One of the most challenging task as an affiliate marketer is to search for a profitable niche that has an affiliate program. Fortunately, you can find a lot of them through affiliate networks. In this review, I will explain what is Rakuten Linkshare all about and how you can use it to grow your affiliate business.
What Is Rakuten Linkshare?
Linkshare is an affiliate marketing service provider that was originally founded by Stephen Messer in 1996. After its acquisition in 2005, it was rebranded and it is now known as Rakuten Affiliate Network. This network is well known among advertisers and publishers for its reliable technology, great brands and good customer service.
How Does It Work?
To get started with Rakuten, you must first register for a user account. It only takes a few minutes and you should have at least set up your own affiliate website already. Ideally, you also want to identify your traffic sources and customer reach through Google Analytics as this will help to speed up your affiliate application.
Once your account has been approved, go to your dashboard and you’ll see something like the image below. Rakuten interface is very easy to navigate and here’s what each of the column represents.
- Name of your business.
- Your unique identity for Rakuten to identify different marketing channel.
- Notification when your account is not fully set-up.
- Messages on affiliate program offers.
- List of new advertisers that have just joined the network.
- Your affiliate stats reflecting impression, clicks, sales and commission.
- Affiliate payment information
- Your commission reflected in a timeline bar graph.
- List of advertisers that pay you the most.
Generally, there are a few ways to search for an affiliate program. Under categories, you’ll find a wide range of niches to participate.
Under each category, there will be a list of advertisers. From here, you can either browse manually, or use the ‘filter’ system when selecting an advertiser. Here are some of the criteria to help refine your search.
Alternatively, you can also look under ‘new advertisers’ or ‘premium advertisers’ as they help to keep your niche blogging content crisp and fresh. Be sure to read through the advertisers information to know what products that they are selling and affiliate details to see if they fit some of the prerequisites of a good affiliate program.
You would also want to check on their policies to see what you can and can’t do because breaching these terms will cause you to loose your affiliation as a publisher.
Once you have decided on an advertiser, click to apply for the affiliate program. If your account meets the advertiser’s requirement, you’ll be approved within 1-2 days. The next step is to start linking your site to these products. To do this, go to “Links” and get links from the advertisers. There are different type of links that you can find.
- Text/Email
- Banners/Images
- Dynamic Rich Media
- Search Box
- Individual Products
Not all links will be available for all advertisers, but most of the time, the first two (Text and Banners) are more than sufficient to help get you started on your online business, granted you write good quality content to promote these products.
For example, when promoting Fiverr through my affiliate website, I have these choices of affiliate links to use; text, banners and images promotion.
Some links are provided in the form of code formats. Obviously, to get this to work, you have to have access to an HTML editor on your website. If you are using a basic drag and drop kind of website builder, it’s going to be a bit hard to create an affiliate banner through this method. Hence, a better platform to use is actually WordPress.
So if you haven’t already got one, simply head over to SiteRubix and build an affiliate website with WordPress.
Another method for getting affiliate links on Rakuten is to create one using ‘deep-linking’ technique. For instance, when you found a page on your advertiser’s site that you wish to link to. Simply copy the URL and create a new link that has got your specific ID. However, this technique only applies to certain advertisers.
So there you have it. A few simple ways to look for affiliate programs and incorporating the links to your marketing strategies.
How Much Does It Costs?
Rakuten Affiliate Network is free to join by anyone. However, most advertisers will look through your website before approving your application.
What Do I Like About Rakuten?
- The affiliate dashboard is more user friendly than other affiliate networks (my personal opinion).
- It offers some well-known advertisers that you can work with such as Starbucks, The Body Shop and Monfrotto. Bigger brands tend to attract more audience to your site.
- The Publisher Help Center has a lot of resources to help you get started -FAQs, video tutorials and quick start guides.
So, Is Rakuten Worthy of Your Time?
In general, Rakuten is a great platform for affiliate marketers to discover profitable opportunities. In fact, if you know how to do proper keyword research on a particular niche, you can drive a lot of traffic to your site thus increasing your revenue. You can read more about the step-by-step process in this example on how to make money with Lego through this network.
Rakuten provides a variety of affiliate links that you can use, but there are some techniques to use them effectively. If you wish to learn more, the Wealthy Affiliate has some great training on how to write good quality content for your niche. By combining the training and the affiliate programs at Rakuten Linkshare, you’ll be running a profitable online business for many years to come.
I hope this review has given you some exciting ideas about affiliate marketing and if you want to know more, please leave your questions in the comment area below and I’d be happy to help you out.
Hi Cathy,
I haven’t tried Linkshare although I always hear about it. I am a newbie in affiliate marketing so all these platforms scare me, lol. I have only so far used Amazon. Thanks for your well-explained article, I am going to give it a try. I’ll update you how it goes, hopefully, I’ll earn from it too.
Hi Pitin, if you are already an Amazon Associate, I suggest that you stick with that program for a while, make some profit, before joining other networks. This is to help you stay focus on the interest of your niche. Even though Amazon pays a measly 4% commission, you should know very well by now that there are thousands of other products that you can take advantage of. As your orders increase, so will your profit margin.
I have been using Linkshare for years and have always had nothing, but a great experience using them. I have used almost every affiliate network out their and can honestly say that LinkShare is one of the most professional networks out there. They always pay on time and have a huge selection of affiliate offers.
If you are tired of charge backs and not enough affiliate offers to chose from, check out LinkShare. They will exceed your expectations.
Hi Cathy,
I really like your website and I found your article had great information. This is the first time I’ve come across Rakuten Linkshare.
I started learning more about setting up an online business and blogging through Wealthy Affiliate a few months ago. I knew about affiliate programs such as Commission Junction, Amazon Associate, and JVZoo but as my website gain more traffic, I will look into Rakuten Linkshare. From what I have seen in your article, they seem pretty impressive.
I will say that this already looks better than Clickbank and other than the Amazon Associates program, this looks like it could be a very worthwhile place to be an affiliate.
Don’t think it looks as good as amazon, but definitely something I would like to check out.
For the big brands like Starbucks, are their banners really high in quality and recognizable?
Oh yes, their banners are great looking and their product images come with good resolutions to complement your product reviews.
I had found this site due to a specific company that I wanted to work with that uses it for their affiliate program. I had signed up with them but never really looked around otherwise.
I just happened to see your post about it here today and thought that maybe I should read this and see how they stack up with their other companies.
I am glad to see that you liked this site and their program because they do seem to have a wide range of advertisers available. I will feel a lot more comfortable using them now after seeing that others are happy with their service as well.
Hey James, great to see you again on my blog 🙂 Yes, Rakuten does have some reputable advertisers that you can work with. Among the affiliate program opportunities that I’ve wrote which you can find through this network are Lego, Crocs and Starbucks. I am sure a lot of people would be familiar with these brands.
Hi Cathy
This is a great post on Rakuten. I didn’t realize that Rakuten is Linkshare. I’ve been thinking about signing up with Linkshare but wasn’t sure about the process, now I have all the information I need on them!
I have 3 websites set up in each of my great passions… and that is working out nicely. My next move it to try my hand at setting up a high profit niche website…. do you have any tips or advice for me on how to get started with this?
Hi there Lynne,
There are a few ways you can go about creating a high profit niche website – promote high ticket items exclusively, keep churning good quality content and venture into paid traffic.
I think these techniques combined can give you recurring and targeted traffic to your niche. If you wish to learn more, please check out the step-by-step training offered by Wealthy Affiliate. They offer free starter programs too.
To be honest, I never come across Rakuten Network and this is the first time I am hearing about it. I have pretty good experience with Commission Junction and ShareASale. After reading your complete review, I am really interested to find out more and see how it would work out for my online business.
Hi there Sundar,
Rakuten Network is a great resource if you want to partner with popular brands such as Starbucks or Lego. They provide very detailed advertiser information so you can expect what kind of commissions, affiliate links and the marketing policies that you need to be aware of.
Hi Cathy,
I hadn’t heard of Rakuten until now. Sounds like a pretty legit affiliate network. Far better than the likes of Clickbank and JV Zoo, thats for sure.
I agree that finding a good affiliate platform like this, is one thing, but that is only a small piece of the overall puzzle. Learning how to market these products is the most important part and Wealthy Affiliate is an incredible place to do that.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
You are absolutely right, Tim.
In fact, most merchants would evaluate your site before granting access to their affiliate programs. The most important factor that they are looking for is content relevance and quality. I know this personally because my application had been rejected in the past due to those reasons.
So, in order to improve approval rate, marketers need to really work on building content and authority within their niches. When you get traffic based on that, affiliate links would work more effectively and so will your conversion.
The success for this is incredibly high if you follow the training program at Wealthy Affiliate.
Cathy, I just love you whole site. I’m just getting started with my own online business, and had not yet heard of Rakuten, so thank you for the thorough and VERY helpful information. I’ve been debating using visuals on my own site, but seeing them on yours shows me just how important they are for the reader/consumer. Loved your site so much that I bookmarked it in fact! Looking forward to reading and learning more 🙂
Hello. Thank you for sharing this affiliate network with us. I was aware of this website but to be quite honest I haven’t paid a great deal of notice to it.
I notice that this network seems to deal with some big names, like Walmart and Monsoon. Is it hard to get an account with Rakuten? I understand that you need to prove where you get your traffic from, just wondered how easy the sign up process was?
Hi there Andrew,
It wasn’t difficult for me to get into the network. Then again, my site has been established for a year before I applied for it. The sign up process was an easy one though – some personal details and your website information. If everything is in place, you’ll usually hear good news within 2 to 3 days.
I’ve never heard of Rakuten before. As I learn more about the online business and affiliate marketing in particular though, I come to believe it’s much better if you just find a product you want to promote instead of joining a marketplace of affiliate products because most of the goods out there offer affiliate commission.
I believe it’s very important to use and love the products you promote in order to really find success and fulfillment.
What do you think?
Hi there Anh,
There are two ways of looking at this. You can always by pass affiliate networks and find your own through private affiliate programs, which generally offer higher commission rates. You do need to contact them personally for the application though.
With affiliate networks, you get more convenience and product options for your niche, but not necessarily a better rate. Plus, I think it’s a good place to check out your competitors and see what kind of stuff that they are promoting.
Overall, both ways work as long as you have confident in using and recommending the products to others.
Hi Cathy,
This is a great review and walk through on how the Rakuten Affiliate Program is structured. I feel like signing up with them now and trying them out. I have bought stuff from Rakuten before. It was known as Buy Dot Com before; now it is known as Rakuten.
Hi there Angel,
I never knew that the company had a different name before. I always got them confused between Rakuten and Linkshare though. Thanks for the info.
Hey Cathy
I have spent a great deal of time looking into the affiliate marketing business model because I have heard many great things about it 🙂
From reading your article, Rakuten is a great affiliate network for me to start with as an affiliate marketing newbie, and I appreciated the quick walk-through of the program. Wealthy Affiliate also looks like the perfect affiliate training platform to help me make some money online from Rakuten, so I will get started with both programs.
Do you think the Amazon associates program is also an effective program to earn money from? Thanks!
Hi there Neil,
Amazon is certainly the go-to platform for those who are looking to start their first affiliate business. They have a lot of features and third party web tools that can help accelerate your profit. My only comment is that the commission rate isn’t that high so you really want to be consistent with your marketing strategy to keep up with your revenue earning.
But then again, not everyone can apply to be an Amazon Associate due to their locality. If that’s the case, you can always look for niche products to sell online through private affiliate programs instead. Most of them tend to offer higher commission rate too.
Hi Cathy
Thanks for this review on Rakuten. So you feel they are a good affiliate company to sign up with? Can you tell me if they allow South African affiliates or are there only certain countries they allow?
How would you compare them to other affiliate opportunities like Amazon for example?
Welcome to my blog, Lynne.
I was just skimming through the membership agreement and didn’t find anything that says South Africans are not allow into the network. So I think you can give it a try. I don’t live in the US, but my application went through on the second day – just so you know.
Rakuten is an affiliate network whereby you need to apply individually to each merchant’s program and wait for the approval. If you don’t meet the basic requirements, your application can still be denied. The commission structure differs according to the merchant who is offering the program and could range between 5% to 20%.
Amazon on the other hand, is an online retailer. If you meet the requirements of becoming an Amazon Associate, you can start selling any Amazon products immediately from your own website or blog. The standard commission cut is about 4% but again, it differs according to product categories and the bulk of the online orders.
Hope the information helps.
Hello Cathy, how are you?
I came across Rakuten recently and it seems like a very honest network. I found many legitimate products there. You broken down to pieces the whole process of getting started, so easy to understand.
Is there an option to interact with merchants like with ShareASale?
Overall, do you think there are worthy products inside this network?
Which one is your favorite affiliate network so far?
Great to hear from your again Tasos. To answer your questions;
1) For big brand merchants, most of them do provide contact support for their affiliates.
2) Rakuten has a lot of worthy products. However, getting approved for certain affiliate programs can be tough.
3) My preferred affiliate network by far is Rakuten and ShareASale – they are very user friendly and display merchant information readily.
I read your article about becoming an affiliate marketing with Rakuten. I have been studying Digital Marketing for the past 4 years. I have also gained my Advanced Professional Certification with USF and also my advanced affiliate marketing. This program is highly recommended within my academic institutions. It is one of the best. You have made a comprehensive discussion about Rakuten and it is very good.
Welcome to my blog Shiva,
I have heard good things about Rakuten and it’s reassuring to know that the network is also recommended by higher institution. Working with reliable merchants is one of the factors to consider when choosing for a good affiliate program and Rakuten seems to have a lot of them in their network.
Hi Cathy,
I’ve stumbled upon the name Rakuten before just by searching the web. But have honestly never paid much attention to it.. For some reason the actual name never gave me the urge to investigate it further.. May be not the smartest move, but I’m glad I found your post today 🙂
How you explain it, it seems like a great network to search for potential niches and along with that promising affiliate commissions.
As you need to meet the advertisers requirements, is it right to assume this is not something a beginner marketer would be interested in?
Hi Maarten,
As long as you have an affiliate website set up, you can definitely apply for this network as a beginner. Meeting the advertisers requirements, on the other hand, can be a bit tricky. I get approval for some affiliate programs and I also get rejected for some although our niches are closely related.
The reason for this isn’t always readily available, but I am in the opinion that if beginners consistently create good quality content, their page ranking will go up and so will the overall search traffic. When the site is performing better, I would reapply the affiliate program with the advertiser again if I am still interested to work with them.
Hello
As years go by, the cost of living goes up, but not my income and l realize l now have to watch anything l give out and to give up on most luxuries
That`s why l decided to look for ways to make a bit of an extra income online and came to your site.
You explained things so well and l feel like l could give this Rakuten a try. I am just worried that they might not accept members from Switzerland, but I will check on that later.
Thanks for showing me new ways to become an affiliate. l am very interested in making money online, but did not know the process or what need to be done.
Welcome to my blog Roamy,
As far as I understand, affiliate networks are open to anyone to join regardless of which country you are from. Being accepted by the merchants, however, could be a different story. I think they will evaluate your website information first before allowing you to join the affiliate program.
If that doesn’t work, try googling for affiliate programs in Switzerland. I am sure you can find something related to your niche. Besides that, you can also consider different methods of monetizing such as selling drop ship items of creating your own online store.
Whichever you choose, give yourself sometime to learn about the foundation of running a web business. Once you know how to drive traffic, you’ll be more confident with the choices you make online.
If you need any help starting your online business, just look up for me at Wealthy Affiliate and I’ll help you out 🙂
Hi Cathy,
Rakuten sounds like a good alternative to ClickBank, CJ and ShareASale. I have just started on a niche that I like and joined some of these networks. However, I have difficulty finding suitable products for it. May I ask how do you choose profitable or high conversion product from an affiliate network?
Thank you.
Hi Lok,
Good to know that you have identified a niche that you like. While I don’t have a magic formula in choosing a profitable affiliate product, there are a few guidelines that I would adhere to.
1 – Research on the merchants and their products. Get a general idea about their reputation and the way they market themselves online.
2 – Check the level of competition of the product. The less competitive, the better. You can do more research on this using the Jaaxy Keyword Tool.
3 – Read some reviews from both affiliates and the customer’s side. This will give you an idea of the support system and customer service level provided by the merchant.
4 – Choose for something that is of a higher commission, but don’t make this the sole factor for choosing a product as it differs from niche to niche.
You can read more from my article “How to Find a Good Affiliate Program” where I covered this topic in depth. If you need any help, feel free to contact me within WA.
Awesome article on Rakuten! I Think that i will actually use this service to help monetize my site. I particularly like how versatile Rakuten is and how broad of genre’s it has. Thank you for bringing this information to us! How long have you been using Rakuten, and how has it worked for you thus far?
Hi Damien,
I have only been using Rakuten for a few months. I really like how they provide links for specific products and their comprehensive support area. However, it can still be confusing if you don’t have any experience with it. You are getting all these links and don’t really know how to use them, or worst, you could hurt your website if you misuse them.
In these situations, I would still recommend beginners to check out affiliate marketing training such as those in Wealthy Affiliate to have a better understanding on how to create a proper online business. I think by combining both resources, they would get better conversion rate through their affiliate links.
Hi Cathy,
I recently joined Rakuten network and I am ready to leave my signature under every word you’ve written here 🙂 It was actually the only network that provided links to a specific product I wanted to promote, and they actually made me their affiliate in under 10-15 minutes!
It is also great you provided a few tips here on how to properly use your Rakuten account – thank you very much for that, I really needed it!
Welcome to my blog Dmitriy,
I am glad you made it through your application with Rakuten. They are really fast 🙂
And yes, the specific product links are really great when you have a targeted audience in mind for your article. Remember to also create good quality content to go along with the affiliate links so that your readers will benefit from the information that you are providing.
I hadn’t heard of Rakuten, but I used Share A Sale a lot and used to use Commission Junction. But I really only like Share A Sale because of it’s ease of use. But when it comes to a particular product you want to promote, it really depends upon the seller’s personal accounts and where they’re placed. Thus making you create tons of accounts with these bigger groups. Which is these three do you think does the best for their affiliates?
Hi Sarah,
Some merchants can be very particular about their affiliate’s origin and website status so that really put some restriction as to what kind of products you can promote online. Creating more accounts will certainly give you access to more affiliate programs relating to your niche.
I personally like using ShareASale and Rakuten (no experience with Commission Junction) but when it comes to quality, I think Rakuten’s tools and support are more up-to-date to assist affiliates in their marketing effort.
This is a great tutorial about Rakuten Linkshare. I have no experience with them at all, I have been with Amazon and ShareASale. You presented this affiliate network so nicely. In fact, I am not happy with the second network I mentioned and I am now sure I shall follow your instructions and try with Rakuten.
Many thanks, this was very useful to me.
Welcome to my blog Jovo,
I can understand your impression about using ShareASale. While it’s easy to use, they still list inactive or out dated merchants which can be very confusing for applicants. I think they do offer some great affiliate programs, but I have not encountered any big brands like those in Rakuten. What I like about them is their auto-approval system but unfortunately, I haven’t found one that suits my niche.
Well this is a turn up for the books – I thought I was fully aware of all the big affiliate opportunities out there, I was wrong!
Your review seems to slide both ways at times – do you feel this would be one of your first choices or further down the list?
You’ve obviously used it quite a lot for this review – how does it compare to ClickBank?
Hi there Chris,
If I have a niche that deals with physical products, I would definitely look into Rakuten because most of the brands there are quite reputable. With ClickBank, you are offering mostly digital products like eBook, online courses or even videos – some people might like it, some might not.
So it really depends on who your targeted audience is and whether physical or digital products are attractive or relevant to them.
Hello Cathy!
I must admit, I have never heard of Rakuten before. I got the impression that your review is realistic and accurate.
You say the sign-up process takes a few minutes, no problem with that, but setting up the website that quickly is the part I don`t understand. I am skeptical to that. Do you have the website that was build there? I am very curious to see it.
Hi there Igor,
Rakuten is an affiliate network that offers affiliate programs; it doesn’t build websites. For website creation, I actually use SiteRubix and within minutes, it went live on the internet. So yes, you can really create a WordPress website that quickly.
Hope this answers your question.
Nice one Cathy!
I’ve heard of the obvious affiliate programs like Amazon etc, but hadn’t ever given Rakuten any thought. I’ve bookmarked your site because there is a wealth of information, not just this page in particular. I can also vouch for Wealthy Affiliate’s training program, as I’ve used it to create my own site. It’s truly fantastic!
Hi there Ryan,
Most people tend to associate affiliate marketing with Amazon, but it isn’t the only affiliate network out there. So even if you are not accepted to become an Amazon Associate, there are tonnes of other affiliate programs to participate. You just need to know where to look for them.
Wealthy Affiliate training is great because you can apply the principles to any type of business that you want to build online. It also gives you good hosting and a strong community support so those are really extra bonuses.
Cathy,
Thank you for the information! I am very new with WA and I need as much help with finding ways to get out there as possible. Rakuten sounds like a great way for me to start once of course I get my website up and totally running.
Hi Sheila,
While there are many affiliate programs out there that you can join, you really want to focus on the niche that you want to promote. If you can find several sub niches to go with it, you’ll be able to target more affiliate programs. Secondly, building your knowledge in website and content creation will give your affiliate business more quality so spend some time brushing on that skills before you begin your promotion.
If you need any help, just shoot me a private message over at Wealthy Affiliate 🙂
Hi Cathy,
What a great an easy to follow guide to learn to become an affiliate marketer with Rakuten. Although, I would think for most folks new to affiliate marketing, they would first want to start off with a solid online educational program on how to build a proper affiliate marketing website.
I got my training through the Wealthy Affiliate training program and I’m really happy with their program. As a matter of fact, I’m starting to put a new site together through their Online Entrepreneur Course – pretty cool stuff and easy to follow.
Great to hear from you again, Todd.
Anyone who is new to online marketing and want to build a career upon it should start with some training program. Unfortunately, there are so many scams out there that ended up giving this industry a bad reputation. If beginners really go through the courses at Wealthy Affiliate, they would discover that building an online business isn’t that difficult, but it requires a lot of hard work.
It’s good to know that you are building your second site based on your passion and expertise. Makes me want to start one myself too 🙂 Do share your site with us when you have completed it.
Hello Cathy
I hadn’t heard of this company before so is it like Clickbank or do they also do physical products like Amazon?
Also, if somebody as new to this line of work, you say they should already have an affiliate website with traffic so how can they get around that? Would you suggest they start with something like Wealthy Affiliate first to get a website built and then maybe look at Rakuten when the site is all set up?
Thanks for the information Cathy
Mark
Thank for your questions, Mark.
1 – Rakuten is an affiliate network which congregates thousands of merchants offering physical (and maybe digital) products through affiliate programs, so it’s more like Amazon if you will.
2 – As for beginners, if you have identified your niche, you should build an affiliate website first and register with Google Webmaster and Google Analytics. These Google tools will then track and report your online traffic as you go along publishing your content.
3 – While there are many ways to build a website, I would recommend using WordPress because it’s better for customization and online visibility. The advantage of creating a website in WA is that they provide a very good hosting support through SiteRubix, they give you proper training on how to build an affiliate business and most importantly, you are supported by a large community who are always learning from one another.
4 – Once you know how to get traffic for your website, you’ll know how to use Rakuten better for your business. Most of the time, people make mistakes by diving for the affiliate links first, but totally slack in terms of offering quality information for the readers. This can really hurt your online presence in the long term.
In a nutshell, when you have a good understanding of web creation and driving online traffic, you can really build any sort of business that you are passionate about on the internet.
Hope this answers some of your questions, Mark 🙂
Hi Cathy,
I have heard of Rakuten, but did not know a lot about it, something I have been meaning to checkout for a while. Your review has saved me some time as you have laid out what I need to know very well.
I like the fact that they deal with some of the well known high street brands too, and some of the cookies are up to 90 days. Thanks for a thorough review, some good information.
Welcome to my blog, Robert.
Glad to know that you benefited from this article in your journey as an affiliate marketer. To be able to work with some well known merchants will indirectly bring more quality to your content creation. Depending on the choice of your niche, there are also other networks such as ShareASale, Commission Junction and ClickBank that can offer you a lot of online business opportunity.
So do check out those networks when you have the time.
Never heard of this company, are they doing PPC or just affiliate banners? They look really similar to ClickBank though.
I find it funny though how some companies will let just anyone be an affiliate without having any kind of authority to them. Good thing this company MAKES you have a site firsthand. Glad you recommended SiteRubix for starting one. That’s a fantastic place to start!
Hi there Matt,
Yeah, the red and white layout in Rakuten is quite similar to ClickBank but they are very different in terms of the advertisers. Most of them offers affiliate banners and text and they do PPC too.
As an affiliate network, I find that they are more lenient to accepting publishers, although they do encourage you to have a website profile in advance. This is helpful when you are applying for an affiliate program with a merchant that might want to review your profile first.
By providing this information, you are showing merchants that you are serious in building a long term affiliate business and hence, more committed in promoting their products.
Hello Cathy. Thanks for bringing this affiliate program to your readers attention. I had not heard of Rakuten Affiliate Network prior to reading your review. Other names like Commission Junction, ClickBank and ShareASale I have heard of.
You say that it is a popular network that pays attractive commission to affiliate marketers, so I will definitely take a look, as it’s free to sign up and maybe I will discover a great affiliate product/ service and create a profitable niche.
So again thank you for continuing to bring great information to your readers and keeping them informed about what’s good in the world of online marketing. 🙂
Hi there Peter,
The last I check, there are publishers offering up to 80% in affiliate commission and cookies that last for as long as 90 days. Lot’s of big brands from the US and Canada so if you can identify the buying factor in your selected niche, you could be working with some prominent merchants out there. This can be a great advantage to your keyword research as well because people are already searching for these names online.
I am sure you’ll like Rakuten as much as I do, Peter.
Thanks for the insight in Rakuten! I’ve been around several of the other such as ClickBank and ShareaSale but have never really given this one a try. It looks well established and the back office looks like something I’d be more interested in.
It’s difficult to find Time Freedom, but affiliate marketing in certainly an answer to that. You have a fresh looking site and I expect you’ll be helping many others with their journey into this field of business!
Keep it up with the great reviews! Thanks again for the info you presented here! I’ll be looking into Rakuten as a merchant checkpoint for my own affiliate marketing business!
Hi there Leland,
In between the both, Rakuten is more organized and has a more professional layout for affiliate marketers as compared to ShareASale. What I like about it is all the big and familiar brands like Uniqlo, Norton and Espirit that you can potentially work with. Definitely a network worth checking out. ClickBank is okay but you just got to be careful when promoting some fishy digital products that might make you look like a spammer.
I gather that you are also a Time Freedom seeker so welcome on board! If you ever need any help getting started on your online business, feel free to drop me a message at WA.