One of the questions I'm regularly asked by merchants (other than "Who are you?") is What are the benefits of being with more than 1 affiliate network, and if we should be with more than 1 how many should we be with?

It's a good question - there is only one major benefit of being with more than one network - and that is resilience. All affiliate networks have tracking which fails from time to time - it's bound to happen - tracking relies on two things, technology and human intervention to install / test / re-install tracking after site updates etc - and once technology AND human intervention is involved, occassional failure is an inevitable outcome. Some will call me a cynic but when you have worked in IT as long as I have, cynic becomes part of your name...

The other benefit touted by networks but with little foundation in reality is that "it exposes you to a wider audience of affiliates" - well, yes, maybe a teensy weensy teensy weensy little bit, but not enough to make a difference, you see 20% of affiliates do 80% of the sales and that top 20% of affiliates will be signed up to all of the networks of significance anyway.

That said, signing with more than one network as a merchant does give your affiliates choice - we all have favourite or preferred networks, so if you sign with two I can at least choose which network I use to promote you.

Once you get onto more than two networks though you are definitely into the law of diminishing returns - because your admin effort and cost increases exponentially - many merchants struggle to keep their creative and offers up to date on one or two networks, so why do some merchants insist on putting themselves through a momentous struggle to have out of date creative on five networks or even more - it's crazy, don't do it, it's not a contest - there are no prizes for being on the highest number of affiliate networks - so don't be tempted - even by 'free signup to this network deals' - there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Typically, a merchant appearing on an additional network every couple of months starts alarm bells ringing in my mind - the only reason they are doing it is because their affiliate programme is not making the returns they expected - so they try to buy that success - when in reality either

a) they have not communicated their offer very well

and/or

b) their commission offer is not competitive for their market sector

and/or

c) their site does not convert

and/or

d) their product is simply too niche to work effectively as an affiliate programme with any more than a handful of affiliates who operate within the desired niche

and/or

e) the terms of their programme are so restrictive it is impossible for affiliates to operate effectively.

So to conclude, how many networks should you use - well you can get away with 1, but 2 is probably a sensible option.