The ShareASale affiliate network is one I highly recommend. I use it regularly myself and feel it is the best first step for beginners. It is also an excellent network for seasoned affiliate marketers.
Some of the reasons I recommend it include:
-It is free to join
-It has several thousand merchants to choose from
-It has loads of free affiliate tools such as videos, rss feeds and product datafeeds. These are in addition to standard text and banner links.
-It has real time reporting.
-It has a low payout threshold
-It offers direct deposit
-It does not allow affiliate or merchant games and tricks
ShareASale Affiliate Sign up Tutorial
There is no cost to join the ShareASale network. You simply click here, fill in the requested details, and you’ll be set up with a log in automatically in most cases. As of December 2011, the affiliate sign up process is broken into 5 easy steps.
Step 1: Username and Password + country
On the first page you simply create your username and password, then select the country you live in.
Step 2: Website information
You must have a website in order to become a ShareASale affiliate, even if you do not plan on using that website for affiliate advertisements.
-If you don’t already have your own website, click here to get a starter hosting account for less than $5 per month. You can select a domain name as part of your setup. Once you’ve completed that, come back to this tutorial.
As part of the website information section in the ShareASale affiliate application, you must give details about the kind of business you operate. ShareASale does not allow affiliates to use deceptive, unethical or illegal promotion tactics. This helps to protect you, other affiliates and ShareASale merchants. This information also helps you get approved by merchants in the network quickly. I’ll explain individual merchant signups in a later tutorial.
Step 3: Email
In step three ShareASale explains that you must have a valid email address that they can confirm. You must choose whether your email is at the domain listed in Step two. If you just setup a new website, you will have at least one email automatically created you can use that in this step. Your affiliate application will be approved faster if your email matches your domain. One that doesn’t – such as gmail or yahoo email addresses – can delay the approval for a day or so
Step 4: Contact information
This is where you add a lot of information so that you can get paid. You’ll fill in your name and mailing address, who your checks should be payable to and so on. This page also asks for brief information about your marketing plans, whether you use incentives, and whether you own the domain listed in step two.
Step 5: Choose your payment method
In this last step you can select how you prefer to be paid: Check by regular postal mail, check by Fedex, or direct deposit. You can also choose to select your payment method later.
The last page lets you review the terms of service and agree to them. Click the “Complete Application’ button.
The status page is then shown. If your initial information qualifies for the “fast track” then all you have to do is check your email and click the confirmation link. A fast track application includes having your own domain and an email on that domain. It may be tied to certain countries as well however. I am in the US.
I don’t know for sure with ShareASale, but many affiliate programs have restrictions or additional verification steps for affiliates in certain countries.
Payment Information
You must earn $50 or more to receive payment. ShareASale sends payments on the 20th of each month for completed transactions up to the end of the previous month. So, if you earn $100 in January 2012, then you’ll get paid Feb 20, 2012.
Earning $50 is not difficult at all. The merchants at ShareASale have excellent quality products with great commission levels.
You can easily earn $150 or more with just one sale. Some things I’ve earned well over that from include rugs, chandeliers, rings, watches and fountains.
Each sale contributes to your ShareASale payout, regardless of which merchant the sale is through.
If you haven’t done so already, click here to join the ShareASale affiliate network. This is the first step towards being able to use many of the tools and tutorials available on this website. It is also the first step for you to start making money online.
