We recommend the ShareASale Affilate Network
One of the best Affiliate Networks for both merchants and affiliates is ShareASale. An important skill new affiliates will need is how to create a link to a specific page on a merchant’s site.
I asked Affiliate Manager Adam Riemer to share this how-to on deep links:
Step-by-step process for creating links at ShareASale
ShareASale is the Affiliate Network that we recommend to merchants and the one we recommend for bloggers and anyone new to affiliate marketing. They have a reputation for running a very clean, ethical affiliate network free of methods to steal commissions from merchants and other affiliates.
It is very important that we all be aware of bad behavior and only work with Affiliate Networks that run parasite free affiliate programs that control toolbar affiliate theft. That is specifically what SAS is known for as you can tell from this excerpt from Compare the Brands Affiliate Network Reviews:
“Shareasale (SAS) is probably the most trusted and respected affiliate network by experienced affiliate marketers. Although it is relatively small, and has less-known merchants, when compared to Linkshare, this network’s programs are probably the cleanest in the industry.
If you are worried about affiliate parasites and cookie-theft, or getting paid in-full and on-time, this is the network for you. There are some big name brands, as well as many lesser-known brands. Sometimes it is the smaller brands that pay out the highest commissions and convert the highest anyway.”
Whether you have been involved in affiliate marketing a long time or are just getting started be careful whose advice you follow. I previously wrote about the three ethical affiliate marketers I trust. You will find some related posts from one of them below.
AFFILIATE RESOURCES:
- Why Affiliate Programs are the Blogger’s Choice to Make Money Online
- Seven Easy Steps to Earn Money From Your Blog
- Affiliate Marketing Overview
- How to Become an Affiliate Marketer
- Why Become an Affiliate Marketer
- Concerns about specific other affiliate networks.
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Twitter: mdsfinance
November 10, 2011 at 8:22 am
Twitter: @mdsfinance
You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough. ~Joseph E. Levine
Twitter: GrowMap
December 13, 2011 at 12:02 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Barry,
I disagree. You can only fool those who aren’t willing to put in the time and effort to verify the truth behind so-called “facts”. Unfortunately, it IS getting tougher and tougher to even find alternative opinions – much less determine what is disinformation and what is truth.
growmap would love you to read ..Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet
has anyone ever submitted coupons using their shareasale affiliate link to a popular promotional codes sites like http://www.mefindcoupon.com
kevin mitnick would love you to read ..LOCAL DEAL: $59 – Trendy Palms Las Vegas Getaway for 2 (Reg. $119)
I’ve never tried Sharesale.
What I find scary with smaller brands is that they can end their affiliate deal whenever they want. They can simply chane their mind and then I’m stuck with a website build for selling for them, which does not earn me any money but sends them loads of free high converting traffic.
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Twitter: shareasale
September 15, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Twitter: @shareasale
Danny,
We don’t see a lot of that actually – we do see a lot of the benefit of smaller niche brands in that they often have less competition in the affiliate space and often take really good care of customers (return purchases).
Twitter: GrowMap
September 15, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Danny,
Any merchant can end or change their affiliate programs but I haven’t seen that happen any more often with small businesses than large ones.
What power affiliates do is choose another similar merchant and swap all the links to promote the new company instead using the site they already built. That is a good reason merchants should think twice before they cut out their affiliates.
Many small businesses care more about their customers and give much better service so they get positive reviews that increase their conversion rates. I definitely recommend focusing on promoting small businesses. They need you more than some big brand does and if they’re wise they will know that and appreciate what you’re doing enough to treat you well.
growmap would love you to read ..Twitter Limits: Did You Know There Are At Least 7?
Brian & Gail,
Thanks for your response.
I don’t have any experience with smaller brands so that they would just end the affiliate deal whenever they want was just a false assumption from me.
It is good to hear that the opposite is true. This makes me want to check them out for a future project.
Thanks!
Danny would love you to read ..Black & Decker NPP2018 18-Volt Cordless Electric Pole Chain Saw
Twitter: stutterwear
June 6, 2011 at 12:11 am
Twitter: @stutterwear
Right now we are lookining in ShareASale for our affiliates…i will take your insight into consideration.
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Twitter: shareasale
May 5, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Twitter: @shareasale
We definitely try to set expectations and train Merchants that a long-term approach is best with regards to affiliate marketing. It takes time for affiliates to pick up a brand, build sites/pages/campaigns, and generate traffic…
We launched 120+ programs in April – so there will definitely be those that don’t necessarily take our advice
but nonetheless the variety and depth of programs available is still pretty strong – let us know if there is anything we can do to help you find the best ones for you!
Twitter: rfamat
May 4, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Twitter: @rfamat
One thing that I don’t like about ShareASale is the presence of advertisers that quickly turn off their affiliate program if they are not making lots of revenue from the program. They don’t think about the welfare of the affiliate marketers who worked hard to set up niche websites for the SAS products.
Twitter: n/a
June 14, 2011 at 2:40 am
Twitter: @n/a
they do this?oh my..thanks for the heads up
Twitter: GrowMap
December 13, 2011 at 12:09 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Raymund,
I agree that many merchants are self-centered when it comes to how they run their businesses and do not take into consideration the efforts their affiliates put in or even what their affiliate manager (aka OPM) has invested.
A future post keeps whirling around in my head about WHY merchants do not have realistic expectations about growing affiliate sales. It comes down to one thing: Google.
Google gave them the golden goose back in the golden days of AdWords when you could easily generate huge increases in sales if you were even halfway talented at managing your account.
Google’s monopoly gave the businesses that understood SEO and how to use article marketing massive quantities of traffic.
Then they gradually started taking it all away AFTER the merchants were addicted to the easy money Google gave them. Many of them will die as they keep focusing on trying to get back what Google has taken away instead of realizing that was Google’s plan all along and they better be happy with building sales over time using strategies like Local Search Directories and especially affiliate marketing.
growmap would love you to read ..Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet
I havent used ShareASale but I have read several interesting posts about it recently. Thanks for setting up the step by step process – it clarified a lot of things for me.
I was looking for a perfect affiliate programme to promote on my client websites and found ShareASale. I am very impressed with it as you get numerous products in dozens of niche markets. Like ShareASale, Amazon too allows deep linking, so you can target your affiliate ads to your blog or website content. In addition, I found them very clean and ethical network.
Twitter: GrowMap
December 13, 2011 at 12:10 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
I encourage affiliates NOT to promote or buy from Amazon for all the reasons I have laid out in my most recent post. I’ll put that link in CommentLuv in this reply.
growmap would love you to read ..Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet
Deep links are important and can make a big difference to a campaign (I use them a lot with GAN) – thanks for the advice! I’ve used SAS in the past, but maybe it’s time to give them another go!
Neels would love you to read ..Vehicle Gap Insurance – Cost Of Gap Insurance- Is It Worth It For New Automobile
Twitter: JamesMartell
November 4, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Twitter: @JamesMartell
I am a huge fan of ShareASale. I second Brian’s comment that they do take a “strong stance on Adware (Toolbars, CPV/PPV Traffic). They are a first class network that will always treat you well and look out for your best interests.
James Martell would love you to read ..Affiliate Buzz 174 – ShareASale Think Tank 2010 Recap Roundtable
Twitter: affiliatexfiles
December 9, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Twitter: @affiliatexfiles
I am with you James…
I have used Shareasale for many years and never found any problems with them. Their support is always really good and as for vendors in the network I have personally been with some of those vendors for five or more years.
Shareasale is a really good starting point for new affiliates and I would recommend them.
Ron would love you to read ..Affiliate Marketers ToolKit For WordPress
I have heard about Shareasale but haven’t tried it. There are some good remarks about it, though and I might try it in future.
I like that you mention that htey run a clean network that don’t steal each others’ commission. That sounds very good.
Twitter: cognitive46
October 14, 2010 at 9:34 am
Twitter: @cognitive46
Everything explained in this post is Okey but the results are only positive when the dedication is pure in this field.
Twitter: simplefreebies
August 5, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Twitter: @simplefreebies
I think I’m going to sign up for Share A Sale tomorrow and see if I get accepted. Thanks for a good article.
.-= Craig@Free Freebies´s featured blog ..FREE Cheetos Mighty Zingers Coupon =-.
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