I’ve been blogging for many years now, and during that time I’ve done a lot of research on ways to earn money blogging.
Earning through affiliate networks is hands down one of my favorites! I’ve had many people and other aspiring bloggers ask me, what is affiliate marketing?
Hopefully this post will help you understand if you’ve wondered the same.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliates earn money for helping companies promote their products and services.
In return for spreading the word about what these companies have to offer to your audience, the affiliate network will pay you in cash.
This is actually a lot like being paid with a referral program, which I know most of you are familiar with. But here’s a good example:
You may know that Swagbucks will give you more virtual “bucks” to use if you use the referral link they give you and get people to sign up under you.
But did you know that you can also be an affiliate for Swagbucks and earn anywhere from $1 to $3 in cash for every person that signs up using your affiliate link?
Which would you rather do, get the Swagbucks virtual currency or the actual money?
If you sign up for various affiliate networks that have the Swagbucks offer, such as Impact Radius to name just one, you can get the money every single month.
Can anyone be an affiliate?
Yes, but most people who earn money with affiliate marketing and do well with it have some type of online presence in place with a fair number of followers, subscribers, readers, etc.
So, you could do well with affiliate marketing if you have a website or blog, a popular Facebook page, TikTok, Instagram, etc.
Basically, if you have a platform to spread the word about something to the right people, you can make money.
Affiliate networks you register with will almost always want to look over your website, social media, etc. and approve it before they’ll allow you to promote their various offers.
Sometimes they will have rules about how old your website is, how long you’ve been building a following, and so forth when deciding if they should allow you to promote their offers.
But, as long as what you are wanting to promote seems to be a “fit” for your audience and you meet any other criteria in regard to the ages of your accounts, you should usually be good to go!
How exactly does this work?
If your website is accepted by an affiliate network such as Panthera Network, or Impact Radius to name a few, you’ll get a login and will see a long list of suggested offers to browse and choose to promote or not once you’re signed in.
The offers will vary greatly, and some will pay per lead while others will pay per sale.
If an offer is pay per lead, it means that the affiliate network will pay you cash if a person simply signs up for something (gives their name/email in most cases).
But if you’re promoting something that’s pay per sale, you’ll only get paid if a person actually buys something from the company you’re promoting. This will be a set commission amount and it will depend on the offer since different offers will have different amounts in place.
If your website isn’t immediately accepted to be a part of an affiliate network, no worries. Just find out why if they don’t tell you, and try again in a few months.
There have been a few networks that didn’t immediately accept me at first, but they did later on after my blog got older and became more established.
Obviously each platform works a little differently, but in general you will receive a unique affiliate link for each offer you want to promote. This is the link you share with your audience so that the advertiser can track your conversions and pay you.
Independent affiliate programs
Additionally, some things you can promote have their own, stand-alone affiliate programs. No other offers and not an affiliate network — the company just runs their own affiliate program for their product or service.
If there is something you really want to share with your following and you are wondering if they have an affiliate program, visit their website to check.
Most of the time, you can find out by scrolling to the bottom of the site and looking for a link that says “Affiliates.” Click that and that should give you all the information.
Some tips & basic rules for affiliate marketing
Remember That Balance is the Key
You don’t want to irritate your followers by posting ads too much. Of course you’ll want to promote enough to generate income, but make sure you mix that in with the content your followers are already following you for that you don’t necessarily earn from.
It is a massive turn-off to your followers if they can see that ALL you post is ads or offers that you clearly benefit from financially, with nothing else for them.
Don’t Share Things You Wouldn’t Use Yourself
You need to always come across, and actually BE, authentic.
Your readers and followers will be much more likely to sign up for or purchase the things you promote if you already feel passionately about the quality of what you’re sharing.
So, stick with things that you’ve bought or signed up for yourself, you would buy or sign up for yourself, or you already know it’s a fantastic product or service based on existing customer reviews or feedback from people you trust.
Disclose Your Affiliate Status
Legally, you are supposed to disclose it with your followers if you’re sharing something on a website or social media that is an offer you’re being paid to promote in some way
Any social media status update on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and so forth need to be accompanied by hashtag #ad or #affiliate.
If you run a website, there needs to be an affiliate disclosure somewhere on your site.
It’s also good practice to make sure your blog posts have an affiliate disclaimer within the post as well. It could read something like “This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a sum of money if you buy or sign up for something I’ve shared. However, I only promote products and services I’ve researched and trust.”
If you don’t know how to write an affiliate disclosure for your blog to place on a separate page, you can generate a free one here.
Then, just create a page on your blog (not a post) and title it “Affiliate Disclosure” and copy/paste the disclosure statement you generated from the URL I linked above.
It’s also a good idea to have this page you created linked somewhere on your homepage.
I have a link to mine in the footer of my blog, and the wording is included in my Terms of Use (something else you should have in place if you want to blog professionally — you can hire a lawyer to do one for you, or go through Termly to get one).
Some affiliate networks I use
Ready to earn affiliate income? Below are networks I personally use for affiliate marketing:
- Panthera Network – I mentioned this one above, and I’ve ran offers through them for many years now. They have a ton of paid survey and money-saving/deal offers. Great for frugal living, money-making, or “mom” type blogs. They pay monthly with Paypal or bank deposit as long as you’ve met the $50 payout threshold.
- Share a Sale – This one has a ton of offers through all kinds of companies and brands you’re likely familiar with. It is a good fit for pretty much any type of blog. They pay monthly via direct deposit to your bank account as long as you’ve met the $100 payout threshold.
- Amazon Associates – The most popular one! Accumulate affiliate earnings when people purchase things from Amazon using your unique referral links. Pays monthly to your bank account as long as you have earned at least $10.
- Impact Radius – This is another quality network with many offers you’ve probably heard of. I go through them to promote Swagbucks, Instacart, and many other things. Your payout date with this one will depend on the offer — they all have their own payment dates. I get paid to my bank account with this network.
Obviously this topic is much broader than what I’ve posted above and there are all kinds of ways to be strategic in your promotion to earn more money.
My goal with this post is just to introduce you to it as a means of earning money with your blog if it’s not something you’re already doing!
Ready to Dig Deeper? Check This Out!
If you are a blogger, and you’re frustrated by the money you are earning with no idea how to do better, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is a good e-course to invest in.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardener is a personal finance blogger who got started probably around the same time as me.
She had ASTOUNDING success on her blog with affiliate marketing, some months earning over $100K!!
While these results aren’t going to be typical for everyone (I took her course and have certainly not made that much in a month, but she doesn’t claim you will), her advice and tips are for real and extremely beneficial.
While I have never earned as much as her, I did see an increase in my earnings from affiliate marketing after I followed her course and took her advice!
And as far as e-courses go, this one is fairly priced, in my opinion. There is also a payment plan if you need it! I am certainly thankful I invested in it personally.
Anna Thurman is a work at home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. Her findings are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.