How is it going directly with the advertiser?

[jiminsd]

I am thinking of going directly to affiliates programs with advertisers rather than someplace like Commision Junction. It would give me a better related product/service to promote. One place is Amazon (I don't think they would flake out on me). Will this be worth my time and any way to find the advertisers reliablily on paying? Any experience or thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[Cheap Bastard]

it could be worth your time depending on traffic, luck, testing and how close the content of the advertiser matches your content.

Also, it depends on your user demographics (how likely they are to buy).

[Czar]

Of course, the two most significant decisions that you must make when joining an individual merchant program are:
1. Is the merchant and its tracking system reliable?
2. Am I willing and able to provide enough traffic to this merchant to reach the minimum payment threshold within a reasonable period of time?

Amazon.com obviously has a good reputation, both in terms of their tracking and the timely issuing of payments. Whether or not they satify the second criteria is up to you. If you think that you can sell a few hundred dollars worth of products through your site, then give them a go.

The benefits provided by the likes of CJ, DirectLeads and Websponsors.com is that you can pick and choose from many programs, and dump those that aren't performing well, and you'll be paid for every click, lead or sale that you make, regardless of whether you reach any minimum levels through each individual program.