Whether you’re looking to start affiliate marketing as a beginner or you just want some ideas for products to promote, you will want to sign up for affiliate networks.
Of course, there are many to choose from and you may be wondering which ones are just right for affiliates like you. So that’s why, in this article, I’ll be going over five networks that I think are great to sign up for as an affiliate.
Each one has its pros and cons, so I’ve given my personal rating to give you an idea of what to expect for each affiliate network.
The last thing I want to mention is that, other than using affiliate networks, you can find products to promote directly on their websites. This way, you don’t have to depend on a network to find something to promote.
For instance, if you go to Nutrisystem’s website, you will find an Affiliates link on the bottom, where you can promote Nutrisystem.
But with that said, here are my top five recommended affiliate networks for you.
#5. Amazon Associates
MY PERSONAL RATING: 6/10
I’m not going to go into much detail about Amazon Associates since I’ve talked about it in this article about Amazon, so be sure to head over there to learn more.
Now, the first thing that stinks about Amazon Associates is their very low commission rates. This means every time a product sells, you only get less than 10% of the sale, or a little more than 10% if you’re lucky.
That means if you want to make good income, you will need to aim for many sales a day, which is pretty stressful.
Here’s another thing I don’t like. I personally tried signing up for Amazon Associates, but on the way, I noticed two barriers. The first one is that they require you to start a website or blog. Obviously, not everyone wants to do affiliate marketing with one. Many would rather do it on YouTube, so Amazon Associates is apparently not all that welcoming.
They also have a verification process at the end where you have to answer a phone call. I don’t know about you, but I prefer completing this process through email or at least through a code sent from a text.
Anyhow, Amazon Associates does represent the world’s greatest online store, meaning if you go through the hurdles, you certainly have good opportunities to make money as an affiliate.
Promoting something sold on a very popular website definitely gives you an advantage, which is why I didn’t make my rating too low. So if you’d like to try them out for yourself, you can get started with Amazon Associates here.
#4. ShareASale
MY PERSONAL RATING: 7/10
ShareASale is not really an affiliate network that is being talked about a lot, and I can understand why. The big reason is that there aren’t many notable brands that use them. I’ve looked at those brands and only recognize a select few, such as the former children’s clothing store Gymboree.
Now again, like with Amazon Associates, you may need a website to sign up for it.
But in spite of its lack of brands, ShareASale is a really good and pleasing affiliate network for beginners. Their website is user-friendly and easy to navigate, and it makes practicing affiliate marketing simple and straightforward.
All you have to do is find companies or programs that you want to promote, get approved, and you’re all set.
And just so you know, ShareASale offers two modes of payment: either by check over the mail or by direct deposit. I highly encourage direct deposit, especially if you live outside the United States.
So if you’re thinking of starting out as an affiliate with ShareASale, I honestly think you’ve made a good choice.
#3. CJ Affiliate
MY PERSONAL RATING: 8/10
You may have already heard of CJ Affiliate, or at least by its former name, Commission Junction. Anyway, they are a fairly good and reputable affiliate network since they have been connecting thousands of major brands with their affiliates for quite a number of years. That’s right: thousands!
And it’s not just people using CJ for their affiliate marketing needs. Big companies are actually affiliates using it: Time Magazine, BuzzFeed, among others. It is their strong brand on the Internet that has earned CJ a really good personal rating overall.
When you sign up for CJ, don’t be confused by their weird terminology. For some reason, they call their merchants “advertisers” and their affiliates “publishers.” So if you’d like to join CJ, make sure that you sign up as a publisher.
Then in your account, don’t forget to check out their massive list of advertisers (companies) that you can choose to promote. If you’re interested as to how CJ looks at affiliate marketing, they explain it here.
Another thing to note: CJ will ask for a little more information than what is really necessary, so prepare for that. Like the others I’ve shown you, CJ will ask for a website, but I’m not sure if they require one. Just be ready in case they do, though.
As far as payment goes, CJ offers the two payment methods of either check or direct deposit, the latter which again I highly recommend. If you’re ready to see how cool being a CJ affiliate can be, you can join as a CJ publisher here.
#2. Avangate
MY PERSONAL RATING: 9/10
This is an affiliate network I think is quite underrated, but I guess this is because this site focuses on the technology niche. Avangate is an excellent place to find programs and software to promote as an affiliate. They were even ranked as the best affiliate network for digital products.
Great tech companies use Avantage to promote their programs, such as BitDefender, IObit, and Avast Antivirus. You may be familiar with any of these companies.
Anyway, for getting customers to these kinds of programs, Avangate is willing to pay you up to 75% commission! All you need to do is create content related to computers and programs, and you can make really good money selling people on software that they can benefit from.
I’ve personally never signed up for Avangate obviously because this blog is not in the tech industry. However, I plan to get into that niche in the future and so signing up for Avangate will definitely be on my bucket list.
Avangate pays via check, direct deposit, or PayPal. I would recommend either direct deposit or PayPal, especially if you’re not in the United States. Avangate can pay you well for having technology as your passion, so sign up for Avangate and start promoting computer programs today.
#1. ClickBank
MY PERSONAL RATING: 9/10
This is by far the simplest and best website for finding affiliate products to promote. The sign-up process on ClickBank is so easy, you don’t have to wait to be approved, and they don’t ask for that much information! Once you’re in, you have a massive list of niches and products (most of which are digital) to choose from.
All this explains why ClickBank is mentioned a lot when it comes to getting started with affiliate marketing. Now I’ll admit that hardly any notable brands use ClickBank, but I can tell you all the products here are legit and can be very useful.
ClickBank will pay you either by check or direct deposit and the commissions you earn range from 30 to 60%. If you’re curious as to what products you can promote and how much you could get paid, check out ClickBank’s affiliate marketplace.
Now at first glance, the numbers on ClickBank might be daunting and you may be a little confused as to how to navigate the site as an affiliate. For this reason, I’ve published an article on how you can start making money using ClickBank.
As I mentioned earlier, signing up for ClickBank is not difficult, so whenever you’re ready to see how it can benefit you as a beginner, you can join as a ClickBank affiliate here.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is indeed a fascinating way to make money online. In my opinion, it’s the best way to make passive income. That’s why I hope any of these networks I’ve shown you will get you going on the right track as a beginner affiliate.
And like I mentioned earlier, there are products and services that offer affiliate programs on their own websites, like Nutrisystem. So consider looking into that.
But that’ll do it for this article. I hope this has given you ideas of where to start as an affiliate, but most especially, now that you’ve finished this article, I hope you feel more confident about your journey as an affiliate marketer.