly do a Google search containing the main search term or product name with +affiliate appended to it. I then compare the commissions of the top results and join the program that I desire. A lot of times the merchants want to visit your site before making a decision to approve you, but some will approve you without a web site. It's often a good idea to wait until your site is indexed by Google before including affiliate links anyway so it might be beneficial to have your site ready to go.

Here is a list of some of the programs and networks that send me checks on a regular basis: (in no particular order)

Never Blue Ads - Lots of campaigns to choose from with great payouts.
Commission Junction - Plenty of merchants offering a variety of products and services.
Clickbank - Dealing with digital products and services.
RegNow - Popular software titles offering up to 75% commissions and free trial software with affiliate link embedded.
AllPosters - Posters, artwork and framed CD's.

I'll continue to add more when I find more that I like and start making money with.

2 Responses to “ Affiliate Programs & Networks ”

Comment by Nate
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:14 am
There are a ton of CPA networks out there… but what do you think about trying to work with individual companies. For example, hooking up with a local “debt consolidation” company that offers to pay $x per lead you give them. (You know exactly how many leads you give, no need to worry about shady middle-man networks). A friend of mine sells insurance and he told me they pay $6 and $12 per lead, depending on the lead. He doesn’t know where the leads come from.
Have you done anything like this? Any idea how to go about it? Seems like debt consolidation, insurance, mortgage, loans, payday advance, lasik eye surgery, among others, could be good ways to go. Thoughts?
Comment by Keith James Lock
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 am
Hi Nate,
There are some that already have in-house affiliate programs like MicroNutra for example and now eBay…but I think I know what you are getting at. I think you are saying that if you find an offer that you like on an affiliate network you want to contact the merchant directly to cut out the middle man?

Well, I have never done it and it would definitely be a bold mood. I have read though, I think on CDF Networks and maybe even Ruck’s (now Kris’s) blog that you have to be a heavy hitter with the network first before they would even consider you going directly. But, hey, the worse they could say is no. But as CDF pointed out there are drawbacks as well.

If you are talking about approaching a company that doesn’t currently have an affiliate program at all, I believe there would be too much work and software to put in place to tackle a virgin company.

Besides, I’ve never looked at the networks as shady. Maybe I should be paying closer attention…But truthfully, I’m still at the point where dealing with affiliate networks is favourable for me. They deal with the negotiations and I stay out of it. Works for me…plus they will reward you for making tons of sales with gifts and with pay increases. I’m certainly not in a position to complain