The deeper you get into being a blogger and influencer, the more you’ll learn that there’s so much that goes into the business, especially if you want to make money, real money.

A part from brand partnerships and selling courses and classes; joining affiliate programs for brands and corporations is also a super lucrative way to quietly bring in money. For the longest time I was too lazy to look into how I could incorporate affiliate links into my business; the setting up, figuring it out, learning how to make the most of it, man, I just didn’t have it in me.

But late last year, I decided to stop fumbling the bag and take a deeper look at adding this new source of income to my business. Unlike brand partnerships, affiliate programs are the gifts that keep on giving. Most brand partnerships offer one time payment for promoting their product. Even if you influence thousands of your followers to buy into that brand, you don’t get a cut of any of those purchases, which probably make the brand more money than they paid you in the first place. With affiliate marketing, the more followers you get to buy, the more money you make! CA-CHING!

So what is an affiliate program?

Check out how howstuffworks.com describes it.

Simply put, affiliate programs, also called associate programs, are arrangements in which an online merchant Web site pays affiliate Web sites a commission to send them traffic. These affiliate Web sites post links to the merchant site and are paid according to a particular agreement. This agreement is usually based on the number of people the affiliate sends to the merchant’s site, or the number of people they send who buy something or perform some other action.

www.howstuffworks.com

Reward Style/LikeToKnowIt – $14.42

There are many companies whose business it is to simply be an affiliate company for influencers. One of the companies I’d been eyeing for some time is Reward Style and it’s LikeToKnowIt program. The first time applied, I did not get accepted. Oh yea, just like many other programs you have to apply and pray you’re accepted into these affiliate programs. After my first denial, I took some time away, worked on my content, grew my audience and tried again. In 2020 I (FINALLY) got in and started posting some of my fave outfits, beauty products and baby buys, while also providing the links to where my followers can get these items. So far I’ve banked a whopping $14.42 on the app! Just from sharing items and the links to them. That might not seem like much, but a simple post in Instagram that didn’t take me much to create brought in some bank, while I slept. It didn’t require much selling and fancy captioning either, I just posted and someone purchased! Here are the links to the baby rear view mirror and the baby Buffalo plaid pajamas that were my first sales!

I also recently got accepted into the Amazon Influencer program! There are only a few items there now and I’m still adding some awesome products to it, but you can check out my Amazon storefront here. I’m always shopping on Amazon so why not make back some coin when someone asks, “where did you get that from?!”

Good Molecules – $8.60

When PayPal sent that notification letting me know I’d made my first sale from my Good Molecules affiliate link, I knew it was time to go in. The skincare company reached out to me late last year wanting to gift me some of their products. I’m a sucker for beauty products so I promptly gave them my address. While this wasn’t a paid collaboration, I loved that they offered to add me to their affiliate program as a “thank you” for promoting their brand on my platforms. Even though physical money wasn’t involved, I felt this was a win-win because with that link I have the opportunity to now make even more money by sharing a brand I’m actually falling in love with. So when they see my new glow and ask how did my skin get so beautiful, guess which link I’ll be sharing with them?

Influencer tip: If a brand reaches out for an unpaid collab, it’ll be a great boss move to inquire about whether or not they have an affiliate program you can join.

So yes, I’m not banking thousands in affiliate marketing dollars (yet), but I’m on a mission to really engross myself in this side of the business this year. I’m not the kind of blogger who waits until things are “perfect” or waits until the numbers are stacked before I share the story. Every story has a beginning and my own starts with $23.02!

Are you a part of any affiliate programs? Which ones are your fave?