5 Reasons You Need a Business Plan to Succeed as an Online Affiliate

Marketing Campaigns
Copyright 2005 Andy Murray

Affiliate programs (also called Referral Programs or .....

Affiliate vs. MLM

These words are often used interchangeably, but actually indicate very different types of programs. Both systems allow participants to develop income streams, but they require different approaches in order to be successful. Since the focus of AffiliateScreen.com is to review programs that could be used to build residual income, you can find both types of programs listed here.

Affiliate Programs
One of the best examples of an internet affiliate program is offered by Amazon.com. If you have a website, you may place links on your site to Amazon.com (either general pages or specific products). If someone clicks your link then ends up buying a product, Amazon.com will pay you, as an affiliate, a commission on the sale. That is an affiliate program in its simplest incarnation. If you manage to get a large volume of people to follow your links to Amazon.com and make purchases, then you can expect these commissions to amount to a healthy revenue.

More Well Worn Bibles

The world needs more well worn Bibles on its' tablesThe Bible contains words of life and truth but no fablesPeople need to .....

MLM Programs
Multilevel marketing programs (MLMs) are more complex. Let's say you are an Amazon.com affiliate and you are making a little extra money from commissions. Your friend Sally has a website and asks you about becoming an affiliate. You direct Sally to the section of Amazon.com's website that addresses joining the affiliate program. Wouldn't it be nice if Amazon.com gave you some financial reward for introducing Sally to the affiliate program and potentially increasing Amazon.com's profit' (They don't, by the way.) If you do receive any form of direct financial benefit for introducing new people to the program, then the affiliate program becomes a multilevel marketing program.

The direct financial benefit can take many forms. You could get a flat fee for introducing Sally to the program. You might receive a small commission on the sales generated from Sally's website. You could receive a payment each month that Sally participates in the program. You might get some combination of those options.

Market Research Advertising

Imagine if you could advertise ONLY to people who have actually expressed an interest in doing .....

The program described up to this point is defined as two-tier or two-level. Let's say you also receive direct financial benefit when Sally introduces her friend Matt to the program. Now we're talking about a three-tier program. In MLM terms, Sally and Matt are part of your downline.
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