It was interesting to see that 1 week I did well, then it just started to diminish. I was interested to what I was earning and where it came from. So I checked my Paypal history and found out it to be digital products via my own (after affiliate payments), e-junkie affiliate  system, PepperJam, eBay Partner Network, and smaller affiliate systems.

This gave me a heads up that money can be made without going to a CPA network. There are many reason to work with a CPA network and I recommend it, but there are also ways to make money outside CPA networks.

I talked about browsing through e-Junkie to find digital scripts and products to promote, it just gives you a wider range of niches to promote in. Also, having your own digital products to sell is also a plus, I am always expanding and trying out new ways to make money online.

But there are pluses and downsides when working or earning outside of a CPA network as an affiliate.

Benefits:

• You get a dedicated Affiliate Manager, who is there to talk to you
• If you make over a certain amount a week you can get weekly wires
• Your AM will help you make money online
• You receive encouragement and prizes (base on network)
• You get a better understanding of the offers benchmark (overall network)

Downside:

• If you do not make X amount you do not get paid until you reach a minimum.
• Offers may expire in a short time, where digital products are usually always live (unless domain goes down)
• AM may hassle you to run more offers or get more volume

Joining a network is, I think, more beneficial to a person just starting out because you can leverage a network and their resources. You are given a live person to talk to and to ask questions, no question is retarded. BUT FIRST DO YOUR RESEARCH, you do not want to waste time and energy.

Recommended Networks You should Join:

• Convert2Media
• Motive Interactive
• Advaliant
• Hydra Network
• …find more networks at AFFpinions

Using a network gives you a higher chance in making money faster because, if you don’t make money your affiliate manager does not make money. They are also there to encourage you and push to go stronger and harder, so that is a plus.

But expanding to make money online outside of what you typically do, can definitely help you boost your income. I expand in so many ways, I blog, I am part of several affiliate networks, create and sell my own digital products, promote other affiliate offers outside of networks, etc. I always look to expand.

Don’t always depend on one source of income.

Expanding is important and you know the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. So you can think of this income as being a smaller portion of my traditional affiliate income from the networks. So there are many ways I earn money online, joining a CPA network can be your first stepping stone to start learning what affiliate marketing is and how it can benefit you.

Once you have an understanding, your brain just decides to work in many ways you never thought it can do. Keep Expanding and Learning! Once you expand, you start to see bigger potential elsewhere.

Now add all of your income from blogging, affiliate marketing, product creations, etc and  you are always having money to throw in the air!

Related posts:

1. How Do You Make Money Online?
2. How Many Affiliate Networks Are you In?
3. Birthday Present: Cash in my Inbox

Clickbank is a marketplace and sorta affiliate network where users can promote digital scripts or the more popular information products. Clickbank is a great place to start to make money online, I started also with Clickbank when I jumped in to affiliate marketing.

But there are others sites that are better when it comes to selling digital products. I personally have been promoting things off e-Junkie.com, which is a digital hosting site. The best part about this site is it has a built in affiliate program for specific digital products. If you have ever promoted a theme before, then you know what I am talking about.

e-Junkie is another great place where you can find good info products or scripts to promote. I have promoted several things on this blog and it has done great for me. I have even promoted them via other traffic sources and it has done well.
The thing about e-Junkie and Clickbank is they both have affiliate programs for specific products. BUT Clickbank has a reputation where gurus sell ‘scams’. e-Junkie has a lot of info products but it doesn’t have that brand, plus the digital products are made by real people, on their own spare time. So that makes it a huge difference.

You can easily browse their directory of digital products and see what items you would like to promote. I think personally, e-Junkie has a good list of info products and scripts which users will use. ClickBank has been branded as ‘scam’ info products but they do have higher payouts. Since e-Junkie products are made by real people, you can get value and real experience.

Again, if you have ever promoted a theme – it is most likely from an ejunkie account. I think the reason is because it is so much easier to sell via ejunkie, other than Clickbank. There are way more affiliates looking at Clickbank because it is always being talked about.

I think ejunkie will be a good source for affiliate marketers to start out. The only problem is you get paid monthly base on the merchant, Clickbank pays bi weekly. Ejunkie also I think has a better stats report than ClickBank – it provides so much more details.

It gives you details of the type of item sold and how much you get paid. There isn’t a pretty graph like Clickbank but you get the information you need. Starting out online means you have a wide variety of sources to promote and make money from. Don’t just leave it to Clickbank to make you money, look at other sources.

The downside to both of these is there is no one to talk to, you will have to email the owner of the product to get support or if there is any issues with affiliate commissions or any other aspects. Otherwise Ejunkie is easy to use and you can find good quality digital products on there.

Hell start selling your first product on ejunkie!

Related posts:

1. Why is ClickBank the Most Talked about Network?
2. Evening Ramblings: Bah to ClickBank!
3. Fast Income with Digital Products

So my main question, why is ClickBank viewed as one of the higher affiliate network. A lot of beginner ebooks are always talking about promoting digital products, even PayDotCom was built to be in competition with ClickBank. A lot of sales page show ClickBank stats and never a Azoogle Ad stat or even a CJ.com stat. Take a look below (this is not my screen shot):

I am not sure if it a marketing thing or marketers are out there to spread the world of ClickBank so their eBook can be sold and promoted.

But most sales pages are all showing their ClickBank stats and never another network. Ebooks about Adwords or PPC or affiliate marketing talk about or at least mention ClickBank.

I do not know if it is the easiest network to join or the easiest thing to promote. Digital information is popular but I do not think it is the easy thing to convert and market, even with PPC.
But for me I do promote ClickBank products, I get checks from them – but it is not my biggest source of income. I personally think digital products are easy to promote if it is a smaller niche. A crowded/saturated niche maybe harder to get higher conversions. But digital product is very popular on the internet, but hard to sell and promote, especially an ebook. I have written some on my own and have sold my own – since it is unique. But anyways…

I was searching some blogs about affiliate marketing; I like to find new stuff about it – since someone’s experience can be my own. I always find people talking about ClickBank – not sure why it is so popular. Again, when I first started on the internet I did only hear about ClickBank and I was super focus on promoting popular ClickBank products.

I think ClickBank is just seen as a super easy network to promote what everyone is looking for – information. This is a HIGHLY saturated market – which is why I think so many ebooks exists. But ClickBank is not only known for eBooks but scripts as well and other digital products. Which I think it is very popular among users. Promoting scripts from their marketplace is what keeps the ClickBank checks coming every month.

Also, ClickBank is easily used all around the world. Many networks do not accept users from UK, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, etc. It is easy for a beginner to start affiliate marketing by simply joining a network where there is no pre screening – you are auto approved. Where as the other networks you are pre screened by affiliate managers who will be working with you. So there is some what of a pressure with other networks.

ClickBank is also a good place for beginners in affiliate marketing to start and understand what affiliate marketing is, another reason I think it is always mentioned on blogs and ebooks. Simple stats and tracking can help understand what some of the affiliate marketing terms. It also gives a window of oppurtunity to beginenrs because almost all of the commission for each digital product is at least 50% or higher. But is higher payout better than lower payouts?

The higher payouts easily attract beginners in affiliate marketing and thinking they can easily make their money within a day. It is the perception of seeing a higher commission which makes us want to promote something we have no clue about. I fell into this trend and thought to myself, ‘Hey high Commission means more money for me!’, not really.

But in my experience I find Clickbank marketplace a good place for beginners and I still promote several items within the marketplace. I am not in the marketplace all the time but I do promote specific scripts and ebooks. Now I have expanded my experience I found more networks which can easily earn you your first 5$ from affiliate marketing.

Related posts:

1. Evening Ramblings: Bah to ClickBank!
2. My $7 Offers Page
3. Affiliate Networks Can’t Give Me Reports