(This post may contain affiliate links. You can find my disclosure page here.)
My blog sells something every single day on Amazon.
Just this morning I rolled out of bed to find that I had already made $42 while I was sleeping. The best part is that it is completely passive income for me. (I am still smiling about it as I write this).
I am only making between about $3 to $45 from Amazon on my (relatively) new blog each day. Its not much… yet. But still, it is passive income and it’s consistent. Which means that I am making money no matter what I am doing that day.
(Note: I dabble in several different affiliate marketing programs, but for the purpose of this post I want to focus on how Amazon is a great affiliate for brand new bloggers to start making passive income on their blogs. Amazon affiliates is how I started with affiliate marketing and I encourage other new bloggers to use it at well because I think its the easiest ones for new bloggers. Once you get started with Amazon and start making consistent money there are a TON of other great affiliate programs out there as well.)
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways people can make money online. It is a strategy that bloggers can use to earn a commission by promoting other people’s products. For example, if I find a product or service I like, I can promote it to my readers and earn a small commission for the referral.
Of course, bloggers still need to create killer content and only recommend products or services that they actually like and use themselves. In order to be successful it’s best to keep it “non-salesy,” genuine and relevant to the purpose of your post. Otherwise it can be a real turn-off.
Affiliate marketing can be a triple win for the blogger, reader and company selling a product (in this case, Amazon). Each party benefits from the blogger making a useful suggestion about a product or service because a need is being filled for all three:
- The seller sells a product, earning a profit
- A reader gets value by purchasing something they need
- The blogger earns a small commission for their helpful referral.
From this viewpoint, bloggers have a great opportunity not only to provide great content but to also add additional value to both readers and the companies they work as affiliates for.
Why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers:
Amazon affiliates is one of the largest and easiest affiliate programs to use.
If it exists, you can find it on Amazon.
Just as an example, lets say you have a passion for writing about Madagascar hissing cockroaches and you would like to recommend some to your readers. Well guess what? You are in luck because you can buy them on Amazon! So you insert your Amazon affiliate link and viola! You just helped your reader find exactly what they were looking for!
You can pretty much find anything and everything on Amazon. So it makes it really easy for new affiliate marketers to find products easily that fit nicely within their niche. This is a great reason why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers who are trying to monetize their websites for the first time.
(On another note, the key phrase ‘Madagascar hissing cockroaches for sale’ actually gets 480 searches on Amazon every single month. So, there actually is a need for this particular niche and a potential to make affiliate money from it. Just saying).
Amazon affiliate cookies have site-wide coverage, and is not just limited to the product you are promoting.
When you make a referral to Amazon, you only have a 24 hour window to actually make a sale. But the good news is that you will get the commission from ALL the products the customer purchased from the store.
So say, for example, your reader decided not to purchase your recommended product after all… But, they did decide to purchase a $2700 Microsoft laptop computer instead. You get a commission from the sale of the $2700 computer! (I know someone who had a similar thing happen to them as an Amazon Affiliate, so it does happen!)
Shipping is free for Amazon Prime members
Everyone I know is a member of Amazon Prime and gets to take advantage of the free shipping. In fact, almost everything I order is from Amazon because I don’t pay an additional fee to have it sent to me. People are more likely to buy something if they don’t have to pay an additional fee for shipping.
The Amazon return policy is so simple
I feel good about recommending products from Amazon because whenever I need to return something, its so super easy. That way if one of my readers ends up not liking a product that they ordered I know they can send it back no problem. I would never want someone to keep a product that I recommended if they didn’t end up liking it, or just regretting the purchase.
Just remember to keep it genuine as an affiliate marketer:
Only promote products related to topics that you already write about in your niche. And you must actually use and like the product/service yourself. Otherwise it comes off as inauthentic and disingenuous.
Here is a helpful tip for new bloggers who want to start monetizing their blogs: If you started using Amazon Affiliates after you started your blog, then go back to your top 20-30 posts and add affiliate links where they fit in.
