Would you like to set up a blog about something that interests you, such as your hobby, and gradually start monetising your blog while creating your own content? This is what I do, and in this post I’d like to share a few tips on how to earn online by blogging.
Affiliate Marketing in a Nutshell
There are several ways to earn money from your blog, for example by using affiliate marketing within your blog. Once you have your blog set up and filled with interesting content (which can be anything that can help other people, either by providing them with useful information, solving a problem for them, or entertaining them) you can start earning money by affiliate marketing.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Affiliate marketing is done by first joining an affiliate program such as Amazon, and adding your special affiliate links to a product or service into the text of your blog or in an image. When a visitor of your site clicks on the link and makes a purchase using that link, you will earn a small commission at no extra cost to the visitor.
The money you receive will be paid by your affiliate program (e.g. Amazon) as a little ‘thank you’ for sending the visitor of your site to their site.
How to Recognise an Affiliate Blog
You may have noticed that some blog articles use an affiliate disclosure, similar to this one:
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through my links, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The full disclosure can be accessed here.
If you see such a disclosure, it means that the author of the article (or the owner of the website) is a member of an affiliate program and uses trackable links which may earn him a commission for products recommended by him and purchased by his site visitor.
No Buying Products Upfront or Shipping
What I like about this system is that you as an affiliate marketer/blogger don’t have to buy and store any physical products. You are just a middle man recommending/advertising the products.
What Products or Services to Promote?
Ideally, you should promote products that you trust, have tried and tested, or would recommend to people you care about. Your business will be much more successful if your heart is in it, and if you are honest and transparent about your affiliate business.
A Learning Platform for Affiliate Marketing
If you would like to learn about blogging and affiliate marketing I highly recommend joining a marketing platform called Wealthy Affiliate.
They offer a free starter membership which includes the first ten lessons of their course in affiliate marketing called Online Entrepreneur Certification.
I have taken this course and it has helped me build my website, start and maintain my online business, and become a part of a great community of fellow internet marketers, who are always very helpful and ready to offer advice and guidance. Here is an outline of the free course:
The First 10 Lessons Can Kickstart Your Business
I highly recommend trying these 10 free lessons. The training will provide you with all the knowledge needed to start your own online business and learn about affiliate marketing foundations. What I love about Wealthy Affiliate is that signing up with them is completely non-obligatory and you can keep your free account for as long as you wish, without giving them any credit card details. You can always upgrade to a Premium membership later if you wish, but the free Starter Membership is an excellent testing ground of the world of affiliate marketing and I would recommend to take your time and see how it all resonates with you.
Good luck and feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, or let me know your thoughts on blogging and online marketing in general. Bye for now!
BY LUCIE DUN
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Making money online gave been something really nice and common these days with kits of people who are ready to go into it and make money from it. Blogging is one aspect of it that I find really creative because you just don’t jump at it. One has to know what he is going to do there and in some cases, go through lessons to know more about it.
Hi Justin, Thank you for your comment! Many people don’t know that they can monetize their blog. Many are also not motivated to start a blog because it may seem overwhelming. That’s why I’m glad I’m a part of Wealthy Affiliate which is such a cool learning resource. I especially love the live trainings. And also, it has a really helpful community. The other day I posted a question about SEO and got about 10 helpful replies within a few minutes. One really does feel supported and in good hands there and it’s lovely to read so many success stories, how people started a blog that has gradually become their main source of income. Cheers again for your feedback!
Thank you for all you have written here. Affiliate marketing is definitely a great means to earn online and make worthy money. The best part is that there is no need to put in any capital to it to actually earn. The important thing is to find the right platform and not fall for scams. I value all you have covered here and the various tips that can help with success in the long term. Thanks so much.
Hello Nath, Thank you for your kind words and valued feedback. The fact that you don’t have to invest any capital to earn from affiliate marketing is one of the reasons I got into it, because back then it’d be impossible for me to start a business that requires buying stock, employing people, take care of the storage and shipping etc. I’m still mesmerised by all the opportunities that affiliate marketing brings, and I hope many other people who are stuck financially will learn about this and try it out. Getting back to the investment topic: After I joined Wealthy Affiliate for free and learned quite a lot from their free training, I decided to upgrade to Premium because I knew that this platform was worth sticking to! They have great training and constant support. My website is in great hands and I don’t have to worry about all the technical stuff because they sort it out for me. Also, I invested in a great WordPress theme Divi by Elegant Themes which is so easy to manage (you can build everything on the front end). So I did make a few investments, but they have come back to me multiple times thanks to affiliate marketing. Thanks again for your nice comment!