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What´s the difference between affiliate and an agent?

Discussion in 'Affiliate Programs' started by cassmail, Apr 24, 2007.

  1. #1
    Hello DPers, can you guys guide me into establishing the correct web usage for agent and affiliate
     
    cassmail, Apr 24, 2007 IP
  2. dan99

    dan99 Active Member

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    #2
    Affiliate is used to means no partnership and no employment relationship.
    Agent could be the same.

    Just take a look to the Terms and Conditions
     
    dan99, Apr 25, 2007 IP
  3. cassmail

    cassmail Guest

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    #3
    Thanks Dan, do you imply that agents can be interchangeable with affiliates?
     
    cassmail, Apr 25, 2007 IP
  4. AlphaNine_Vini

    AlphaNine_Vini Active Member

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    #4
    Joining a affiliate program may provide your web resources that can be placed within an email newsletter, Blog post ,website or on a social profile. On the other hand an agent is a professional in his/her area specialization. He may just go for the sale of specific services or products. You might have heard many a times "Property agent" , "Insurance agent and more. That what I believe is the difference.
     
    AlphaNine_Vini, Aug 8, 2019 IP
  5. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Basically, there is no difference between agent and affiliate. Agent is often used offline, while affiliate is often used online.
     
    planck, Dec 7, 2019 IP
  6. Touiki

    Touiki Peon

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    #6
    Who are these affiliate and network marketers, what do they do? Have you ever spent the night at a hotel, really enjoyed your stay, then told people about it? After you told people about your great experience, did the Hotel send you a commission check? If your answer is no, then you may want to keep reading.

    A affiliate marketer is a person who promotes, advertise and sells products for other people in return for a sales commission. They may use various advertising avenues, like advertise on their personal website with text links. They could also do email campaigns, article writing, or word of mouth.

    Most companies, large and small have affiliate programs in place. The affiliate marketer and the merchant enter an agreement, to work as partners. This has created a whole new industry on the Internet.

    It is always a good idea to promote products your have a interest in. I personally love to travel, so I promote airlines, hotels, and cruises. You could market products related to your fishing hobby or your sport that you are passionate about. My brother is a big football fan, on his site, he just promotes NCAA and NFL gear. The opportunities for profit are unlimited.

    Now, let's look at a Network Marketer. This individual is usually associated with a direct marketing company. They are generally unsalaried. The company does not sell their product in stores, they depend on their sales force to promote and deliver the product. This sales force is sometimes referred to as a distributors, associates, agents, independent business owners, or consultants.

    The structure is designed to create a marketing and sales force. You are compensated when you sell product, and or introduce new people to the company. This creates different levels of status and compensation.

    According to Direct sales force stats, some of the top companies in this industry are Avon, Amway, MaryKay Cosmetics, and Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

    Affiliate and network marketer's, earnings are solely based upon how hard they work, and how much effort is put into their business. Those working in this industry, have found that by working smart, and mastering great networking strategies, you can earn substantial compensation and success.

    Good luck to you in all of your future endeavors
     
    Touiki, Dec 7, 2019 IP
  7. DecentSpirits

    DecentSpirits Peon

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    #7
    Nice explanation, Touiki, thanks for posting it.
     
    DecentSpirits, Dec 11, 2019 IP
  8. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #8
    I am thinking that an agent would be someone authorised by the company, for sales or for other services, like after sales support in some cases.
    Like when you get insurance from an agent, you can go back to the agent for some after sales issues.

    An affiliate however, could be anyone who may or may not be an agent.
    Think of an affiliate as a lead generator for a business.

    Both terms are synonyms, but their scope could be very different.
     
    JEET, Dec 12, 2019 IP
  9. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Basically, an affiliate does not really own the customers he brings to the business. It is just like MLM. A MLM (multi-level marketing) company can decide to change business model overnight and take all the customers that have been generated by the representatives.

    Basically, you want to have more control over your customers, whether, you are an affiliate or representative.
     
    planck, Dec 16, 2019 IP
  10. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #10
    planck
    I think agents also do not own the customers. Its always the company which owns the customer.
     
    JEET, Dec 16, 2019 IP
  11. TagYourLeads

    TagYourLeads Greenhorn

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    #11
    i dont know the difference, agent is offline person, affiliate is online person, imho.
     
    TagYourLeads, Dec 16, 2019 IP
    JEET likes this.
  12. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #12
    Indeed, at the end of the day; the company can always steal the customers of the affiliate/agent.
    When it comes to security, even companies don't have that because the customer can always stop ordering a product. Alternatively, a customer can simply start using a different product.

    As the saying in retails goes: the customer is king.
     
    planck, Dec 16, 2019 IP
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  13. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #13
    Why do you keep thinking that company steals the customer? The customer was always of the company itself, from the beginning. Agent or affiliates are merely middle men who helped in sales...
    Suppose I bought a car from an authorized dealer/agent of BMW. Then I can go to any other dealer/agent of BMW for servicing of this car. I still am a BMW customer, was a BMW customer from start, not the customer of xyz agent/dealer...
     
    JEET, Dec 16, 2019 IP
  14. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #14
    To whom does the customer belong?
    To himself, obviously. That’s whom the customer belongs to.

    To whom are profits/commissions entitled; when a customer purchases a product?
    That depends on the TOS (Terms of Sales).

    Consider a markethealth.com product such as Acai Berry Supplements. Suppose markethealth offers their affiliates a CPA (Cost Per Acquisition or Cost Per Action) plan.

    In this case, the affiliate is paid on a one-time basis for bringing the customer to markethealth.com. The affiliate is no longer entitled to the commissions of any additional sales, which the company (markethealth.com) makes from the said customer.

    On the other hand, what if say paykickstart.com goes about recruiting affiliates for their “shortcuts to six-pack abs” product and offers the affiliates a CPS (Cost Per Sale i.e. Revenue Share) plan.

    A revenue share plan guarantees the affiliate a stake throughout the CLTV (Customer LifeTime Value). The affiliate is supposed to get a commission, each time the customer re-orders. If the customer is on a subscription, the affiliate is supposed to get a commission, each time a subscription is paid.

    Of course, affiliates are always in a risky position. The company can always cut off the middleman (affiliate) anytime and continue to rack in all the profits from the customer, they (the company) got through the affiliate. That's just part of life online and offline.

    This is what Amazon did in 2010, when they Cancelled Colorado Amazon Associates affiliate program.

    That’s what the MLM company LifeVantage did when the terminated their distributors but kept their downlines.

    The point is, the customers don’t really belong to the company; unless, that is what was agreed i.e. CPA plan. Nonetheless, I’ll have to admit that most affiliates really have no recourse, if the company decides to revoke a “RevShare” plan. Not every affiliate/distributor has the kind of money Burke Hedges has.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2019
    planck, Dec 17, 2019 IP
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  15. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #15
    Companies doing those kind of things, trying not to pay affiliates, will certainly lose face and faith.
    Who would want to promote their products later. Nobody, or may be newbes.
     
    JEET, Dec 18, 2019 IP
  16. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Yeah! Basically, it is a cut and run business model.
    Businesses, which steal from their affiliates tend to have a short lifespan.
    Stealing from affiliates is the prevailing mentality of today's stockmarket. Everyone is trying to make maximum profits in the shortest time possible at any cost.
     
    planck, Dec 18, 2019 IP
  17. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #17
    StockMarket? What has affiliates got to do with stock markets? Do you mean affiliates who promote brokers?
     
    JEET, Dec 20, 2019 IP
  18. raj p

    raj p Greenhorn

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    #18
    Being affiliate partner meaning you are getting benefits from the affiliation. For example Kayak.com is affiliate partner of booking.com , expedia.com. This affiliation allows kayak.com to access to affiliated partners inventory in return if certain agreements like kayak.com will not take direct listings or compete with affiliates.
    Agent might be resellers that is also tied to certain licensed authority to reseller license without agreement but they can promote themselves. I hope that makes sense. They seem kind of similar but agents use tools like sabre, siteminder etc to sell inventories.
     
    raj p, Dec 20, 2019 IP
  19. planck

    planck Well-Known Member

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    #19
    Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting other people’s (or company’s) products. You find a product you like, promote it to others and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.

    These days, most of the products can be easily found on affiliate networks.

    The Network: Only some consider the network part of the affiliate marketing equation. But, I believe that an affiliate marketing guide needs to include networks, because, in many cases, a network works as an intermediary between the affiliate and the merchant.

    While you could technically promote an online course someone has created and just arrange a direct revenue share with them, letting a network such as ClickBank or Paykickstart handle the payment and product delivery puts a more serious note on your affiliate marketing.

    Sometimes, affiliates have to go through an affiliate network to even be able to promote the product. For example, this happens if the merchant only manages their affiliate program on that network.

    The affiliate network then also serves as a database of lots of products, out of which the affiliate marketer can choose which to promote.
     
    planck, Feb 8, 2020 IP
  20. Rifqa Bobo

    Rifqa Bobo Peon

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    #20
    that is pretty good breakdown. While they are alot alike there a still distinct differences. This is the affiliate that I am working with , and maybe it might work for you too
     
    Rifqa Bobo, Feb 20, 2020 IP