What is an affiliate program?

You send traffic to a merchant's web site, they buy stuff, you get paid a commission by the merchant. This is usually a percentage of the price of the product. They are also known as associate programs.


What are lifetime commissions?
With most affiliate programs, the affiliate earns a commission on only ONE purchase – the FIRST purchase by the customer. In a lifetime affiliate program, when the customer returns to the merchant's site and makes a second or third purchase, the affiliate earns a commission on ALL those purchases.

LifetimeCommissions.com also lists programs which pay residual commissions, for example where the customer pays a monthly fee, and the affiliate earns a percentage of each monthly fee.


What's the big deal about lifetime commissions?
How often do you buy on your first visit to a site? Not often. But you will probably think about the product, look around a bit and then come back later to buy (assuming it's a good product of course...).

For example, imagine you're an Amazon.com affiliate. You refer someone to Amazon. She MIGHT buy something on her first visit. Next time she wants to buy a book online she'll probably bypass your link and go straight to Amazon. How many books do you think the customer will buy from Amazon in her lifetime? 10? 20? 50? Will you earn a commission on all of them? Nope. Just IF she buys on her first visit. If they paid commissions on EVERY purchase the referral made wouldn't you be earning a whole lot more? Absolutely. See why I like these affiliate programs so much?


What are residual commissions?
When your referral signs up for something that requires recurring payments, you get a commission on every single one of those payments, for as long as your referral is a customer.

A good example of residual commissions is web hosting, such as TBhost, that require monthly service charges, and reward you by paying a commission on each one of those monthly payments for as long as your referral is a customer.


What about two-tier programs? Do they count as lifetime programs?

Yes and no, mostly no. Occasionally you may see two-tier programs described as "lifetime" programs but that's not the common use of the word. LifetimeCommissions.com concentrates on lifetime customers – the affiliate earns a commission every time the customer returns and buys. That doesn't happen with most two-tier programs.

In two-tier programs, you do earn commissions on every sale your second tier affiliates make for life. That income can add up, but it's usually small. If you're in a key position and can persuade super affiliates to join two-tier programs you can make useful money, but for the average person this doesn't happen often. The two-tier element in affiliate programs is a sweet bonus, but not usually a big money earner.

If you're looking for good two-tier programs, you can find a list at http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/search/two-tier.shtml


What's the best affiliate program to start with?
Check out Top 3 the best programs. You can also do a search for "5star" (without the quotes) in our search engine

 

 

 

I need to contact you regarding the affiliate program.The best way to get in contact if you have any questions or problems is to e-mail us at jkeenerenterprises@gmail.com