Types Of Affiliate Programs

Affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable online business opportunities.

It involves selling other people’s products for a commission.

Affiliate marketing is beneficial for both the merchant and the affiliate.

Through affiliate marketing, the merchant can advertise their products at a lower cost and the affiliate can earn a high commission by selling products from his/her website. The affiliate does not have to store the products physically or to take the responsibility of shipping and handling.

There are different types of affiliate marketing opportunities available which are discussed below:

Pay Per Click (PPC)
‘Pay Per Click’ (PPC) programs are the most popular types of affiliate programs. Under these types of programs, some ads are shown on the affiliate’s website. When some visitor to the site clicks on the ads, the affiliate gets a commission, whether the visitor buys the product or not.

However, the earnings per click are usually low — ranging from $0.05 to $1.00. These types of programs are a good way of earning money for small website or blog owners.

Pay Per Sale (PPS)
These types of programs pay a flat fee or a commission on each sale. Whenever some visitor referred by the affiliate to the merchant’s site purchases something, the affiliate is paid a commission. The percentage of commission may vary from 10% to 70%. These types of programs are very lucrative and if done properly, may
bring a lot of money to the affiliates.

Pay Per Lead (PPL)
In these types of programs, the affiliate is paid a fixed amount per business lead. Whenever some visitor referred by the affiliate fills up a form or completes a survey or take some other similar action, he is considered as a lead for that business and the affiliate is paid a flat fee. Generally this type of
business model is mostly used by loan, mortgage, insurance and other similar businesses.

Single tier or multi tier programs
In a single tier program, the affiliate is paid only for each sale referred by him. In a multi tier system, the affiliate is also paid for recruiting new affiliates for the network. He is also paid a commission on any sale
made by his referrals.

Residual income programs
In residual income programs, the affiliate is paid not once but each time the customer referred by him, returns to the merchant site and buys some goods or services.