Affiliate or associate programs are excellent revenue sharing arrangements that can be set up by any company selling products and services.

Web site owners are rewarded for sending customers to the company. These pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead programs are usually remarkably easy to join and setup.

For example, by February 1998 Amazon.com, one of the pioneers, had attracted more than 30,000 webmasters giving Amazon.com wonderful publicity in exchange for a small commission on sales. (By 2004, it was over the 900,000 affiliate mark.)

Two-tier affiliate programs reward affiliates for signing up other associates. In addition to earning commissions on their sales, they also earn commissions on their referred affiliate sales as well.

About 90% of people try to make money from two-tier affiliate programs simply by signing up other web site owners and hoping they will make money.

Why doesn't that work? Because those web site owners will copy this silly technique – and sign up lots more people who won't earn any money. Sorry!

If you're implementing a two-tier affiliate programs, your affiliates have to do the work themselves, and treat the second tier commission as a bonus.

If you are looking for good two-tier affiliate programs to setup, the three most important factors are:

    • An excellent product or service.
    • A generous commission.
    • A site which is designed to SELL.

Having an affiliate program is like having 1,000s of virtual sales people out promoting your products and/or services.

As a result, you must be prepared to develop, support and empower your relationship with them and their success.

The more time that you spend in identifying and supporting your affiliate partners, the happier your affiliates will be and the more revenue your program will generate.

Contact the Internet Marketing Experts at VBO to discuss implementing a successful affiliated program.