Affiliate marketing can compared to freelance commission-based marketing where businesses use freelancers or independent agents to market and sell products and services to their clients. They do not get paid unless they make sales.

As with the "real" world programs, affiliate marketing involves two parties, apart from the clients. On the one hand we have the

• merchants: businesses, either online or "real" world, that want to promote their products in a cost effective way using freelance "agents" to market and sell, and on the other hand we have
• affiliates: also called associates, publishers, resellers and sometimes partners, individuals or businesses that want to promote or sell products and services for a commission on a freelance basis.

And both these parties are vital to the success of the program.

Without the merchants the affiliates would not have products or services to promote and sell; without the affiliates the merchants would not have the cost effective sales force online.

Affiliate programs come in all shapes and sizes, cover just about every product or service out there, crosses national and international boundries.

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