The biggest difference between affiliate marketing and network marketing is that one depends on 100% of you efforts,the other relies on the efforts of many.I personally recommend that you  have some of both incorporated into your business model. Growing a team is going to take some time. Therefore, it is going to take a little longer for you to get into profit. In affiliate marketing, you are still growing a team, but it is a team of little robots all over the internet holding up little billboards for you and your business.

As an affiliate, your tasks are simply to refer new clients to the merchant and if these
people go ahead and buy something, you get credited with a certain percentage of
the sale. Contrary to network marketing it is generally free to act as an affiliate
marketer. Although there are certain companies that have sort of a hybrid structure
between network and affiliate marketing – requiring you to pay a start-up and/or
monthly fee to market their products. Most affiliate programs are completely free
to join though, so I’d personally stay away from those using their affiliate programs
as an income generator.

Affiliate programs are thus a great way in which almost anyone can start to make
money online, without having to invest a lot of money, if indeed any at all. There are
however certain strategies and marketing methods you need to be knowledgeable
of, if you are to make any money at all with your online affiliate marketing. In this
case, the only real investment that you need to get started in affiliate marketing is
going to be the simple investment into your marketing education. Knowledge will
stay with you forever and as you market the art of internet marketing, you will add
value to yourself. People will then see the value that you have to offer and you will
begin to generate endless leads and sales.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have got started in affiliate marketing before
branching into network marketing. You use your affiliate commissions to fund your
marketing campaigns. As people opt into your website, whether they buy right away
or not, get added to your list. The first step in running a successful business is to
build a list. Once people get on your list, all you have to do is provide valueable
content to them. This will build the relationship with your list. They will get to know,
like and trust you as an expert in your field. At this point, you become a thought
leader and your list will buy from you every time you send them an email.

At this point, you will have an army of little robots out there making sales for you.
Now is the time that I would get into network marketing. You now have a list of
hungry buyers that think like you do, they buy what you recommend. You send out
a few emails to your list and almost overnight, your marketing takes on a life of it’s
own. With the residual income that is coming in at this point, the only thing left is to
write a program that tells your list how you did it. Teach them, step by step, what
you did and why. Give them your best stuff, because the better marketers they
are, the bigger team will grow.