The Dos and Don’t of Affiliate Marketing
A beginner guide to choosing affiliate programs and earning money passively from your traffic
For some reason, affiliate marketing earned a negative reputation over the years. Many perceive it as a sketchy way to make easy money online.
I can see where it’s coming from.
Lazy entrepreneurs post affiliate links in unhelpful manners in groups, forums, and social media, which annoys the group’s owners and members. They spread the links everywhere to earn their commission desperately.
Please don’t do this, or you’ll become one of them, and you are on your way to ruining your brand name.
Using affiliate links the right way
In contrast to the spammers and the unaware beginners, many other creators place affiliate links as part of a helpful review or concerning a definitive guide they produced for their audience. This is the method I follow and recommend to my audience.
In case you haven’t heard of affiliate marketing, it’s a win-win marketing approach in which the seller doesn’t waste budget on unsuccessful campaigns. At the same time, the creator passively earns commissions from every sale of the promoted product.
To get started, you must sign up for an affiliate program of the company or affiliate network that compasses several programs. Then, you create product links with your unique ID so the seller can benefit you for your sales.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? There is no inventory, no products to develop, nothing. You only need the affiliate link to generate some nice side income passively.
However, creating enough quality content is crucial to see the benefits of affiliate marketing.
Without high-quality content, affiliate links would doom your reputation. It could be an effective earning method only when used as a complementing solution to your helpful content.
Also, use the links sparingly in your content. You don’t want your brand to seem too salesy or spammy.
There are basically two ways I use affiliate links: 1) as part of reviewing a product, like a keyboard in my niche site, or 2) integrative text links, as I provide a how-to guide or tips article as I do here.
In the latter method, I don’t sell or review the service; I just help you improve your skills, in this case, affiliate marketing, more efficiently by recommending a relevant course on the fly.
I’m also not fond of placing affiliate link banners within the content, but sometimes it makes sense. In some blogs, it can boost your revenues by adding relevant banners in the sidebar under “our pick” or “best for a budget.” — I did that with Amazon affiliate banners in my keyboards blog, which increased my outbound clicks.
The most sophisticated and effective way to use affiliate links is to share your custom template. An affiliate link to your unique template eases the work for your audience, making them more likely to click on your link.
You can do that with platforms you use anyway for your creation work (and have an affiliate program). For example, share your Canva design for your pins, or as I recently did with Clickup — I shared my worksheets and production statuses for content creators.
Lastly, add an affiliate disclosure as required by the FTC and your affiliate program.
I’m not a lawyer to guide you through this, but you don’t want to mess with those kinds of things. I add those disclosures to the page every time I use affiliate links.
Which affiliate program to choose
There are many programs out there. Try to find the ones that are relevant to your niche. For example, if you write about tech, gadgets, or home accessories, then the Amazon associates program is the first one to think of.
If you have a self-improvement site or channel, you may want to apply to Shareasale, Impact.com, or ClickBank. There, you have digital products like courses and supplements to promote to your audience.
You want to be selective when choosing affiliate networks and programs. If you select a poor seller, your brand name might get heart. In Clickbank, for example, many inferior products either have a high return rate or their landing pages look sketchy.
It’s best to test the products yourself first, but if that’s not possible, at least filter out the low-quality products using filters like gravity (the percentage of other affiliates promoting the product. The higher, the better).
If you apply to renowned programs before you get traffic constantly, or worse — even with no website, they’ll most likely reject your application.
So Instead, you should build your blog, publish enough content (at least 30 blog posts), attract enough followers on social media, and only then apply to the programs. This way, you’ll be more likely to be accepted and won’t waste critical time and energy on premature monetization attempts.
Actionable Insights
Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize your content. Whether you are a blogger, YouTuber, or influencer, correctly placing relevant referral links in your content can help you earn more passively.
If you like the passive work energy I do, affiliate marketing serves this energy flawlessly. You don’t need to negotiate with suppliers, provide customer service for your products, test them, and take risks for buying expensive materials; you just need a unique referral link from the program, and you are off the race.
Affiliate marketing is the most passive way to earn money, which is why many other creators use it as an income stream. However, it’s critical not to lean only on this stream, as it’s another way to monetize your content.
The primary monetization source for blogging with high traffic is displayed ads, and the more experienced creators offer their digital products, which yield 100% of the profit (instead of an affiliate commission).
Learn on Skillshare how to find and promote affiliate products and get a FREE 7-day trial on sign-up.
I hope this article opened your mind to the dos and don’ts of this amazing passive, low-risk monetization option. Remember, explore affiliate programs and products only after you create enough valuable content on your site and social media accounts.
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Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational purposes only and doesn’t substitute professional advice. Results may vary. Some of the links in the article are affiliate links to Skillshare, meaning I get a small kickback if you pay for a subscription after the free trial (at no additional cost to you).
