Top 7 Differences Between Affiliate Marketing And MLM

Are you confused between affiliate marketing and multilevel marketing? How does each work? These ways of making money are actually different from each other, so do not get them mixed up!

Affiliate Marketing

1) People who join affiliate programs and sell products or leads for these companies are known as affiliates.

2) Affiliates do not need to buy products first before they can promote them, so its basically zero cost to start.

3) If the products affiliates promote results in any sales, they will earn a certain percentage of the selling price.

4) Some affiliate companies have a downline scheme for their affiliates, but not all do. This means they can promote their products, as well as recruit new affiliates to work for them. But even if they do, it is usually limited to the second tier only.

5) Affiliates have it easy in terms of order fulfilment as their main job is to bring the potential customer to the affiliate company's website. If this results in sale, the company handles the backend details, like processing the order, shipping the product, and customer service. The affiliate pockets the commissions once the customer makes the payment for the product. As easy as 1-2-3!

6) Because of their unique position as the middlemen, sometimes affiliates do not know their customers personally. The customer could be someone who has found the affiliate's webpage or recommendation through search engines. But with current tracking services and promotions through their own email marketing list, it has now become easier for affiliates to know who their customer is. This is important as the affiliate can follow up and promote other related products to the same customer for repeated sales.

7) Affiliate merchants often set their products at the same price. Every affiliate, whether newbie or super affiliate, has to sell them at the same price. They cannot undercut the price themselves as the payment processor is generic for all. However, they can provide bonus products or services of their own to attract more sales.

Multilevel Marketing (MLM)

1) People who join MLM programs are known as resellers or multilevel marketers.

2) Resellers usually have to buy a minimal quantity of the products they market to qualify for their earnings, according to their tier in the MLM company.

3) If resellers manage to sell their product, they can keep the full proceeds of the sales.

4) Usually all MLM companies have a membership structure where an existing reseller can recruit new marketers under their wing and earn a percentage of commissions out of their second-tier sales. The longer they build their downline, the more they will benefit.

5) Multilevel marketers often have to handle the order process themselves as they sell and deal directly with their customers. They might need a car to visit their customers, and deliver their products, and if necessary, address the concerns of the customer personally.

6) As MLM resellers know who their customers is, they have a personal relationship with them, which can be an advantage as they can provide more customer support and follow up. If the customer is happy and comfortable with them, they might buy their MLM products repeatedly.

7) MLM resellers can set their own prices about the products if necessary to attract sales. Competition often leads to lower prices though, and undercutting is not a long term solution. Win your competitor by providing a personalised customer relationship instead!

I hope after reading this article, it would have cleared most of your doubts with regards to affiliate marketing and MLM. Decide where you interest lies and find a suitable program to start with. I chose the affiliate marketing route, how about you? To find out how you can make money online with affiliate marketing, remember to download this free ebook for tips on how to get started!


Authored By:
Angela Tay

Affiliate Marketing Tips - Top Mistakes To Avoid In Your Website Design

These are the general guidelines one should take note of for a basic website. Whether for affiliate marketing purposes or not, these tips are worth following. If you have a website already, review it again and see whether you are making any of the mistakes!

1) Fonts

Your choice of fonts for writing should be one that most people are familiar with. Think: Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana. These standard fonts are most likely installed in most computers, so when your visitor visits your website, your text will appear as intended and not look like gibberish stuff. If you really want to use unusual fonts, do keep them to the minimum. And do not use multiple fonts in a single page. It can get quite irritating to see more than two or three fonts appearing on the same article too.

The font size should also be large enough for most visitors. Imagine grannies who might have to squint to see what you are writing? Don't forget that every visitor is a potential customer, so avoid this kind of unnecessary mistake.

2) Color Scheme

Depending on your niche product, you might wish to select a color scheme that is suitable for it. A gardening niche might suit earthy colors like green or brown, while a baby product niche might suit pastel colors. Also think the reverse way. If you have a mortgage niche website in red, would it scare your visitors away instead?

Remember to complement your background color scheme with your font color as well. If they are close shades of each color, it may be difficult to read the text. If you have a black background with a bright font, the reader may also find it tiring after some time. The safest bet is to choose a light background with black or dark color text for most niches.

3) Pictures and audio add-ons

Pages with pictures or videos usually use up more bandwidth and take longer to download. Avoid those that take really long to load up as visitors usually have short attention spans and they would click away before your page appears! In some parts of the world, people also do not have cable or broadband, so imagine the frustration at having to wait to see your website. They would most likely give up instead.

4) Links and pop-ups

In affiliate marketing, links are usually incorporated into the content of the website. It's important to distinguish your links from the usual text. Usually, links which have not been clicked appear in blue and when you hover on them, they appear red. Clicked links appear in purple. Always use the standard colors to avoid confusing your visitors. You can customize link fonts and colors at the CSS (cascading style sheets) section of your website.

Sometimes, affiliate websites use pop-ups to capture the visitor's attention once the page loads. It is a must click to clear the pop-up away before you can see the rest of the page, so sometimes visitors might find it a pain whenever they reload the page. Personally, I dislike seeing pop-ups as I find it a hassle to click it away and I think most readers feel the same too.

5) Page layout and display

Always design your website to appear in the most standard display sizes. Most screen resolutions are 1024 by 768 pixels, but some people might still be using 800 x 600 resolution. Design for this category of people at the minimum so that most visitors to your website can see your information displayed correctly.

When designing your website, take note of the white space that surrounds the text and pictures on a single page. Is there adequate open space between your design elements? It would look visually more appealing to readers when the page is not cluttered to the extent that there are too many words to read or too many ads in a block.

Are you making any of the mistakes above? If you have just started the website building process, it may be easier for you to review your mistakes now and make changes fast. Getting most of it right early is important so that when your website grows, you can avoid having to rework the changes again and again. Time can be better spent promoting your affiliate products instead!

Authored By:
Angela Tay