Network affiliate programs are those which you sign up for in order to promote other people's products or advertisements. Using this method to earn money is often simpler than selling your own products or services, but it does take patience and time to learn how the system works. When becoming a network affiliate, free registration on a site is usually required, and some prerequisites may be required, such as owning a high-traffic website.

Networks

Decide which type of network affiliate you want to be and register on the network's website. There are generally two types of affiliate networks you can join: cost-per-action and pay-per-sale. The pay-per-sale affiliate networks such as ClickBank and Commission Junction contain marketplaces of affiliate products that you promote. When you join one of these affiliate program networks, you receive a percentage of money when a product sells. Cost-per-action or CPA affiliate networks such as Clickbooth and Max Bounty give you promotional advertisements from which to choose. These advertisements link to a promotional offer such as a free trial. With these network affiliate programs, you earn money on every action that someone takes such as signing up for an offer or entering information into a form.

Hoplinks

Choose the affiliate product you want to promote and gather your network affiliate hoplink. The affiliate hoplink is a special URL that has a unique identifier appended to the end; this unique identifier essentially acts as a tracking device. When someone clicks your affiliate advertisement, a record in your account is created that tells the publisher and/or network that you are the referring person. The hoplink method is used for sale tracking and ad tracking if you promote multiple advertisements.

Promote

Promote your affiliate network products or offers on your website or elsewhere; don't forget to use the affiliate hoplink so you'll be credited. Some of the ways to promote affiliate network products include using a review-style blog in which product reviews are used as bait to convince others to purchase, email blasting as well as using pay-per-click programs. Email blasting refers to sending out email advertisement offers to your own leads or those you've paid for from a specialty leads company. Pay-per-click programs such as Google Adwords are especially helpful for promoting CPA network affiliate advertisements, but you need a certain level of experience to be successful.

Source:

Affiliate Networks and Programs: Directory for Webmasters

Associate Programs: How to Promote Affiliate Products from your Blog

More Information:

Entrepreneur: Promoting Affiliate Products

Affiliate Classroom: How to Promote Affiliate Products without a Website