Today’s article is not about pros and cons of being an affiliate member. There are some good affiliate programs out there where you will get a check, their exceptions are small or nil, and commission reasonable for amount of time, risk, and reputation you place on line for their product or program.

This article focuses on collecting their information before you give them affiliate link so you can increase your mailing list numbers or residual income.

Almost all affiliate referrals are handled by providing someone with affiliate link. The reader then goes from your place to their place. If this is what you have been doing, take "L" (for loser) off your forehead, and read this to "get SMART quick."

Stop LOOSING a valuable marketing opportunity -- and stop it now!

Instead, set up a bridge page (also called a portal page or doorway page). Use terms bridge and portal instead since word doorway has a separate search engine meaning that can be confusing.

A bridge page works simply like this. You set up a bridge page on your web site. You send them to this page instead of to affiliate site, collect their information, and THEN send them to affiliate site.

The objective is to offer them something for f/r/e/e that they must register for on that bridge page so you collect their information. In fact, you can offer several things.

online. This sad failure rate will probably not improve in near

future either because so many newbies, and old hands, are being

left without enough support from their upline or sponsors.

There are many sponsors, especially very successful ones,

who don’t even bother replying emails from their downline. This

is a very worrying trend and it violates a very important principle

of network marketing which says that success comes by helping

others succeed. So how come some heavy hitters are successful

without helping struggling members in their downline? Well,

it has been made possible by internet and enormous 24

hour global market it makes accessible, coupled with vast

number of automated marketing tools.

Unlike traditional offline network marketing where it was

practically impossible to sponsor someone into a downline

without meeting or speaking with them, internet has made it

possible for heavy hitters to sponsor hundreds, and even

thousands of people, into their downlines without ever

communicating with them on a personal level.

Autoresponders are order of day. Many people join

affiliate programs after seeing ads in google, ezines, classifieds etc

without first exchanging emails with sponsor. After paying

their monthly subscriptions, part of which sponsors earns as

commission, for a few months they give up because they have little

or no success and probably never received an email or a call from

their sponsor. Of course heavy hitting sponsor does not care

much about this because he or she has already earned good

commissions before they quit and can quickly replace them using

their huge automated marketing system working 24-7 to recruit more

people.

It is time internet marketers who have experienced this in past

took their destinies into their hands and choose their upline or

sponsors instead of other way round. How can I do that, I hear

you ask? Well, by demanding value for your money. That’s right,

your upline earns a commission out of your monthly subscriptions

so it is your right to receive good service in return. In this case

service includes training, mentoring and answering your emails. It

is a great idea to receive and evaluate service first before

paying and that is where free to join affiliate programs are very

useful.

How many of us will go into a restaurant, pay for food first

and then walk out after waiting for about an hour for food to

arrive. I dare say no one will and I believe we should see internet

marketing programs in same way as we do a restaurant.

Receive service, evaluate it, if you are happy with it then pay

for it otherwise complain and if possible have your bill waived.

So if you are in an affiliate program and you don't receive sufficient

help from your sponsor complain to company and ask to be