I know how hard blogging is.

Sometimes, you feel like you’re writing for no one.

What is extra demotivating is looking at other bloggers’ successes and feeling worse.

I understand.

I’ve been doing this for a long time and it took me a whole year to start seeing any kind of success.

It takes a while to get blog traffic.

It doesn’t matter what you use – Google, Social Media, it’s all the same, it takes time to kick in and start bringing in clicks.

That’s why implementing ads isn’t something you do in the beginning – you have to wait for a few months before you start getting those pageviews and applying to SheMedia, Ezoic, or Google Ads.

However, affiliate marketing can be done on day 1.

And in this post, I am going to show you how to do that with my own example!

First of all, hello.

My name is Angela and I run a few blogs in different niches. I just sold a drawing blog of mine for five figures, and I continue and write for Mind Space Cafe (lifestyle and relationships) and Simply Happy Hair. (all about hair)

Within 6 months of starting my hair blog, my Amazon Affiliate earnings increased from 0 to $150 per month.

(You can see below, all the tracking IDs related to each individual hair blog post – this helps me see what is doing well)

Mind you, the blog isn’t centered around hair products – I casually drop a link here and there as and when I feel it’s helpful.

Sometimes, when I really want to, I’ll make a small list post of 5 products that the person can consider buying.

In this post, I’ll cover:

  • A brief into on affiliate marketing
  • Why Amazon Affiliate Marketing is actually so easy
  • How to actually get started
  • How to make your first Amazon Affiliate Sale in less than 24 hours

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Please note that this blog post includes affiliate links, clicking on them and purchasing something may make me a commission at no extra cost to you. Most of which goes to my little pooches whom I love to the moon and back.

Stray Curls Angela has two adorable labrador girls.Okay, for all the blogging newbies, this one is for you.

What is affiliate marketing?

What is affiliate marketing? How does it work? And is affiliate marketing worth it?

Affiliate marketing means signing up for a program and promoting their product on your blog/website. You get a special link from the company whose product you’re trying to promote.

When a reader clicks on the product link, a cookie is created to track the sale.

(Okay, not this kind of cookie)

And if the sale goes through, you get the commission!

That’s affiliate marketing in short.

Why is Amazon Affiliate Marketing so easy?

Whenever someone wants to make money via affiliate marketing, I always point them down to Amazon Affiliate marketing – always.

For several reasons.

1. People trust Amazon

It doesn’t matter if you’re promoting a coloring book or an expensive bottle of perfume – Amazon is a trusted platform.

People all over the world (including me) buy staples and luxury products on Amazon.

It’s globally recognized so people don’t hesitate to click.

So, even though the commission rate is less, the resistance to buy also decreases meaning you get more commissions!

2. Amazon has a huge product range

Whether you’re in gardening, hair care or a book blogger – you can easily find products to promote.

if you are considering starting a book blog

You’re spoilt for choice really!

3. It’s very easy to sign up and implement

The sign-up process is very straightforward. Any new blogger or marketer can get started, Amazon takes care of everything for you.

4. You’ll get cross-Product commissions

If you put an Amazon Affiliate link of a jumper, and let’s say a reader clicks to Amazon from your link.

They then added more items to the cart like a potted plant, school bags for their kids, etc., and checked out their whole cart – you get that commission for all those items!

This is why Amazon Affiliate Marketing is so underrated.

The product range is so diverse that even if they’re mildly curious about the link you posted, they’ll find something else they like and buy that.

5. Link generation is very easy

Amazon has a Site Stripe above every product once you sign up and become an Amazon Affiliate, you just have to copy-paste the link and you’re good to go!

Additionally, the dashboard is very nice and clean.

Meaning you don’t need to be a tech guru to understand how it works.

If you create a unique tracking link for each blog post, you’ll be able to see which blog posts are bringing you more income and you can write more posts like that one!

Okay, now that you’re all up to speed, let’s get into how we can make this happen.

Yeah?

You’ll need a website/blog

Don’t directly paste images on Pinterest and attach affiliate links to them, this is just scammy.

People have eyes and they can go to the image if they want.

But what gets people to buy is reading about other people’s experiences.

Let me give you an example.

I once had a post on my art blog about why artists use “Blue Pencils.”

It was an informative post, and at the end of the post, I attached a link to the blue pencils I use and why they’re better than most brands.

That post brought about $30 a month.

It’s a small chunk of change, but it’s a lot of money for a blue pencil because pencils barely cost a thing.

The journey to becoming a successful artist definitely takes time but it's worth it.

And this is just a simple example.

You can write about absolutely anything.

How-to posts are honestly one of the best.

But you can also do product reviews, list posts, or even write a comparison post.

So, start a blog. 

Apply to be an Amazon Affiliate

Once you have a blog, write up 10 blog posts – this is to show Amazon you’re a nice blogger and not in it for just the cash.

In the meantime, also start a Pinterest account (this strategy requires Pinterest) and start pinning your posts so you can increase your impressions.

You don’t need the website to look fancy.

You just need 5 pages:

  • Home page that also displays your blog posts in chronological order
  • About Page (that talks about why you started the blog and for whom)
  • Contact page (with a form that works)
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

That’s it.

Click here to apply for the Amazon affiliate program.

Once your application is approved, you’ll notice a SiteStripe above every product on Amazon – it’s a teeny-tiny toolbar with your Affiliate link.

Just copy that and paste it into your website – and you’re good to go!

How to make money after becoming an Amazon Affiliate?

Okay, now we get to the good stuff.

Please note that quantity is essential here.

The more posts you have, the more Amazon Affiliate commissions your website will generate.

1. Do research to find out what people are obsessing over in your niche

Successful blogs are blogs that solve other people's problems!

I do this research on social media and try to understand what people have difficulty with.

For instance, if it’s beauty-related, go to Instagram/TikTok.

See what people are fussing over or what they’re usually discussing.

Make a blog post catered to that.

If it’s anything else, join the relevant Facebook group, I join 2-to 3 and go through all the threads to see what are the most common issues.

You can also join Reddit.

The idea is to understand what is their deep pain.

I noticed when it came to hair, people often struggled with hair loss, or frizzy hair because of chlorinated water.

So, I talked to my partner (he swims every day) and we tried 2-3 products till we found 1 that actually solved the problem.

I wrote a blog post on how to condition hair and keep it soft under the swimming cap so that it doesn’t get frizzy after swimming.

That post still brings me a good amount of money each month.

2. Put your heart and soul into the post

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a post on cookware or blushes.

Don’t just throw in some links and call it a day.

Remember, we live in a world of AI.

You need to write like your livelihood depends on it.

It honestly does.

Write from your heart.

Even the outlook matters.

Instead of writing, “7 Books to Read After a Breakup”, you could frame the title like “7 Books that Helped Me Heal After a Painful Breakup” or “7 Books You Need to Help You Navigate Your Breakup.”

When you’re kind and go above and beyond, you’ll get loyal readers.

Put some emotion into the title. This will call out to the reader and make them want to read your post.

The hard work is getting the reader to land on your blog.

Remember that.

A few tips to keep in mind when writing an affiliate post:

  • Show how the situation improves after using the service/product (or at least talk about the benefits)
  • Include a photo of the product (since Amazon has stopped image sharing from SiteStripe, I use this plugin to pull the image directly from Amazon – it’s within the terms and conditions)
  • Include a text link underneath the image by copy-pasting the link from SiteStripe in Amazon directly
  • And talk about the product a bit to show that you endorse it.

3. Reduce the competition by adding modifiers

Let’s say I wanted to write a post on “10 Drawing Gifts for People Who Love to Draw” but the competition is too high and I notice that tons of people are writing about it already.

I could write it anyway but it might take time to stand out from the crowd.

Or, I can do something different.

I can tweak the blog post.

I can write “10 Drawing Gifts for Kids under the Age of 10”

Note: I actually wrote this post and it brought me a neat income.

This really helps you stand out.

Since you need the sale fast, you need to write more posts in the beginning.

4. Make very pretty “clickable” pins and put them on Pinterest

I have Pinterest accounts for every Blog.

Because Pinterest brings in traffic rather quickly as compared to SEO now in 2024.

You can read my Pinterest traffic strategies here:

But for now, here are some pins I created for a list post on clarified shampoos.

I made 2 sales within 1 day on this post thanks to these 4 pins which I pinned onto my board only once.

 

Aside from that, I’ve been using this Pinterest Keyword Tool for every pin I pin.

It really helps me find keywords and also see what the best pins in a particular topic:

Pinterest Keyword Tool

If you are serious about getting traffic from Pinterest, please, please get this tool.

This is only a 1-time purchase and the tool will sit on your computer forever. It’s NOT a subscription, so that’s the best part!

I recommend it for bloggers who blog about food, beauty, weddings, home decor, arts and crafts, wellness, relationships, finance, fashion, etc.

I use it regularly and it’s actually helping me rank for all the keywords I find on it.

I just put it in the Pin description and it’s good to go!

I just enter the topic in Keywords on the tool.

And it fetches me all the long-tail keywords related to that topic. I am also using manual pinning – so no Tailwind or other tools. I spend a nice 10 minutes every time I have 4-5 pins to add to the platform.

And Pinterest is picking up so well for me even in my lifestyle blog so I highly recommend it.

And that’s about it.

I have talked about affiliate marketing in my earlier posts and I’ll link them below so if you need more help, do check these out as well.

If you have any questions, I’m more than happy to help – just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.