Understanding The Three Basic Types of Affiliate Programs

With all the companies on the internet that offer affiliate programs, you want to be able to differentiate between the types of programs that are being offered.

The three main affiliate programs you can choose from are, pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead and pay-per-click.

Pay-Per-Sale programs are definitely the most popular. By putting a link on your website and promoting their product, these companies will pay you a commission (usually 10% to 25%) on every sale you make on their product. Some of the companies will even pay out bonuses to their top producers.

There are many companies that pay you consistently from repeat sales from a customer who continues to buy products.

Some of these companies offer a two-tier program, whereas you receive a small percentage of commissions from anyone who signs up as an affiliate through you. With this type of program is where you will begin to build a consistent stream of revenue.

To significantly increase your levels of success, choose an affiliate program that is in relationship to your website. If you choose a program that is also a good match with your viewer's interest, than you can see great results and do very well with this program.

Pay-Per-Lead with this type of program the company pays you a fixed commission amount for all qualified leads that you send them. Generally the leads would be signing up for; a newsletter, credit cards, new email subscribers, new applications to loans or requesting more information are a few examples.

Even though it is not as popular as pay-per-sale, some look at pay-per-lead programs as easier to promote because you are not requesting your visitor to make a purchase.

When considering this program, check out the company that you are going to be referring. You want to refer companies that offer a good product or service. Remember, if you refer someone to a bad experience, they will most likely not have any trust or interest in what you have to offer in the future.

Pay-Per-Click With this program you agree to put a link or banner on your website. The company pays you for each click through to their website. The payouts can be anywhere from $.01 to $.025 per visitor that you send to their website.

When considering this affiliate program, look for reputable companies that give you access to a statistics page to your account. This page should show you the total number of clicks that have come from your website, your earnings, new affiliates and contact information. This will be your only means to measure your earnings and how many clicks you have provided with this type of program.

A good word of advice is before signing up with any company, be sure to check out their program thoroughly and review their terms and conditions.

John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of "A Home Business Opportunity". His website mainly focuses on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support for home startup businesses and Internet marketing. To get a step-by-step guide in building an online business, visit http://www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net

Affiliate marketing offers earning opportunities, making it as one of the fastest growing industry in the World Wide Web today. It produces billions of dollars worth of income yearly. That is why many people are getting involved in it.

However, most of them are just getting into the jive of earning money without a concrete plan. You will have no strategies to be implemented, no guidelines to be followed.

In case that you are planning to get yourself involved in affiliate marketing, bear in your mind that it is a serious work. Though it is one of the easier ways of earning additional income, it still requires effort, perseverance, and a clear plan of action from your starting point up to the finish line.

An affiliate site that I highly recommend, that trains you and helps you get a clear plan of action is SITE BUILD IT (SBI). Why?

Here's why.. Many major universities (ex., University of Arizona), and colleges and even MBA programs include SBI! in their curriculum. No other online busineness building program has gained acceptance by the educational sector like SBI!

In addition to universities, stellar companies such as Clickbank and AdBrite recommend SBI! to their hundreds of thousands of affiliates and publishers. The reason is simple. SBI! makes them more effective online.

Only SBI! has garnered this type of support. Because only Site Build It! actually builds online success.

I speak from experience because I'm an owner of an SBI site myself and I can't believe how profitable this site can be. I love the traffic that I get from SBI. Everyone knows that traffic is the lifeblood of any online business. Only Site Build It! (SBI!) delivers the holy grail, traffic. Targeted traffic. Motivated, interested, warm, willing-to-buy visitors. That spells SUCCESS!!!