Interested to hear any experience with CJ (commission junction) affiliate network. Does it make sense to signup as an advertiser?

Look at this site for a wealth of information on CJ -http://www.answers.com/topic/commission-junction

Typically affiliate programs account for 7-15% of a company’s overall revenue. Every situation is different, but that’s an average for affiliate programs as a % of revenue. Since they are revenue share based, provided the setup costs are minimal (many programs cost nothing or just a few hundred dollars to setup), they are generally worth doing. For most smaller software companies I would not recommend using CJ.com which is among the largest because their upfront/ongoing costs are too high, it’s a pain to setup and many smaller software merchants have lost money on CJ b/c of their fees which don’t always get offset by affiliate revenue. One of our software vendors recently reported it lost about $5,000 by testing out CJ due to the fees.

But we recommend ShareASale.com, which only costs a few hundred dollars to sign up, attracts a nice range of affiliate publishers, and is easy to setup quickly. Don’t expect overnight riches but after a few months it could increase your revenue 7-15% if a few decent affiliate publishers pickup your offer, like the results, and stick with it.

If you're small, it's a good idea to start testing through a less expensive affiliate program (Shareasale, CPA Empire) and if you have success, reinvest into a larger more expensive one like CJ. If you're a bigger company, start with CJ, and if your eCPM is higher enough and your product attracts the right affiliates, you can experience success there.

- Dan

I agree Shareasale is a good affordable option.
A an affiliate I prefer to promote web hosts who use an established network.


Andrew

From an affiliate standpoint I only sign up with the most reputable ones. Both CJ and Share a Sale have not given me any problems. I also use LinkShare though not sure on the costs to advertise.