I could then later on when I had time go find places where I had been promoting program and update information. I could even just skip that if I didn't want to, and if information promoting that URL wasn't misleading, related to new URL. But even if you want to update information or delete link sometimes you can't. For example, on certain places where you buy text links, etc.; then instead of that link promoting a program you're no longer affiliated with you are able to promote another website, without any major effort.

* Tip: Even after you've gone through websites where you had put your cloaked link and removed it I would recommend keeping file on your domain because there might be a few "ghosts" left out there on internet who still link to this file.

Also, if product or service you're promoting changes its affiliate system and you have to use a different URL to get commissions you can just easily update URL through your cloaking file - and you'll not lose commissions by having an old, unusable link out there on internet.

Resources To Help You Cloak Links ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you don't know how to create HTML files and edit them or if you don't trust yourself to do it there are many services available to help you:

* AdTrackz Software (highly recommended). This one creates a frame-based cloak file automatically and javascript-encodes source code which makes it close to impossble for people to steal your hard earned commission: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/adtracker.html * Affiliate Link Cloaker - makes it all easy and secure: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/cloaklinks.html * NameStick - cloak a link with an easy to remember domain: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/cloakdomain.html * TinyURL - cloak a link with 1 click: http://www.tinyurl.com * shorlify - like TinyURL, but with statistics too: http://www.shorl.com * CJB.net - one of many free forwarding services out there: http://www.cjb.net * Here.is - another free forwarding service: http://www.here.is * Free .tk domain - get your own domain for free, pretty cool: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/freetkdomain.html

Here are some places that provide you with free webspace where you can put your cloaking HTML files:

* http://www.geocities.com * http://www.angelfire.lycos.com/ * http://www.tripod.lycos.com/ * ...if you want more places just do a Google search.

Although free webspaces are nice I would recommend putting cloaking files on your own domain, where you have total control and don't risk losing your files or being blocked by bandwidth limits. Therefore I would recommend these hosting solutions >>

* Host4Profit - 300 MB webspace, 10 GB bandwith, great support: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/host.html * iProBuilder - set up a profit-pulling website in 24 hours or less... - unlimited storage space!: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/iprobuilder.html

Conclusion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an extra bonus, while you're using your cloaked links to promote on various websites you automatically increase your search engine rankings because of all incoming links to your domain ;) Plus, you'll also be increasing your Alexa ranking because of extra page views.

So, to save you both time and money:

* Cloak your affiliate URL using methods and services I mentioned above * Promote that cloaked link wherever you can * Cash in those bigger commission checks * ..and if you decide to leave program just edit that one file you created on your domain :)

Thanks for reading.

About The Author ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hannes Johnson is author of book "Residual Website Traffic" ( http://www.residual-traffic.com ) and maintains The Home Biz Blog ( http://blog.workathomemadeeasy.net ), where this article was first published. To subscribe to his Home Business Tips Newsletter send a blank e-mail to: mailto:workathomemadeeasy@SubscribeMeNow.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Problem The confusion arises when affiliate programs emphasize that they run a 2-tier compensation plan in their affiliate recruiting efforts. In most cases, this refers to downline levels definition, and participants can expect to receive compensation based on performance of affiliates they introduce to program.

Occasionally, a program makes this claim when referring to sales volume tiers. This isn't inaccurate, but it is misleading. The managers of these programs are almost never intentionally trying to mislead. More often, they have thoughtfully crafted a compensation plan that rewards affiliates who perform well, and they want to announce that feature to all potential affiliates.

Who's Right? You could make an argument for either definition of tier. If you're trying to communicate with other people in affiliate industry, though, you need to give strong consideration to which meaning is generally accepted by most people. That is downline levels definition.