How I’m making a few coins with Affiliate marketing

Times are tough right now for everyone. Even those of us working still have to worry about the future because you just never know. If you have a little piece of the internet and pay for it every month (year for you big ballers lol) you want to find ways to make that money back and find some extra income. If you are a blogger or a business owner you need to be doing affiliate marketing. Even if it’s not on an actual website you can do them by having an Amazon store, share links in your DM on Instagram or share them in your newsletter. I want to share how I’m making a few coins with affiliate marketing and share what I know so far because I just started out on this journey.

How I’m making a few coins with affiliate marketing

Let’s define affiliate marketing for those that are new to it. It’s basically a way to earn a commission by promoting the things you love. You don’t have to have thousands of followers either you can start off with just 10 and earn money because trust me I would have 10 that will buy than 1000 that won’t.

I am going to keep it all the way real Amazon gets on my nerves with their rules and ups and downs. I love Amazon to shop but I am starting to shop at the actual websites of companies more. I also find that things are a little cheaper if you go to the store itself. Amazon kicks me out of their affiliate program so much that I finally took the hint and stopped using them altogether. Let’s back up though so I can tell you why I got into affiliate marketing.

I have this blog and most companies don’t see me as an “influencer” probably because I keep it too real and also because my numbers aren’t up on social media. I have given up trying to be this 6 figure blogger but still wanted to blog and earn some type of coin. I have over 15k views a month so I need to make sure I get at least 50 bucks per month. One of my favorite bloggers makes great money doing this and so I thought I would join in and try my hands. I just started adding affiliate links around February and so far have made over 2k not bad even though I don’t promote as I need too.  With a little promotion and a bit more dedication I can make even more money.

A few companies that I use are Shareasale, Commission Junction, Target, and Walmart. Walmart replaced my Amazon and did you know they have 2-day shipping also? Love a little competition although Walmart doesn’t sell all the brands that Amazon sells it’s still a game-changer if you want shipping fast. I have actually gotten things from Walmart faster than Amazon so you may want to check them out. I also use smaller companies like other Girls CEO or Flodesk. Look for smaller companies that you can mention and here is a tip: don’t do blog posts that sell sell sell the links (this one does but you get my drift) tell a story and then casually add in links people connect to the story more and they are more likely to buy if you aren’t trying to force a sell.

Now any company that I mention I only mention if I have bought from them myself. So any affiliate link that I use I make sure I used them first with my own money to verify because I do not like people to waste their money. I want to make sure the quality is there, they ship like they say they will, and it’s worth the overall money.

Here are some more quick tips

• Diversify how you share your links. Share them in blogs, newsletters, and even in Instagram. Do questions and answer posts about the product and use real reviews if you have them. For Instagram maybe take a nice pic of the product and then have a lead in to where people can DM you for the info. I did that with an app on my social media. I just shared it and people were in my DM asking me what app is that and boom I share my affiliate link. Make sure you let them know though!
• Give your own freebie with it. Maybe the first 5 people to share my post on twitter can enter to win a free shirt from my shop. Something to sweeten the deal and it doesn’t have to be a lot
• Create content that goes with what you are selling. I did a post on newsletters a while back and shared my flodesk link. The post was about my favorite newsletters that you should subscribe to. Something with information and a link. Make sure that you share something that people want. If you are doing Target maybe do a post on how to spruce up your backyard and then share a link for something to buy from Target. Make the post personal!
• Put the links in your youtube video if you are on youtube. Nakisha does a great job with this. Notice that in her captions she puts all the links…all of them. Even the gear that she is using. Look I ain’t mad cause she makes coins.
• Share why the link or the post matters. For example this post matters because people are looking for ways to make extra income during this Rona. It matters to some people because they want to keep their blogs but brands aren’t paying. I created this post with that in mind.

Ok now that you have my tips. Let’s start creating content to get some coins. I’ll keep you posted in about 6 months on how I’m doing and more ways you can make bank. Any tips for me?