Affiliate Networks VS Affiliate Programs Which Is Best?
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently, he also has a few different online businesses and the conversation came up about affiliate networks? He mentioned to me that as someone who has sold a lot of different products as an affiliate of different affiliate networks. That a lot of the affiliate commission rates have taken a huge dive. In fact, some affiliate programs that were at one point paying 40% affiliate commissions are now only paying out 0.5 Percent commissions. Which to me seems like pretty much a disgrace.
Of course, everyone’s experience will often be different so I am not saying this goes across the board. But for me getting a 0.5 percent commission on something is not going to entice me unless it is 0.5 percent commission from half the worlds population of course lol.
My own experience of affiliate networks is the hassle required firstly to join them, secondly they change links or get bought by other networks etc, lose clients to other networks. This means that after all the trouble you went to sign up and be accepted to tens possibly hundreds or even thousands of separate merchants. A lot of your links will soon stop working this means you do your end of the bargain and get paid nothing in return. Networks such as CJ delete your account in 6 months if you don’t make the required amount of sales. This means you have to join them and all the programs separately all over again.
To me, this is a complete disgrace and a waste of your time and energy. So personally I now avoid affiliate networks like the plague. But for some marketers, it is their thing. Of course, as an affiliate marketer, you are always going to be reliant on someone to get paid your commissions. With an affiliate network, first the merchant has to pay the network the commission, then the affiliate network has to pay you after taking their cut of your commissions that you created.
When it comes to affiliate programs even big companies tracking systems mess up, I have experienced this with Aweber many times. In fact, I often call them up now after I sign up a new customer to make sure I have been credited with the commissions. Have also had difficulties extracting commissions from Clickfunnels and a few more big companies. After a few customer support tickets and a few months passing they eventually arrived. Still waiting for some from them now, I will probably have to start sending support tickets again.
There are two different companies that are very reliable, in fact, I got paid my commissions within 2 minutes of making a sale on complete autopilot. To become an affiliate you need to own the products first one is $595 and the other one is $295. They pay out 50% commissions on any sale you make and yes you get paid to PayPal directly within a few minutes of making the sale. If you interested in buying these absolutely amazing products and getting paid £$347 or $147 per sale instantly let me know and I will hook you up. If I am to sum of the pro’s and cons it will go like this
| Affiliate Network Pros | Affiliate Programme Pros | |
| 1 | They have affiliate programs for the biggest retailers | They often pay out much higher commissions |
| 2 | They need to maintain a good reputation | You cut out the middleman and split the revenue with the company owner. |
| 3 | They pay out commissions to tracking links that still work | The commission payment comes directly from the company. |
| 4 | Not everyone gets accepted | Not everyone gets accepted to the affiliate programs |
| 5 | Some of them have account managers to contact you directly | After a short time, you can figure out if the affiliate program is reliable or not by testing your sales links. |
| 6 | You can find affiliate products for most niches | You can build a list of your buyers more easily. |
| 7 | Selling recognised brands will increase your customer’s trust in your products | There are fewer stipulations about branding and advertising etc with smaller companies |
| 8 | No need to take care of customer services | When you join multiple affiliate programs your eggs are not all in one basket. |
| 9 | No need to worry about inventory | No need to worry about inventory or taking care of customer services |
| 1 | Affiliate Network Cons | Affiliate Program Cons |
| 2 | They will reject you more often | Some will change their parameters |
| 3 | You need to fill in a gazillion application forms | Some affiliate programs need you to make a certain amount of sales to get paid out your commissions. |
| 4 | They take a cut of all your commissions as well as the person who created the product or service | Some affiliate programs will outsource their affiliate program rendering all your old affiliate links and posts useless. |
| 5 | Many of them pay out very low commission rates | Some affiliate programs will not pay you until you contact them several times and chase them for your commissions |
| 6 | You get very little or no info about your buyers | Confusing tax forms often used as an excuse for not paying out your affiliate commissions |
| 7 | Many of the big brands pay low commission rates | If you do not sell regularly you may get your affiliate account canceled |
| 8 | Affiliate networks often get bought over rendering all your links useless | You do not control the money, |
| 9 | Not having enough sales in a set period could get your account deleted, and then you have to set it up and reapply all over again | You may have to wait for long periods of time to get paid |
| 10 | Any correspondence is going through a third party and not directly to the producers/creators | Your affiliate account could be terminated and commissions forfeited if and when the payee sees fit. |
Of course, I would suggest not putting all your eggs in one basket and using just affiliate programs. In fact, as I was creating this post I saw a post from a friend on Facebook and the same even goes for payment processors.
It is never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. I think if you a serious about selling products and services online you should have your own shopping cart, offering multiple payment methods.
I do know a few amazing reliable affiliate programs that pay out within 3 mins of you making a sale, you need to buy their product before becoming an affiliate. But it is well worth it as the products are both something any marketer needs if they want to increase their sales and opt-ins. Message me if you want to know which ones I recommend, there are also a few including top products that are hugely problematic when it comes to getting paid commissions. Again I can warn you about those too, I will not do it publicly here. But if you want to save yourself some hassle let me know and I will give you the info.
If you are serious about your online business I recommend using this product for a limited time it comes with a lifetime license, which will become monthly for future members shortly. This alone could save you nearly 24k over the next 10 years.
Any questions you can contact me using the green live chat at the bottom right of this page.
