An Introduction to Affiliates

Did you know that some of your favorite brands will pay you affiliate income simply to promote your love for their brand? This is the world of affiliate income and why you may read a blog and see disclosures that a small portion of income may be generated by clicking the links on a page.

Taking a step back, you will find that you’re probably doing this already without the formal presentation of an affiliate program. We regularly and casually update our friends and family regularly on products and services we have been using or consuming. It’s an instinct for humans to share good and bad reviews of products they come across.

Affiliate programs will pay you out a small commission, say 5% of the purchase value, when you direct buyers to them and they purchase. The key is that this be an authentic, non-scammy and transparent recommendation.

For example: You are an influencer in the skincare industry and strongly believe in a new eco-friendly brand that you love. If they have an affiliate program, you can then promote your skincare routine to your following on social media, your website and in your emails to earn an income from the skincare brand as a thank you for sending new customers their way. Here’s another example. Let’s say you are designer and have four incredible tools that streamline all of your work and operations. If you promote those products (assuming they have affiliate programs) to your followers, you earn a small commission when your followers purchase using your affiliate link.

I must give an honest word of caution: don’t chase affiliate income. It’s great if it happens but when you prop your business to constantly push it, people notice and it’s a major turn off.

How To Get Started

Identify existing affiliate networks that you can leverage such as Amazon Associates or RewardStyle. Essentially these markets will allow you to browse and create affiliate links (as well as consolidated pay-out) in one central location vs you searching through 60 different brand websites and trying to compile links. Simply sign up for the network of your choosing, walk-through the payment and usage onboarding steps and begin searching for affiliate products you can honestly promote in your niche.

Next, you must determine where all of these links will live and how you plan to promote them to your audience. If you choose to promote these on your website, consider standing up a Favorites page where you centralize all of your recommended products on one landing page. If you don’t have a Favorites page now, you can use my Favorites Showit Add-On and stand your landing page up in hours – not weeks or days. Alternatively, you can also integrate these links into your blog posts and emails as you cover specific topics.

Asking For Affiliate Agreements + Email Script

Finally, while networks can be very helpful, you may have to step out of the box from time to time and simply ask an emerging brand if they’re willing to create an affiliate agreement with you. If you don’t ask, you can never expect a yes. Get in the habit of asking but build a darn good case for why they should. Consider putting together a media kit or platform analysis that outlines your reach, your engagement and the expected amount of customers you can influence. This helps to ensure that brand has adequate incentive for considering an affiliate agreement with you. Bring all of these ideas together in one, brief email clearly outlining what you want to do, your audience, expected new customers you will bring, as well as a proposed commission amount you’re looking for. Remember, this is a negotiation. If you lead with incentives on both side, you’re more likely to receive a positive response. Try this email script for starters:

—

Hi [Brand Name],

I have been a long time user of your [Product Name] and I love how [something you uniquely love about the product]. I think my followers will too! I’d love to join your affiliate program so I can promote your brand and products to my community of [demographic your audience is comprised of].

[Details about your community as well as how many customers you expect to refer].

Let me know if you already have an affiliate program that I can tap on to or if we can make a one off arrangement.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

—

This is a very simplistic email (because I don’t know a single person who likes 4 paragraph emails at 9 AM. But truthfully, it gets right to the point and spends the majority of the time talking about why they should be open to the proposal.

I hope you find this to be helpful to getting started running affiliate links through your brand and helping to serve authentic and helpful affiliate options to your existing audience.