Affiliate Marketing

Okay Improvementalists, let’s start getting into the thick of things. The question we are here to answer is, “How to Monetize a Blog?” Well, there are numerous ways to make money as a blogger. And we will look at many of these methods in later posts. But for today, I want to introduce the most popular way to monetize a blog: Affiliate Marketing.

First things first, to build your website you must begin by selecting a hosting platform. And I think Bluehost is the obvious choice!

Okay, so when I set up my blogsite, I really did not know a whole lot about setting up a website, at all! But I did some research and chose the big dog, Bluehost. I personally recommend Bluehost, especially for beginners, because their customer service is top of the line!

For instance, if you get stuck, or cause your site to behave in a weird way (like I routinely did when I first started blogging) just go to the Bluehost homepage, and contact customer service. They have telephone and live chat options. I always use the chat feature, and when I first built Improvementals, there was one point when I contacted Bluehost customer support, like 8 times one day! But every single agent that I interacted with treated me as a priority, helped me learn best practices, and was genuinely nice to me!

So yes, if you are a new blogger, or just looking for the hosting platform with THE BEST customer support, I recommend you go with Bluehost! And, if you follow my link to sign up, you can get your website hosted for as low as $2.95/month!

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Now, as a brand-new blogger, I want to start recouping some of the dollars I spent to get Improvementals started. So, I am researching affiliate marketing, which is promoting someone else’s goods/services, in exchange for pay.

As you see above, Bluehost is an embedded hyperlink. When you click the hyperlink, you will “land” on the Bluehost landing page. If you make a purchase, you get a fantastic deal, and I earn a small commission. The commission earned by affiliate marketers does not cost customers anything; affiliates are often able to save our customers money! Win-Win!

In general, affiliate marketing is an affordable and effective means for companies to advertise their products and services, grow their customer base, and promote awareness of their brand. These companies are also called, “merchants,” “advertisers,” or “sellers.”

Suppose an affiliate, also known as a “publisher,” or “influencer,” is what we want to become, in the affiliate marketing sector. This means that through an affiliate/partnership agreement, we become officially associated (affiliated) with the companies we want to promote.

It is particularly important that as affiliate marketers, we ALWAYS inform people that we are an affiliate!

This is called “Disclosure” or a “Disclaimer,” and it is the law! That is why, at the beginning of any of my posts that contain affiliate links, I let my readers know:

I earn my income through affiliate partnerships. If you complete a purchase by following a link on Improvementals, I receive a commission from that purchase, at no additional cost to you...

And, I also have a full Disclaimer document available on my website. You can check it out here if you’d like.

So, to Recap What We Have Learned About Affiliate Marketing So Far:

As an affiliate, when we advertise a product or service on our website, our partner company supplies us with a unique link for said product or service. In turn, we provide this unique link to our readers. We ALWAYS disclose openly and honestly, that we are an affiliate! If a reader clicks our link and completes a purchase, we then receive a commission from that sale.

Different companies offer different terms and payment agreements. Further, affiliate marketing partnerships can be quite complex. So, oftentimes a company prefers to hand off control of their affiliate program to an affiliate network.

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What is an Affiliate Network?

An affiliate network connects publishers with companies, who have each joined the network. Companies join because they want to promote their products or services without all the work of operating an affiliate program. In addition to connecting publishers with advertisers, affiliate networks commonly offer reporting tools, instruction, and resources to assist you in becoming a successful affiliate marketer.

Some popular affiliate networks you may want to consider, depending on your own situation and needs include ShareASale, Clickbank, CJ, Clickfunnels, and FlexOffers. This is just a brief list of affiliate networks. Please be sure to look carefully into the terms, conditions, requirements, agreements, earning potential, and so on. Ultimately, it is up to you to determine whether a network is a good fit for you.

Conclusion

Blogs are a valuable location for affiliate marketing because, as bloggers, our readers trust our opinions. As such, to be successful affiliate marketers, we should offer links, only for products/services which we genuinely believe in (or would use ourselves).

We should never approach affiliate marketing with tunnel-vision. That is, we should never think solely in terms of dollar signs. It is true that the whole point of affiliate marketing is to monetize our blog. However, we would never want to jeopardize the trust of our cherished readers, at any cost!

In conclusion, when you are ready to start making money from your blog, affiliate marketing is worthy of consideration! Whether you are brand-new to blogging, or you are a seasoned blogger, you can become a successful affiliate marketer!

Please share this article with friends & family members who may benefit from what you learned here today!

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Sincerely,

Chrystal Taylor Nelson, M.A.