I have a confession to make, right off the bat, the sentence that I have used in my title is the one that ranked highest on the keyword research I did with my favourite keyword research tool. You can read about that right here if you like. Why am I making the confession? Well, the way this is worded could be misconstrued, it could look like I am about to talk about how Affiliates Network with one another. Truth is, I am writing this article for two reasons, one is to introduce you to the concept of Affiliate Networks and two, is to create a page that will lead you to reviews of the different Affiliate Networks I am looking at on your behalf. OK, so with that confession out of the way, let’s move on and discuss the question – What Is Affiliate Networking About?
You know from my introduction that an Affiliate Networking is not about Affiliates Networking with one another. Not Online Affiliates or Online Marketing Affiliates or Affiliate Marketers – none of those titles are networking with one another in this context. What we are going to discuss is what an Affiliate Network is and how they differ from Affiliate Programs.
Ah, before we proceed, perhaps you are unfamiliar with what an Affiliate Marketer is, if that is the case, you can find out right here.
Table of Contents
What Is Affiliate Networking About?
Having established what Affiliate Networking is not, let’s first look at something else it is not, and answer a frequently asked question whilst we are at it:
What Are Affiliate Programs?
Affiliate Programs are run by individual companies. They naturally have fewer brands and products to offer, especially when compared to Affiliate Networks. Affiliate Programs will be owned by one company and cover only their brands. In addition, they each have their particular idiosyncrasies on their sites which means you will need to learn and work with a range of different systems and websites. This is a disadvantage because as Affiliate Marketers, we already work with so much technology, keeping it simple is the best route to take.
Examples of companies with Affiliate Programs are
- My Number One Recommendation
- Jaaxy – my preferred search tool
- PLR Planner – my preferred graphics and eBook tool
- Six Figure Mentors – a High Ticket Affiliate Program, you can read more about them here
- GetResponse
- AWeber
- BlueHost
What An Affiliate Network Is
Affiliate Networks are different to Affiliate Programs in that they are not one company offering only their own brands, products and services.
An Affiliate Network Is, will be easy to see by the fact that they offer a service to Merchants (the companies who manufacture, market and sell the brands, products or services) and Advertisers / Publishers (Online Affiliate Marketers or Affiliate Marketers). This way they are able to offer a very wide range of brands, products and services.
Let’s have a look at an example of an Affiliate Network: Awin for example, offer products and services from 100,000 publishers (companies who own the brands, products and services) to 13,000 advertisers (Affiliate Marketers). As you can see, they generated sales of 148 Million is 2017! Their 2018 numbers are not out just yet which is why you are seeing 2017 still. Either way, $148 Million is a substantial amount of money, I am sure you agree!
Here is a screen snip of the sectors they operate in along with the regions they are active in:
There are an incredible range of products available within each of the Sectors mentioned above. Awin are sure to have a product perfect for the niche you are speaking to. Knowing that, I have joined Awin as an Affiliate Marketer, both for Awin themselves and for a host of other products too. I have written a review about my experience with Awin, you are welcome to read that here.
If you would like to consider joining Awin, all you need do is click the image below – I will earn a commission as you can see. Once you have signed up with them, you can do the same. Simple and very exciting too.
If you have a product or products you would like to sell through Awin, please click on this image below:
List of Suggested Affiliate Networks
Here is a list of Affiliate Networks, these are well worth knowing about. Just remember though, do your research and ensure they are suitable for you to work with. I have written reviews on a few of them and will continue to do so until I have covered this list. For now, you can click on the name below and where I have written a review, you will find a link to that review:
- Avangate
- AvantLink
- Awin
- ClickBank
- Clickdealer
- Commission Factory
- Commission Junction
- eBay Partner Network
- FlexOffers
- Impact
- JVZoo
- Linkconnector
- MarketHealth
- Moreniche
- Olavivo
- OneNetworkDirect
- Paid On Results
- Pepperjam
- Rakuten
- RevenueWire
- SellHealth
- ShareASale
- ShareResults
- Trade Tracker
- Bonus Platforms
- AffiBank
- Creative Market
- Offervault
- ShopStyleCollective
Why Work With Affiliate Networks?
It makes sense for Merchants or companies to work with Affiliate Networks for a few different reasons. The biggest being that they avoid the expense of setting up an Affiliate Program with all the budgets, staff and online paraphernalia required to run it. It is more cost effective for them to leverage the Affiliate Network’s systems and processes, and network. It costs the Merchants a percentage of the sale, essentially, this is free advertising for them and they do not have the Affiliate Program costs to contend with either.
As you can imagine, working with Affiliate Networks benefits the Affiliate Marketer in more than one way, in that they do not have to learn a multitude of different systems and they also have access to a much wider range of products and brands, thereby being almost guaranteed that they will find products to product within their website niche. The Affiliate Marketer, earns a commission for each product sold.
Affiliate Networks offer Affiliate Marketers (also known as Advertisers) the following advantages:
- A single company that provides a collection of affiliate programs from different sources
- As an Online Affiliate Marketer signed up to an Affiliate Network, you have access to thousands of different programs and products
- Some networks allow you access to all products and programs in the Network, the majority of the Networks however, have a system in place where you apply to each one This is not a biggie really, so long as your target market is in keeping with their target market, you should be accepted. That, and your site needs to be up and running with numerous posts on it, and all the good things an Affiliate Marketer’s site should have. (Credibility and good security also come to mind)
- You have access to multiple merchants without going from website to website
- You have access to a huge amount of deals to promote
- Access to learning about and working with new companies is made available to you
- All the banners, links, tracking and related processes are in one place, not only that the latter are similar as they are managed by the Affiliate Network
- Payments are all made out of the one Affiliate Network which makes them more efficient
It is not surprising to know that Affiliate Networks are powerful, they have become an integral and important part of online marketing. If you are looking to become a successful Affiliate Marketer, it is extremely important that you join Affiliate Networks. Fortunately there are plenty to choose from! Please also understand that it is worthwhile to join some independent Affiliate Programs, it doesn’t make sense not to, just do your due diligence so you know what you are getting into.
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Blessings always
