Affiliate Marketing, for bloggers, is one of the best ways to start making money. But there are so many bloggers that go about it the wrong way. In this post, I'm going to share my best affiliate marketing tips for bloggers. Whether you're a blogging newbie or seasoned pro, these tips will help you. So, let's do this.

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Do you prefer to listen rather than read? Tune into the episode I did on this topic. I even go into more detail. Click play below to listen. Or subscribe in Apple Podcasts,StitcherSpotify or anywhere else.

My Affiliate Marketing Story

I can remember my first time making money by promoting affiliate products. It was awesome.

At the time, I was “The Freebie Guy” – teaching people to make money with Freebie websites. It was fun and exciting because I was actually making money on the internet for the first time.

One day, I had a bright idea. I had been learning about affiliate marketing. People were promoting products and services and making money.

I decided to give it a try in a big way. I decided to promote a hosting service in a unique way.

I would give people a free website and set it up for them if they used my affiliate link. I created a freebie promotion website template and promoted that as a “free” gift.

But to get the free gift, you needed your own hosting account. And of course, you had to use my affiliate link to get it.

The result – I made $3,000 in my first month. WOOHOOOO! That was my most profitable month since starting my online business. 

And since then, affiliate marketing has always been a significant part of how I feed my family. And they eat expensive food, lol.

Why Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers

Why choose affiliate marketing?
Why choose affiliate marketing?

Whenever a new blogger asks me how they should start making money with their blog, my answer is usually the same. In most cases, I recommend they get started with affiliate marketing. Here's why:

  • You don't have to create the product or provide the service. This is a huge deal. There are so many things to think about when building an online business. Not having to think about this makes it super easy to get started.
  • No customer/technical support. These are all handled by the company providing the product or service.
  • You can start learning to sell with your content. And this is the key. As a professional blogger, you're going to be selling with your content. Affiliate marketing is a great way to start learning how to do that.

My Top Affiliate Marketing Tips for Bloggers

Now that you understand why affiliate marketing is such a great place to start, let me share my top tips with you:

Tip 1: Have High Standards

Set high standards when choosing affiliate brands.
Set high standards when choosing affiliate brands.

I can't tell you how often I see someone violating this. They hear that they can make money with affiliate marketing. So they go out and find a ton of affiliate products to sell. They focus on try to find the highest paying affiliate products and they push them out to their audience.

This is short-term thinking and won't make you successful. Instead, you should focus on finding the best products to serve your audience. And to do that, you need to have high standards. Only promote the best stuff.

If you keep doing that, your growing audience will come to trust you. They will know that your standards are high and that you have their best interests in mind.

Tip 2: Only Promote Stuff You've Tested

You should only promote stuff if it's good enough for YOU to use. And if you've never used it, you can't speak with authority on the quality of that product. But if you have tested it and love it, you can promote it with a clean conscience.

audience pain point
Understand and emphasize the audience pain points.

Tip 3: Make Sure You Understand (and Emphasize) Your Audience's Problem

I wish this weren't the case. But the reality is that people are more likely to buy stuff to fix a problem than to reach a goal. Pain causes people to buy.

So rather than focusing on what the product will help them to achieve, focus on the pain it will solve. Emphasize that pain, because it has the power to convince.

Tip 4: Focus on Serving, Not Selling

Yes, I understand. You are technically trying to sell the product. But that shouldn't be your primary focus. It should be to serve your audience. If you're promoting something, it should be because you believe it can help them.

serve not sell
Focus on Serving, Not Selling

Your content shouldn't focus on them buying. It should focus on helping them with whatever it is they are dealing with. Don't hold back like many other bloggers. Be the one to lay it all out there to help them.

Teach them how to use the product to help them solve their problems. Give them the steps they need to take to achieve their goals. Put it all out there – to help THEM!

Tip 5: Emphasize Your Success with the Product

In tip 2, I mentioned that you should only promote stuff you've tested. Well, if you've tested it and are promoting it, then I'm hoping you had some success with it. If so, share your story. 

When your audience hears your story, they will be more likely to relate. They will see themselves in your previous situation and want to accomplish what you did. And if that product helped you, they will be able to see how it can help them as well.

Do not copy and paste content
Do not copy and paste content from Affiliate resources.

Tip 6: Don't Copy and Paste Content from Affiliate Centers

With most affiliate programs, they will have affiliate centers to help you out. In those affiliate centers, they will have resources to help you promote. This will include banners, emails, social updates, and more.

Do yourself (and your audience) a favor. Don't just copy and paste that content and use it as your own. Instead, use it as inspiration. Your audience will want YOUR words and YOUR experiences.

Be authentic and share from your authentic experience.

Tip 7: Create Other Related Content

related content
Create other related content that may link to each other.

As a blogger, each piece of content you create is marketing collateral. Don't write one post and let that be the end. Remember, you're trying to serve your audience. One way of doing that is by creating other pieces of related content.

The beauty of this is that each piece of content is an added way to provide your audience with value. And each piece of content can link to the other pieces of related content.

You now have more entry points for people to find your content promoting that product.

Tip 8: Consider Creating a Resource Center

resource center
Create a resource center relating to the affiliate product.

This is one of the most successful ways I've found to promote an affiliate product. Instead of creating one or two articles, create an entire resource center. This can include all kinds of video tutorials and helpful information.

I've done this for GetResponse and Drip. Not coincidentally, they send me more affiliate commissions than any other company. They work because they overdeliver in value. 

What kind of resource center can you create for your blog? How can you go above and beyond to serve your audience with content?

Tip 9: Build an Affiliate Sales Funnel

This is not something I hear a lot of people talking about. But it's a great way to increase your affiliate income. Most people look at affiliate products as individual promotions. But that doesn't make sense.

Sales Funnel Affiliate
Build an affiliate sales funnel

Your audience deals with a specific kind of pain. And there is more than one product that can help them at different points. If you understand that, you can then recommend the right product at the right point.

People who want to learn how to blog will need to get hosting, a WordPress theme and an Email Marketing Service. Instead of promoting these products in an isolated way, it makes more sense to do it as a sequence.

In my promotions, I give them the first step and then move them through my “Affiliate sales funnel”. Why? Because it's a better way to serve them. Oh, and there's the added benefit of me making more affiliate commissions 😉

Tip 10: Offer Bonuses as an Incentive

This is a great way to sweeten the deal. As I shared in my example with my Freebie Website offer, I provided an incentive. By doing so, I was able to make a bunch of sales with a very small email list.

I went above and beyond the offer of hosting. How can you do that with your affiliate promotion? Can you offer a related product or service as a bonus? Can you offer a free coaching session or webinar? Can you offer a free checklist?

Anything you can offer to help them overcome the problem they are dealing with can help.

In Conclusion

Yes, affiliate marketing is a great way for bloggers to start making money. And if you apply these tips, you'll be more likely to be successful with your affiliate campaigns. 

You don't have to do them all at once. Try one and see how it improves your sales. And then try another. For more guidance, check out my Strategic Affiliate Marketing Course in my Blogger Coaching Club.

Tools / Resources / References

About the Author Leslie Samuel


Leslie Samuel a business coach for high-performing entrepreneurs. As the host of the Leslie Samuel Show, he teaches how to build an online business. "Changing the world one post at a time” is the mission he strives towards. As a former university professor, he has a passion for education. He's the founder of Interactive Biology, a blog and YouTube channel dedicated to making biology fun for students and teachers. As the head of training for the Social Media Marketing Society, he helps social media marketers get the training they need to stay on the leading edge of social media.

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