As a new affiliate marketer, you will want to register with free affiliate programs. Those are programs that you don’t have to buy the product in order to become an affiliate.
Here’s a list of the most popular free affiliate programs. You can also find information about how to join the programs and tips about how to be accepted. These are affiliate program managers meaning that the company runs affiliate programs for many merchants. You will join the management program and then either be eligible to promote any product or be required to apply to the individual merchants.
ClickBank — is one of the easiest programs to join because you only have to get an account which will provide a unique “username” that you will use when promoting every ClickBank product. There are thousands of products sold through the ClickBank system. Every ClickBank product is a downloadable digital product and typically pays 50% commissions or more. The downside to ClickBank are the rules for getting paid. Read my post “ClickBank For Newbies” to learn how to get paid. Click Here to join.
PayDotCom (run by Mike Filsaime) is similar to ClickBank in that you only have to register once and then have access to the thousands of information products. Payment is through PayPal so you must have a PayPal account to use this service. There is one signup for both affiliates and vendors so if you are interested in promoting your own product, you will see some incentives during signup. Click Here to join.
Share A Sale has about 2,500 merchants selling various products and various commission structures, however there are no software merchants here. The process is to get an account with Share A Sale and then apply to each merchant you want to promote. You may have to fill out a form for the merchant explaining how you intend to promote the product (website, PPC, email marketing, etc). The minimum balance to get paid is $50. Your commissions roll over until you reach the minimum and then can get a check or direct deposit. Click Here to join.
Commission Junction (or CJ) is a huge affiliate program manager servicing a wide variety of merchants. Affiliates are called Publishers on CJ, so when you register, make sure you click on Publisher. With CJ, you register with them and then you apply to the individual Advertisers. Some Advertisers automatically approve new affiliates and some manually review and approve affiliates.
When you register with CJ, be sure to thoughtfully fill out the registration form as this information will be used by the manual approvers. It is harder to get approved especially for new affiliates with low traffic numbers, but don’t be discouraged. You can always reapply later or send the Advertiser an email explaining why they should approve you. The downside to CJ is that they can charge a $10 fee or deactivate accounts which don’t generate any revenue for six months. Click Here to join.
RAP Bank is a relatively new program sponsored by the creator of Rapid Action Profits. RAP is unique in that affiliates receive commissions directly in their PayPal account immediately. For example, if a product pays 50% commissions, the affiliate will get 100% of every other sale.
RAP Bank was developed to give affiliates a central location to find RAP products and to give merchants a place to sell their products without buying the Rapid Action Profits software. It works similar to ClickBank but without the weird payout rules. The downside is that you will be obligated to make a refund if the merchant offers refunds. Click Here to join RAP Bank. Click Here to get a PayPal account.
There are other programs like Google Affiliates, eBay Partners and LinkShare. Once you have applied to a couple of programs, you will find most are very similar in their registration process.
Tips:
- Get a PayPal account. Many independent merchants use affiliate programs like 1ShoppingCart, aMember, iDev and others to manage their programs and most of them require you to have a PayPal account.
- Find the products you want to promote first — then join the program that manages that merchant’s affiliate program. Many times there will be a link at the bottom of the merchant’s home or sales page. You can also Google “the merchant + affiliate” to find their affiliate program.
- Try the product first — Try to get a sample or a review copy, but if you can’t, buy it and try it. You will be able to offer a personal review which is very effective.
- Don’t be afraid to email the merchant — If you get turned down or you have a question or promotional idea, send a quick email to the merchant’s affiliate manager.
If you have other tips for joining or using free affiliate programs, please leave me a comment.
