Many people start blogging with the goal of making money, and that's perfectly fine. While many professional bloggers advise not starting a blog unless you're passionate about it, the reality is that without a clear monetization strategy, passion alone won't lead to success. That's the tough truth about making money online.
There are numerous ways to monetize a blog, but only a few methods truly work. These include selling banner ads, offering online consulting services, one-on-one coaching, selling online courses, and most importantly, affiliate marketing.
If you're looking to make money from your blog, affiliate marketing is highly recommended. It can produce surprising results, often generating income even while you sleep.
Curious about how you can make money with affiliate marketing? You’re in the right place. Here’s Anil's case study on how he made $16,433 by promoting just one product! Ready to dive in? Let's get started!
Affiliate partnership with Harsh Agrawal
Teaming up with Harsh Agrawal from ShoutMeLoud was crucial for Anil in making over $16,000 by promoting Bluehost. Here's a look at Anil's Bluehost affiliate sales:
3 key elements for a successful affiliate partnership
Is it really possible to make significant sales by promoting a single product? Yes, and here are the three essential components you need for a successful affiliate partnership with influential bloggers in your niche.
1. Be honest
A common issue among new bloggers struggling to make affiliate sales is a lack of honesty. Many adopt a “Fake it till you make it” strategy to gain more social proof and increase sales, sharing fake earnings, sales, and traffic reports to get attention on social media or their blogs.
However, audiences can easily detect dishonesty. If they sense it, they'll stop engaging with your content, let alone make a purchase. Therefore, if you want to make more affiliate sales, BE HONEST. It might sound simple, but it works.
Look at successful affiliate marketers like Pat Flynn, Darren Rowse, Neil Patel, and Harsh Agrawal — they are all honest with their readers. They don’t fake anything to boost sales; they prioritize showing real proof of earning money. This honesty builds momentum and attracts more trust from their audience. Once your audience trusts you, you're on your way to making more money from affiliate marketing, even while you sleep.
2. Connect personally
For those who have been blogging for a while, the importance of networking is well known. Without connecting with others, especially influencers, it’s nearly impossible to create sustainable income from blogging.
Anil advises dedicating at least an hour or two to actively connect with others in your niche. This can include leaving comments on their blogs, tweeting their content, or staying in touch via email. One of the most effective ways to build a strong rapport with influential bloggers is to meet them in person. Take photos with them, share your thoughts, and provide feedback on their websites if you have any.
Personal connections help build trust and strong relationships. That’s how Anil built rapport with Harsh Agrawal. They trust each other and share a common principle: "help others to make money."
3. Provide value
Always think about how you can support others before asking for help yourself. This approach not only strengthens your relationships but also positions you as a valuable member of your community.
By now, it should be clear how important it is to interact with others both online and offline. Focus on providing value and helping others, and you’ll see your affiliate marketing efforts pay off.
4. Let your work speak for itself
Over the past few years, Anil Agarwal has dedicated around 5+ hours to crafting each post he publishes on BloggersPassion. He firmly believes that without content marketing, it’s impossible to build a loyal readership.
This dedication to quality has also landed his guest posts on major marketing blogs like Problogger.com, Semrush.com, and many others. The key is simple: spend a significant amount of time on research and polishing your posts. If you create content that's worth bookmarking, you'll naturally attract links, shares, and sales. That's the goal — create great content and add value.
These are the three main pillars to successfully earning money from affiliate marketing. Now, the question is for YOU:
Do you want to achieve the same success?
If Anil can make $$$$$ from one product, imagine how much you can earn by promoting one or two more products. The point is: affiliate marketing is a goldmine, and you can dig as much as you want!
If you're serious about making money from affiliate marketing and want to replicate Anil's success, here’s a simple strategy: focus on finding long-tail keywords for the products you promote.
You can't make a lot of affiliate sales without getting traffic, especially from search engines. If you’ve been blogging for a while, you know that getting traffic from Google takes time. That’s why you should view affiliate marketing as a long-term journey.
If you’re thinking about “get-rich-quick schemes,” affiliate marketing is NOT for you.
Affiliate marketing can help you earn money even while you sleep, but first, you need to work hard and reap the rewards later. Many beginners fail to make sales because they lack patience and don’t spend time finding long-tail keywords for the products they promote.
If you're serious about making money from affiliate marketing and ready to put in the hard work, Anil can show you how to find long-tail keywords for any product you promote.
Tip: He highly recommends tools like Long Tail Pro or Semrush for finding long-tail keywords. He uses both and finds them worth every penny.
Here’s a guide on how to use Long Tail Pro to find profitable keywords that help you drive more traffic and increase your affiliate sales.
Example: using Long Tail Pro for the fitness niche
Let’s say you’re in the fitness niche and want to promote fitness-related affiliate products to make more money. Here’s how you can use Long Tail Pro for keyword research.
Step 1: Firstly, identify a list of all affiliate products that are proven to generate more earnings.
For example, if you’re in the fitness niche, find out all the products being promoted on top blogs. Use search terms like “fitness + top blogs,” “fitness + blogs,” “fitness + best blogs,” etc., to find the top blogs in your niche.
Make a list of all the products they’re promoting. This task won’t take more than 10 minutes, so do it now. Replace “fitness” with your topic of interest. For example, “marketing + top blogs” can give you a list of all the best marketing blogs.
Step 2: Finding relevant long-tail keywords
After identifying three to five affiliate products to promote, the next step is to find relevant long-tail keywords for them. You can use tools like Long Tail Pro or Semrush to discover the best-performing long-tail keywords. Here’s how to do it:
- Log in to Long Tail Pro: Start by entering keywords related to the products you’re promoting. Click on “Find Keywords” to begin your keyword research;
- Refine your search: Once you click on “Find Keywords,” you’ll be prompted to add your seed keywords. Focus on keywords with a search volume under 1 000 monthly searches to increase your chances of ranking higher in Google results;
- Generate and select keywords: By clicking “Generate Keywords & Fetch Data,” you’ll receive a list of potential keywords. Choose three to five long-tail keywords that you can naturally incorporate into your blog posts. Use these keywords to create high-quality content and build backlinks to boost your rankings and increase sales.
Step 3: Create awareness about the products you promote
Creating awareness about the products you promote is crucial. This is where the real money is. If you fail to do this, you’ll struggle to make sales. Successfully creating awareness means you’re halfway to converting readers into buyers. Here are three effective ways to educate your audience about the products you promote:
- Write honest product reviews: The best way to educate others about the products you promote is by writing genuine reviews. Avoid writing reviews solely to boost sales. Instead, use the product first and then write a detailed, unbiased review, sharing both the pros and cons. This builds trust with your readers, making them more likely to buy what you recommend;
- Build links for the products you promote: To increase affiliate sales, you need more search traffic, which requires quality backlinks. Use strategies like the Skyscraper technique or guest posting to build these links;
- Display banner ads in visible places: Use banner ads to highlight the products you recommend. For instance, Anil’s blog sidebar prominently features a Bluehost banner ad, which attracts a significant number of daily clicks, boosting his earnings.
FAQs
- Can I become a millionaire from affiliate marketing? Absolutely! Many affiliate marketers worldwide make substantial incomes from affiliate marketing.
- Is affiliate marketing still profitable in 2023? Yes, if you follow the right strategies, affiliate marketing can be highly profitable in the long run.
- How much can affiliate marketers make? There’s no limit. Your earnings depend on your efforts and strategies. You can start earning $1,000 per month if done correctly.
- Which affiliate network is best? Reliable networks include ShareASale, ClickBank, Amazon Associates, and more.
- Can I use AdSense and affiliate marketing together? Yes, there are no restrictions on using both simultaneously.
Conclusion
Anil’s case study of making over $16,000 by promoting one product demonstrates the potential of affiliate marketing. He shared all the strategies he used to achieve this success. Now, it's your turn to replicate his success. Believe in yourself, be honest, and view affiliate marketing as a long-term effort rather than a quick-rich scheme.
