Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ellduclos
Welcome back! Today’s post is going to be about, you guessed it, AFFILIATE MARKETING. One question that is CONSTANTLY being brought up is – “I’m a blogger and I am ready to make money! How!?” I get why this question is constantly being brought up, because seriously, who doesn’t like getting paid to do something they love?! That’s the goal!!!
Today I wanted to share with you a few Affiliate Marketing tips as well as some affiliate marketing programs that I recommend!
What is Affiliate Marketing?
First and foremost, this is the question that many have; What is affiliate marketing, and how do I get started? Affiliate marketing is simply when you are signed up with programs that give you special links (sometimes discounted links for your audience) AND if your audience purchases via your “special affiliate link” you get commission! Depending on the program, the commission can vary. Either way, HOW COOL right?!
The reason why I love affiliate marketing so much is because it’s such an easy & passive way to make income blogging! You include your affiliate links in your posts and once you have a promotion/ content marketing strategy down, you can pretty much make money in your sleep!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, read here for my full disclosure!
Which Affiliate Programs to Consider Joining?
ShopStyleCollective – This is my go to for beauty and fashion, mainly because I have gotten denied 3 times by Reward Style so I think of Reward Style as a mean girls club. BUT if you want to apply to Reward Style and see if you have better luck than me, go for it.
I love Shop Style, they make it so easy to use! Shop Style is filled with makeup brands and clothing brands, you just search for the product link that you want and usually you can find it on there! I do this a lot for my beauty posts. One of my favorite things is that you can use Shop Style on Pinterest which helps increase sales!
Share A Sale – Another favorite of mine is Share A Sale. I will use Share A Sale for things like WP Engine, Tailwind, and some other cool affiliate links! I really enjoy it. You sign up and they list of a ton of different programs that you can apply to join! So many different categories to pick from too, from electronics to books and even clothing! You can find companies like Wayfair, Zaful + more! I like how it’s all under one program, makes it easier!
Amazon – This is everyone’s go to! They don’t pay out too much BUT once you get your affiliate marketing strategy down, Amazon can be a successful program for you! PLUS everyone uses amazon, you can find ANY product on amazon!
Target – Because who doesn’t LOVE Target? Sign me up!
SiteGround – I really love Site Ground to begin with and I think EVERYONE knows that it’s one of my favorite self host platforms for my blog. Which side note – You should definitely consider self hosting if you are wanting to monetize your blog! That way you have NO restrictions when it comes to monetization. BUT Site Ground has an amazing affiliate program where you can earn up to $125 per sale! CRAZY right. If you use Site Ground as a self host I would definitely look into their affiliate program. If you want to start Self Hosting today use my linkto start at just $3.95 a month!
Awin – Very similar to Share A Sale! A bunch of different programs and brands that you can apply to through Awin.
FlexOffers – Another similar platform to Awin + ShareASale.
VigLink – Many enjoy Viglink! They will automatically turn your existing product links into affiliate links for you! Pretty cool, makes things a lot easier when they do the work for you.
Rakuten– What’s cool about Rakuten is that they have a lot of brands that you don’t typically find on other programs. Their website is pretty easy to use as well!
You can also reach out to some of your favorite brands and look to see if they have affiliate programs that you can join! I did this for IvoryMix (my favorite stock photos) & Shopify because I love Shopify for e-commerce!
Where Can You Use Affiliate Links?
Some cool ways that I enjoy using affiliate links are:
- Round up posts (monthly favorites)
- Resource Pages
- Pinterest (THE POWER OF PINTEREST IS REAL – Learn more about my Pinterest Strategies – (Note you can’t use amazon on Pinterest in the US as far as I know.)
- My Facebook Group (Grow your Facebook group with these tips)
- Beauty Hauls / Fashion Hauls
- Look book posts
- How to posts
- Newsletters
5 Important Tips to Remember When it Comes to Affiliate Marketing
- Text Links OVER Banners – I find that my text links perform way better than my banner links! It’s a proven fact that people are more likely to click on a text link over a banner link because banner links look more like an ad.
- Build Trust – In order to make income through affiliate marketing you need to build trust with your audience. If your audience doesn’t trust you, they most likely won’t purchase through you. Prove to them that you know what you are talking about, offer as much free information as you can, and put value behind your words!
- Always Disclose! – It’s so important that you disclose that you are using affiliate links. You should even have a disclosure + privacy policy on you blog too! This saves you any trouble that you could run into. If you use affiliate links in your posts you MUST make it clear that you are using affiliate links. I used this legal template bundle for my policies.
- Don’t Sound Salesy – If you are trying to get someone to purchase via your link you must make it “go with the flow”, if you sound like an AD or Commercial, chances are your audience will be turned off. I think of it as if I am explaining my favorite product to my best friend.
- Make Sure You Try the Product – This is huge! You don’t want to try and sell products that you have NEVER used! SERIOUSLY, your readers will see right past you. Always know what you are talking about, and if you haven’t tried out the product yourself, DON’T TALK ABOUT IT.
Can You Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Even if Your Traffic is Low?
YES. You 100% can, especially if you learn Pinterest Strategies. But here’s the thing, your audience must trust you! You could get 50 views a day and make more money through affiliate sales than someone with 1,000 views a day. If your audience trusts you and is a buying audience then you are golden!!! There is no “magic” blog traffic number! It’s all about personal connections which is something I ALWAYS mention when it comes to sales.
It’s also important that you are targeting the right audience! Track your sales and see what products are selling! Create content that interests your audience! If your audience is purchasing more beauty as opposed to home decor, then maybe you need to focus more on beauty content!
Hope you found these tips helpful!
