Clickbank is one of the best affiliate networks available, but like every program, it is not without its drawbacks. If it were perfect, there would be no competition. Given that it’s a massive, ancient – comparatively – organization, Clickbank is slow to move. They take a long time to add features that other affiliate networks add at the drop of a hat. They’re reliable and they’re high paying, but they also have a lot of competition.

They also strive to stay on the far end of legitimate, which means anything that even looks vaguely like a low-quality site might be blocked from the program. Want to advertise a product that helps build lists or generate traffic? You’re probably going to be rejected. You may not be blocked from the program, but if you can’t advertise what you came there to advertise, it’s effectively the same, isn’t it?

Whatever your reason for turning away from Clickbank, you’re no doubt looking for a reasonable alternative. Heck, maybe you’re just looking for something to supplement an active Clickbank account. Either way, give one of these six options a shot.

CJ (Commission Junction)

CJ, formerly known as Commission Junction, is consistently rated #1 amongst affiliate networks online, even better than Clickbank. It has virtually no restrictions on the types of products you can advertise, and the rates are surprisingly high. You can run both physical products or digital products, everything from ebooks to software to vacuums to cars, if you so desire.

CJ is also surprisingly easy to get into. You would think that a high-rate, high-variance affiliate would be extremely exclusive, but CJ denies those expectations. Perhaps the one real drawback to the site is the interface takes a bit of getting used to; if you’re not an experienced affiliate marketer, you might have a fairly steep learning curve before you get into it.

One of the most unique aspects of CJ as an advertiser is the ability to completely outsource every aspect of the advertising program to CJ themselves. It’s an expensive option, but if you have the traffic, niche and presence to support it, it can be well worth it for the passive income.

MarketHealth

MarketHealth is essentially the polar opposite of CJ in terms of affiliate programs. Rather than covering a wide variety of niches, they only cover one; health products. Rather than cover both physical and digital products, they only deal in physical products. They have been around for 16 years, and they have a fantastic reputation.

MarketHealth has two primary benefits going for it. First are the payouts; because of the markup on items typical in their niches, affiliates are able to rake in immense payouts, among the best in the industry. Second are the products. Because health items are high demand, including beauty products and supplements, they can produce some incredibly high volume sales. High volume plus high commissions means the potential for some incredibly lucrative niche sites.

The problem with MarketHealth is the niche, in a nutshell. Because it’s so narrow, comparatively, you need to be very focused and aggressive if you want to succeed. It’s easy to fall behind and lose out on the foundation that would put you in the top tier affiliates.

Rakuten Marketing (LinkShare)

Formerly known as LinkShare, this affiliate network was bought by Rakuten, which itself is a massive Japanese electronics company that purchased Buy.com in 2005. This lends the site an exceptional amount of credibility and trust; they’re backed by a huge company, so they’re incredibly unlikely to disappear or go under for some reason.

Rakuten has some excellent goal tracking options, and it’s incredibly easy to get accepted into the program. Additionally, they work with some big-name companies, so the products you’re advertising are guaranteed to be high quality.

If there’s one drawback to Rakuten, it’s that the commissions are somewhat lower than some of the others on this list. This is because companies need to pay surprisingly steep fees to get into the program, so they have less room to pay commissions. Still, if you’re in the electronics and technology niches, you can do far worse than Rakuten.

Affiliate.com

Owners of the best domain name in affiliate marketing, Affiliate is understandably one of the top-tier affiliates online. They’re so potent that they even host affiliate marketing conferences, including one coming up at the end of January.

Affiliate has the potential for some great offers, but they have a few drawbacks. Essentially, consider them to be a site designed for affiliates who know what they’re doing. If you’re not part of an affiliate program already, or you’re a newcomer to the world of affiliate marketing, you probably won’t get into the program. You need to display an example of your current sites, so they know they aren’t signing on with a low-quality advertiser.

GlobalWide Media (Formerly Neverblue)

Another network for successful affiliates looking to expand into another network, GlobalWide tends to reject first-time affiliates with no history of quality. That said, once you get into the program, you can be set for years to come.

GlobalWide has two things going for it. First, they will count PPC as a point in your favor; if you’re running their affiliates program and sending PPC traffic their way, you’re doing all the right things. Secondly, they have incredibly account managers. If you need any assistance at all, you’ll have no trouble finding it.

RAPBank

No, RAP doesn’t stand for the musical genre; it’s Rapid Action Profits. You get reports, affiliates, payout trackers and a whole host of other features all with one site. It’s up to you to decide if just over 1,700 products is too small or expansively large for a library, but with 35,000 affiliates, it’s probably a good place to start.

Starting is what you’ll do on RAPBank. It’s a good alternative to Clickbank or one of the other beginner networks, and it’s a great place to utilize for an in with one of the more advanced networks like Neverblue.

Join the Discussion

1. 

   Richard Barrett Hilton

   says:

   February 17, 2016 at 1:58 pm

   Which ones are free to join?

   Reply

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