Why I love sharing affiliate links

I’ve heard people say that affiliate links are spammy, they belittle your blogging business, they put readers off reading your blog…

Well, here’s what I think. I love sharing affiliate links on my blog and with my email list and here’s why. They’re helpful to my readers and they make me money.

I am a full-time blogger and I need my blogs to make me money. By the way, the first reason is the most important. It’s definitely not just about the money. Keep reading to find out the wrong way to share affiliate links (it was a very short lived mistake I made early on).

DISCLOSURE: Oh, and by the way, this post does proudly contain affiliate links. I will receive payment if you purchase through my affiliate links.

Why I love sharing affiliate links - Affiliate marketing

So, what are affiliate links anyway

Many companies big and small run an affiliate programs or referral programs. Amazon is one of the bigger affiliate programs I’ve used.

To be honest, you may still find the odd amazon link here on the blog but personally, I’ve never done that well from it. That being said, I know many blogging friends who make a living from Amazon links. If you can genuinely link to products on a regular basis, go for it.

One of the smaller companies I love to promote is my fantastic hosting company Lyrical Host.

I absolutely love them and they’ve stepped up and way above what I’d ever expected from a hosting company so many times since joining them. They make me feel like a real person and I know my business matters to them. So for me to recommend them is something I am incredibly pleased to do. Take a look at what they can offer you.

Go to Lyrical Host

And if you want to switch hosting to them pop in this discount code MBCOFFER and you’ll receive 10% off your first hosting plan.

Affiliate programs help businesses gain more attention through recommendations and in return for those recommendations they reward people with a payment. The payment or commission will vary greatly depending on the business. Some will pay as little as 1% commission and others 50% – 75%

Also, some companies like Lyrical Host and my Pinterest scheduling service Tailwind offer a bonus for affiliates to give their readers.

Lyrical Host offers the 10% discount when you add my special code MBCOFFER

And Tailwind offers a free trial and with my referral link you’ll get $15 when you sign up to their plus account. It’s a win for everyone involved as far as I’m concerned.

Let’s go back to those reasons why I love to share affiliate links.

Why I love to share affiliate links

Look, if I find something that really helps me in business or my general life then I love to share it with other people.

I don’t spend money easily in either my general life or my business. It has to be really beneficial to me. If it’s helpful to me then it’s probably going to be helpful to at least some people who read this blog or sign up to my email list.

A couple of years ago, I started to really struggle with night-time driving. The glare from the lights was at a point where I was scared to drive at night and had pretty much decided I wasn’t going to.

Then I came across an anti-glare spray in my local supermarket. I bought it with very little hope and thought well it’s worth a try. WOW, I loved it. It’s so amazing. I keep it in my car and spray it on every time I’m doing any night driving. It’s made a massive difference to the quality of my life and I’ve recommended it to so many people since I found it.

People have told me they hate nighttime driving and I instantly tell them about the anti-glare spray. I suspect your the same about something you absolutely love.

If I love something and find it really helpful then I’m going to tell people about it and if that means I get some extra money in return, that’s just an added bonus.

My affiliate mistake

In the hope that you won’t fall into the same trap as I did when I first started looking into affiliate programs, I’ll share what I personally consider to be my big affiliate mistake.

There are some big affiliate networks and often when you first start researching affiliate marketing, these are the places you’re sent to. Now, I’m not saying they’re bad. I’m just saying they were a mistake for me.

I ended up sharing links for businesses I didn’t use purely as a way to make money – Please don’t judge me, I was going through my grasp at straws stage – But I saw the light very quickly.

I’ve always wanted my business to be authentic so that I feel good about it and this (for me) didn’t. Now, again, I do want to say that there is nothing wrong with the affiliate networks but for me, the only way to go with affiliate marketing is to only promote things I believe in 100%

People will know if you’re just adding the affiliate link to make money and you know absolutely nothing about the service/company or product. And this is when you’re likely to lose readers.

Where to find really good affiliate programs that you will feel proud to recommend.

Where to find affiliate programs you’ll love to share

Make a list of all the services/companies that you use in your business and take a look if they have an affiliate program. They’ll often make it easy to find but if you can’t find any information, drop them an email and ask.

If you find the service helpful, then the chances are that your own audience will too or at least some of them.

Should you only go with high paying commission affiliate programs?

Well, of course, it’s entirely up to you but I’d say no. One of my favourite affiliate programs is with Hypnosis Downloads. I’ve been with them for many years now and love their downloads. Each download on its own will only bring in around $5 per purchase.

They’re low-cost downloads making them super good value so the commission is going to be small too. But I make quite a good amount of sales each and every month and it all adds up very nicely and I am totally comfortable recommending this company.

Now I’m also an affiliate for the fabulous EBA – Elite Blog Academy. They only open up for new members once a year and it’s a much bigger payout per purchase- but only for a very short period of time.

I recommend that as long as you love the product or service, then join the affiliate or referral program.

Here’s another reason I love sharing affiliate links

Imagine this. I write and publish a blog post on a topic that my audience will find really helpful. Within that blog post, I share a affiliate link. Most of my posts here on this blog are evergreen content, so they stay relevant all year.

I make sure that I direct traffic to the blog post regularly – My number one way for long term traffic is definitely Pinterest.

That’s it. But this blog post will keep generating an income months and years after it’s been written and it’s a great feeling waking up to notifications of new payments that have been generated from work you did years ago.

Make them relevant to your audience

If you’re a food blogger, it’s not the best idea to add affiliate links for car manufacturers (I have no idea if that’s even a thing) Just like you wouldn’t expect me to share an affiliate link for a cookery course here on this blog.

Choose affiliate programs that you use and are relevant to your business/blog/newsletter…

Make sure you let people know that you’re sharing an affiliate link

You must make sure that you clearly let people know that you are sharing an affiliate link. I tend to put a message at the top of the post or usually a paragraph into the post.

It’s important to keep your blog legal and it’s just common decency. Your readers want to know if you’re recommending something you’re going to earn money on.

Affiliate Link sum up

So this is my quick run through for sharing affiliate links

  • Be genuine and only recommend things you use, love and are useful to you
  • Make them relevant to your audience
  • Be upfront and let people know it’s an affiliate link
  • NEVER be SPAMMY about it.

That’s it. That’s why I love to share affiliate link and I’ve hopefully given you ideas so that you can make some money using affiliate links in your business.

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Why I love sharing affiliate links - The secrets for genuine affiliate marketing.  

Affiliate marketing doesn't need to be and shouldn't be spammy or fake or just to make money.  

When done right, it's a win for you, your audience and the people who offer the affiliate program.  
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12 thoughts on “Why I love sharing affiliate links

  1. Thank you for posting this! I have heard of affiliate links but was not really sure how they worked. This was a very informative post and I’m saving it for blog goal setting time this summer!

  2. I totally agree with you. I don’t like it when bloggers throw them all over the place just for the sake of affiliate links, but they’re a great tool when you’re actually passionate about something. There are many products and things I love personally that I mention on my blog – so why shouldn’t I make a little money if I’m sharing it with others anyway?

  3. I love affiliate links as a way for bloggers to earn money. So much of the content we provide is completely free. Well-placed affiliate links feel super authentic to me, especially when I see the blogger actually using the products themselves..

  4. Thanks for your comment Trish. I feel there are a lot of great opportunities to genuinely share affiliate links that will really benefit everyone.

  5. Exactly. I certainly need to make money from my blogs. I tell my friends and family about all kinds of things I love, so it makes perfect sense to me, that I do the same with my lovely blog readers.

  6. I haven’t tapped too far into affiliate links yet. I’ve used them without much luck, but your insight is really helpful! I appreciate that you shared the mistakes you learned from, too!

  7. Thanks Monica, I’ve found that my list has grown naturally over time. If I come across something I like, I will always ask if they have an affiliate program set up. Sometimes they don’t but I’ve been put on a list to be notified when they get it set up.

  8. Ugh. I’m so bad at sharing affiliate links! I definitely need to look more into because they are a great way to make money and connect with your audience since they trust you!

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