Merchants are going to have to work harder and harder to create better programs if they want to attract good affiliates. Just as the Internet changed retailing and empowered the buyer, affiliate marketing empowers the affiliate. Some merchants don't seem to understand that yet. The affiliate industry is still in its infancy. I presume we'll see new models and combinations of models which no one has thought of yet.
Top performers build a serious business, and treat it as a business.
They learn about pre-selling, getting the visitor warmed up and in the mood for buying before reaching the merchant's site. They learn how to attract plenty of traffic, and they have an interesting, useful website which is worth visiting again and again, so that they can get repeat sales. They often build teams of sub-associates and help them succeed.