Even though most of the affiliate programs that you come across in your search for affiliate opportunities will be reputable it is still a good idea to do some research first. Just because an affiliate program may have a fancy website with all the bells and whistles doesn't mean that they are a reputable program. In order to avoid being scammed you can do a number of things to find out more about the company before you click the "join" button. The first way to learn more about an affiliate program is to do a quick search on google fo the name of the program.

Does this search bring back only a few listings or are there thousands? The more the better, and that is because you can then look at any reviews for the company. You then have to ask yourself, are there glowing reviews? Are there many other affiliate websites built around this company? This type of research will let you know that this affiliate program is here to stay and won't be folding in a year or two after you've worked hard to build your business.

Is there a fee to join the program?

almost all affiliate programs are free to join. This makes sense because the operator of the affiliate program uses your effort to make money from the products you promote for them. You make a percentage and the merchant makes a percentage. Network marketing is a structure where you may be required you to purchase products or pay a membership fee in order to qualify for the sales earnings you have generated in a month. Affiliate programs don't have such requirements. Many people do very well under both structures.

what is the commission structure?

How you are compensated for your work is the most important aspect of researching affiliate programs before you join. Some affiliate programs pay a fixed dollar amount per sale, some pay you for having people fill out surveys and information, and others will pay for each click you route to their website. Once you have this information you'll need to find out the commission rate or percentage you will be paid. If you are building a website around a number of affiliate programs you would probably want to showcase the product that pays you the most commissions.

Comparing affiliate programs based on their commission structure will be the ultimate factor in determining how much money you will can generate from the program. Another important factor is whether the company will pay you for repeat sales from the same customer. In other words, If you sell a product through an affiliate company will you be paid for any future sales from that customer? The best affiliate programs have a re-occurring sales feature feature.

Another important commission factor is whether the affiliate program uses a 2-tier system. Having a 2 tier system provides you with two sources of income. The first source comes from selling product, and the second comes from recruiting new affiliates who also sell product. Each affiliate program has different rules so some will pay you for each new affiliate you sign up, while others will pay you a percentage of these affiliates sales.

There are many factors to consider when choosing to join an affiliate program. The last thing you want to do is have a website built around products that are not of good quality, or find out later that the commissions structure was not as you had thought and therefore you end up making less money than you had anticipated. Choosing a reputable affiliate program that has products and services that benefit the consumer is the easiest way to profit with affiliate programs.