It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer throughout the week or a publisher with a blog. Everyone can profit from affiliate marketing on the side.

If you’ve got some time and patience, why not invest in a passive income?

Setting up a side hustle with affiliate marketing now can save you fortunes in the future.

However, you can only make as much money as you put in. The key is to set up your affiliate market properly from the get-go. The rewards are definitely worth it!

We live in a fast-paced and ever-changing society. This makes us feel that it’s impossible to find stability anywhere.

Yes, the affiliate market may be just as unpredictable. But the following steps ensure you can create a strong foundation in the eye of the affiliate hurricane.

An industry worth over 17 billion dollars sounds intimidating to a mere publisher.

The only thing you should take from that statistic is that there’s more than enough money to go around.

Keep reading to find out how you can set up a side hustle with affiliate marketing and grab a digital slice of this cake.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the relationship between a publisher and their affiliate programs.

The advertiser utilizes the publisher’s platform to gain further reach.

In exchange, the advertiser compensates the publisher for every viewer who clicks on an affiliate link or purchases a product.

The affiliate link is the publisher’s key to revenue.

When publishers join partner networks to find relevant advertisers for their blogs, they can generate special referral links. Each link connects viewer interactions to a specific publisher.

This way, if someone tries to use your link as their own, you’ll still get paid! The amount you get per click or sale is decided by the advertiser you partner with.

The affiliate market is diverse enough for any niche to join the rat race.

Is it competitive? Very.

Should you be scared? No.

The only worry you should have is not being able to handle the traffic load. Yes, this is a real concern with affiliate marketing!

The market may be competitive, but there are more than enough viewers to go around. One viewer can help hundreds of publishers in a day. Imagine what happens when 5 billion people are using the Internet every day.

Start a Side Hustle with Affiliate Marketing

The world of affiliate marketing has opened up countless doors for publishers. Recent statistics show that affiliate marketing is the top source of income for 30% of publishers.

Of these publishers who become marketers, 80% make an average of $20,000 a year.

That’s an easy $1,600 a month. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that extra income every month?

The income you can make depends on the commission rates your affiliate program offers.

Make sure that the brand you partner with offers a method that suits the type of traffic you receive.

Find Brands Now!

If your audience is less likely to buy products, find an affiliate with a higher rate per view than per purchase.

The following are, in order, the most popular forms of commission offered by affiliate programs:

  • CPA (Cost per Action);
  • Fixed fees;
  • CPC (Cost per Click);
  • CPL (Cost per Lead);
  • CPI (Cost per Install);
  • CPM (Cost per thousand impressions).

 
The most common type, Cost per Action, refers to a set rate each time a purchase is made with your referral link.

However, an affiliate program can choose to pay you one agreed upon amount for the entirety of your services each month.

This is a fixed fee method.

Unlike any of the “cost per” methods, a fixed fee ensures a stable amount each month.

One of the best options is to find a popular advertiser that offers a fixed fee. Then, partner with smaller advertisers that offer variable commission rates based on the number of viewers you bring in each month.

Finding the Perfect Advertiser

Beyond the commission rates, there are other factors to consider when choosing an affiliate program:

  • Niche compatibility;
  • Reputation and reach;
  • Server capabilities;
  • Quality of ads/links provided;
  • Quality of content and products.

 
The most obvious consideration is how compatible your niche is with the advertiser you’ve partnered with.

For instance, a fashion niche would complement a beauty product company. While ads for pet products will be ignored on a wealth-building blog.

The more compatible you are with your advertiser, the more likely your audience will click on your display ads.

Your viewers will appreciate high-quality ads that have working links. Make sure to test them out before you accidentally scare customers away.

On the same note, take a glance at the actual product or content of your advertisement. If you feel skeptical about it, just imagine how your loyal viewers will feel!

Although you may immediately flock to an advertiser with the highest number of viewers, this could lower your revenue!

It’s important to check the advertiser’s server capabilities.

If their server can’t handle the amount of traffic you bring, the referral links and ads will load slowly. A person can’t buy a product if the advertiser page won’t load.

Looking for the right advertiser can be a tiring job. Save some time by using a platform that connects you to a reliable advertiser.

The best option is Admitad Partner Network.

We make sure to find an advertiser that complements your own niche.

Join Partner Network Now!

What’s Your Niche?

An affiliate niche is defined either by its size—global, specific, and micro or by its content and products.

For example, a global pet niche. This refers to an affiliate niche that reaches a world-wide audience only through pet-orientated content. A micro-fishing niche reaches only a few viewers.

Consider the following when deciding on a niche to advertise in:

  • Your own interests and hobbies;
  • The profitability of the niche;
  • The target audience and reach;
  • The time and effort required.

 
The best way to find a niche is to look at your own skills and interests. A niche that attracts your attention will keep you working hard on it.

Make a list of niches that make you feel excited. Once you’ve got a few options, you can compare them to see which one will work best for you.

Within your options, take a look at how profitable that niche is. This will give you an idea of the passive income you stand to earn.

Profitability is dependent on the target audience. If the target audience is friendly, you’ll easily gain their trust. If the target audience is known for its harsh feedback, it might be more work than it’s worth.

The last consideration is based on your own availability. You will require sufficient time to advertise for brand-name advertisers.

If you only have a few hours to spare a day, consider a smaller niche.

Larger niches require much more interaction with the audience. A smaller niche allows for inconsistent or irregular content.

Promotion Placement

Okay, by using Partner Network from Admitad you’ve found a brand you’d like to partner with. You’ve created your referral links.

The biggest question now is where do you go from there? What are you supposed to do with these magical referral links that will supposedly pay you?

You first need a platform to share any content you have. These are a few common options you can choose from:

 
Through your blog, you can attach affiliate links within product or roundup reviews.

Affiliate programs often provide a piece of code you can insert as display ads on your niche website and blog pages. Display ads show the product being advertised and link through to the affiliate page using your unique publisher ID.

An affiliate ecommerce store removes the need for a publisher to own and sell any products or worry about shipping logistics.

A publisher can set up an ecommerce store with product pages. Each page contains information and reviews about the product.

The actual link to buy the product will redirect the customer to the affiliate product page. The publisher is paid once the customer buys the product.

Many influencers advertise products through their social media channels. This way, publishers can post their regular content while recommending the advertisers at the same time.

Other publishers provide promo codes for viewers to buy products at a discount. You can even create contests by asking people to view a specific page for a chance to win a small prize.

You will receive income while keeping your audience happy with free content and gifts.

Common Mistakes While Setting Up a Side Hustle With Affiliate Marketing

The most common mistakes made by novice publishers are, firstly, using a single platform. By expanding the social media networks that you use, you will increase your reach and traffic.

The second mistake is focusing on making money over providing quality content and products.

Ironically, the best way to make money is to stop focusing on it!

When all your focus goes into finding trustworthy sources, you’ll receive more traffic by default.

Focusing on getting content out quicker rather than the readability of the content is a big no-no. You’ll only overload your audience.

In addition, if they don’t like the content itself, they will ignore it. Regardless of how many videos or posts you put in front of them.

When you only care about money and how quickly you can make it, you don’t properly research what you’re advertising.

Develop a deep understanding of the content you’re providing to your audience.

This way, you can give an honest and helpful review. This is the best way to develop long-term relationships with returning viewers.

Your viewers are human beings, just like you. Form relationships with as many as you can. You’ll need these if you want a side income that supports you for a few years.

Remember that one mistake can ruin months of hard work. Even years. Treat your audience as you’d want a publisher to treat you!

Collaboration is Key

On average, 61% of content creators do at least one attempt to collaborate with popular influencers to market with them. Though, there’s no wonder why.

Influencers are able to steal the hearts of millions of viewers with a single video. Yes, video. Over half of online audiences prefer content in a video format.

It’s much easier to get across your intention behind the content you provide when talking. The written word is interpreted differently by various viewers. But body language is universal.

Using emphasis and showing your true emotions on screen grabs the attention of your audience. People become fixated on your content when you show some enthusiasm.

Your passive revenue will benefit greatly from your social skills. Beyond marketing for your advertiser, you can collaborate with brands as an influencer too.

A publisher is used to creating content around a product they’re advertising. Being an influencer is no different. Except for the camera that’s recording you the whole time!

If you’re camera-shy, you can pay a professional to do it for you. Many influencers openly state that they are looking for content to advertise. Just as with the affiliate program you select, the influencer’s style must complement your niche.

The influencer’s target audience must align with the type of viewers interested in the content you offer. When you’ve found the right influencer, you can pay them a portion of the commission you received from your advertiser.

Whether you are doing the influencing yourself or advertising through a popular influencer, trustworthiness is important.

Your audience must trust the information being advertised.

The influencer must offer honest and reliable reviews. Otherwise, you’ll end up with negative comments that only scare away potential viewers.

Monetization is Essential

You’d be surprised at how many publishers aren’t aware of the extent that they can monetize their platforms. Some of them don’t know the common forms of monetization that everyone should use, such as:

  • Built-in social media monetization;
  • Subscription-based access;
  • Ecommerce.

 
Built-in monetization refers to social media networks like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

These platforms offer you the choice to monetize your channel once you’ve reached a specific number of views or subscribers. This is a must for every beginner publisher advertising through social media.

Another method is the tried-and-true subscription-based access. This can be access to restricted parts of a blog, or to a website in its entirety.

Thus, you are adding another layer of income on top of the affiliate commission you receive.

There are platforms that allow you to further monetize social media networks. Even messaging platforms for business.

ConvertSocial monetization platform opens the doors for affiliate advertising through channels like:

 
ConvertSocial connects publishers to brands across the globe. The monetization platform will let publishers create affiliate links that they can spread across their various platforms.

ConvertSocial ensures that you connect to an affiliate that matches your niche.

Why shouldn’t you jump on any chance to set up a side hustle with affiliate marketing? There’s no better time than the present to secure your future.

Wrapping Up

Setting up your affiliate niche can be done quickly and left to generate revenue. However, this won’t accumulate as much as you hope it will. If you want to reap real rewards from affiliate marketing, you’ll need to put in some serious effort.

A few decades ago, we didn’t have access to such powerful means of making money. The Internet has opened up massive doors of opportunity.

You can easily earn between $20,000 and $100,000 simply by marketing products for various advertisers. It’s time to jump on the affiliate train before the market speeds right past you.

Affiliate marketing may have started out as your side hustle, but you can easily turn this into your main income. That all depends on you and the amount of time you’re willing to put into this!