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How to earn affiliate commissions from your blog

Earn Affiliate Commissions from your blogNew bloggers often wonder how to earn affiliate commissions from their blog.

They may have heard that you have to promote affiliate products on social media in order to reach masses of people.

After all, aren’t there a lot more people on Facebook or Twitter than on your blog?

This is especially true for new bloggers.

But really, any blogger would have to think that the big social media platforms are better places to earn affiliate commissions.

I’m going to show you, though, how your blog can actually be the biggest source of affiliate commissions.

How to earn affiliate commissions

So, here’s what it takes to earn affiliate commissions from your blog, social media, or anywhere else.

You need to have an affiliate link for a product or service.

That can be obtained from any affiliate program.

For instance, Amazon has an affiliate program.

If you want to promote, let’s say, a baby monitor…

Just get an Amazon affiliate link for a specific baby monitor.

Then you can write a blog post about it.

Simply link to it in your blog post.

Then, you can earn an affiliate commission if somebody clicks the link and buys the baby monitor.

You can earn an affiliate commission from just about any product or service in this way.

Earn affiliate commissions from social media

Even if you don’t write a blog post about the baby monitor, you can still earn an affiliate commission from your link.

You can share that link anywhere.

Special: Join Donna’s Free VIP Blogging Club – Free Now… Free Forever

Typically, this is done on social media.

Post your affiliate link on any social platform, like Facebook, Pinterest or anywhere else.

Again, if people click your link and make a purchase, you will earn an affiliate commission.

Why social media doesn’t work

So here’s the thing that new bloggers will often do.

Instead of taking the time to write a blog post, they’ll just spread their affiliate link all over social media.

It’s tempting.

I get it.

But it just doesn’t work.

Simply pasting your affiliate link on Twitter, for instance, is not likely get you any commissions.

That’s because everyone does it.

And unless people know who you are, or have developed a relationship with you, and really trust you… they will probably never buy anything from some random link you post.

Social media just doesn’t do the job.

Or at least, social media alone doesn’t do the job.

Earn affiliate commissions from your blog

The great value of having a blog is the recognition you gain from it.

If you combine that recognition with the power of social media, then you’ve got something worthwhile.

You see, if you write a good blog post about your affiliate product, then you have something of value to link to on social media.

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Say you’re in a Facebook of LinkedIn group that focuses on newborn babies.

First of all, you need to be actively involved with others in the group.

They need to know who you are.

Building relationships

And they need to see you in the group, interacting with others on a regular basis.

If you post your affiliate link to a baby monitor, you will still probably never earn an affiliate commission.

People just don’t like being sold to.

But if you publish a blog post you wrote about the best baby monitors on the market, let’s say, then you are giving value.

You might get quite a few people to check out your blog post.

And you could even start getting some people who will buy the baby monitor from the affiliate link you embed in your blog post.

That’s because they know who you are.

And they have come to trust you because they see you being active in the social media group.

Also, because you actually blog about things that are helpful.

Be a genuine blogger who people love

In this way, you’ve gone beyond just being an affiliate marketer trying to make a sale.

Instead, you’ve become a friend, maybe even a mentor, interested in building relationships with others.

How to get started

First of all, get yourself a domain name and a hosted blog.

One other thing that’s essential… an automated email service.

This is the easy part.

Here’s a quick look at how that all works…

Start Your New Blog HERE

Narrow your focus

Choose a niche to specialize in.

You can’t promote everything to everyone.

By carefully choosing a niche for your blog, you’ll be telling people that you specialize in something.

It might be juicers, web page design, legal advice.

No matter what it is, you can now focus on building your business around a very narrowly defined audience.

That will make it way easier to earn affiliate commissions from your blog.

Sell a few good products

Once you start posting articles on your blog, try to skew them toward a few specific products.

Don’t try to sell everything to everyone.

And don’t even try to sell everything to a target audience.

Instead, try to sell carefully chosen products and services to a clearly defined audience.

Best Affiliate Programs

Click the link below to read the full article on nichhacks.com
21 Of The Best Affiliate Programs To Find High Quality Products For Your Website

Start by promoting just a very few products.

You can always add to this list of products over time.

Build an email list

Now, it’s true that you can start earning affiliate commissions from visitors to your blog.

But, it’s also true that a very low percentage of them will actually click your affiliate links and make a purchase directly from your blog post.

It will happen.

But the more reliable way to build your affiliate business from your blog, is this.

Use your blog as an opportunity to get interested people onto your email list.

When you do this, you will have many more chances to share your affiliate links to exactly the people who have indicated that they are interested in what you do, and what you sell.

They will indicate their interest by subscribing to your email list when you invite them to.

So, yes, include your sales links in your blog posts to earn those affiliate commissions.

Special: Join Donna’s Free VIP Blogging Club – Free Now… Free Forever

But work even harder at getting people onto your email list.

That’s where you can really grow those affiliate commissions into the online business you want.

Write compelling blog posts

The key to all of this is to write really good blog posts that help your viewers solve a problem, or that improves their lives in some other tangible way.

If somebody is looking for the best dog food supplements, and you give them some good guidance on that topic… you are improving their lives.

Nothing is too trivial or insignificant toward improving peoples lives.

I’ve had bloggers tell me that they write about cell phone plans or stationery supplies or other topics that may seem relatively insignificant.

But when you lead somebody to a better cell phone plan, or the stationery supplies they were having trouble locating, you are improving their lives to some extent.

If you weren’t, then they wouldn’t be reading your article in the first place.

So write really good content so that people learn to trust you, and value your articles.

That’s when they’ll start clicking on your affiliate links.

How to earn affiliate commissions from your blog

So many bloggers think that social media is the key to earning affiliate commissions.

They’ve heard it’s a lot easier to just blast affiliate links on Facebook than to build a website and start developing high quality content.

So, I’ll grant them this.

It is easier.

But it doesn’t work.

As with most things, the easy, push-button shortcut is plenty alluring.

But it will lead you down a dead end.

If you want to build an affiliate business, then I suggest you take the steps outlined in this article.

They may mean more work and a small investment.

But they work.

Once you have a blog, and are adding valuable content to it regularly, then you can start promoting that blog on social media.

When people visit your blog and find it to be valuable… then you’ll be getting somewhere.

Top Tier Coaching

What do you think?

Leave me a comment below.

Let me know…

Are you going to start exploring some of these ideas?

Do you agree that this is a good way to earn affiliate commissions from your blog?

-Donna

PS: Don’t forget to share this article on your favorite social sites. Much thanks 🙂

Donna Merrill
Donna is a well known blogger and creator of "Blogging Magic" - an intensive guide to blogging. "Blogging Magic" is for beginners who are trying to figure out how to bring their blogs to life with tons of visits, comments and social media interaction. It's even for advanced bloggers looking to reach new levels of authority and engagement with their audience.

13 Responses to How to earn affiliate commissions from your blog

  1. Mark Smith
    Twitter:
    October 15, 2021 at 12:48 am #

    Hello Donna

    I agree with your approach to creating a successful affiliate marketing business. People do not like pressure salesmen
    and if your main focus is pushing your products or services by links, with little to no real content…I think people will be turned off.
    But a post with really good content that helps will gain your audience’s trust. For instance, you list several Affiliate Marketing resources…to me
    that has real value, and because of that, your value rises right with it. And I’d be more likely to purchase a service or product from you, because of that alone.

  2. Suryakant sahoo
    Twitter:
    October 11, 2021 at 8:29 am #

    Hi, Donna affiliate marketing is one of the best and lucrative ways to make money online. I think what most important thing in affiliate marketing is “Trust” if you want to generate a good amount of commissions from your affiliate product. Trust paly the most important factor in affiliate marketing if you cant build trust with your viewers then forget that you’re going to get success in this field. I feel very happy that you have explained trust very well in this article very well. Thanks for this amazing and valuable post.

    Regards
    Suryakant

    Suryakant Sahoo recently posted Exclusive Interview with Pro Blogger Anil Agarwal from BloggersPassion

  3. Hussain Omar
    Twitter:
    September 11, 2021 at 5:59 am #

    Hey Donna,
    What a great post here!

    You just made an action plan for anyone who want to build their affiliate business.

    Yeah, one of the most important things that people miss when they are into blogging is starting their email list building.
    They spend years of blogging without a magnet or even the opt-in form itself. They end with a lot of wasted time.

    Thanks for sharing the fantastic post, Donna!

    Keep it up!

    Hussain

    Hussain Omar recently posted.. Top 151 Evergreen Niches

  4. John Ravi
    Twitter:
    August 6, 2021 at 10:18 pm #

    Donna, I agree with most of them. Especially, I missed out on email list building when I first started. I also promote only the things that I think would benefit our users. Though I earn affiliate commissions, I wish I read this sooner. I would have saved myself a ton of time doing trial and error. Wonderful read.

    John Ravi recently posted.. How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site

    • Donna Merrill August 8, 2021 at 9:50 am #

      Hi John

      Bloggers need to be problem solvers.

      That’s how they build trust, and build their business.

      It’s certainly the way to grow that all-important email list.

      So it’s critical to promote things that will benefit your readers.

      That’s how you help them solve the problems important to them.

      And when they see you as a problem-solver, and not just an “affiliate marketer”… they will not only buy from your affiliate links, but more importantly, they’ll become loyal followers of your blog.

      -Donna
      Donna Merrill recently posted..How to use your blog to promote a productMy Profile

  5. SharlaAnn Matyjanka
    Twitter:
    August 6, 2021 at 12:45 am #

    Hi Donna,

    I have been wondering, do all affiliates use Amazon.com? I always buy from Amazon.ca but anytime I click on an affiliate link it is always .com. Is there a specific reason for this? I’m sure there has to be other bloggers in Canada. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

    SharlaAnn
    SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted..3 Desktop Organization Tips for Your Online BusinessMy Profile

    • Donna Merrill August 8, 2021 at 9:45 am #

      Hi SharlaAnn

      Not sure how the Amazon thing works.

      It’s the biggest affiliate network, of course, but bloggers typically affiliate information products and don’t use Amazon links.

      Not sure why the .ca thing redirects to .com.

      It’s all the same company, though.

      -Donna
      Donna Merrill recently posted..Where to find bloggers in your nicheMy Profile

  6. Lisa Sicard
    Twitter:
    August 1, 2021 at 5:37 pm #

    Hi Donna, I agree you must write about it and gain the trust of people before you can make affiliate commissions. I have done well with 2 products of the 12 I promote on my own blog. But the 2 I really love are the ones I promote the most and generate commission from. You can’t promote too many and be the jack of all trades as they say. Specialize in what you know and what you use! I believe you must use the product to really promote it.
    Thanks for the tips Donna and hope your August is a great month for you!

    Lisa Sicard recently posted.. 25 Invaluable Social Media Marketing Apps for Excellent Results

    • Donna Merrill August 8, 2021 at 9:42 am #

      HI Lisa

      Yes, you really do need to use the products you promote.

      And I think you make a really good point about focusing on just a few that you really like.

      Those are the ones you’ll do best at promoting.

      And it also helps you avoid that “jack of all trades” label.

      People trust specialists most of all.

      PS: August is going great but I just watch JAWS for the umpteenth time.. looking at the beach a little differently today 🙂

      -Donna
      Donna Merrill recently posted..How fast can I achieve online business profitMy Profile

  7. Gaurav Kumar
    Twitter:
    July 30, 2021 at 8:14 pm #

    Hi Donna,

    Affiliate marketing is a lucrative money-making idea. It is attracting the bloggers the same way Adsense was doing ten years ago. As a result, people are running blogs and adding affiliate links.

    But not all of them are making more than 10 dollars a month.

    From an outer prospect, we can say that they have failed to make the sale.

    But if you dig deeper, you will find out that they have failed to learn how to educate the audience about the usability of the product or even failed to attract the audience.

    Affiliate marketing is becoming an expert thing now. To become a successful affiliate marketer, one should focus on branding and trust-building.

    Thanks for your tips!

    Gaurav Kumar recently posted.. 25 Invaluable Social Media Marketing Apps for Excellent Results

    • Donna Merrill August 8, 2021 at 9:38 am #

      Hi Gaurav

      You’ve added a wealth of information here for people to think about.

      Yes, you can earn commission from affiliate links.

      But, it’s far better to focus on educating people about the product, and even just about the problems the product solves.

      That gives them much better information than just a simple request to purchase something.

      And, like you say… it increases their trust in you as a problem solver, not just a sales hack.

      Thanks for adding your perspectives to this discussion.

      -Donna
      Donna Merrill recently posted..How to become a trusted authority in your nicheMy Profile

  8. Ryan K Biddulph
    Twitter:
    July 30, 2021 at 3:00 pm #

    All are awesome tips Donna. Most bloggers struggle to get affiliate sales for the link-frenzy problem you speak of concerning social media. Bloggers believe making affiliate sales is as easy as copying and pasting their affiliate link to a bunch of spots on sites like Twitter and Facebook. But this approach never works because you cannot earn trust using this tactic; people only buy from individuals they trust. Lead with value, help people for free, be patient and affiliate income streams. This is a long term gig.

    Ryan

    Ryan Biddulph recently posted.. Should bloggers accept sponsored posts?

    • Donna Merrill August 2, 2021 at 5:24 pm #

      Hi Ryan

      This certainly is a long-term gig.

      I don’t know a single blogger who has had any kind of success by blasting affiliate links all over the place.

      Building good content around an affiliate product, and posting it on your blog is the stepping stone to earning commissions.

      Then, instead of blasting the affiliate link, you work at marketing your high quality content that can help others.

      In time, the commissions happen.

      -Donna
      Donna Merrill recently posted..How to boost your blogging resultsMy Profile

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