At the moment, I have several accounts with several affiliates(CJ,Amazon,CB,Chitika,Linkshare,etc...) but what I'm wondering is if it would be better to pick one and only one. I know it goes against the multiple streams idea but it seems like all efforts would be more focused that way and build income(check payout) faster. Any advice from experience?
Many is better. Some offers just convert better on different networks, different networks have different offers and payouts and you need to be diversified in case something happens with one network you can still pay the bills with another one.
That is kind of what I had assumed and why I have so many accounts, but as I'm fairly new to this I though I would ask. thanks,
Of course this depends on the website you are running.. and if your affiliate can cover all the products that your visitors might be interested in..
I agree with Jdog. Some networks have exclusive offers, some have better rates, some just do better with the exact same offer. I think you're doing the right thing thatedeguy!
That probably differs from person to person. People say you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. But I mainly promote one or two programs. I make a good extra income with them and it keeps me busy building sites for different products and promoting them. Start with one and get good with it and expand that knowledge to others.
Right now I am doing many. What you realize is the exclusive offers some of the affiliate networks can offer you. Some offer higher payouts for the same offer. Then there are some programs that just convert better with a particular network. If I am having a slow day with one affiliate network I know there is good chance that I will have a good day with another affiliate network.
Less number of programs is easier to manage... otherwise you're most likely (but not always) simply throwing the banners up and hoping that you'll make some money. There's much more to making money through affiliate programs then simply putting a banner or link up. I like to push one large program on my websites, and then promote the occasional additional program to see how well it can compare. This does put me in the sinking ship if something were to happen with the network/program I'm part of, but knock on wood, that hasn't happened yet, and I went through the 2001 collapse....
I'd say if your site is very target niche, you want to stick with one or two that works for you, too many options for your visitor might confuse them... but if your site has a little wider niche then try many...