What Are Affiliate Networks?

Affiliate networks are basically intermediary companies that for a fee perform the task of recruiting into the program or network, others that will assume the role of sales of the specific program. Nice handy definition, but what exactly does it mean to you, what an affiliate network is?

A group of like-minded individuals looking to sell or promote the same product, that get together either online or in person, to share and promote together thats a simple affiliate network for you. Sure, theres lots of bells and whistles that can be added to this, like we provide all your leads and we advertise for you and others like it, but with those kinds add-ons you have to ask yourself, if they do all that and have all that, why do they need me at all? Simply put, these networks have to continually grow, or they die. Theyre all growth driven, and nothing can change that.

The networks themselves, especially on line, do have some great things going for them. The ability to share information, both good and bad, can be a great way to avoid the bad things to do, and to learn new ways that are good to promote the product. The fact that these affiliate networks are usually single product based is also a plus, but there are some that will promote multiple products, so look for those that complement what youre looking to do with the product youve chosen.

For the owners of these programs, or publishers as most people call them now, the advantages are simply huge. To be able to set a fire and forget sales program at little or no cost to your company or to yourself, is simply awesome, as it can create a tide of sales without a huge outlay on behalf of the publisher. Then being able to tap into that ready-made market that your affiliates have made for you when your next product or improvement to your existing product comes out just adds even more benefits to the cost effectiveness of that program, and allows exponential growth for pennies on the dollar, with having the whole campaign run, effectively for free if your numbers are done properly, by others is just such an enormous leap over the hire a sales force and make them sell attitude, its a wonder that more companies arent in the affiliate marketing and affiliate networks business for themselves.