Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways you can monetize your blog. If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, it’s basically recommending various products and services to your readers and then getting a commission if someone signs up or makes a purchase from your recommendation.
It goes without saying, but it should be done honestly and you should only promote things that you would use or buy yourself.
By using a disclosure at the top of your post (similar to what you see on this blog) you should make sure your readers are aware of your affiliate relationship.
So how much can you earn using affiliate? Quite a bit, if you’re doing it right!
Its Michelle Schroeder-Gardner Making Saints Sense He earns around six figures per month through his blog, a large portion of which comes from affiliate marketing. Yes, six figures a month! You read that right.
Although I don’t earn that much, I can also say that blogging has been life-changing for me in terms of income, and I love to inspire you all with success stories. can be done. And Michelle is hands-down the most inspiring example of blogging success I could possibly share with you!
Watch our interview below:
Can you tell us a little about your blogging journey?
i started Making Saints Sense In August 2011, after reading Cosmopolitan magazine (yes, that magazine actually had a good section on personal finance that month!) that featured a personal finance website in one of their articles.
I got hooked on that personal finance website (that website is DailyWorth) and everything grew from there. I didn’t create my blog to earn a living – it was just a hobby.
At first, I blogged about things I was going through, like my dad passing, living a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle, and other personal things that I deleted from my blog (I used to blog completely anonymously – even with a fake name!).
I then realized how much I love blogging and realized it was for me, so now I’m a full-time blogger! It’s funny how life can change so drastically.
How long did it take you to go from zero to six figures in a year and roughly what percentage of that comes from affiliate marketing?
You can find all of mine Earnings report is here.
As I said above, I didn’t start my blog with the intention of making money, so I never thought about it or tried it until almost a year later.
I made about $1,000 a year after I started and now four years later, I’m making about $100,000 a month from my blog. About $50,000 per month comes from affiliate marketing.
On average, how many hours per week would you say you work on your blog?
This is a difficult question for me to answer. We travel full-time, so our week and schedule changes all the time. In July, I barely worked on my blog, but in August I was regularly spending 12+ hours almost every single day.
I’m working a lot because I’m trying to move forward and right now I’ve had all my work done for about a month and a half, so that’s nice.
Out of all the ways to monetize a blog, what is it about affiliate marketing that you love — compared to display advertising and direct advertising?
I prefer affiliate marketing to other methods of making money because it can feel quite passive.
You can create just one blog post or social media post, and make money from it for years as long as you maintain it and build traffic to it. Through affiliate marketing, I can enjoy life more and know that I am still able to earn a great living that I use and enjoy.
Think about it this way: If you already enjoy a product, why not pay to promote it?
Do you think you can do well with affiliate marketing even if you get less than 100,000 page views per month?
Yes, sure. Even when I had less than 100,000 page views per month, I was making money from affiliate marketing with very little work. It’s about effectively and efficiently promoting affiliate products to your following, which I teach in my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course.
I get about 400,000 page views per month and earn about $50,000 a month from affiliate marketing.
I know people with millions of monthly page views who are making nowhere near the amount I am – so that just goes to show you that it’s all about promoting affiliate products the right way.
What would you recommend a new blogger, with a very limited budget, try to invest in their first few months if their ultimate goal is to do this full time?
I know I’m promoting my own course, but I think the course is a great value for a new blogger. There are several new bloggers who are taking the course and have already made their first affiliate commission after their first month of blogging.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is a great learning tool, even if you are a brand new blogger. By taking this course, you will start blogging the right way.
You can learn from my affiliate marketing mistakes and learn the best ways to start earning as an affiliate. By taking this course you are sure to build a profitable blog faster than the average blogger, because you will learn everything you need to know about affiliate marketing.
Your success in blogging is an inspiration, especially considering there are so many people who don’t realize it can be a career! Can you tell us what’s next for you?
For now, I plan to focus mainly on my blog, growing my email list, and providing great content for my readers. I may launch another course, but for now I plan to slow down and enjoy life.
Thanks for the interview, Michelle!
I would like to add that I can personally vouch for Michelle’s eCourse if you want to check it out. I signed up for it in early August and finished it in about a week.
It was August very It’s been busy for me with the kids starting school so I haven’t had a ton of time to strategize and do a lot with what I’ve learned.
However, I still made almost $2,000 more from affiliate marketing than I would normally make! It surprised me. I expect that number to continue to grow as I spend more time implementing Michelle’s strategies.
The course is very thorough and easy to understand. I think this is especially helpful for new bloggers who want to make money blogging and feel frustrated in their efforts with things like display ads and direct ads.
And even if you already make money blogging and think you understand affiliate marketing, you’ll still learn some new, effective techniques from this course (like I did). You get access to a private Facebook group for bloggers which is super helpful!
The course is $197, or you can take a two-month payment plan for $105 a month.
Good luck!
Anna Thurman is a home blogger and mother of two. He has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. His results are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.
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