Many bloggers skip over affiliate marketing. They either think it’s too hard, that it’s a waste of time, that they will turn followers away, or that their followers just won’t be interested.
In fact, I recently asked various bloggers how much they were earning from affiliate marketing. The most common answer was somewhere around $500 or less.
Some even said $0.
This included several bloggers who receive 1,000,000 page views or more every month.
These bloggers all have the same problem. They don’t realize how much money they are leaving on the table, and they have no clue how to approach affiliate marketing the correct way.
This is just crazy to me, because I’ve never really had a crazy amount of page views. Even when I had less than 100,000 page views a month I was still earning a decent amount of money through affiliate marketing.
Last month, I earned over $50,000 through affiliate marketing, and I expect that to stay stable or increase well into the future.
Plus, no follower has ever complained.
This is one thing that often scares bloggers and social media influencers away from affiliate marketing. They are afraid of what their readers will say, and they are afraid that they will come across as slimy sales people.
That’s just not true. I haven’t had a single person complain about the affiliate products that I promote on my blog. Some people have even told me to promote affiliate products even more because they don’t notice what I am promoting.
When done the correct way, affiliate marketing can be a great form of income. Plus, you can do this without turning your readers away! If it’s done the right way your readers will actually prefer to see what products you are interested in, and they will have no problem making purchases through your affiliate links.
Note: I recommend checking out my online course for bloggers, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I earn over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing and I share my exact strategy and tips in this very informative online course. If you’re a blogger, then you NEED this course.
Affiliate marketing is great for many reasons, as you will read below.
Affiliate marketing is somewhat passive income.
Affiliate income is great because you can create a post, review, etc., and that post may earn you money years down the line with minimal work needed to maintain it.
But, It’s not entirely passive. You will need to build a following, publish content consistently, built trust, and more. You can earn income from one affiliate link or one blog post for a long time, with little work needed to maintain it.
In fact, I’ve earned over $300,000 from a single blog post – How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost.
There’s less work than creating your own product.
Affiliate marketing isn’t easy, but there are things you don’t have to worry about when comparing affiliate marketing versus creating your own product.
You don’t have to ship anything, create the product, handle cancellations, manage customer service, and more. Yes, you will have to build your following and earn your readers’ trust, but it can be a great way to increase your income, especially if you already have loyal followers.
It’s affordable.
The affordability of affiliate marketing is another reason it’s a great way to grow your income. You don’t need to create any products or spend time building a product.
You don’t even need a website, as you can start promoting affiliate products on social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you do decide to have a website, that can also be relatively affordable, because starting a website doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.49 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free website domain (a $15 value) through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting.
You can get paid for promoting products you believe in.
I’m sure there are many products that you love. So, why not get paid for telling others about them?
Plus, if you truly enjoy a product, it will be easy to promote. You’ll already know everything about the product and you’ll have no problem being enthusiastic about it. If the product has helped you, it will probably help others as well, and people will appreciate your honest review.
There are many options for products to promote.
There are so many different products, services, and companies to promote. There’s something for everyone!
Products you could promote to your following include:
- Financial companies
- Cell phone apps
- Digital products, such as online courses, ebooks, and more
- One of the millions of items on Amazon
- Travel booking websites
- Blog-related products, such as website design, website hosting, and more
- Clothing
- Home decor
- Craft items
- Outdoor gear such as bicycles, tents, backpacks, and more
Now, I’m not saying that affiliate marketing is a get rich quick scheme, because it’s not. You will have to build a loyal audience who trusts what you have to say, and this is not always easy. However, if you are able to build a following that is interested, then you may be able to earn a great living promoting products that you already enjoy and believe in.
You can work from anywhere.
One of the best benefits of affiliate marketing is that you can do it from anywhere. As long as you have a loyal following (even if it’s just a few people), a laptop, and an internet connection, you can grow your affiliate income well into the future.
Due to my blog and affiliate marketing I am able to travel full-time. It’s really a great thing!
Are you interested in affiliate marketing? If you have a blog and are brave, please share what you earn through affiliate marketing as well as your page views. Sharing will help everyone!
10 Easy Tips To Increase Your Affiliate Income
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I am just starting out and so far have only joined Amazon as an affiliate. No sales yet, but working hard on quality content and I am happy to be patient. Thanks for all the great info you share.
I made my first affiliate sale from an article I wrote on, “How not to pick up women.” Who knows better than a loser what doesn’t work?
After my long winded foolish article, I put up affiliate links for books on how to pick up women.
Tired of being lonely???
Here is what does work….
Not only did people read the article that I wrote, they bought the product too.
I have found that if you write content that people want to read, and offer them what they want, or need to buy, they will make a purchase.
Keep adding unique content, to your website. Text links work far better than banners.
Good Luck everyone.
Thanks Michelle. I found this course very helpful. I’d love to be an affiliate for it, but I can’t seem to find where to do that. Please let me know. (Perhaps it’s somewhere in the course, but I’m brain dead tonight). Thanks in advance.
Hey! Yes, the steps for that are located in the final section of the course.
Hi,
I was wondering what are your thoughts on protecting yourself against a lawsuit. I ask because unfortunately we live in a sue happy world. Im in the process of starting a blog and started thinking what if someone tries to sue me for whatever reason what should I do to protect myself? I love your blog and stay positive with the power of prayer that it works for me to.
Thank you for your time.
Tracy
Now that are blog is gaining some traction it’s really time to start focusing on affiliate marketing. We plan on taking your course over the summer, can’t wait to learn!
I would like to promote your affiliate program where to join as affiliate?
You need to be a student of the course and then the information is located in the course.
Thanks I would enroll then i will promote it
Sounds great. You can purchase it here – makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com
Last year I made around $85 a month on affiliate sales with 30,000 monthly page views. Improving seems more a matter of knowing what to do, just finding the time to do it…
Michelle, I am just starting a serious Blog and it is about two weeks old- I have hired a ghostwriter in the interim while I spend time on the mechanics of getting the blog right – I had a Blogger site going for a few years and had some affiliate marketing on it but I was the cause of it not doing well, because of inattention-Not posting regularly, not using social media as I should have. Now I am pedal to the medal – How many subscribers did you have before you started making reasonable bank from it?
I actually didn’t have any subscribers for many years. I only started my email list just a few years ago, after I was already a full-time blogger.
Hi,
I downloaded the 10 easy tips to increase your affiliate income, and I loved all the great tips you provide.
Im wondering what you mean in tip #8 by “adding a bonus of your own.” What is a bonus and what is an example of a bonus?
Thanks!
Melissa
Great article post! A lot of people want to know if there is a lot of money to be made from affiliate marketing and if being an affiliate marketer is worth the effort.
The main focus here is how much money can you make as an affiliate marketer?
Truthfully speaking, I feel you can make a lot of money from affiliate marketing to foot your bills and still set up a business.
Being an affiliate marketer is probably the most low-risk and legal way to earn money on the internet.
hey Michelle,
I’m glad were on the same page in regards to the “affiliate marketing and blogging side hustle.” Today’s information technology age of the “side hustle” providing opportunities for everyday people like you when I to use the awesome power of the Internet to grow our affiliate marketing income and achieve and sustain “side hustle millionaire” status. I’m glad to be among the elite in transition to the near future status of [side hustle millionaire]. I wish I knew the stuff 20 years ago because I’d probably be $20 million richer today.
I have also been interested in being an entrepreneur, I have had a franchise and I have also had a children’s business until Covid hit. I’m now looking into Affiliate Marketing but I could use some help with it.
Your articles are quite informative and I’m looking forward to reading them and following along with you. Thanks for putting this together and sharing it with us.