Recently I signed up with ACCESSTRADE network to become an affiliate in order to promote products by some of their advertisers.
I decided to include affiliate links in my blog after realizing that sometimes readers are unable to find products which I wrote about in their area. The only means for them to obtain these products would be to order them through online.
How did I find out about ACCESSTRADE
I have been a little out of touch with the affiliate marketing scene in Malaysia and a lot has changed since then. Affiliate network and companies are setting and improving their affiliate marketing efforts to get bloggers and influencers to promote their brand reach.
How I came to know about ACCESSTRADE is via advertisement they placed in Google Search. After doing some research, I decided to sign up with them. I signed up under two of their networks under Publisher sign up:
- ACCESSTRADE Malaysia– advertisers such as Shopee MY, Zalora MY, Watsons, Lazada MY
- ACCESSTRADE Thailand– advertisers such as Shopee MY, BigC, Tops, Office Mate, Robinson, Central TH
Briefly, what is ACCESSTRADE?
ACCESSTRADE is an affiliate network that features various advertisers which you can choose to promote on. They are similar with Involve Asia, except that Involve Asia carries advertisers from different countries whereas ACCESSTRADE is country based.
For example, if I am with Involve Asia, I am able to promote merchants from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines all in a SINGLE platform. Involve Asia’s minimum payment threshold is RM80 for Malaysians.
Whereas if I opt for ACCESSTRADE, I need to sign up separately depending on where the advertisers that I wish to promote is based in. For example, if I wish to promote advertisers like Shopee TH, BigC and OfficeMate which are from Thailand, I need to go into ACCESSTRADE TH website and sign up as their publisher. And then if I want to promote about Zalora Malaysia, Watson’s Malaysia, I need to sign up via ACCESSTRADE Malaysia.
The same goes if you wish for Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia, you need to sign up separately depending on where the advertisers that you like to target are based in.
Both are separate affiliate platform with separate payouts. That means you need to meet the minimum threshold per platform before you are eligible for a payout. If you are a small blogger, channel or have small following, it will take time before you will be able to achieve the minimum payout.
Why did I choose ACCESSTRADE?
1. Approval of my sites were immediate.
I was with Involve Asia for a few years but decided to switch to ACCESSTRADE because Involve Asia did not approve my request and appeal to add a few of my other blogs into their property. The reason was probably those websites did not meet their traffic criteria. Do note that for both ACCESSTRADE and Involve Asia, your website/blog/Facebook/Instagram page needs to be approved before you can start featuring affiliate links.
The process was more straightforward with ACCESSTRADE. Before I put in any links, I need to provide the url of my sites to them by adding the sites. These were like approved immediately (I believe the process is automated).
2. Easier sign up with advertisers
Next was adding the advertisers. Basically before you are able to add any affiliate links from the advertisers of your choice, you need to apply to these advertisers. All you need to do is to click on the “apply button” and submit but ensure you are linking to your correct site. For example if you have 2 sites, site A and B, you need ensure the dropdown points to the site that you wish to promote.
Even though the number of advertisers were not as many as Involve Asia, I got all my advertiser requests approved, which means I am able to promote these advertisers after approval. Few of them were automated, ie it was approved almost immediately upon submission. I submitted my request at night and before the end of the next day, almost all advertisers have approved my request.
3. Alternative to display advertising
Due to the current economic situation, revenue from display advertising has dropped tremendously. YouTubers are reporting that they earning less than half of more than what they used to earn. It is the same for my blogs as well where I have seen a massive drop in my Adsense earnings.
In the past, the display advertisement has high relevancy to the user. But nowadays, I find a lot of the ads are no longer relevant, hence no one would want to click on them. Also, the average CPC and CPM have dropped that means we are getting like few cents per click.
Do give it a try
If you are looking for an affiliate network to be able to start displaying your own banner ads and promote certain products that you love, you can consider trying out ACCESSTRADE. For blogs with small audience, do note that it will take time for you to be able to meet your first minimum payment threshold. But it is at least an opportunity to be able to have a chance to earn some income from your online efforts.