Do you want to make money with affiliate marketing? Well, I’ve got the tea today!
LAAB just turned one-year-old and I’ve known for awhile now that I wanted to study from the best when it comes to blogging. Today, I’ve been lucky enough to interview the best!
A few months ago, I published my first blog income report because LAAB is now making money with affiliate marketing. It wouldn’t have been possible without this course that we’re going to talk about today.
I’ve written a review on this course; however, I felt it would do my readers even better to hear from someone who is making over $50,000 in affiliate income each month from their website. As a matter of fact, her income has now climbed above $100,000 and it’s because she is dedicated to helping others learn her marketing strategy so we can be the best at what we do.
I know it can be difficult to believe that someone can make $50,000 bloggers and still be regular folks. If anything, you would expect them to be a celebrity or big-time gossip site or something like that. However, it is certainly real.
Affiliate marketing is when you promote someone else’s products. As an affiliate, you would receive a small commission when readers purchase things using our links. It’s an ideal hustle for many because you’re helping your readers by recommending reputable products that fulfill their needs and get paid to do so.
Since I’m not a complete expert myself (yet), I think it’s time to allow Michelle from Making Sense of Cents tell you all about affiliate marketing. Her course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, is the course you want to invest in if you’re serious about making money with affiliate marketing.
Use LAAB’s affiliate link to learn more about the course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. Or hang around and see what info Michelle has in store for you.
Join the FREE 5-Day E-course on How to Start a Blog. You’ll learn everything you need to know to get your own blog up and running, some tips and tricks that have helped me start earning an income, and more. Sign up for the How to Start a Blog E-Course today!
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – How to Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
1) Could you tell us a little about how you started blogging?
In August of 2011, I started my personal finance blog with the hopes of teaching people how to save money after reading a magazine that featured a personal finance website in one of their articles. I got hooked on that website and my interest in blogging just grew from there. Before August of 2011, I didn’t even know that blogs existed. I didn’t know what they were; I didn’t know that they could make money or anything like that.
I did not create my blog with the intention of making money blogging. It was really all just a hobby. I then realized how much I loved blogging and realized that it was for me, so now I am a full-time blogger! It’s funny how life can change so much.
On Making Sense of Cents, I talk a lot about different ways to make extra income, money-saving tips, living your dream life, RVing (me and my husband RV full-time), and more. I love running Making Sense of Cents and I am very happy that this is now my full-time career, my business, and pretty much my life.
2) Based on your income reports, you were making five-figures online before gaining traction with affiliate marketing. What made you interested in affiliate marketing sales on your Making Sense of Cents blog?
I’ve always been interested in affiliate marketing since I started blogging, but I never thought it was possible before. I always thought that you had to have a huge following and a ton of page views to be successful with affiliate marketing.
Well, one day I decided to give myself a goal of making money with affiliate income, and I worked towards achieving that goal. I started by making a little each month, and then it just continued to grow month after month. I now know that you don’t need a ton of page views or a huge following to make a great income through affiliate marketing.
I love affiliate income because it can feel quite passive. You can create just one blog post or social media post and potentially earn money from it years down the line, as long as you maintain it and keep generating traffic to it. With affiliate marketing, I can enjoy life more and know that I am still able to earn a great living promoting products that I use and enjoy.
Think about it this way: If you already enjoy a product, why not get paid to promote it?
Editor’s Note: I know many of you (including myself) are interested in knowing how long it may take to make considerable progress with promoting affiliate links. I practically stalk Michelle’s income reports and based on all of her reports, it took about six months (from April 2014 to November 2014) to see a major difference in her affiliate income that she reported. Within a year (May 2015) she had pretty much nailed down a strategy that was bringing in five-figures of affiliate income each month. With that said, don’t expect a major difference if you’re not invested in putting a lot of work and effort into this. I was able to make the amount I paid for the course back within a 2-month period; however, I’m realistic and know that this may take some time. I started in June 2016.
3) If there are three things you think is necessary for someone to get started with making money with affiliate marketing, what would you say those three things would be?
1) A loyal audience and trust. You don’t need a ton of followers to make money with affiliate marketing, but you definitely need a loyal audience that trusts what you have to say. If they don’t trust you, then they won’t purchase anything through you.
2) A platform. Whether you are hoping to make affiliate income through a blog, a social media account, word of mouth, or something else, you need some sort of platform so that you can get your word out and promote affiliate offers.
3) A strategy. You cannot, I repeat CANNOT, just slap affiliate links on your blog and hope to make money with affiliate marketing. You have to have some sort of strategy, which is what I teach in Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
Related: How to Start a Blog on a Budget
4) Who do you think this course is a perfect fit for?
My course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, is for you if:
- You want to have a profitable blog.
- You want to improve your blogging income even further.
- You want to earn income while you sleep.
- You want to write a blog post and earn money from it for years down the line, with minimal work needed.
- You tried to make money with affiliate marketing before but haven’t had any luck.
- You want to spend more time with your loved ones and have a better work-life balance.
- You love blogging and want to be able to grow your blog, build trust with your audience, and help more people!
In Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, there are 6 modules, over 30 lessons, several worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful and exclusive Facebook group, and more. I go through everything that you need to know about affiliate marketing and more!
5) What will your students learn in this course?
In Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, students will learn:
- The basics of affiliate marketing, what it is, etc.
- The positives of affiliate marketing and why all online influencers should be doing it
- The exact steps I’ve taken to earn over $400,000 from a single blog post
- How to pick the correct affiliate products to promote
- How you can increase conversions
- Ways to build trust and not lose followers
- Required disclosures that you need to know about
- The one major tool you need to make money with affiliate marketing
- Different strategies to use to promote your affiliate products
- How to use Pinterest to succeed at affiliate marketing (yes, this includes the newest Pinterest affiliate rules!)
6) If there is one thing you would do different on your journey to make money from affiliate marketing, what would that be?
The top thing I would do different is that I would have started earlier! I probably lost so much money by not starting affiliate marketing sooner in my blogging career. I highly recommend that everyone starts ASAP.
Editor’s Note: Many are reluctant to put ads up or promote offers very early in their blog. They are also quick to tell you that you shouldn’t do either as it may turn your readers off. However, I took the opposite approach. I put ads up from the very start and I began using affiliate links (although I didn’t know how to use them properly to bring in income) very early. I established with you all upfront so there would be no surprises. Just something to think about.
7) What’s the one takeaway anyone who takes your course should remember that will set them apart from everyone else?
I want everyone to know that YOU can make money with affiliate marketing. You can do it in a non-salesy way.
So many people are afraid of affiliate marketing because of two reasons: 1) They don’t think they have a large enough platform; 2) They are afraid of being too “salesy”.
I have never had someone tell me that I’m salesy or pushy, and I’ve even had people ask me how I make money with affiliate marketing because they never see me try to sell things. So, yes, it is possible to provide high-quality content for your readers without being pushy!
Wrapping Thangs Up
Overall, I can’t say enough good things about this course. If you see yourself doing major things with your platform — I see no reason to delay trying affiliate marketing. You can diversify your income and keep the lights on at your website (because we all know blogging isn’t free!).
As Michelle said, you can’t just slap affiliate links up and cross your fingers. Trust me, I did that and it didn’t work. I didn’t see success with any affiliate links until I completed this course.
Regardless of whether you’re new to blogging or have been blogging for years — everyone could learn something from Michelle’s course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. It doesn’t matter your niche or the type of platform you have, you’ll learn strategies that apply in any situation.
Learn more about Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing here so you can go learn the strategies that will take you from zero to one-hundred — with a lot of effort, of course!