Affiliate Programs In a Nutshell
Of Monetization Paths in Content Generation.
Have you ever wondered how affiliate links, shared by online writers, actually work?
In this post, I explain the mechanics of affiliate links.
The simplest way to understand them is as commission-based sales.
Many well-established and emerging brands—whether product or subscription-based—offer affiliate programs.
These programs allow you to promote their products and earn a commission essentially acting as a lead generation mechanism for the brand.
To become an affiliate, you need to choose a brand that resonates with your audience and one you can personally vouch for whenever possible, as credibility is fundamental to the recommendation.
Next, you apply to the brand’s affiliate program, checking if you meet their acceptance criteria which is usually based on audience size, customer segments, and/or your revenues.
Certain brands set specific thresholds to maintain their brand image, ensure program success, and contain the volume of payouts.
Programs often request additional details about your channel, product offerings, and audience size to assess alignment with their brand.
They evaluate your channel’s potential for growth and consider emerging market trends when processing your application.
You can apply to be an affiliate program if you have any one of the following: a blog, a newsletter, an online community, a website, or any business that regularly sends out content to its audiences.
Once the brand approves your application—which is typically a fairly quick process—you'll have an affiliate account established with them.
Once approved, you receive unique links to promote their brand in your content. You're considered a partner and receive updates on new brand promotions, which may include seasonal or other high-paying incentive programs offered for a limited time.
The unique link is embedded with a 'cookie'—essentially, a small text file that identifies you to the brand when a customer uses the link you provided to access their website and make a purchase. This allows the brand to track leads generated from your site and compensate you accordingly.
You then insert the unique link into your posts using appropriate text that directs readers to the brand and promotes it within your content.
When a reader clicks on the link, whether out of curiosity or with an intent to purchase, the purchase registers as a lead referred from your account.
Pro-tip: Always disclose your use of affiliate links to your readers; this is a legal requirement.
Depending on how the affiliate program is structured, you may earn a payout each time someone clicks (though click-based payouts are less common nowadays), makes a purchase, or becomes a subscription subscriber for a specified period.
Clearly, the more traffic you send to the brand, the better your payout!
Payouts are usually made by companies on a monthly or quarterly basis, with some offering bi-monthly options depending on the brand.
Affiliate programs typically offer commissions ranging from 2% to 30%, with higher percentages more common for emerging software products selling subscriptions.
For example, if a customer purchases a $100 annual subscription through your referral link, your commission could be as high as $30 per customer.
Another advantage of affiliate programs is that companies provide a variety of digital assets for promoting their brands on your site or within your content.
These assets include visuals, brand collateral images, product sales descriptions, limited-period (like Black Friday!) offers, and other promotional materials.
Your effort is then focused on using the links subtly within relevant content, ensuring that you continue to engage your audience.
Keep in mind that some brands expect you to achieve a minimum number of sales over a defined time-period (usually 6 months to a year) to stay in the program.
Why is it a Win-Win?
For authors struggling to monetize or in the early stages of their journey, it may make sense to offer affiliate links for credible and established brands that will not devalue the author’s own offerings in the eyes of the reader.
More often than not, content creators with large audiences use these links to create an additional revenue stream while maintaining their primary revenue from products such as content, courses, or coaching.
Readers are directed to new products that may benefit them, and in exchange for sharing the value of these products, they agree to use the author’s affiliate link when making a purchase, allowing the author to earn a commission.
Occasionally, you may also find brand sponsorships, but that is a topic for another day.
Affiliate links operate for a pre-defined time period—typically 24 hours to 30 days, depending on the product and brand.
For instance, if a user clicks on your Amazon affiliate link, any purchase they make on Amazon.com within the next 24 hours is credited to you, provided they used your link to initially visit Amazon.com.
Becoming an Affiliate
If you are interested in signing up as an affiliate, visit the brand of interest and look for the ‘Become an Affiliate’ or ‘Affiliate Partner’ link on their site (or use google search to find the program application page). Here is the one offered by software company Hubspot.
Apply and wait for approval.
A more convenient way to become an affiliate is to sign up with an aggregator program that combines multiple product brands.
The advantage is that you have fewer affiliate partnerships to track, but the downside is that payouts may be lower due to the larger number of affiliates the programs carry and the typically lower commission percentages they offer.
Some commonly known group affiliate programs are offered by:
Caveats
Evaluate if your business priority is to be content-first or affiliate-first as those are distinctly different goals. Depending on the goal, structure your content strategy to effectively engage your audience.
If your primary focus is on providing content, then decide on a relevant frequency and choose premium affiliate links to embed within your content while remaining close to your core focus.
Additionally, you may need to ensure your content and affiliate links align to avoid reader alienation.
For example, promoting cookware products in a gardening-focused newsletter might not resonate well unless clearly relevant to your readership.
If your goal is to focus on affiliate links, selecting content that aligns with high-payout affiliate programs and includes specific stories about the benefits of the products may be the optimal approach.
This strategy might be more effective on a platform like Medium or a blog dedicated to affiliate link usage than on a focused newsletter offered through Substack.
The obvious issue with relying solely on an affiliate strategy for generating passive income through these links is that they are susceptible to misuse and require a high degree of credibility from the source site to establish trustworthiness.
Many online content creators generate AI-based or other automated content designed to drive traffic to their high-paying affiliate programs, often disregarding the value and benefits to their audience. In such cases, trust can be significantly undermined.
For example, a Google search for 'best smartphones' often returns numerous articles filled with affiliate links, lacking expert reviews that genuinely differentiate brands to help users make informed choices.
Pro-tip: Avoid automated content set up solely to drive traffic to affiliate links. Google can be unforgiving of such sites.
Conclusion
Affiliate programs offer a viable avenue for passive income online.
Success requires strategic keyword usage, quality content creation, and thoughtful product integration.
The best place to start is with tools you already use and would have no hesitation to recommend to others.
If you are a credible creator with a loyal readership base, offering premium product links, especially one that you use personally, affiliate marketing can offer another source of revenue. Consistency and patience are key to maximizing results.
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