It seems like everyone is looking for ways to make extra money now a days. From epic side hustles, to working second jobs, everyone seems to want to increase their income for one reason or another. One of the most lucrative ways to make extra income right now is to start affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is something that anyone can do, and if done right, can bring in a significant amount of passive income! Some people make their entire living on affiliate marketing alone. So if you want to get started making money with affiliate marketing and learn to land your first sale, just keep on reading because I am going to share with you what has worked for me!
*This post contains affiliate links. Meaning, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to make use of these links*
How To Start Affiliate Marketing
So, you want to get started with affiliate marketing…But have no clue where to start… Trust me, I’ve been there! Affiliate marketing can seem confusing at first, even a bit intimidating. I promise though, it is much simpler than it first appears. Using these easy tips, you will be making your first affiliate sale in no time.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
First, you need to know what affiliate marketing is. It is surprisingly simple really. Affiliate marketing is when a company will give you a commission for products sold through your unique tracking link. Basically, you sign up for an affiliate program, and start promoting products using a link provided to you from the company. When a sale is made, you will get a kick back. This is either a percentage of the sale, or sometimes a flat fee per conversion.
The Best Affiliate Programs
Now that you know what affiliate marketing is, it is time to join some programs! I have put together some of my absolute favorite programs that you can join. Some of these are generics ( can work for any niche) and some are more specific. You just need to check them out, and see which ones will work with your personal niche. I mean, just because some have very high rates, doesn’t always mean they are the best for you and your audience. You want to make sure you are only promoting products you love, and that work within your niche.
- Share A Sale: This is one of my favorites. It is a large umbrella program which has a HUGE amount of advertisers which you can work with.
- Flex Offers: This is another affiliate umbrella program similar to Share A Sale. Join and have access to tons of unique advertisers.
- Ultimate Bundles: These are some of my favorites to sell. Not only do they have awesome products that can really work with any niche, they also offer free marketing training to help make you a more successful affiliate.
- Blogging Concentrated: This is super similar to Ultimate bundles and I am totally in love with it!
- BrandBassador
- CJ Affiliate
- Amazon Associates
- AvantLink
- Target
- Blue Host
- SiteGround
These are just a few of my personal favorite affiliate networks. There are so many out there, that it would be impossible to list each and every one. One of the best things you can do is if there is a company that you want to work with and/or promote, just do a quick google search to see if they have an affiliate program. Can’t find one? Send the company an email and ask! Sometimes this will work in your favor and they will create a program if they don’t already have one.
Affiliate Link Disclosure
Before you really start affiliate marketing, you need to know about disclosures! In reality, it is very simple. If you are using affiliate links in a blog post, social media post, or anywhere else you can use them…YOU MUST DISCLOSE. Affiliate link disclosure must come before any links… It also must be clear and apparent. I pretty much always use the same disclosure, and I put it in bold and centered under my first pinnable image.
One thing I wanted to hit on, is the clear part. I have seen some people put “using these will help support this blog” or “they help buy me a cup of coffee” While these may be cutesy, they are not correct. I have heard of Amazon specifically booting people from the program for using verbiage similar to that. Your best bet is to simply say:
This post contains affiliate links. This means, if you use these links, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Be clear, be honest, and just let everyone know when you are using affiliate links. This goes for social media posts too! Always disclose before you use an affiliate link.
Oh and a side note, affiliate links are also supposed to be no-follow.
Start Selling
Now that you know all about disclosures, you can start selling and promoting your favorite products!
PR Pitches
Once you are in some affiliate programs, it is time to really start affiliate marketing! Something that I have had really great success with is pitching my affiliate companies so I can create a post tailored to them. This allows me to showcase the actual product on my channels while providing my affiliate link in case anyone wants to purchase their own!
I would highly recommend sending an e-mail to your affiliate manager and asking if they provide any PR samples for their affiliates. While some won’t, many of them do! Let them know in your e-mail how you plan to showcase the product ( i.e. blog post theme, ideas for social media photos, video unboxings, etc…). Being specific will help your affiliate manager decide if you get a PR sample of not.
Once you have the product, create your post, photos, videos, and use your affiliate link and/or coupon codes to really promote it! So don’t be afraid to ask for some samples. You having the actual product to show off not only helps you, but the company as well!
Make The Links Feel Natural
One of the common questions I have gotten about starting affiliate marketing, is how to naturally weave affiliate links into blog posts. I promise, there is a way. For one, only talk about products that you love, like, use.. don’t try to force something just because it may be a large commission. It will come across as disingenuous.
I use affiliate links in almost all of my posts for the most part. One example is a post I did on planning a unicorn themed birthday party. In that post I shared the products that I purchased to decorate for the party. The products fit the post, and are woven in seamlessly.
You can also create a list post where you do a “Top 10 Products” type post. My most recent one is my Eco-friendly swaps post where I use affiliate links in order to share 10 products that can help people go greener.
The beauty of these types of posts is that most people visit them with a consumer’s mindset. They see a post advertised as “10 Products New Moms Need”, and they click on it because they are a new mom or mom to be and they need what you are recommending.
If you are talking about a product or service in any type of post, it is possible to inset an affiliate link.
Using Affiliate Links on Social Media
Blog posts aren’t the only place you can use affiliate links either. They work really well on social media as well! Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and even Instagram can really be amazing for affiliate marketing.
With Facebook, sometimes I will share a photo of a product, and leave an affiliate link in the description. For this, you do not use the handshake option though. I have heard people talk about it and no, that is not what the handshake option is for. Here is one example of a Facebook post using affiliate links.
For Instagram, I really only use stories for affiliate marketing. Since I have a business account with over 10K followers, I have the option to include a swipe up link in my stories. This is where I will include affiliate links to certain products that I may be using. I have found that clothing seems to preform the best on Instagram.
Twitter is really similar to Facebook for affiliate marketing. As long as you are disclosing, then you are golden!
Pinterest is probably my favorite for social media affiliate marketing. You can either link to your post that had affiliate links inside or you can link directly to an affiliate product! Yes, you still have to disclose in the description when the Pin links directly to an affiliate link. One example is this Pin here that goes right to an Amazon link for the product. I have had pretty good luck with direct Pinterest links, because many people are on Pinterest with the intent to purchase.
Promote What You Love
When it comes to affiliate marketing, the key is to promote what you love! It will come across in your post that you are pushing something you genuinely love!
No matter where you are in your blogging journey, you can start making money with affiliate marketing! You don’t need a huge following, all you need is a voice and some promotion!
Now go on, get out there, start selling and making some passive income!
Let me know in the comments what your favorite company to work with is!!
This is exactly what I needed to find. I’ve made a couple of sales and then it just stalled out. I’m doing something wrong so I’ll try your tips and start over. I need to start using affiliate links on social posts too.
I recently made some sales for my hosting company. It’s weirdly addictive! This is another post of yours I’m bookmarking, ha!
Great hearing your thoughts on affiliate marketing I must admit. My technique with affiliate posts are a little more direct with a call to action and that works for me but I guess it probably depends on the niche.
Good to know. I’ve been wanting to try this out. I need to start concentrating more on this.
Thank you thank you thank you. I was just looking for such information as a new blogger! I have subscribed to your blog as well.
So glad I can help! Feel free to always ask any questions you have 🙂
I really appreciated such a thorough review of your favorites affiliate marketers and your list of the others. You answered a lot of questions for me.
I am not good with selling things and affiliate marketing is one area I am not touching. I don’t know why since I am good with talking to people but selling something for me is a different ball game.
This is a informative content… I really wanted to know more about affiliate marketing and thanks for putting up this post 🙂
I am not good in marketing but I think this is such a great idea for me to be good at it. Thanks for sharing this tips with us I really appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing this. I want to try this one day! (I have saved your pin so I can reference back to it :)).
This is very helpful to newbies like me. I stil have a lot to learn about bloging. Thanks!
Thanks for this post. Bookmarking it so I can come back to it later for reference x
What an informative post! Great ideas and tips. Thank for sharing! 🙂
LavandaMichelle recently posted…Jewelry Shopping at Jeulia; A Luxurious Experience Bound to Win Hearts
A lot of ways to promote your business and website is definitely on the list in that. Wider market to reach.
I couldn’t believe how easy affiliate marketing was when I started. Making the links flow naturally was a bit of a learning curve but it’s a great way to make money of content you would have written anyway!
I struggle with affiliate marketing. I feel like there is a lot of work put in with the hopes that you will make some money.
Heather recently posted…No Bake Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Do you use RewardStyle or Shopstyle? And what are some of the commission rates you get from these companies? Just curious. Thanks for sharing all this!
Those are two that I don’t really use. I know a lot of people who do more fashion posts though who love them
Thanks for your tips! I joined many affiliate marketing but haven’t time to give focus on them. Soon I will, especially when I need content.
I have never been a lover of affiliate marketing but I am slowly working my way into to into. This is a very informative post
I am thinking of start doing affiliate marketing. I have been researching a lot lately on this, and your post comes handy for exactly the things I am looking for. Thank you for sharing this.
That’s awesome! Affiliate marketing can really be lucrative and help make some great income.
My blog is not self hosted. Can I use affiliated links in mine?
From what I have read, yes you are able to use affiliate links in blog posts even if you are not self hosted. Being self hosted does come with a large amount of benefits though.
I am definitely bookmarking this. I have never thought of Affiliate marketing, the way you described it. Thanks
I just made 2.50 with an affiliate link. I need to do more so I can make bigger bucks.
Thank you for sharing this information. I is very informative and I will be abl to benefit from using it.
Thank you for all the tips. I’m still figuring out how to land sales better, and this is such a useful post!
xoxo
Annie
WOW! You explained the details really well but I still need some more information on this topic as I’m just starting out. ShareASale didn’t accept my request, so I joined Maxbounty but I’m not getting the campaigns, wish me luck! I hope I get better at this soon.
Thanks for sharing such a valuable article.
Rukh AZ.
One of the tips I picked up here is “Make The Links Feel Natural”. As a new blogger, I still have plenty to learn and glad to come across this post.
Wow! Thanks for the list of your favourite affiliate sites. I’m only on board with Amazon Affiliates but I don’t put very many links into my posts. I probably could do more to help push affiliate links.
I am saving this post, to refer back to later, so much great information and new affiliate programs to check out.
I’ve heard of affiliate marketing but never been too sure what it was, thanks for explaining. As a relatively new blogger I think it’d good to perhaps get into this.
Thank you for this detailed post. SO informative and easy to understand. I need to start looking more into this affiliate marketing.
OOH I love this list of affiliates! This is a great article. Thanks for the tips!
What an awesome guide – incredibly comprehensive! I’ve been thinking about affiliate marketing for my brand lately and you gave me a lot to add to my list!
Everyone always says affiliate is where the income is with blogging. I’ve toyed in pursuing it.
This post is quite helpful in regards to this topic. Thanks for sharing, I learned plenty of new things from this.
Great tips! I have so much to learn haha. This post definitely helped me a lot.
I definitely have tons of room for improvement with this. I’ve really only had success with Amazon, but it’s still not a big money maker at all for me.
This is really great. I wanted to start learning affiliate marketing for a while now. I did not know that you have to make a disclosure even on Pinterest in the pin description.
You make it sound so easy. I’ve never tried affiliate marketing because it seems hard.
It gets easier once you go it a little! So worth getting into to make some extra income.
Oh this is really great to know! I am really looking forward to learn how to start marketing. Thanks for sharing.
I have yet to perfect afffiliate marketing. I know its a great way to make passive easy income~
This is great advice! It is great to see so many people interested in affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make extra money!
Such a great post! Love all your tips! Saved it to share with a friend!