I think a case can be made for joining an affiliate network as opposed to joining individual affiliate programs. Certainly there will be instances where you will want to join an affiliate program directly. However for most affiliates joining a network offers numerous advantages and we will talk about a few of those in this article.

Wikipedia defines an affiliate network as an intermediary between publishers (affiliates) and (merchant) affiliate programs. It allows publishers to find affiliate programs, which are suitable for their website and it helps websites offering affiliate programs reach its target audience.

If you are first starting out as an affiliate marketer it can be confusing trying to find affiliate programs to join. And there certainly is a trust factor in knowing which programs are not legitimate and which programs are. You have access to multiple affiliate programs all located in one spot when you join the network directly.

This makes it easy to find and compare affiliate programs to see which fit best for your internet business. Some of the largest affiliate networks have hundreds or even thousands of affiliate merchants for you to promote.

You also get one affiliate ID number that can be used to promote multiple affiliate programs. For example ClickBank.com is the world's largest digital information provider and they offer an affiliate program. You join the ClickBank affiliate program and receive your ID number that will be used to promote any digital information URL you choose.

Since you are doing this for the money you want to get paid and getting one check from an affiliate network simplifies things. You will know exactly when you will be paid and you can feel confident that your check will come.

This is not always true when joining affiliate programs individually. Many programs are not financially stable and you run the risk of not getting paid for all of your sales or maybe not even at all. And these troubled economic times you cannot afford to risk that!

If you are going to start an affiliate program of your own you might consider utilizing a network to manage it for you. You can concentrate on recruiting new affiliates because all of the administrative functions are taken care of for you.

This is a few good reasons why taking advantage of affiliate network is the best way to do affiliate marketing today. Time is money and you cannot afford to waste it in anyway. Plus feeling confident you will be paid on time is worth a lot too.