What Is A Two Tier Affiliate Program? Full Explanation

A two tier affiliate program let you earn commissions from the products your sub-affiliates promotes. You get paid when others promote affiliate products.

A two tier affiliate program is an affiliate model where you can refer new affiliates to the program you’re in. You’ll become their 2nd-tiered affiliate. When your sub-affiliates get sales, you earn a commission. A typical two tier affiiate structure would look something like this:

• 1st Tier = 25% commission on all the sales you generate as an affiliate.
• 2nd Tier = 5%-10% commission on you sub-affiliate sales.

This is a great way to make an extra income with affiliate marketing. If you have an audience or know about anyone that wants to become an affiliate it’s smart to let them sign-up with your 2nd-tier affiliate link.

Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links where I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. For more information read my Disclosure.

How Does A Two-Tier Affiliate Program Work?

Inside the dashboard of your affiliate program you can find a unique affiliate link to refer new affiliates. When people sign up through this link they become 1st tier affiliates for the company and you’ll become their 2nd tier affiliate. The people you’ve referred to the affiliate program are called sub-affiliates.

When your sub-affiliates (1st tier) promote products they earn a normal commission for the sale (which can range from 1%-50%). As a 2nd tier affiliate you normally earn 5%-10% of that sale.

Example: Your sub-affiliate sells a $100 product with 40% commission rate and receive $40. Then you’ll get 10% of that sale which is $10.

The customer does not need to pay anything more and the 1st tier affiliate don’t lose any of it’s commission rate. You only take 5%-10% extra for the sale, which means a bit less money for the company.

As an affiliate I recommend that you focus on promoting products yourself. It’s great to make people sign up to the affiliate program under your referral link, but the reality is that most of your sub-affiliates won’t get many sales. Now, let’s talk about what you can expect when referring new affiliates.

What To Expect When Promoting Two Tier Affiliate Programs

Most people when they hear about two tier affiliate programs get super excited, because they see it as an opportunity to make passive income with affiliate marketing. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great way to earn some extra cash, but don’t get too excited. If you and your sub-affiliates only care about referring others, nobody is going to make a dollar.

The only way to make money with affiliate marketing is when a sale happens!

It’s attemting to refer as many people as you possible can to get a lot of sub-affiliates. It’s a great model on paper but in reality, not so much. 90% of the people you refer will most likely never get a sale. Then you’ll end up getting commissions from nothing.

You should expect nothing and accept everything. It’s OK to sign up other affiliates. In most cases you won’t earn much from them, but you never know. Maybe you one day refer the next super affiliate of our generation. Who knows.

My advice is to mainly focus your time and energy on promoting the products yourself. There are more than enough money to be made and with the right tools you can completely automate yout business. But if your affiliate program has a two tier referral system I would definitely refer some people.

If you’re curious about how you actually can make money with a two tier affiliate program, then keep reading and find out:

How Make Money With A Two Tier Affiliate Program

To make money as an 2nd tier affiliate, the affiliate you referred (sub-affiliate) need to make a sale. You need to remember that if want to succeed with the two tier affiliate marketing model.

By far the best way to make money as an 2nd-tiered affiliate is to give your audience some sort of training. If you create a course or atricle about how to get started with affiliate marketing, then a part of this process is to sign upto an affiliate program. Here you can put your 2nd-tier affiliate link. This training should teach them about everything there is to succeed with affiliate marketing.

You don’t need to create the training yourself. In my opinion Clickfunnels has one of the best affiliate programs online. They’ve created a training called The Affiliate Bootcamp which teach all new affiliates the best ways to promote clickfunnels. When you promote this free training and people enroll, you become their 2nd-tier affiliate. Then you get paid when your sub-affiliates get sales.

Another way to make money as an 2nd-tiered affiliate is to be 100% transparent with your audience. Tell them that you’ll earn a small commission on their sales when they sign up under your link. In return give them resources that will help them get results faster. This can be email-swipes, banner ads, free training, step-by-step guide, ebook or whatever you come up with.

Just make sure your sub-affiliates promote the products and don’t use all their time referring other affiliates. Teach them everything you can about affiliate marketing and give them what they need to succeed. If you do that then it will become much more like that you actually make money as an 2nd-tier affiliate.

Down below you can find my favourite affiliate programs with a two-tire referral system. Some of them even pays out recurring commissions!

The Best Two-Tier Affiliate Programs

1) CLICKFUNNELS

Affiliate Commissions: 1st Tier = 40% commission for every sale. 2nd Tier = 5% commission on sub-affiliates sale. + Recurring commissions

Signup Link: Signup To Clickfunnels Affiliate Program Here

Description: Clickfunnels is a software used by businesses and entrepreneurs all over the world to create sales funnels, optin pages, member areas and digital courses. It costs $97/month and are relatively easy to promote. When you signup to the affiliate program you’ll get exclusive access to free training that shows you exactly how to promote Clickfunnels.

2) OPESTA

Affiliate Commissions: 1st Tier = 40% commission for every sale. 2nd Tier = 5% commission on sub-affiliates sale. + Recurring commissions

Signup Link: Signup To Opesta’s Affiliate Program Here

Description: Opesta is the first Facebook Messenger Automation Platform. It’s a chatbot that allow you to leverage the Facebook platform to build subscribers and communicate with your audience. With an open rate of 70%, this is a tool that can replace email marekting for many businesses. Opestas basic plan costs $49/month.

3) WP ENGINE

Affiliate Commission: 1st Tier = $200 per referral or 100% of the customer’s first month’s payment (whichever is higher). 2nd Tier = $50 per referral of your sub-affiliates.

Signup Link: Signup To WP Engine’s Affiliate Program Here

Description: WP Engine (founded in 2010) is the world’s leading WordPress digital experience platform that provides enterprises and agencies with the features and services to drive their business efficiently. They offer the best WordPress hosting and developer experience that delivers unparalleled speed, scalability, and security for your sites. If you have a large website with 30,000+ Monthly readers, then you should use WP Engine.

4) FIVERR

Affiliate Commission: 1st Tier = $15-$150 CPA for various services. 2nd Tier = 10% Commission.

Signup Link: Signup To Fiverr’s Affiliate Program Here

Description: Fiverr is the world’s largest marketplace that brings together different digital services in one place. Services offered on this platform are known as Gigs. The starting price of the gig is $5 but sellers can choose starting price based on the services they are offering. It also has options to provide gig’s packages.

5) SHARE A SALE

Affiliate Commissioin: Varies by affiliate program promoted.

Signup Link: Signup to Share A Sale’s Affiliate Network Here

Description: ShareASale has been in business for 19 years, exclusively as an Affiliate Marketing Network. Meaning they give you access to many different affiliate programs. Their technology receives accolades for speed, efficiency, and accuracy – and their reputation as a fair and honest business is well known within the industry.

You Might Also Like: How To Make A Full Time Income With Affiliate Marketing

The two-tier affiliate programs above are just to get you started. If you want to find the perfect affiliate program for you, go and check out Programorama.com. They have a complete guide to find the perfect affiliate that fits your industry the best. Remember what I said previously in the article, don’t count to much on your sub-affiliates. At the end of the day you should use most of your time promoting products yourself.

Summary

Two tier affiliate marketing is a great way to increase you profits and automate your affiliate marketing business. When you signup other people under you custom link, they’ll become your sub-affiliates. Then you’ll be able to earn a commission from their sales.

Two tier affiliate marketing is a great business model, but at the end of the day you should focus 90% of your time promoting products yourself. That’s because you never know if your sub-affiliates are ever going to get a sale.