Affiliate schemes were the way that webmasters with a lot of traffic were going to become millionaires.  Unfortunately the public aren't buying thru banners and the merchants are making the whole thing worse by offering lower commission incentives than they would to a counterfeit trader on Oxford Street. 

Nevertheless it's a low commitment entry to e-commerce even if you do ditch them later.  Plus a lot of the banners are professionally produced and can add colour and authentic graphics to your site (even if you do decide to make it a temporary relationship).

Affiliate marketing has revolutionised the way e-commerce companies operate on the net. Essentially affiliate marketing is "pay for results" marketing whereby merchants invite websites (affiliates) to partner with them by providing links, such as banners that are placed within the affiliate's website.  That's the theory anyway, and there are webmasters out there making varying levels of income out of it.

We advise examining the terms and conditions of the schemes below, and getting an understanding of how each arrangement works before deciding whether it will benefit your operation.

60 Minute Money  No matter where you live or whether you are a teacher, housewife, doctor, lawyer, secretary or construction worker, success is possible with the 60 minute money home based business program. Their online training program is free and completely comprehensive.

Affiliates4u.co.uk  Very informative and truly comprehensive site dedicated to affiliate marketing, with information ranging from guides for the beginner right through to advanced topics that only the seasoned pro will understand.  Includes the new Affiliate Directory for latest programs and networks in the Affiliate Marketing Forum.  (Runs the respected UK Affiliate Marketing Forum linked below).

Affiliate Future  Excellent range of merchants on this affiliate network.  Some of the reporting functions are not as sophisticated as Tradedoubler etc but reliable tracking and commission payout.  Definitely one to add to your portfolio.

Affiliate Window  Good range of well-known merchants, regular newsletter update and on-line help.  Test purchases are tracked successfully, impressions and clicks are recorded efficiently.  Well worth a go, we're recording sales with this organisation.

BeFree  Mainly relevant to US webmasters, but with some UK merchants.  Not actually an affiliate scheme, but a software package which enables merchants to run their own operation.  Sophisticated tracking, marketing and analysis - results very disappointing.

Clickthrutraffic.com  This company pays you for traffic you send to their search pages - starting at 6c per click.  Not a massive amount in itself but as with all internet strategies the income you generate is only really limited by the amount of traffic you can generate. System works ok but search pages a little on the amateur side.

Commission Junction  More than 100 top-tier advertisers have already joined Commission Junction UK, driving increased reach, effectiveness and accountability with pay-for-performance advertising.
US based, but still one of the UK top three.

PWDNet UK Affiliate Directory  One of the leading UK Affiliate Program Directories on the Internet, the PWDNet Online UK Affiliate Program Directory is a searchable directory of the Internet's best UK affiliate, referral and associate programs.

Tradedoubler Say they are the leading European provider of performance based marketing solutions and affiliate programs. To date claim to have the largest European network of affiliates and are growing rapidly.  Reliable trackers and regular payers even if their merchants don't set the world on fire, our UK top three member and Euro No.1.

UKAffiliates.com  Probably the best range of merchants out of the UK top three, and relies on the placement of cookies for tracking rather than image tags.  Other affiliates on the forum below seem to profit well. In our opinion well worth working with.

UK Affiliate Marketing Forum  Excellent forum discussing all things affiliate related in the UK with general tips on web site promotion together with specific discussions about latest developments in the industry and merchant performance. An absolute must have in the affiliate favourites folder.