Ah, writing can be so peaceful—especially when you can do it from the comfort of your couch. Writing has been a desired skill for years, even more so when it comes to making money.

Writers in the 1500s were composing lyrical masterpieces. Nowadays, there are publishers who can get millions of users to focus on a piece of content. Some publishers specialize purely in content and use blogs as their main platform.

If you’ve decided to take the same route of writing content, congratulations and welcome! The only issue you’re going to run into is figuring out how to monetize a blog. While some blog writers are just so amazing that they seem to seep money, not all of us are that skilled.

Luckily, any publisher can easily monetize a blog with affiliate marketing. Keep reading to find out what affiliate marketing is and how you can use it to monetize your blog!

What is Blogging?

The word “blog” originally came from the term “web log,” – later “weblog,” which was shortened to what we now know as blogs.

A weblog, or blog, started out as a way for users to track their thoughts, experiences, and ideas. Blogs are almost like a diary or journal.

A blog consists mostly of written content. A blog can also contain images, videos, and external links. However, these should only add to the written content or be used as resources.

A blog can take place on any available platform where you can upload written content. Blog platforms usually have a large community for you to share your content with.

Publishers stand to benefit from blogs in the following ways:

 
A blog is super easy to set up and use. All you need is a profile on your respective network, and then you’re good to go!

The best part of starting a blog is that you can work from anywhere you’d like. Go sit in a café or visit a friend’s house. As long as you get your work done on time!

Blogs are great for deepening personal relationships with your viewers. Blogs often show personal opinions and experiences. Therefore, users share their own experiences and open up to the content creator.

Blogging is a great opportunity, but there are still things you’ll need to work around:

  • Takes time to set up;
  • Needs consistent new ideas;
  • Builds up slowly;
  • People take your business less seriously.

 
Starting up your blog will take time; don’t kid yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your affiliate blog be.

Blogs take months of time to build a proper account up. Then you have to deal with lower commission rates at first.

But once you’ve found a groove, you’ll skyrocket in experience and popularity!

What is Affiliate Marketing?

While having a blog is great, you also have to make money off of it somehow. That’s what affiliate marketing is there for.

Affiliate marketing is for publishers who can advertise for advertisers in need. In exchange, the advertiser will pay the publisher for each user or action they generate.

Most user actions take place through affiliate links.

Every publisher is provided with their own collection of affiliate links. These affiliate links are unique to each publisher and can’t be shared!

There are a few types of actions that your advertiser can ask you to provide:

  • Click on affiliate links;
  • Visit the affiliate website;
  • Buy affiliate products;
  • Subscribe or become an affiliate member;
  • Sign up for newsletters.

 
All advertisers have rates based on the user actions they are trying to generate. Within affiliate marketing, you have the following commission models:

  • Cost per click;
  • Cost per a thousand views;
  • Cost per action or lead;
  • Cost per sale;
  • Cost per install;
  • RevShare.

 
Advertisers can also change their rates based on the type of affiliate link that was used.

If a standard link is used, it will generate less income. That is due to the fact that it directs users to the advertiser’s homepage.

When a deeplink is used, it generates much more income. Deeplinks send users straight to product and content pages. These pages have a much higher sales potential than the homepage.

How to Effectively Monetize a Blog with Affiliate Marketing

Now we can get into how to effectively monetize an affiliate marketing blog.

It’s true that each publisher is different and will need to find out the best method for themselves.

But there are basic steps you can take to ensure you’re on the right track when you start out:

  • Pick a niche and an affiliate program;
  • Advertise across all platforms;
  • Dos and don’ts of affiliate marketing;
  • Prioritize service over income;
  • Ask others for help.

 
These guidelines will ensure that you monetize your blog with affiliate marketing properly.

Try all of the options before you give up on affiliate marketing!

Pick a Niche and Affiliate Program

If you want to know how to monetize an affiliate marketing blog, you need the right niche and advertiser.

The niche you choose defines what you’ll be promoting for the next few months (or years). The advertiser you choose defines how much you make from promoting that content.

An affiliate marketing niche is the category of content that you specialize in.

Some examples include fashion, home decor, outdoors, sports, etc.

Whatever niche you decide on, make sure you won’t get bored of it too quickly!

The affiliate program you partner with can be any business that has products in the niche you’ve chosen.

The affiliate program sets out terms and conditions that contain its rates and payment methods. You have to agree with these T&Cs if you want to advertise for them!

It’s up to you to do your research and see if an advertiser is worth partnering with.

The best place to find an advertiser is through the Admitad Partner Network.

Admitad has a large catalog of advertisers for publishers to choose from. You can manage all of them from Admitad’s handy interface.

Once you’ve partnered with an advertiser through Admitad, monetizing your blog with affiliate marketing will be a breeze.

In Admitad Store you can browse through all the available advertisers. Once you’ve gotten the hang of promoting your desired advertiser, you can start marketing for popular brands like:

Join Partner Network Now!

Cross-Platform Advertising

Advertising across multiple networks is a great way to effectively monetize a blog with affiliate marketing.

Some publishers take the silly route of limiting themselves to one platform. There are benefits to having one platform that you market to, but they’re not enough.

Using multiple platforms is the only proper way to monetize an affiliate marketing blog.

When you advertise on many networks, you:

  • Have a larger audience reach;
  • Can use various monetization features;
  • Can establish a name for yourself.

 
It’s okay if you want to put your main focus on one platform, but don’t discredit the other platforms.

Most social media networks have built-in monetizing features you can use. The more streams of income you have, the more you’ll make at the end of the month.

If you want a tool that monetizes your social media accounts right from the start, without a large following, try out ConvertSocial.

ConvertSocial skips any requirements needed before you can monetize. With ConvertSocial, you can instantly monetize:

 
Your main platform should be where the bulk of your blog is. The rest of your social media accounts are there to advertise your affiliate blog.

You can also post teaser posts on other accounts to draw users to your main account!

Dos and Don’ts of Affiliate Marketing

Effectively monetizing a blog with affiliate marketing means avoiding any possible mistakes. Publishers like to think their content is the best thing since sliced bread, but we all get things wrong.

  • Do: promote content you understand.
  • Don’t: promote content you have no interest in.

 
This cannot be repeated enough: don’t waste your time promoting content you don’t like. While it might seem selfish, you’ll be doing yourself and your advertiser a favor.

  • Do: place ads in a pleasing manner.
  • Don’t: place ads over content.

 
Where you put ads can be the difference between a user who buys a product and one who leaves immediately. Less can be more when it comes to placing ads on your blog.

  • Do: create a page for each product.
  • Don’t: put too many products on the same page.

 
The same as with ads, if there are too many products on a page, then users don’t know where to look. Make it easy by limiting the number of products displayed on a page.

  • Do: be honest.
  • Don’t: use “clickbait” headings.

 
The quickest way to lose a sale and a loyal audience is by lying. The more you lie about the products, the more you hurt your own income (and reputation!).

Prioritize Service over Income

If you still can’t figure out how to monetize a blog with affiliate marketing, you’re too focused on your income.

While making money is great, money is a form of payment for services rendered.

A few hundred years ago, they traded material goods or services for food. In affiliate marketing, you provide a service by advertising content to users who might like it.

Your main goal should be to provide content and products that users really want or need.

The more you focus on giving customers what they want, the more commission you’ll make in return. That’s because users will want to come visit your site.

Especially if they trust and respect your opinions and recommendations.

That’s why it’s so important to choose an advertiser that has products or services you want to advertise.

If you wouldn’t buy the things you’re promoting, why coerce others into it?

There are plenty of advertisers with products you can feel proud to advertise. Don’t limit yourself to a less-than-worthy affiliate program!

Keep in contact with your audience and respond to all the feedback people give you.

There will always be some negative comments and complaints. Use this feedback to improve your affiliate marketing blog!

A Little Help Goes a Long Way

Sometimes, monetizing an affiliate marketing blog can seem impossible. That’s why publishers always ask each other for help.

And why you should always ask for help, too.

In fact, publishers have given it a special name so it doesn’t seem embarrassing. If you’ve ever seen the word “collaboration,” then you’ll know.

A collaboration is when publishers, influencers, and brands come together to make some great content.

This content seems to grab users’ attention much quicker than normal content! A collaborative post can be more relatable to viewers.

Any sort of collaboration requires talking on some level. Collaborations can even take place over a live stream, video call, or even a radio station.

Though, if you aren’t the best in social situations, you can always limit it to combined posts.

Another way to get help is through Admitad’s solution pages. Admitad offers solutions not only to publishers but also to content creators like influencers.

Even this article you’re reading now is a form of help.

In addition, there’s many more articles to help you on your affiliate journey the whole way!

The Internet is the biggest collection of people in one metaphysical space. You’re never alone when you’re working online.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to monetize an affiliate marketing blog, you can go and try out different options. Keep trying until you find an advertising method that works perfectly for you. You can’t know how much money you’re capable of making if you don’t try.

Monetizing a blog with affiliate marketing is no easy task, but top publishers will agree that it’s so worth it.

Just the experience of advertising and being a part of the online world is thrilling. The amount you can earn from affiliate marketing is just a bonus!

A blog is even more difficult as it needs good writing with proper grammar and language. If you say the wrong thing on your blog, you could easily lose all your hard work. Just know that whatever mistake you make, you can start over in affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is a diverse world, which means there are always new avenues.

If one way doesn’t work for you, try a different affiliate niche. Advertise on another social media platform. Do whatever you need to, just keep trying to make your affiliate mark. You’ll get there eventually!