Pros and Cons of 2 Tier Affiliate Marketing Programs

A 2-tier affiliate program is one where you make money from your own sales and from the sales of affiliates you recruit.

An important distinction here is that this is not multi-level marketing (MLM). In an affiliate program, you only get paid for sales made by your immediate recruits. In multilevel marketing you get paid at many levels below you.

So let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of tier 2 affiliate marketing programs, and what can make them some of the most profitable products to get involved with.

1. You earn money from the sales of the affiliates you recruit

This allows you to multiply your efforts. You can only make so many sales a month personally, but if you also had 100 affiliates under everyone selling, just think how much more money you would make.

You only need one or two true entrepreneurs to make a lot of money in a 2-tier affiliate program and because there are so many people involved in this industry today, getting others to join is relatively easy if you make them aware of what they are earning. if they enroll in the program you promote.

2. You don’t need your own product

What makes this the best program for everyone involved is that all the setup work has been done for you. The product is created, marketing materials are readily available, commissions are calculated and paid on your personal sales as well as your team’s sales, and so on.

Products that do not require manufacturing (such as e-books) tend to do very well in affiliate programs. The reason for this is that the merchant can pay a higher commission. Once the product is created, there are very few ongoing costs to the owner. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see them offering commissions as high as 50%-75%. This, in turn, makes selling the product much more attractive to money-motivated affiliates.

A 2-tier affiliate program for a digital product will tend to pay a slightly lower amount on the first level, but it offers you the opportunity to make a lot more money in the long run by recruiting people to sell on the second level.

3. You have the opportunity to work and create your own sales team

If you are the type of person who enjoys working with other people, then tier 2 affiliate marketing programs are great for that. Some of the best affiliate programs on the market today are the ones where you are given training that helps you work towards building a successful team and this team attitude can be taken to the highest level you want.

For example, you can create contests within your own team to increase sales and help everyone make more money.

There aren’t a lot of downsides to two-tier affiliate programs, but the biggest one that people tend to find is that the affiliates themselves fall for the management trap. This is where they begin to spend more time trying to build their own team and less time on their personal sales.

Because affiliate marketing programs are so free and accessible, it makes recruiting affiliates extremely easy. The problem is getting them to a point where they are successful themselves. There is a high attrition rate in affiliate marketing, and you can waste a lot of time helping people who will never have the drive to succeed.

Another downside is that you are giving up a percentage of your personal sales to participate in the program. There is so much money that can be paid out and by spreading it over 2 levels it takes away the commissions from the first level but as I said before if managed correctly this shouldn’t be a problem.

There are many good 2-tier affiliate programs on the market today and if you like to communicate with people, they are a great way to work towards your financial freedom.