I have saw many conversations in the last few weeks from people who have given affiliate marketing a try and are ready to quit already. This saddens me, as I know affiliate marketing is not hard, as long as the marketer has good guidance and mentoring to get started into this lucrative business.

I really think one of the major keys in affiliate marketing success depends on the type of affiliate program one joins. Marketers should join programs which they feel they can excel in and focus on promoting properly. Any affiliate program that is not promoted properly will not be successful and any marketer that does not understand the difference in affiliate programs will not know what types of programs to join and promote.

What I mean by that is, selecting the right types of affiliate programs to fit your personality or ability. Let me explain the different types of affiliate programs.

The most basic affiliate programs fall under two categories: pay-per-click (PPC), and pay-per-performance (PPP).

• Pay Per Click (PPC) PPC programs are a very popular type of affiliate marketing and probably the easiest way to earn money. With PPC programs merchants pay affiliates whenever a visitor is referred to their site. The affiliate gets paid a certain amount even if the visitor he referred does not purchase anything from the merchant’s site. Some pay per click programs offer a set amount per click and others your amount per click may vary. Google Adsense is a great example of a pay per click affiliate program.

• Pay Per Performance (PPP) PPP affiliate programs are the most lucrative type for affiliates. In this type of affiliate program, the merchant only pays the affiliate whenever his referral translates into an action—this can either be a purchase or a lead. PPP can be the most lucrative type for the affiliate that is promoting the sales of a product.

Pay-per-performance affiliate marketing can be further classified into two popular types: pay-per-sales (PPS) and pay-per-lead (PPL).

o Pay Per Sale (PPS)

In a pay-per-sale type of affiliate program, the merchant pays the affiliate a certain commission whenever the visitor referred to the merchant’s site makes a purchase. Affiliates are often paid on commission basis, although other merchants would opt to pay a fixed fee. But no matter what the basis of the fee is, it is generally higher than the fee paid to affiliates in a pay-per-click affiliate program.

PPS affiliate programs are generally promoted best by promoting a specific product and normally on a landing page. Affiliates can also earn from placing banners and text ad’s within their website.

o Pay Per Lead (PPL)

The pay-per-lead type of affiliate marketing is a slight variation of the PPS type and is often used by insurance, dating, business opportunity, finance companies and other companies who rely on leads for their company to grow. With this type of affiliate marketing, the affiliate is paid whenever the visitor he referred to the merchant’s site becomes a lead by filling out a form. This form can be to request more info, join a free membership, ect. Compensation for this type of affiliate program is generally a set amount per lead.

I personally like the PPL affiliate programs, as I personally find it easier to promote those programs than products. I do promote Pay Per Sale programs as well, however, Pay Per Lead is my favorite as I feel it is easier to get someone to request somthing or get somthing for free than to get them to make a purchase. Many large affiliate networks such as Never Blue Ad’s, Peperjam, and Market Leverage have both pay per sale offers and pay per click offers.

Aside from these three specific types of affiliate marketing, a lot of other affiliate marketing types exist. If the classification is based on the depth of the affiliate network, it can be classified as single-tier, two-tier, and multi-tier affiliate marketing. There is also another type of affiliate marketing that pays the affiliate each time the customer he has referred purchases something from the merchant’s site.

• Single-Tier, Two-Tier, and Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing These types of affiliate marketing are based on the different levels or tiers in the affiliate network by which payments are made. In a single-tier affiliate marketing program, the affiliates are only paid based on the direct sales or traffic he has referred to the merchant. All the previously mentioned affiliate marketing types (i.e. PPS< PPL, and PPC) fall under the single-tier classification.

• In two-tier affiliate marketing programs, the affiliate is not only paid for the direct traffic or sales that he refers to the merchant’s site, but also on every traffic or sales referred by various other affiliates who joined the affiliate program through his recommendation. Multi-tier affiliate marketing works the same way, although the affiliate gets additional commission for a wider number of affiliates in different tiers in the affiliate network.

The great thing about two-tier programs are the opportunity to earn additional income on top of your own persoal earnings simply by refering other affiliates.

Now that you understand the difference in affiliate programs, you need to figure out what you are most comfortable promoting, pay per sale or pay per lead programs and select the best programs for your visitors.