$12,277.33 April Income Report: Blogger’s Affiliate Earnings
This is only one of my income streams, but it’s my favorite.
Blogger’s Income Report
In April, I made $12,277.33 in affiliate marketing commissions from 20 separate brands that I don’t own. While one relationship earned the most ($8,803.02), I was delighted to see that $3,4747.31 came from 19 other programs. I’ve been focused on diversification for several years, and it’s working.
April’s Affiliate Commissions
My total earnings were $12,277.33. I don’t spend money on ads, and I create my content, so other than software subscriptions, this is mostly profit. I don’t say this to brag; I say this to show what’s possible.
- SEO Plugin: $39.90
- App Market: $3.45
- Testimonial Software: $46.80
- Design Software: $38.69
- Livestream Software: $5.99
- Display Ad Publishing Platform: $161.82
- AI Seo Tool: $134.10
- Coupon Site: $25.30
- AI Writing Tool $141.90
- Real Estate Marketing Software: $1,336.95
- Social Media Tool: $62.41
- Burner Phones: $56.70
- Teleprompter App: $80.96
- Keyword Research & SEO Tool: $779.76
- Greeting Card Software: $110.16
- Digital Course Platform: $11.70
- Digital Course Platform 2: $99.80
- Video Optimization Tool: $137.92
- Autodialer: $200
- Real Estate Website Plugin: $8,803.02
What is Affiliate Marketing?
If you’re new around these parts, affiliate marketing is when someone promotes a product and earns a commission on any resulting sales.
For example, if I refer you to buy MissingLettr’s social media scheduling tool through my link, I’ll earn 30% of your subscription total for every month you stay subscribed.
If you decide to buy through another affiliate link, I won’t earn anything.
Affiliate marketing is the preferred method of earning money for many bloggers and online influencers because it’s easy to get started and because there is a wide range of products and services available to promote.
Whether you want to sell physical or digital products, offer freelance services, or promote other people’s courses, you have an affiliate program available.
While it’s not my only income, affiliate marketing has been my primary source of income for the past five years. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
How I Make Money in Affiliate Marketing
I spend all day writing blogs and creating the occasional Youtube video. I also host webinars and build courses.
While my two largest software affiliates are tied into building websites with my brothers at Ballen Brands, the rest are earned purely through blogging, videos, and webinars.
In April, I made $12,277.33 in affiliate commissions from various programs. This includes some smaller software subscriptions, such as Ezoic and Boast, that I’ve been writing about for several months.
I have over 100 affiliate partners, and the earnings fluctuate depending on the content I’m creating, Google rankings, and video reviews.
My favorite type of affiliate marketing is SAAS (software as a service) companies. The commissions are recurring, which means I get paid every month as long as the reader keeps their subscription. This isn’t always the case, but it often is.
I don’t enjoy sales, and I’m happy to be out of the traditional small business model. I’ve always had large teams, a big payroll, and spent too much time in human resources.
As a marketing girl, I like the challenge of driving traffic and creating content that converts.
While I’m not a numbers person, I enjoy tracking my results and figuring out what’s working and what’s not. And as a teacher and guide, I share for the sake of inspiration: yours and mine.
This is why I decided to write this post and share my April affiliate earnings report with you.
What You Can Learn from My Affiliate Marketing Earnings Report
If you’re thinking about starting an affiliate marketing program or are already an affiliate, you can learn a few things from my experience.
1. Diversify Your Income Streams
While the real estate plugin (my most significant income stream this month) is what I would consider my “anchor” program, I also have a lot of smaller ones.
Even if one of my more prominent programs doesn’t perform as well, I still make money from all the little ones.
Over the past few years, my goal has been to get enough of the little ones recurring so as not to depend on the biggest one. Affiliate programs can go away without notice, so you must always be working on building new ones.
2. Focus on Quality Content
I made the most affiliate income when I posted every day, even if it meant recording a Quick video and writing an extra blog post.
As someone who loves to create content, this isn’t too much of a sacrifice for me, but I know it’s not possible for everyone.
The key is to be strategic about your content and ensure its high quality. This means doing your research, using proper grammar, and making sure your videos are well-produced.
My focus is SEO content writing. This means I write blog posts intending to rank on Google.
If I can get a post to rank, it will continue to make me money for months or even years down the road.
3. Create Reviews and Tutorials
Some of my highest converting affiliate links (as far as total sales) have been for software products where I created reviews.
People are looking to learn more information before making a purchasing decision, so reviews and tutorials often work really well.
If you’re an affiliate marketer, consider focusing on creating these types of content. It can take some time to rank in Google, but it’s worth it.
4. Host Webinars
Webinars are one of my favorite ways to make money as an affiliate. It tends to convert better when you can demonstrate how a product works and show people what it looks like.
However, the key to highly converting webinars is building an audience that trusts you.
This takes time and usually comes from having a large social media following or email list.
If you don’t have either of those things, I recommend partnering with someone who does.
5. Promote Offers via Email
Email marketing is still one of the best ways to make money as an affiliate. You can build a relationship with your subscribers and then promote products that you know they’ll love.
I’ve found that the best way to make money with email is to promote products relevant to your niche.
For example, if you have a blog about travel, you could promote travel deals, products, or services.
The key is to be strategic about your products and only promote those that will genuinely help your audience.
6. Earn Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is the best way to make money as an affiliate because it’s free.
While it does take time to rank in Google, you can start making money almost immediately once you do.
I recommend writing SEO-friendly blog posts and including affiliate links throughout your content to earn organic traffic.
The key is to make sure your content is beneficial and that you’re not just trying to sell something.
7. Capitalize on Social Media
Social media can be a great way to make money as an affiliate, but it takes time to build up a following.
I recommend focusing on one or two platforms and then expanding if you're just starting.
My personal favorite is Facebook, but I’ve also had a lot of success with Pinterest and Youtube.
The key is to be active on the platform, share great content, and engage with other users.
8. Track Links and Monitor Results
To make the most money as an affiliate, you need to track your results.
This includes monitoring how many clicks you’re getting and where they’re coming from.
I also recommend tracking conversions to see how many sales or leads you generate for each offer.
The best way to do this is with a tool like Thirsty Affiliates.
9. Try Different Approaches
If you’re not making much money as an affiliate, it might be because you’re not trying different approaches.
For example, if you’re solely focused on promoting products through your blog, try branching out to social media or email marketing.
You might also want to try offering your digital product or service in addition to promoting affiliate offers.
There’s no one “right” approach to making money as an affiliate, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you.
10. Partner with Multiple Brands
Finally, one of the best ways to make money as an affiliate is to partner with multiple brands.
This way, you can promote various products and services and diversify your income.
I recommend partnering with brands relevant to your niche and that you genuinely believe in.
While $5.00 here and $20 there doesn’t seem like much, you can see by my income report that it adds up — especially when it recurs every month from each referral.
The bottom line is there are many ways to make money as an affiliate.
Whether you’re promoting digital products, services, or physical goods, the key is to find a strategy that works for you and stick with it over time. Good luck!
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