Turning your brand new blog into a profitable online business definitely doesn’t happen overnight. However, it is totally possible to start monetizing your blog right away with affiliate marketing if you know where to start. In this post, I’m sharing the 5 Best Affiliate Networks For New Bloggers To Make Money Blogging, which are:
Before we dive in, I want to make sure you understand what affiliate marketing is and how you can use it to make passive income on your blog.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
So what the heck is affiliate marketing? You can head to Google or check out the Wikipedia explanation, but here’s my definition, as it pertains to blogging:
Affiliate marketing is a company/merchant (aka advertiser) making an agreement with an outside source (blogger aka publisher) to promote their products and paying a commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated by the affiliate.
Affiliate marketing is a win-win for brands since they only payout if you actually get results.
Almost all of your favorite brands either have their own affiliate programs or are sold by companies that offer affiliate programs. That means you should have no problem finding plenty of relevant products to share with your audience.
The top 5 affiliate networks featured in this post will give you access to literally thousands of advertisers. They’re looking for bloggers just like you to share their promotions.
Now that you know what affiliate marketing is, how do you actually get paid?
How Do Bloggers Get Paid With Affiliate Marketing?
It’s easy to talk about your favorite brands in your blog posts, but you might be wondering how bloggers get paid with affiliate marketing.
Once you sign up with a merchant and get approved as an affiliate, you’ll be assigned a unique referrer ID. That ID is attached to all of the links you will use in your promotions and it’s how your commissions will be tracked. Your affiliate network dashboard will provide access to analytics that track clicks and conversions.
The merchant will also provide you with “assets”, which will include promotions, text links, and graphics to use on your website or in your social media posts. All of those assets will have your referrer ID already built-in, so be sure to always copy and paste links directly from your affiliate account to your blog post – not from the merchant website.
How Do New Bloggers Find Affiliate Programs To Make Money Blogging?
To start monetizing your new blog with affiliate marketing, you’ll first have to connect with companies that have affiliate programs.
The easiest way to do that is to sign up with one or more of the affiliate networks featured in this blog post. By doing so, you’ll get access to thousands of merchants and brands that your audience will love, no matter what your blog niche is.
You May Also Like 5 Ways To Monetize Your Blog With Affiliate Marketing Without Using Ads
5 Best Affiliate Networks For New Bloggers To Make Money Blogging
Instead of signing up for individual affiliate programs for every single brand that you want to promote, it’s much easier to join an affiliate network.
There are several benefits to signing up with an affiliate network. Not only can you see thousands of merchants looking for affiliates in one place, but you’ll also save yourself a lot of time and headaches. Affiliate networks offer:
- User-friendly dashboard to track all of your merchants, promotions, conversions, and commissions
- Lower payout threshold since they combine commissions from all of your merchants
- Account managers that will help you create successful campaigns
Each network offers its own benefits above and beyond what’s listed above, but rest assured, this is the way to go if you want to earn passive income long-term.
1. ShareASale
ShareASale is a great affiliate network for beginner bloggers. They make it easy to get started with promoting your favorite brands and making money with affiliate marketing.
ShareASale offers thousands of merchants to choose from, so no matter what your blog niche is, you’ll find high-quality brands that you will be proud to work with. For example, I currently work as an affiliate of Tailwind and Grammarly. Both of those merchants are part of the ShareASale network and make for easy conversions since they both offer a free trial that I can promote. When readers use my affiliate link to sign up for the free trial, when they convert to a paid subscription I will receive a commission.
You should keep your blogging income separate from your personal bank account for tax purposes. I recommend Axos Checking – it’s easy to get started. Open your free checking account here.
ShareASale offers direct deposit into your bank account once you reach a minimum threshold of $50. It doesn’t take long to reach $50, since all of your commissions accumulate together when part of a network.
Sign up as an affiliate at ShareASale
2. FlexOffers
FlexOffers (aka FlexLinks) is another stellar affiliate program that works with new bloggers and helps you make money blogging.
FlexOffers now makes it simple to earn affiliate income with their FlexLinks option. When you sign up as a Publisher, you’ll have the option to automate your affiliate links. You write content as you normally would, and FlexLinks uses AI technology to find money-making opportunities within that content. The links are added automatically, and you will earn commission on sales generated by clicks on your links.
FlexOffers does approve new blogs, however you must have content before being approved. You will have to verify your website, which can be done easily with the “Insert Headers and Footers” plugin, which adds code to your website header with simple copy/paste.
The payout threshold for FlexOffers is only $25, so it doesn’t take long to start getting paid with direct deposit into your new bank account.
Sign up for FlexOffers here and start earning affiliate income today!
Check out the New Blogger’s Guide To Affiliate Marketing
3. Rakuten
Rakuten is perfect for lifestyle bloggers, giving you access to the Rakuten coupons and cash back offers for your readers. The best part, you get paid $25 for every signup that gets a $10 rebate from Rakuten. It costs readers nothing to sign up for a free account and they’ll even get a $10 bonus for signing up.
Become an affiliate with Rakuten here.
4. Amazon Associates
One of the most popular affiliate networks is Amazon Associates. Contrary to popular belief, it’s quite simple to get an affiliation with Amazon.
One thing to keep in mind is that they are strict with their program and you must be sure to disclose that you are an affiliate of Amazon on your website and on each page where any links appear. If you don’t, you will not be paid for your sales, so make sure you do this.
Also, keep in mind that commission payments are only about 6% or lower, so if you can offer the same products through a different affiliate network, you will get higher commissions.
Considering Amazon is the largest online retailer, you’ll definitely find the products right for your audience.
Sign up for Amazon Associates here.
5. eBay Partner Program
Speaking of large online retailers, eBay Partner Program is another affiliate program that will be perfect for any new blogger to make money blogging, earning affiliate income.
EBay offers millions of products for auction and for purchase.
Sign up for the eBay Partner Program here.
Conclusion – 5 Best Affiliate Networks For New Bloggers To Make Money Blogging
No matter what you’re niche is, affiliate marketing can be a great source of passive income from your blog. As your blog traffic increases, so will your commissions.
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to monetize your blog. Get started with one or more of the best affiliate networks for new bloggers on this list today!
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