Affiliate Marketing for Content Creators: Step-by-Step Guide

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way for bloggers, website owners, and experts to earn income by promoting other people’s products or services.

Getting started with affiliate marketing doesn’t require significant investment or a large audience.

I’ve been monetizing this blog through affiliate marketing for 9 years, earning an average of $3K–5K per month. Let me share examples and details below.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

You share a link to a product or service and earn a commission for each purchase made through that link.

This method is perfect for those who want to monetize their content without creating their own products.

Getting started is easy, even without a blog or a large audience.

All you need to do is create valuable content that attracts your target audience.

The key is not the number of views but the number of purchases.

Even a small, niche-focused blog can generate good income.

How Is a Referral Program Different From Affiliate Marketing?

At first glance, they seem similar: both help attract customers and earn income. However, there are differences:

1. Referral Program: This is based on personal recommendations. You share a product with acquaintances and earn bonuses or money for each new customer. For example, a friend uses your referral link to get a discount, and both of you receive rewards.
2. Affiliate Marketing: This targets a wider audience. You create content (articles, videos, posts) and include special links. When purchases are made via those links, you earn a commission.

What Is Traffic Arbitrage?

Traffic arbitrage is a way to earn money by buying traffic (e.g., through ads) and redirecting it to a resource where you monetize through affiliate programs or ad networks.

The goal is to profit from the difference between traffic acquisition costs and the revenue it generates.

How It Works:

1. Find a traffic source (e.g., Google Ads, Meta Ads, or TikTok Ads).
2. Set up ads directing users to a landing page or affiliate link.
3. Earn income when users perform desired actions (purchase, registration, subscription, etc.).
4. Profit equals the difference between advertising costs and affiliate revenue.

Arbitrage suits those skilled in analytics, testing ad approaches, and adapting quickly to changes.

Essentially, arbitrage is monetization through affiliate programs using paid advertising rather than your own content.

You can choose any tools depending on the specifics of the product you want to promote.

The key is understanding the terms to avoid confusion.

What Products Can Be Promoted?

Affiliate marketing products can include both physical goods and digital services.

Choose products you like, trust, and enjoy discussing. This builds audience trust and boosts conversion rates.

Here are the main product categories for promotion:

1. Physical Goods: Electronics, books, sports equipment, and more, available on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress.
2. Online Courses and Educational Materials: Courses on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, etc.
3. Travel Services: Hotel bookings, flight tickets, and other travel offers from companies like Booking.com and Expedia.
4. Clothing and Accessories: Affiliate programs of online fashion retailers like ASOS, Farfetch, or Zalando.
5. Cosmetics and Health Products: Programs from iHerb, Sephora, and Lookfantastic offering a wide range of self-care items, vitamins, and supplements.
6. Online Games and Software: Subscriptions to games, software, and other digital products.

I’ve personally worked with the marketplaces and services listed, but there are many more options.

You can always find something that matches your interests and audience.

In a separate article, I discussed how to find products and affiliate programs.

After choosing a product, you’ll receive a unique affiliate link to place in your content.

Clicks on this link are tracked, and you earn a commission for each purchase made through it.

What Types of Content Work Best?

Let’s explore content formats for promotion and ways to present them.

Content Formats:

1. Product Reviews: Share your personal experience, highlighting pros and cons. This helps your audience make informed decisions.
2. Top Lists and Rankings: Compilations like “Top 10” compare options and simplify choices.
3. Guides and Tutorials: Step-by-step advice on using products or services to maximize benefits.
4. Comparative Reviews: Compare multiple products, focusing on their advantages and disadvantages.
5. Success Stories and Case Studies: Real-life examples of how a product helped achieve results.
6. Discounts and Deals: Information on special offers.
7. Interactive Quizzes, Checklists, and E-books: Engaging and useful formats.

Presentation Styles:

1. Articles: Detailed reviews, rankings, and tutorials are great for blogs. Enhance them with images, infographics, or tables. This is the format I use.
2. Videos: Video reviews, unboxings, tutorials, and live streams are popular on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. They capture attention and showcase products visually.
3. Social Media Posts and Stories: Short visual formats like Instagram or TikTok stories are ideal for quick recommendations and reviews.
4. Podcasts: Perfect for interviews, sharing personal experiences, or success stories. Audio content allows for deeper topic exploration.
5. Email Campaigns: Product selections, reviews, and guides help maintain audience engagement and drive sales.
6. E-books and Checklists: Use these as guides or resources for email subscriptions or affiliate promotions.

When choosing a content format, think about how people will find it.

Many beginners create high-quality content but lose views and sales by choosing the wrong platform.

Learn tips from our article on finding content ideas for affiliate marketing.

How Much Can You Earn in Affiliate Marketing?

Earnings depend on the niche, product, traffic sources, and chosen program.

Industry Size:

1. Affiliate marketing is growing rapidly: its current market size is $17 billion and is projected to reach $27.78 billion by 2027.
2. It accounts for 16% of all online sales in the U.S.
3. Affiliate programs are used by 81% of brands and 84% of publishers.

Factors Affecting Income:

1. Niche and Product: Choosing the right niche is crucial. For example, the most profitable categories are fashion (19% of all revenue), sports and recreation (15%), and health and beauty (11%). Data from InfluencerMarketingHub.
2. Traffic Source: Results depend on where your customers come from. For instance, text blogs and YouTube may have different conversion rates.
3. Program Type: Your income also depends on the earning model. Some programs pay per click (PPC), while others pay a percentage of sales (CPS).

Examples of Earnings:

1. Beginners: $100–$500 per month, working a few hours a week.
2. Experienced Affiliates: $1,000–$5,000 per month with steady traffic.
3. Professionals: $10,000+ per month for those running large businesses or managing communities.

Affiliate marketing can be a side income or your primary source of revenue.

It all depends on your approach and strategy.

Things to Consider:

1. Success isn’t guaranteed, especially in the beginning.
2. If you already have an audience, you’ll start earning faster. If starting from scratch, expect small commissions in the first few months.
3. Achieving stable income takes time, effort, and the right strategy.

What Do Successful Examples Look Like?

Let's look at some examples of projects that have successfully monetized through affiliate marketing. Let's start with my website.

1. Monetization Blog → slobodskyi.com

I write articles with reviews of services and tools for earning money.

For example, how to withdraw money using the Payoneer payment system.

All materials are available in three languages — English, Ukrainian, and Russian.

In the article, I explain in detail who this system is suitable for, describe the fees, pros, and cons, and provide a step-by-step guide to registration with an affiliate link.

Under the terms of Payoneer's affiliate program, when a referred user deposits their first thousand dollars, we both receive a payment.

For several years, my main income came solely from this article.

Here is the payout statistics for the affiliate program.

I have been using Payoneer for many years — it is a secure payment system with low fees. Even if it didn't have an affiliate program, I would still recommend it.

I also have an article on what OnlyFans is — a detailed guide on how to create a profile and start earning.

OnlyFans offers an affiliate program for attracting new creators, sharing part of its commission from their earnings for the first year.

In addition to the article on OnlyFans, I created a series of videos a few years ago.

I had an empty channel, but the videos performed well and are still generating traffic, with a total view count of over 350K.

Most views come from search queries for the right keywords.

Statistics on payouts for the OnlyFans affiliate program.

he last example is an article on how to make money on Shutterstock.

A detailed guide on what steps to take and which materials are best to upload.

The essence of the affiliate program is that for each sale made by a referred author, you earn $0.04.

It may seem like a small amount, but small sums add up, and in 2019, I managed to achieve good results.

Currently, the Shutterstock affiliate program has dropped significantly.

This happens; it's normal.

Most of the traffic to my materials comes from organic search.

People Google topics I have written about and find my articles in search results.

Here are the statistics for clicks to my site from Google.

Do you see the sharp drop?

That was when I migrated from Tilda to Webflow and added new languages.

The traffic dropped by 95% at the time, but I managed to recover.

My format is long articles on a separate website. It's a rather complicated and lengthy process, but if done right, such an article can bring income for several years without additional attention.

If you are just starting from scratch, I recommend starting with videos and posts on platforms rather than on your own site.

I enjoy creating content about different ways to make money online, and it's especially rewarding that I only earn when my readers start making money thanks to my materials. This motivates me to create honest, effective, and understandable content.

Now, let's look at a few other projects.

2. Swim University

Swim University is a website with guides on pool maintenance.

In the articles, there are ads for pool care products, equipment, and accessories.

When readers click on the links and make purchases, the author earns a commission.

Matt Giovanisci, the author of Swim University, writes the articles himself, creates illustrations, and makes videos.

Swim University has been running since 2006 and is a well-respected resource with a large audience.
The author has over 30 years of experience working with pools.

The project now generates a stable income, but replicating such success requires a lot of time and effort.

It's important to choose a topic that will remain relevant over the years and one you find interesting for creating new content.

He also has a blog called MoneyLab, where he shares his experience in monetizing projects.

3. Heart Defensor

Heart Defensor creates unboxing videos of various products — cosmetics, accessories, decor, and gadgets.

She stands out from others because all her products and video designs are in a unified style and color palette — pink and cute.

A specific style or rules for choosing products for promotion can help attract a relevant audience. Don’t try to please everyone.

The monetization strategy is simple:

1. She makes a video about a new product.
2. She leaves an affiliate link for purchasing.
3. She earns a commission on sales.

4. AliOlesia

AliOlesia creates product reviews for items from AliExpress.

Marketplaces like AliExpress, Amazon, or eBay have their affiliate programs, and you can promote any of their products.

There are many products to choose from, so you can pick a specific category and build a blog around it.

The affiliate commission on AliExpress can be up to 9%, and for some promotional items, it can be significantly higher.

From her social networks, AliOlesia directs traffic to a mini-site where links to recent reviews are posted.

I also liked that the author has an active Telegram channel where all reviews are categorized.

Building a community around your blog is a great way to increase trust and sales.

5. Caitlin's Corner

Caitlin shares her daily life, organization tips, travel experiences, and useful life hacks.

Her videos cover topics ranging from setting up gadgets and self-care to Q&As and product unboxings.

Descriptions contain links to the books and products that Caitlin uses.

6. Roberto Blake

Roberto Blake creates content on YouTube growth and making money through content creation.

In his blog, he talks about monetization, working with sponsors, and creating successful videos.

In the descriptions of his videos, he leaves links to various services that can help with video promotion.

7. Tonisophiex

Antonia Sophie shares in her blog outfits of the day (OOTD), get ready with me (GRWM) sessions, and inspiring moments from her life.

For fashion bloggers, there are special services where you can upload photos, tag the catalog items you're wearing, and automatically generate affiliate links for purchasing these items in stores.

As always, for every purchase, the author receives a commission.

We’ve looked at examples of creators who produce content in various formats: articles, long video reviews, and short TikTok clips.

These creators work in different niches and topics, showcasing diverse approaches to using affiliate marketing.

By now, I hope you’ve started to see whether this monetization method could be useful for you as well.

Let’s now figure out where to start and how to achieve your first results.

How to Start Earning with Affiliate Marketing?

Step-by-Step Guide:

• Choose a Niche: Find a topic that interests you and in which you have expertise. Your niche should be narrow enough to avoid high competition but broad enough to attract customers.
• Select an Affiliate Program: Pick programs that offer products or services within your niche. Popular platforms include Amazon Associates, ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and Admitad. Learn more about choosing products and affiliate programs.
• Create Valuable Content: This can include articles, video reviews, podcasts, or social media posts. Your content should be engaging and help your audience solve their problems. See our separate article on finding content ideas.
• Attract an Audience: Use SEO, social media, email campaigns, and other tools to promote your content. Engage with your followers through comments to better understand their needs.
• Analyze Results: Track traffic and conversions using tools like Google Analytics. This will help you identify effective strategies and optimize your approach.
• Grow and Expand: Gradually incorporate paid advertising and explore new promotion channels. Expand your reach and add more affiliate programs.

Starting with affiliate marketing is simple, but success requires consistency, high-quality content, and regular analysis of your results.

How to Quickly Find an Audience?

Promotion strategies are a key element of affiliate marketing.‍

The main idea: publish where your content is most likely to be discovered.

Begin with platforms that already have an audience.

For example, YouTube videos attract more traffic than standalone websites because users often search for reviews and tutorials.

Two Easiest Formats:

1. YouTube Videos: Create reviews, tutorials, or helpful tips. Optimize titles and descriptions for search visibility.
2. Social Media: Post stories and Reels on Instagram or TikTok to generate organic traffic.

Start with these platforms, then move to more advanced methods like SEO or paid advertising.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

Key mistakes and how to avoid them:

1. Too Broad a Focus: Trying to cover everything at once by choosing popular topics without considering their own expertise or interests. Solution: Focus on a narrow niche where you can stand out.
2. Ignoring Audience Analysis: Creating content without understanding the needs and desires of the target audience. Solution: Conduct surveys, read comments, and study trending topics in your niche.
3. Lack of Consistency: Posting content irregularly, leading to a loss of audience interest. Solution: Create a content plan and stick to it.
4. Neglecting SEO: Failing to use keywords or optimize titles and descriptions. Solution: Learn basic SEO techniques and apply them to your content.
5. Relying on a Single Traffic Source: Depending solely on one channel, such as social media, and losing traffic if algorithms change. Solution: Diversify promotion channels by adding a blog, email campaigns, or videos.

Avoiding these mistakes will help you find your audience faster and achieve sustainable growth.

What’s Next?

In this article, we covered the essential steps to get started:

1. What is affiliate marketing?
2. How much can you earn?
3. What do examples look like?
4. How to start earning?
5. What mistakes do beginners make?

If you want to dive deeper, check out materials on choosing products and finding content ideas.

Good luck!