You need to ask questions and lost of them before you decide. Do some research on what you are getting into and get some good answers as this will be the deciding point on what you go for.

FREE vs PAYED SYSTEMS

There are so many systems out there with no joining fees, so why pay for it. I think Robert Kiosaki said it best in Rich Dad Poor Dad, if you are looking to get into an affiliate program go for on that offers continuous training, support and product development. Now please do not get me wrong there are may free systems out there that offer great training.  I have found that the paid ones have great start up training and continuous training, this is important as you will always need to be one step ahead. What you need to realise is that for you to earn once you get going some one has to pay you when they join or you have to sell products to earn money.

WHEN ARE YOU PAID?

This is very important as it could hinder your cash flow. Some pay quartly, monthly or every two weeks. Are there minimum payment thresholds that you have to surpass. I saw one the other day that was a free system that you had to have $10 000 sales before you got paid out, now starting out you will have a load of work to do before you get a penny.

Now I personally prefer the ones where you get paid first and then have to pay your up line within two weeks, no hanging about and waiting missing cut offs.

TRACKING AND STATS

Have a look into how your stats are tracked, how in-depth does the system go. Does it just show you the hits or do you get names and email addresses. This is very important when you are looking at reoccurring billing. If you do not have all this information you could be loosing every month if you have no way of knowing if that person has left the program or not, you may only get paid for new people joining the program and not on the monthly subscription. (these are the best programs sell as you do one sale but keep earning).

You need to be constantly checking the impressions, hits and conversions as this will help you know what advertising is working, so you can either put more effort into it or knock it on the head and try some new advertising.

WHO IS THE RETAILER

Research the people behind the system, have they been about for a while, are they well known, have a look on face book or twitter see how many followers they have, if there system is working they will have may followers if it is not people will not want to be associated with them.  The more you know about them and the product the easier it will be to know if you want to join that program.

TIERED PROGRAM

This is also referred to a forced matrix , it could be 1 to 12 levels. What this means you get paid on your down lines efforts, you will get paid when your down line makes a sale. It is a great way to generate a reoccurring income with little or no effort on your behalf.

That also means that your up line will earn of your sales, so ask yourself are you a team player, do you want to share your earnings?

COMMISSIONS

What do you get paid for, impressions, opt in’s or sign ups?

Obviously you will get paid pro rata for this, the more they put in the more you get out. You could get anything from 0.1% for and impression to 50% for a full sign up. This could have a major impact on your marketing budget, if it is costing you on a PPC campaign 5c a click and you are getting paid 2c and impression is it financially viable? For things like that you would need to look to free traffic generators get generate income.

AS FOR ME

For me the discussion was easy, once I had pondered it for almost a year, struggling from day to day watching good money after bad go down the drain, making small commissions. I decided on one last chance, as I am a fighter I did not want to be defeated. So I met with my would be mentor and his IT chap (Sorry I am not that advanced, YET) I had a list of questions that they answered comfortably, it more than satisfy my curiosity.

Since joining the paid plan I have used the training to boost my sales. I have learnt more than 5 ways to get free traffic. Not only has it boosted my sales but as the methods I am using are all free it has more than off set my initial investment. I say investment because it is an investment in my future. When I left school I went to catering school to learn to cook and manage, I did not mind forking out thousands on that so why should I  mind about paying for someone to show me how to be an internet marketer. And just like when I was at catering school I am having great fun learning new skills, ok I do not gout drinking every night but we can not have everything. Paying for something will also motivate you into making it work as you have to recoup your cost so you will try harder and get out of your comfort zone to make it work.

Even if I did not make it as an internet marketer I still would have the marketing knowledge to use in my catering business.

I hope that this helps in some way, good luck in chooseing the program that meets your requirments.

I would like to leave you with this thought, you get what you pay for.