I posted this article some time ago on another blog of mine and by popular demand on CPA Marketing info, I decided to republish it here.  I am sure google will hate me for it, but oh well.

There are many cpa networks out there these days and it seems that there is some confusion about how to get started with CPA and how to be a successful promoter of these programs.  I wanted to take a second to speak to this and explain the basic strategy of making money with CPA Systems.

What Is CPA?

Well CPA stands for (cost per action) or in some cases (cash per action), much like the old cpm (click per million) which relates to a dollar amount per click that you would earn if you delivered a click on a link. You may also here these system referred to as PPA or Pay Per Action. The CPA systems work a little different, they do not pay you until a person that you have referred to their site takes some sort of action.  This means that a user signs up, registers, uploads something, or any other action that the paying advertisers may request.

This is a much more effective method for the paying advertisers and is a very effective method for the guys referring too.   If you could imagine sending somebody to a site where they get something for free and then when they get the free item, you get paid, you can see how this would be a easy referral.

Not all of these programs pay on free items, some only pay when somebody joins a payed subscription service or some other paid offer, but there are also many, many free ones too. When looking at programs like these you need to focus on 2 things:

1. How Well Does It Pay

Of course you want to be payed well as an advertiser of these products and services but you also want to make sure that the company you are working with does actually pay out and does not pay outrageous prices, some places that promise such huge payouts, you must question their integrity.

Also when looking at many different advertisers offers, you may want to weigh the earnings you will receive verses the cost of the action that the new customer will have to take.  If you get $1.00 every time a person registers for a $10.00 offer, it may be better to choose to promote one that pays $0.50 per completed offer if the required action is free.  You must understand that many people will try anything for free and the response to your marketing efforts will be much more fruitful with these free offers, even if they pay out less.

2. Does It Fit In With Your Sites Content Topics or Niche

There is no reason to be promoting free manicures on a all mens site,  there is no reason to tell house wives about some new bikini model, and there is no reason for you to tell your website members and associates about a product or service that they are not interested in.

There is a small gray area between promotion and spam.  The main difference to most people is if, what they are being offered is something that they interested in or not so make sure to keep all your offers on topic or at least in the same niche market as your other content and information, that you offer.

Exposure & Influence!

The amount of success comes down to 2 things, exposure and influence.  If you have a great deal of exposure on only a few, then the most that will join are not so many, if you have exposure to masses but nobody looks to you as a leader, same results, none!  My point is this, if you are planning on sending out spam email to thousands of folks and think you are going to make money, you are wrong.

To make money with these systems, joining social groups or working on social sites is a great way to get to know enough people that you may have some influence over to send you offers to.  However, a more effective way to get well known is to start your blog or website and start talking about the topics that you have promotions for.  Blog often, blog well, people will get to know you as a leader in what ever industry you choose and will follow you and your suggestions.  This is a proper manner of referral marketing, now throw in some article marketing and it’s on!

You need to understand that in most cases you must know people or have people tha “feel” like they know you to make this a effective money maker, but if you can get people to “feel” like they know you by writing a lot online, this can really increase ones level of influence.  If you offer great information  in a email subscription list, the people in it would most likely all choose to check out any free offer you can send them, so why not start getting paid for doing just that?

O.K.  I Understand What CPA Networks Are, Now What?

Now that you  know a little about what CPA Networks are and how to find the offers that will not only produce the most for you, but will also be of interest to your followers, subscribers, members, or site surfers; lets talk about where you can get setup to take advantage of these programs.

There are many companies that offer this type of advertising, I do not list these in any specific order, but these are just a few to get you started, note that most of these companies do require phone verification to start working with them.

Top CPA Programs (Big Earners List)

1. FluxAds.com – Has Free Offers of Brand Name Products
2. NeverBlueAds.com – Many Free Offers and Top Selling Products
3. XY7.com
4. http://maxbounty.com
5. http://azoogleads.com – Has Free CPA Offers
6. http://hydranetwork.com
7. http://clixgalore.com
8. http://revresponse.com – Has Free CPA Offers

CPA Affiliate Networks Explained is a post from: Webmaster Business Plan
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