Affiliate marketing (for those who don’t know) entails receiving commission either in rewards money with the site or an actual payment via a Visa gift card or bank deposit. You receive this commission by selling someone else’s product/service online. Basically, you are getting paid for your recommendations. You can think of it as another stream of income. Affiliate marketing is a great way to share the brands you know, love, and trust while also getting paid in return for your recommendation.

How do you find out who has an affiliate program?

You Google it of course! Now, before you start going crazy, listen up. While affiliate marketing can bring in some good money, and for some I mean real good money, you want to be careful with whom you sign up. You don’t just want to sign up for every affiliate marketing program out there. Why? Because even though you sign up for a brand’s affiliate marketing program you still have to DO THE WORK. That’s right, work. You need to:

• Know about the product or service
• Share out the link
• Disclose that the link you are sharing is an affiliate link
• Try to keep track of who talks to you about using your link to sign up for something. You want to make sure you get credit if they use your link. I mean, think about it, someone signs up using your link yet that information is either not received on the other end or the company delays paying you because you are not paying attention. Hey, it can happen, but that’s why it’s important to only sign up for affiliate marketing programs you know, like, and trust and that you are going to pay attention to when you should get paid.

Do I do affiliate marketing?

Yes, I am an affiliate for several companies which you can see below (I will be updating this list as time goes on).

• Name.com – purchase a domain name easily & we both get $5 at sign up
• Divi – WordPress premium website theme
• Siteground – web hosting as I use WordPress(.org) for my website
• Amazon Store – no matter what you buy I get a small percentage since you used my link
• Amazon mobile app – first-time users get $5
• Acuity Scheduling – easy & affordable online booking system for anyone
• Google Apps for business – the only way to keep everything organized and in one place no matter how big your business is
• Vimeo – great place to upload your videos. Just like YouTube, but better when it comes to customization of the video player
• Evernote – the best way to take and keep track of all your notes
• Postable – Create and send any card via snail mail including business and weddings

Why am I an affiliate for so many companies?

Each of these companies offers my business and my clients something different. I not only know, trust and like these companies, but I also use them in my business.

How do I keep my affiliate links organized?

Well, I use my Google Drive (as noted above “Google Apps for business”) and have a spreadsheet listing out each company, my unique links, and any notes like payment information or waiting periods. That way I can easily take a look at what goes where.