Downline Levels The most common meaning of tier is a carry-over from compensation plans of network marketing companies that were in place before Internet boom. When you introduce a new entrepreneur to program, he is placed on your second tier. If that new entrepreneur then introduced his sister to program, she would be placed on your third tier.

If sister brought in a paying customer, she would receive a first tier commission. Her brother would receive a second tier commission, while you received a third tier commission (if compensation plan included a third tier). In practice, an affiliate program can offer commissions on any number of tiers, although vast majority of online affiliate programs only pay commissions on one or two tiers of activity.

So why do we keep putting ourselves through all this pain?

Well, I’m sure that for everyone there is a different answer depending on your driving force, but for me it’s thought that one day I’ll succeed and make a tidy income. God knows how many ‘Get Rich’ schemes are out there but experience has taught me that 95% of them are simply schemes for making owner rich and not affiliate. On plus side, they do teach you pitfalls of Internet Marketing and hopefully move you that little further down line towards your ultimate goal. You may think that this article is simply a moan about chaos which is ‘Internet Marketing’ but I assure you that’s not case. My aim is to pass on good and bad of this type of venture and to hope that I can help someone to avoid many obstacles and reach there goal reasonable unscathed.

Can you make money from a program which doesn’t sell a tangible product?

Time and time again you’ll see these type of programs – They’ll say pay $5 as a one off payment and we’ll give you thousands in return. The word that comes to mind is ‘Pyramid’. Logic tells you that $5 can never become $1,000 without you sponsoring thousands of people and then they’ve got to sponsor thousands of people and so on. At some point you run out of people and system fails. You loose your money but owner makes a tidy sum. Maybe answer is to invent your own ‘Get Rich’ scheme but then, how do these people sleep at night? Personally, these schemes should be outlawed because all they do is serve to undermine ethics of Internet Marketing. So, can you make money from these types of programs – My experience tells me ‘No’ Should you avoid them? Most certainly ‘Yes’

What about programs where you pay a monthly fee but again there isn’t a product?

These are very much affiliate based programs and do have some merits. They tend to offer same, old same old, free resource tools, safe lists to join and a type of ad co-op guaranteeing leads and/or sign-ups. Of course, tools are usually obsolete in today’s market, safe lists are more geared towards owner making an advantage by you joining using their affiliate ID and guaranteed leads are too old to be of any use. I’m sorry for being a cynic but I’m sure there are people out there who are reading this article and nodding there head because they’ve been there.

On plus side these programs do have a sustainable growth because of monthly income and so getting personally sponsored affiliates can recoup your loses over time. The problem however, is that people tend to be reticent to join because of fees and then become despondent when they struggle to get affiliates for themselves. Most of programs offer free membership and ‘Yes’ you will get tens to hundreds of people joining free program but ratio from free to paid is very poor.

People enter these programs believing, that by simply joining, they will be given thousands of Dollars for doing zilch! Like I said these programs do have there merits and if you stick in and spend loads of your money on advertising, hours of your time promoting to rotators and safe lists then you may come out other side breaking even or with a small profit. Don’t get me wrong I still have some involvement with these types of programs – Why? – Because I believe hype that I can be one success story and come out other side, a rich man!