There is a lot of confusion between affiliate network marketing and affiliate marketing. In fact many companies use the terms interchangeably. They actually are two very different concepts.

In order to understand the difference between the two you must first off understand what affiliate marketing is and what network marketing is. Only when you have a firm grasp of these two concepts can you understand the difference.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Let’s start with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a strategy that was made popular by Amazon.com and other online companies during the dot com boom of the early and mid 90s.

Amazon introduced its associates program that was very instrumental in the growth of the company. What Amazon agreed to do is pay anyone that sends someone to the Amazon site a commission if that person bought one of Amazon’s products.

The way Amazon did this was by allowing everyone interested in participating in the program the opportunity to sign up for it. Upon signing up, they were provided with a special link that they could use to promote Amazon products.

When someone came across this special link and clicked on it, Amazon tracked that person’s actions on the web site. When that person made a purchase, Amazon paid the link provider a commission.

This is what affiliate marketing is. Now many companies online follow a very similar format. Affiliate commissions are typically either a percentage of the overall amount collected from the customer or a fixed amount per sale.

What is Network Marketing?

So what is network marketing? Network marketing is a business model in which a company chooses to distribute its products and services through a network of independent distributors.

These independent distributors are either paid a commission when they take orders for products or services. Alternatively they have the ability to purchase a product wholesale and sell it retail, earning the difference between the two prices.

The independent distributors of a network marketing company also earn the ability to earn commissions on the orders placed by others in their down line organization. As the organization grows, the commissions can become substantial.

What is Affiliate Network Marketing?

So what is affiliate network marketing? Although it is commonly confused with affiliate marketing, affiliate network marketing is actually an alternative strategy used by some network marketing distributors to build their downline organizations.

Many distributors have difficulty funding their business due to increased marketing costs. As a result, many of these distributors have turned to affiliate network marketing to fund their advertising.

With affiliate network marketing a distributor joins a network marketing company and several affiliate programs. The distributor promotes both the network marketing company and the affiliate programs to his or her prospects.

Some of the prospects will purchase from the affiliate programs but never join that distributor’s network marketing company. When that happens, the distributor still earns a commission for the affiliate sales even though the person didn’t join his or her team.

What this business model does is give the network marketing representative additional commissions that can be used to reinvest back into their marketing efforts. As a result, it allows for the building of an organization much faster than traditional network marketing.

The ability to fund your marketing efforts for lead generation has helped change the face of network marketing today.

To be successful at affiliate network marketing you need to know how to market your business online. It is important that you master internet network marketing strategies and techniques so you can generate enough leads to build your business effectively.

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