An affiliate network is a repository for hundreds and thousands of merchants in one place. Affiliates can join the network and automatically or semi-automatically be able to promote all of the merchants who belong to that network. This is advantageous because you do not have to fill out separate affiliate applications for every merchant you’d like to promote, and you do not have to keep track of hundreds or thousands of different website logins, payments, tracking, and links.
The biggest affiliate networks combine all earnings into one payment, and provide detailed stats, tracking and anaylitics for all of the merchants you’re promoting too. This makes it much easier to keep track of which products are selling, which promotions are working well, and which campaigns or websites need more attention.
The combined payment helps tremendously in the beginning as well, because you don’t have to wait for each individual merchant to reach a minimum earnings amount before you’re able to receive your payments.
It costs nothing for affiliate marketers to join affiliate networks and start promoting merchants and products, however some advanced features may have additional fees. The minimum payout amount varies from one network to another, but generally these days you must earn at least $25-$50 before you’ll receive your commissions.
My favorite affiliate network is ShareASale.
