How to Use Affiliate Links to Make Money Blogging

Why did you start blogging? Was it as a hobby or just for fun? Was it because you enjoy writing or want to share your ideas with the world?

Or maybe you started blogging as a way to promote your business or even as a way to start a business.

With all the blogs online in a wide variety of niches, it’s easy to get confused about how people make money blogging. If you hang out in blogging communities, such as Facebook groups for bloggers, you’ve probably noticed that “how to make money blogging” is not necessarily one of the more commonly discussed topics.

In the world of blogging, there are so many things to learn about blogging and so many things to do to set up your site before you even feel like making money with your blog is a possibility.

Related: How to Start a Blog for Business

And when the topic of making money blogging is discussed, it usually goes something like this…

“I have a blog (or I’m thinking about starting a blog) and I want to know how I can make money with it.”

Followed by…

Oh, here’s a link to my post – “How to Make Money Blogging.”

Or this response…

“Check out this income report to see how so-and-so does it.”

And speaking of income reports, bloggers are the only people I know who routinely share all the details of their income on a monthly basis, including how much they made from various income streams and every expense they incurred in excruciating detail and down to the exact penny. Somewhat strange, but helpful!

Once you’ve read a couple of those “how to make money blogging” posts and studied a few income reports, it generally boils down to a few broad categories, that I would summarize as follows:

1. Placing ads on your blog
2. Writing sponsored posts and working with brands
3. Selling services (and using a blog as a means of attracting clients and generating leads)
4. Selling products (including info products like ebooks and courses)
5. Affiliate marketing
6. Membership sites

There are probably a few others, but those are the major ones.

So, technically speaking, in most cases, people are NOT getting paid to simply write blog posts.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase using one of the links in this article, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Want to learn more about how you can make money blogging with affiliate marketing? Read this post…

“Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers – A Beginner’s Guide.”

Rather, blogging is a way to get paid to do something else, such as advertise, provide a service or sell a product. Surprised? I have to admit that I was a bit surprised to learn how many ways there are to “make money blogging.”

But then you get down to the nitty-gritty details and there’s still a lot of information left to the imagination. And you quickly start asking different questions. And all of the sudden, you’re not just learning “how to blog.”

You’re learning about online marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing and affiliate marketing.

Related Post: Email Marketing for Bloggers – A Beginner’s Guide

You’re learning about sales funnels and landing pages and opt-ins and conversions.

Yes, it’s really that complicated.

But if you’re reading this and you’re still thinking “I really just want to know how I can get started making money blogging,” I have some good news for you.

Getting started is NOT that complicated.

Anyone that has a blog can get started with affiliate marketing almost from day one. And you can do it with a blog in any niche.

Related Post: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers – A Beginner’s Guide

Don’t believe me? I was skeptical too. That is until I signed up for Michelle Schroeder-Garnder’s course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and joined her private Facebook group for students.

In the most of the Facebook groups that I frequent, the general concensus seems to be that the only people making a significant amount of money blogging are the people that blog about blogging. But inside of Michelle’s Facebook group, my eyes were opened to the fact that most of the students were not affiliates for companies like Siteground and Mailerlite and Tailwind.

Instead, they are travel bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, and personal finance bloggers. They blog about food and fashion and health and wellness. They come from all walks of life and they blog about all sorts of things.

I found it so interesting and refreshing to be surrounded by these bloggers and to learn from their experiences that it inspired me to do a round-up post, in order to share some of their experiences with you.

Specifically, I asked to feature bloggers in different niches with links back to specific posts to show examples of using affiliate links. Imagine my surprise when 25 bloggers that blog about a wide variety of subjects jumped at the opportunity to share how they are using affiliate links in their blog posts.

Those who responded were gracious enough to answer three questions and allow me to link back to one of their posts that contains affiliate links.

The three specific questions that I asked were:

1. How do you make money with your blog, website or email list as an affiliate marketer?
2. What is your favorite product or service that you promote as an affiliate and why?
3. How much do you earn on average with affiliate marketing on a monthly basis? (Please feel free to share whatever you are comfortable with for this question…)

I’m so excited to be able to share these specific examples of using affiliate links with you and hope that they will both helpful and inspiring to you. So without further ado, here are 25 bloggers, in a wide variety of blogging niches, using affiliate links in their blog posts to make money blogging.

#1 Shauna Welsh

Featured Post: SUMMERTIME MUST HAVE ITEMS!

1. Currently, I am making money from ads as well as affiliate marketing.

2. My favorite items I promote are coupons! I love them because they save everyone money. My blog was created to help everyone save time and money!

3. I am new to blogging so I am currently making about $600.00 a month. Not nearly where I would like to be, however it’s a start 🙂

#2 Yami Platero

Featured Post: 10 Ways to Make Money from Your Blog Now

1. Currently, I write posts in order to help bloggers create successful blogs so I mention products that I am an affiliate for within those blog posts that directly correlate with the topic I am discussing. In addition, I also make sure to mention special promotions for great blogging resources to my email list as they come along – you never know when someone is in need of something and it sometimes takes only one email with an honest review in order for that person to make the decision to move ahead.

2. One of my favorite products is the eBook “How to Make Your First Affiliate Sale in 24 Hours” by Elise at House of Brazen. Many bloggers are trying to monetize their blogs and affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to do so, however when you first start out you might not have the ability to invest in an expressive course, but this book is super affordable and a great way to get you started.

#3 Danny Lee

Featured Post: How I Earned My First $1,000 Blogging

1. I share my experience with certain products or services that I’ve used.

2. So far, and unexpectedly, blogging about my experience as a rideshare driver for Lyft has earned me over $1,000 in affiliate income.

3. It varies. The most I’ve earned in a month is $1,000, but I still have months where I earn nothing. I’m still relatively new to blogging.

#4 Donna Wilkerson

Featured Post: AIRBNB VS HOTELS. WHICH IS BETTER? PLUS A $40 AIRBNB COUPON.

1. Surveys, affiliates, social media

2. Airbnb. We love to travel and it’s a great idea instead of hotels.

3. Brand new blogger – very little right now

#5 Eden Fried

Featured Post: Affiliate Marketing Course Review: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

1. I teach bloggers how to turn a profit on their blog so they can free themselves from the ranks of 9-5 jobs and unforgiving schedules. My affiliate links are all for products and services that I’ve used personally, which will help bloggers (or aspiring bloggers) start making money online.

2. I love promoting my favorite WordPress theme, Divi. It’s such a robust theme and I created my first website ever on Divi, so I’m a bit sentimental!

3. I earn about $500 per month from affiliate links and I actively started affiliate marketing in January 2017.

#6 Darla Lee

Featured Post: THE DO’S AND DON’TS WHEN DEALING WITH REJECTION (With Rejection Quotes)

1. Blog

2. My favorite products are books because I enjoy learning and reading.

3. $100

#7 Caroline Vencil

Featured Post: How Much Should I Budget for Groceries?

1. I post at least 1 affiliate ink in every blog post that I make. I always make sure that it’s not something like a post about groceries and I try to post an affiliate link for high-end baby gear. That would just be silly! I hate always feeling like I’m trying to sell something, so I always add links in a way that seems natural and helpful. I also have a fantastic email sequence that goes out to all of my new subscribers. In it, I include my favorite affiliates that will help them. The best thing about affiliate marketing is that it can be made to fit your niche and your reader. If your readers don’t respond well to hard sales techniques, you can cater to their preference easily.

2. One of my favorite affiliates is still Amazon; you will get a commission for everything that someone buys using your affiliate link. I’ve had people click through my affiliate link for a $6 bottle of essential oil and buy $1,500-worth of pilates equipment! The commission percentage isn’t very high, but it’s a very passive way to earn a lot of money from affiliate sales.

As far as high-earning affiliates, the products that I have personally used that have actually changed my life have been the best! The blog course that I took that made me into a full-time blogger has brought me more than $5,000 in the past 3 months (and it was only on sale for a total of 10 days). Another affiliate program that has been amazing has been the meal planning service that I’ve used to save time and money. It regularly brings in $200/month, and even more when there’s a sale.

3. Recently I’ve been averaging $2,000-4,000/month in affiliate income. It has varied a great deal since I started actually learning how to use email marketing for affiliate programs as well as having some incredibly high-paying affiliate sales in the last few months. It’s been insane!

#8 Ali Garland

Featured Post: Carry-On Size Chart: 150+ Airlines

1. Most of my traffic comes from Google and other search engines. People come to my site looking for packing advice and other travel tips, and I recommend luggage and other travel-related products.

2. My most successful affiliate program is Amazon because it’s a trusted brand and an easy place for people to shop. Most of the travel-related products I recommend are sold through Amazon, and if someone decides to buy something else at the same time, I get credit for that too. I also like promoting tours because they’re a good way for new travelers to get their feet wet with travel, but those are harder to convert.

3. $800-900 is probably an average month for me, but I’ve earned double that during the holiday months. My highest month so far from affiliate marketing was around $1,800.

#9 Tracy Morris

Featured Post: The One-handed Photographer – 8 tips on how to take good photos when travelling with kids

1. Mainly website blog links

2. We are just staring out but travel insurance and photography equipment would be our favourite.

3. As mentioned we are just starting out so not a lot at this stage.

#10 Lauren Bowling

Featured Post: “I MADE $1,000 WITH AFFILIATES” + HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE FOR FREE

1. Specific Affiliate Related Posts, Links in Email Campaigns, and Optimizing Top 10 Posts for Affiliates

2. Upstart – it’s a debt consolidation company.

3. It averages around $2200 per month.

#11 Maria Haase

Featured Post: Travel Gear & Resources

1. My main income is currently from affiliate marketing through my blog, but I am hoping to add affiliate marketing to my newsletter in the near future.

2. At the moment, I make the majority of my income through hotel affiliate sales, as my website focuses on travel. I am hoping to branch out more and add more travel related products and services to the mix soon.

3. $3000+

#12 Mary Ann Rollano

Featured Post: 7 BEST TEA BOOKS TO MAKE YOU AN EXPERT
1. Selling my own tea products and selling other peoples products related to tea.

2. Amazon and share-a-sale are the most productive. I can simply link to the product in a blogpost and it’s effective.

3. Right now I’m just getting started so the amounts are small.

#13 Tracy Ma

Featured Post: 6 Must Read Books for Real Estate Investors

1. Sponsored posts, affiliates and products

2. Amazon and investment products that I believe can change people’s lives, so they can live a richer and fuller life.

3. Just started monetizing through affiliates. I’m building my partnerships now.

#14 Leah Elwood

Featured Post: The Best Way to Concealed Carry in LuLaRoe

1. Product reviews seem to convert especially well.

2. Concealed carry stuff – a lot of the women who talk about concealed carry seem a little “hardcore” about it, so I think it’s nice to have a resource for women who aren’t necessarily gun nuts but want to concealed carry (and not have to wear manly/bulky clothes.)

3. Only about $30-40 currently, but I’m still fairly new/small.

#15 Lena Gott

Featured Post: HOW TO MAKE A MONEY NOTEPAD

1. Affiliates, ads, sponsored posts, products

2. Books – because people LOVE books and will buy many of them at once

3. Over $3,000

#16 Kecia Hambrick

Featured Post: 30 MUST HAVE BABY REGISTRY ITEMS

1. I include Amazon affiliate links in blog posts and reviews.

2. On my parenting blog, it’s Amazon. It’s easy to grab the links using Easy Product Displays and there are thousands of products you can promote!

3. $300

#17 Paula Dennholt

Featured Post: EFFECTIVE BABY TEETHING REMEDIES TO HELP YOUR BABY EASE THE PAIN

1. I add recommendations to appropriate products or services as part of the articles.

2. I promote a lot of baby products via Amazon. That works well. Online pregnancy classes is another favorite that people tend to buy.

3. Around $500.

#18 Emma Lomas & Yannick Westphal

Featured Post: Should You Buy Travel Insurance?

1. Mainly earn money through social influencer marketing, but also promoting products we love and use to our readers.

2. To be honest, all services and products that we promote we love, otherwise we wouldn’t be telling our readers how awesome they were. However, if we had to choose one it would probably be World Nomads Travel Insurance, as we’ve used them for years and believe everyone needs insurance when traveling.

3. We don’t like to share exact numbers, however, we are pretty comfortable to be able to live off our blog and travel too.

#19 Amanda Ferlazzo

Featured Post: How to Ditch Your $5 a Day Coffee Habit…Without Losing Your Mind!

1. Promotion on Twitter, Pinterest and group boards

2. So far, k-cups through Cross Country Cafe. After extensive research, they’re the best price I’ve found on the internet, and they have a great selection!

3. Only one month into my blog so still working on this!

#20 Emily Mcgee

Featured Post: EMAIL LISTS SIMPLIFIED: THE BEST BLOG INVESTMENT I MADE ALL YEAR

1. The majority of my affiliate income comes from people on my email list buying products that I mention.

2. I love to promote Email Lists Simplified, a course by Meera Kothand. I got so much value from that course and I think it’s something a lot of my readers could use!

3. Not much yet! I just started and make about $30 a month.

#21 Debbie Gartner

Featured Post: Which are the best Polyurethane brands for floors? Which do I recommend?

1. $1,400-$1,500/month (combo affiliate and ads)

2. Gray area rugs – they are so chic and stylish

3. $500/month

#22 Meriah Nichols

Featured Post: Book Resources For Parents Of People With Down Syndrome

1. Through content creation – blog posts – and sidebar ad widgets. Occasionally, I’ll send out a direct affiliate link through social media

2. Signing Time. Because I am deaf and use ASL. My daughter has Down syndrome, and children with Down syndrome learn to sign now as it’s helpful with their speech. This is win/win, reaching my own deaf community, parents of deaf kids, and parents of kids with other disabilities

3. About $200

#23 Carrie Willard

Featured Post: How Grove saves me time and money

1. By promoting affiliate links in helpful content to my readers, sending useful information in newsletters and providing resources for busy moms who want to streamline their lives in order to have time for their own goals while raising kids

2. There isn’t just one! I have a core group of products that I love and promote. They’re all things that I use and benefit from in my life.

3. I earn a part time income but that’s growing each month, and at one time I earned full-time money as a single mom of 4. I’m working on getting back to those numbers.

#24 Jo Castro

Featured Post: How to wear Ponte Pants and look a Million Dollars

1. Website

2. Currently Amazon products do well for me. Readers don’t always buy the products I’ve linked to, but might purchase something else entirely. I’m not yet an experienced affiliate marketer, so I’m testing different things right now.

#25 Rina Melendez

Featured Post: Lavender & Orange DIY Lotion Bars

1. I create DIY projects and recipes, so I add affiliate links to the supplies list in my blog posts.

2. Amazon Associates is my favorite affiliate program due to all the product possibilities I can promote.

3. Right now I am making around $500 a month. I hope to increase this as the months go on!

Key Takeaways

As you can see from these bloggers’ posts, there’s no reason that you can’t use affiliate links on your blog, no matter what niche your blog is in. Here are a few things I hope you learned by reading this post.

1. It doesn’t matter what you blog about. You can use affiliate links in your blog posts!
2. You don’t have to have a lot of posts on your blog to get started. You can include affiliate links on your blog starting with your very first post.
3. Some income from affiliate links is better than none, so there’s really no reason not include affiliate links in your posts.

Did this post give you some ideas how to get started? Did you download the list of affiliate programs for bloggers?

Do you think you will try using affiliate links on your blog now? If so, leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you and see your post when you do. 🙂

And if this post was helpful, I would be super happy if you would share it!

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