5 AFFILIATE NETWORKS TO JOIN IN 2013
Working with affiliate networks can be tricky. There are thousands of affiliate companies out there. The problem with 95% of them is that they are stuffed with spammy offers. You will also want to regulate yourself with regard to signing up for too many companies. Many affiliate networks have minimum payout levels of $100. This can be a problem if you’re just using these networks for small pieces of income. If you’re using 15 different networks, think about how long it will take to hit the payout level with each of them. I have companies that I have had balances with for months because I can’t hit the payment minimum. One thing you don’t want to do is post affiliate offers just to make money. You really want to have a tight group of networks that you are working with. Post offers that fit within your content and do not appear to be spammy. My goal with affiliates is to write the same way while monetizing that content through paid links and offers.

One more thing to note: most (in not all) of these networks will ask you for site stats and other info during the application process. If you’re in Blogger, you’ll find your stats in your dashboard. You can also pull stats from Google Analytics, but I find that the stats in Blogger are higher, and the higher the better when it comes to applying for networks.

Ok, so what about the networks specifically? Here are 5 affiliate networks to join in 2013:
Note: I applied and was accepted to all of these networks when my blog(s) were very small in terms of traffic.



Skimlinks is a great affiliate program for those just starting out in the affiliate game. Skimlinks boast a library of over 17,000 merchants. That’s right, 17 thousand! So basically, if you want to get paid for promoting a link to just about ANY store, Skimlinks is the affiliate for you! Note: unlink most other networks, Skimlinks does not provide graphics (or creatives) for merchants. It will be up to you to create those, or just use links only.
For more on Skimlinks and a how-to video on getting started, see this post.
Join Skimlinks here.



Boasting a library of 2,500 merchants who provide graphical ads and links, ShareASale is one of the best networks. With quick and accurate reporting, easy to grab links, beautiful picture ads and excellent communication, ShareASale is one network that you want to be a part of. Just a few merchants in the ShareASale network that bloggers love working with are Tiny Prints, Blurb photo books, Stella & Dot, Mod Cloth and One King’s Lane. The quality of merchants is wonderful, as is the entire network.
Join ShareASale here.



Linkshare is another massive network with a few key merchants that bloggers can potentially make money from. Walmart, Macy’s, Sephora, The Body Shop and iTunes are just a few of the great merchants in this network. LinkShare is a little bit less user friendly and payments can take up to 90 days, but it is a very reputable company and is a great network to be a part of because of its sheer volume of merchants that you’ll have access to.
Join LinkShare here.



Commission Junction is very similar to LinkShare. They have a large base of merchants that make being a part of the network a very good thing. As a member, you’ll be able to apply for affiliate programs from Best Buy, 6PM, Ulta, Groupon and many more.
Join Commission Junction here.



This one is very different from the others. The focus at Integrate is less on retail sales and more on conversions. There are a lot of sweepstakes offers where you get paid a little something just for getting people to enter a sweepstakes. Integrate offers can appear as spammy, so be careful. They do work with a few merchants that pay per sale such as Shari’s Berries, ProFlowers and Jelly Belly. This is a much more in depth affiliate network and I suggest you take the time to figure out how the network works once you are accepted. They offer phone calls to walk you through everything and I suggest you utilize that help. That said, you can definitely make money with them!
Join Integrate here.

Bonus (and obvious) program: Amazon Associates. For a comprehensive post about the Amazon Associates program and how to get started with the program, see this post: How to Get Started with the Amazon Associates Program.

So there ya go! There are 5 affiliate networks to join in 2013! Get out there and start applying! Drop me a comment or send me an email if you have any questions!