Summary

The website content discusses how the author generates an extra $1000 a month through affiliate marketing, focusing on digital products and emphasizing the importance of having a blog, email list, and quality content.

Abstract

The author shares insights into earning additional income through affiliate marketing, a method that has proven effective even during challenging economic times. By leveraging digital products, which have seen increased demand, the author manages to maintain a four-figure monthly income from this source. The article emphasizes that while it's possible to start without prior investment, the most successful affiliate marketers have their own blogs, vlogs, or websites, along with an email list. The author clarifies that affiliate marketing is distinct from multi-level marketing (MLM), as it does not require purchasing products to sell and should not involve any upfront costs. To maximize earnings, the author advises choosing high-quality, relevant products and following best practices in marketing. Although affiliate marketing can eventually yield passive income, it requires significant initial effort to set up effective systems. The article also warns of common pitfalls and stresses the importance of staying on-brand, defining a niche, understanding tax responsibilities, and educating oneself before starting.

Opinions

Affiliate marketing is a viable income stream, especially when other work, like freelance writing, is scarce.
Digital products are particularly lucrative for affiliate marketers, with higher commission rates compared to physical products.
A blog, vlog, or website, coupled with an email list, is crucial for successful affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is not the same as MLM; it should not involve buying products or paying to join a program.
The choice of affiliate products is critical: they should be high-quality, have a good sales page, and be relevant to the audience.
While affiliate marketing can become a source of passive income, it initially demands hard work to establish the necessary systems.
Staying consistent with one's brand and niche is essential to maintain credibility and attract the right audience.
Affiliate marketers must be aware of their legal responsibilities, including paying taxes on their income and adhering to FTC guidelines.
Education is key before starting in affiliate marketing to avoid common mistakes and set up systems effectively.

How I Make An Extra $1000 a Month From My Sofa

Even in the toughest of times.

Times are tough right now, for many of us. Freelance writing work isn’t coming in at the same rate is used to, so I’m turning to some of the other ten income streams that work for me. In true 80/20 fashion, most of my income comes from two sources: freelancing and affiliate marketing.

Recently, affiliate marketing has had to step up, and to be fair, it did. I can still make a modest 4 figures a month, even in these challenging times, from this income source, and so can others who already have their affiliate marketing systems set up.

If you’re starting from scratch, you may not hit that 4 figure mark for a while. If you’re already an experienced affiliate marketer you may well be hitting 5 figures a month right now.

There are exceptions, but a lot of affiliate marketers make money from digital products, not physical ones. And the demand for digital products (ebooks, online courses, trainings, etc) has been higher than ever over the last few years, so now’s a great time to add affiliate marketing to your bag of online-money-making tricks.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing involves sending people to a sales page via an affiliate link. When you do this you get a share of the money they spend on their purchases there, usually around 40% or 50% for digital products, a lot less for physical ones (Amazon pays one of the lowest percentages at around 4% -6% on most products, and they recently cut it on some product categories).

You get your affiliate link when you’re approved for a particular affiliate program and you can then share it on your blog, website, YouTube channel, within social media posts, in your online profiles, and in emails you send out.

Is affiliate marketing the same as multi-level marketing?

Hell, no. Multi-level marketing (MLM) involves spending money to buy stuff that you then have to sell to other people. It mainly involves selling physical products, like weight-loss drinks, make-up, and essential oils. It has a pretty bad reputation, mostly based on the antics of a few exploitative and disreputable MLM companies.

There are some good MLM companies, too. But the vast majority of people I know who have signed up with MLM companies have lost money (that is, they never made more money than they paid for their original product samples).

Unlike MLM schemes, you should never have to pay to join an affiliate marketing program. The closest you’ll come to this is the fact that some programs only approve you to join their program if you have purchased their product yourself.

To be fair, that’s often because they only want people promoting them in a genuine way, because they actually use and love the product, rather than just because they think they can make money from it. And these programs are few and far between. The vast majority of affiliate programs can be joined without any upfront outlay.

Are affiliate marketers always bloggers or vloggers?

The successful ones are, almost always. There are other ways to make money via affiliate marketing (see below) but it’s incredibly hard to be truly successful without your own blog/vlog/website and mailing list (one for each niche you sell in, ideally).

The majority of affiliate sales will come directly from mailing your list, and you’ll also make sales from a well-monetised blog post, article or video that goes viral. Affiliate sales from other sources will invariably make up the smallest percentage of your affiliate income.

Can I make affiliate income without a blog?

As mentioned above, a blog (or vlog) and an accompanying email list is going to be your best source of income. But yes, it’s possible to make affiliate income from other sources.

You can make affiliate sales via social media, but it’s harder and less lucrative than creating your own custom platform in the form of a blog or website.

I also include affiliate links in my Kindle books and info products, short reports and other downloads. So yes, you can make affiliate income without a blog, but it’s hard.

How do I choose an affiliate product?

I wrote a detailed blog post on how to choose the perfect affiliate product, but to boil it down to essentials, you need a product that:

· Is high quality, unique and useful

· Has a great sales page with a high conversion rate

· Is relevant to your audience, and solves a problem they have

Whatever niche you work in, if you find a product that fits those three criteria, and market the hell out of it (following all best practices) you’re likely to make money. Speaking of which…

How much money can I make from affiliate marketing?

That depends on you, but there are plenty of bloggers making $100,000 or more. There are successful affiliate marketers in every niche. And they only really have one thing in common. They work hard. And therein lies the problem.

Affiliate marketing is often referred to as passive income, and once you have all your systems set up, it can be. I really do make money in my sleep, in as much as I wake up to affiliate money in my account that wasn’t there when I went to bed, but I have worked my butt off to get my systems (blogs, email list, carefully monetized content all over the web) in place. The income only ‘becomes’ passive after a very active set up process.

Some extra tips:

Affiliate marketing isn’t an easy option. There are a few common pitfalls new affiliate marketers often make. Remember the following if you want to look like a pro, even if you aren’t

Stay on-brand

Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room — Jeff Bezos

Love him or hate him, Bezos had a point there. People will see through you, and tell each other, if you’re not committed to being consistent online, and sincere in your marketing. You can spot the people who are only in the affiliate marketing game for the money. They’ll push anything, from a weight loss program to a new brand of ice cream (often in simultaneous posts). Decide who you are and what you’re helping people achieve. Related to that…

Define your niche

Once you know what it is you actually help people with (and you must be helping people, or why would they listen to you), you can develop your niche, find excellent niche products to promote, and work on attracting a relevant audience. That’s where your job gets easier, because when it comes down to it, selling is hard. You don’t ever want to be selling your stuff to people who don’t really want or need it. Ideally, you want to be attracting an audience of people who already want and need what you have to offer.

Know your responsibilities

You have to pay taxes on affiliate income. Make sure you keep records of all your expenses (web hosting, email provider etc), as well as your income. This is a micro business you’re running. Notify the relevant tax authority of your new income stream and keep on top of everything you need to do and know to stay compliant with any tax obligations, as well as other laws and guidelines that affect your affiliate business.

Learn about affiliate marketing before you dive in

I learned slowly (after I’d already set up a blog to showcase by writing to potential clients) that I could also earn money from affiliate marketing. So I got the pieces in place haphazardly, in the wrong order, quite inefficiently. Don’t be like me. Learn how to get it right from the start.

I strongly recommend the online course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing (yes, big surprise, that is my affiliate link). It’s comprehensive, affordable, and by far the best online course I’ve taken in my 12+ years as a blogger and online marketer. Check it out, or take a look at my free 6-part series on affiliate marketing over at my blog.