By Rachel Puryear

Recently, we discussed the dropshipping phenomenon, and why it’s probably not all it’s cracked up to be.

And in this post, as promised, we’ll go over a much better way to get paid for promoting products online – and that better way is affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing involves linking to goods and (sometimes) services you want to promote through your website, blog, social media account, *email and *text campaigns, or any other place you can – use your imagination to market the products you promote.

When your audience members buy products through your links, you get a commission.

As a reality check, it takes time to make decent money doing affiliate marketing.

One major factor in your earnings will be the size and engagement of your audience – the more people who read your posts and see your links, the more who might buy the products, especially if you’ve gauged products your audience’s needs and wants well.

Accordingly, it’s a volume business. So it will take some time and effort to make a living at it. But you can get there.

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Here’s a demonstration of how affiliate marketing might work – but know that this is just one of many possible examples:

Let’s say that you want to show your audience options for women’s boxer shorts underwear, as opposed to traditional panty briefs. You can show different options that are available, and at the same time promote them using your affiliate links – so that when someone buys something through your link, you get a small (usually) commission.

It’s not a lot of money per sale. It’s a volume business. You can make a lot of passive income when you have a large audience, and are making a lot of sales – so the key is building up your audience.

For example:

Let’s say that you want to tell women/people who wear women’s clothing styles in your audience about boxer shorts underwear styles made for them. (Did you even know that there are a lot more of these in recent years, and that they’re thoughtfully designed? That’s what happens when more women start their own clothing companies!)

You can show them these incredibly comfortable boxer briefs, made of nylon and spandex, which conform beautifully to one’s shape and feel great against the skin, and come in sizes up to 3x.

And the same shorts in more standard colors, if you prefer.

And a different seller providing the same kind of nylon/spandex shorts, but in some different bright colors.

Or, if they prefer a cotton/spandex blend with just the right amount of light stretch instead, there are similarly thoughtfully designed super comfortable, and beautiful boxer shorts in that material blend, too – and going up to a size 5x.

Or, if they prefer something similar but with a lower price tag, there’s also these microfiber slip shorts. They’re also nice and feel good to wear, they’re just not quite as luxurious feeling as the previous two I’ve shown. These use the traditional sizing system and go up to a size 13, which is equivalent to about a size 4x.

See what I just did there, too? 😉

That’s a great example of how affiliate marketing can work.

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However, there are infinite examples of affiliate marketing, and it’s limited only by one’s own imagination.

Note that companies who use affiliate marketing will typically have you register as an affiliate with them in order to participate. Different companies will have some different criteria.

For instance, some might want you to have a minimum level of website traffic or focus your blog or website on certain topics.

Find out what the affiliate requirements are for companies you’re interested in, and who sell products you’re willing and able to promote through your blog or website.

So, if you’re interested in making money through affiliate marketing, think about what that might look like for you.

What are you interested in? What might your audience want to buy? How can you incorporate sales into your website?

These questions can help you get started with affiliate marketing, and earning income through a website that you can work on from anywhere!

Want to sign up as an Amazon affiliate? It’s easy, and you can do it even if you have low website traffic for now. Click here to sign up and become an Amazon affiliate.

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* With email and text campaigns, always make sure you’re in compliance with Do Not Call laws, anti-spam laws, and any other applicable laws – federal, state, and local. Violations of these laws can be very costly!

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Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here’s to great ways to make money online.

Got a question you want answered through this blog? Submit your question to me here – and if you don’t already, please request to subscribe to the Free Range Life newsletter while you’re there!

Check out my other blog, too – World Class Hugs, at https://worldclasshugs.com. It’s about better navigating relationships as an empathic and/or people-pleasing person, and traveling and nature photos.

Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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