There is also another type of program which is known as the residual income affiliate program. In this program they usually pay a small percentage of commission for each sale which is directed by an affiliate to the merchant's. The commission will often be only in the region of 10% - 20%, and due to this, a lot of potential affiliates will disregard these programs.
Some may say that these potential affiliates are making a big mistake by ignoring residual affiliate programs. You see, residual affiliate programs will pay at a lower rate, but the merchants tips on selling merchant services who offer the programs will generally pay you an ongoing commission after a single sale. Therefore you can make more money than the one off payment.
For some affiliate residual programs will be worth promoting as you can earn regular, often monthly commissions. They are often monthly subscription plans that the customer purchases. The drawback is that they customer may cancel the subscription at any time, which means you will lose your commissions so you may still need regular targeted and converted customers from your visitors.