WHAT’S AFFILIATE MARKETING?

For example, if you were an Amazon affiliate and linked to some of your favorite books with affiliate links, if someone clicked on a link and purchased that book, you’d get a small commission. Even cooler is that some affiliates have 30-day cookies, meaning that if someone didn’t buy right then but bought 20 days later (and bought other stuff too), you get a commission for all of that. While most affiliates pay per sale, some pay per lead as well.
If you worry that your readers won’t like the fact that you’re making money, I encourage you to shift your paradigm on this a bit. If someone provided valuable information to you, wouldn’t it be nice to reward them a bit? Maybe they taught you something. Maybe they saved you time for not having to search for the information themselves. Maybe they showed you some great uses for a product you were considering buying anyway. Whatever the case, if you’re providing affiliate links in an ethical way, no one should fault you for it.
Plus, if you search engine optimize the posts that contain affiliate links, you’ll bring in first-time readers to your blog or people who may purchase something through a link of yours but never visit your site again.
You can also sign up directly at the merchant site (look for “affiliates” which I usually find at the bottom of their web page). Most merchant links will redirect you to whichever affiliate company they use anyway.
Choosing the right links and adding them strategically within your site is critical to earning money from affiliates.
The short-and-basic explanation: once you’re signed into these affiliate sites, search for advertisers of products that would be relevant to sell then get the code to add either a button/banner or link to your site.
The longer-but-better explanation is the one that’s gonna get you earning money. Here are some factors the panelists said to consider when determining affiliates:
Determine your interests. Do you blog about green products, baby stuff, travel? But don’t just think about your blog’s overall theme. For example, if you wrote a post about green living but don’t typically do so, sign up for affiliates related to that subject and add them to that post. I asked the panelists how many affiliates they were a part of and the answer was HUNDREDS. Yes, hundreds. While that sounds daunting, you aren’t going to do all of these at once. You’ll build this up over time.
Ensure availability of affiliate programs. If you’re choosing a niche (or even just a niche for a particular post), make sure there are affiliate programs out there. Something too specific may not have any affiliates you can sign up for.

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