Affiliate networks bring together merchants and affiliates by providing a system to track clicks, leads and sales, report performance and pay commissions. The “Big Three” networks are: Commission Junction, LinkShare and ShareASale*. Promoting merchants that run their programs via these networks has some nice benefits.
Promoting networked merchants makes it easy for you.
When you sign up and join an affiliate program an account is created for you. That account is where you log in to get links and banners with your special tracking code, contact the merchant with questions and requests, and most importantly, where your reporting is… your clicks, sales and how much money you’re making! Your affiliate account is your connection with the merchant you’re promoting.
Now imagine promoting a dozen or more merchants on your website. If they were not in an affiliate network, that’d be twelve places you’d have to log in to check all that stuff! WOW… what a time killer! This is one of the biggest reasons affiliates like networks. With one account you have access to and can manage the promotion of thousands of merchants. The second biggest reason affiliates like networks is all about getting paid.
You get paid by the network (not the merchant).
Although time saving convenience is important, the two strongest reasons affiliate marketers like networks is:
- 1) You are reasonably sure you’ll get paid!
Unfortunately, there are some merchants who, for some reason, don’t pay their affiliates. Promoting merchants that run through (one of the big three) networks gives you a lot of protection in this area because it’s actually the NETWORK that is promising to pay you, not the merchant.
- 2) ONE BIG check to cash, rather than lots of small ones.
Since it’s the network that’s paying you and not the individual merchants, all your earnings are aggregated into one big check. Easier management. Less work.
Easy. Free. And there’s no obligation. 
Setting up an account is fast, easy and best of all - free. There’s no obligation to promote any merchant. With a couple of clicks you can choose whom to promote or not. Being an affiliate is really a powerful position to be in. You could be making (more) money with your website in just a few minutes with affiliate marketing.
So why not?
*I have found that ShareASale is by far is the most trusted and respected of all the networks. Affiliates tell me that they feel SAS’s management is reputable and reporting the most reliable.
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