Commerce in Cyberspace has significantly expanded from the very first time the Internet has been introduced to consumers all over the world. These days, virtually all entrepreneurs in their right mind have already made efforts to make themselves known online by means of one online marketing strategy or another. During the Internet's infancy, businesses would promote themselves through online ads and email campaigns. Now, more strategies for Internet marketing have emerged and perhaps the best example of such development is the creation of the associate program.

Associate marketing, in the form of associate programs, have significantly increased in popularity as the leading strategy for endorsing online businesses. An associate program works by tasking people, known as associates, to help invite visitors, potential subscribers, and ultimately, paying clients to the website being promoted. Associates are rewarded through special privileges which may include services or even cash.

A parallel practice to an associate program would be the act of rewarding finders with money for referring potential customers to a store or an agent in the physical world. With associate programs rewards are accounted for using schemes that are based on predetermined values such as per visitor, per subscriber, or per actual buyer. These schemes are popularly referred to as pay-per-click, pay-per-lead- and pay-per-sale, respectively. Many online entrepreneurs want as much as possible to use associate programs that require them to pay only when there are actual sales, however, the other arrangements can be more effective because they can attract more people, who may potentially become paying clients.

Some business entities formulate and use their own associate programs, however there are many businesses who hire third party associate program providers to the task on their behalf. The associate program provider acts as the intermediary that not only gets associates but also tracks down the results of their referrals. A lot of online business were able to expand their scope solely through the help of an associate program, allowing them to experience as much as 15% to 20% growth during the initial use of the program.

Associate programs have developed quite broadly and there have been sub-specialties that emerged. Among the most popular subspecialties is the multi-level associate program, in which rewards are trickled down a network of associates and their sub-associates. This way, associates are encouraged to gather more associates because of the chance to earn more from the commissions that associates under their network earn. Multilevel associate programs are used to attract even more associates, and eventually, more customers.

They key to a good associate program are the associates themselves as they are the vital instrument for attracting a website's visitors, subscribers, and clients. A webmaster's job therefore does not stop at the recruitment of associates - the webmaster would have to take care of associates. It is essential to make sure that associates are really fulfilling their job of referring people to the website, otherwise the program is useless. Even millions of associates would not really be good if not one of them would be able to provide a referral.
Webmasters who make use of associate programs are thus in charge of training their associates on how to get more visitors. Webmasters are tasked to motivate their associates so that they would be able to contribute more to the popularity of the website. It is human nature to lose enthusiasm at some point. While at first, the money would be the main motivation for associates to do their jobs, laziness or boredom would eventually kick in, decreasing the drive of associates to give their referrals. It would be really wasteful and frustrating if associates are not able to do their jobs.

Associate programs are very much growing more popular because of their effectiveness as a marketing strategy online. They are very effective in attracting visitors to business websites. They are also quite helpful in converting visitors to subscribers or regulars. Ultimately, they are instrumental in converting subscribers to paying clients. It is therefore worth to try using an associate program if you want your website to be sizzling hot.

To know more about associate programs, you can ask an associate program provider or make use of the many associate program software available in the market.