My name is Mehmood Asim. I have been in the online money-making business for 2 years. A blogger, influencer, and WordPress developer. Actually, I’ve built numerous WordPress sites. I create helpful finance articles and assist individuals in earning their initial cash. In this article in am going to tell you about how to earn money through affiliate marketing. After reading my article, I am definitely sure that you can earn money online through affiliate marketing.
How to earn passive income from affiliate marketing:
I remember when I was sitting in my chair at 2 o’clock and checking my email, and when I saw a notification that $50 had been deposited into my account by an Amazon Associate. This price may seem small, but in reality I didn’t do any work to earn money that day. Six months ago, I wrote a blog post in which I talked about specific tools, and then after that I would surprisingly earn this money from it.
That’s the moment affiliate marketing clicked for me.
Not because I suddenly became rich (I didn’t), but because I realized passive income isn’t actually passive. It’s just delayed work. The hard part happens upfront. Everything after that is just your past effort paying dividends. Let me tell you about all the successes and difficulties that I faced during this journey.
Affiliate Marketing is actually what it is, and what it is not:
First of all, let’s dismiss the hype. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick program with a link placed up and money starting to trickle in overnight while you lie in bed on a beach. I was initially drawn to that notion, and it was the same way I spent 3 months.
The truth is you’re marketing somebody else’s product or service. If one of these clicks on your unique link and someone buys, you make a commission! That’s it. It’s simple, but the execution is where most people trip up.
The difference between affiliate marketing and other income streams is that you’re not creating the product. You’re not customer support. You’re not dealing with returns. You’re just connecting people who need something with a company that sells it. You get paid for making that connection happen.
What makes it “passive” is that once you’ve created content pointing to that product (a blog post, video, social media post, email), you can potentially earn money from it forever. But creating that content? That takes time, research, and honestly, some trial and error.
Getting Started (and making all the beginner mistakes!):
My first affiliate link was an article I wrote on a blog called “Best Laptops for Video Editing. I really wanted to help people; a lot of people were having trouble finding a laptop that they could use for their videos. I had been looking for three months for the right laptop for myself. It was a good post, and it was very informative and helpful, with around 2000 words.
And it made zero dollars.
For months.
I went to my Amazon Associates dashboard every day like a hound on the trail of a skunk, hoping that something would happen. Nothing. The problem? No one visited my blog. There was no traffic on my blog. I’d written a helpful article and thrown it into the internet ocean. No one was finding it.
That’s when I learned lesson #1: Traffic is all about it. Having the best affiliate promotions sent in the world is great, but if no one reads them, then you are not getting anything for your efforts.
So I pivoted. I began by writing random useful information while hoping that people would find it, but no:
1-Writing for known readers: I signed up to Medium, Quora, and Reddit. I gave answers to questions that people were asking.
2-Building an email list: I developed a free source of information (a checklist for picking software tools) and swapped it for e-mail addresses. Now I had folks to talk to.
3-Aware of the intent: I ceased writing on random subjects. I began to create content for particular search phrases such as: “Capterra vs Freshdesk” or “how to use Zapier for beginners.
My first serious affiliate commission came from a person who purchased a project management program when he read one of my guides in month 4.
It was not a great deal, but it was enough to show that it was a successful model
Step-by-step path that leads you toward success:
If I had to do it all over again, I would do it something like this.
Step 1: Choose the niche you like.
This is a very corny statement, but it’s relevant. If you can’t keep up, then you’re not going to make any money off of affiliate marketing. I selected productivity software, as I really enjoy seeing what new tools will be created. I do not say I am not being enthusiastic; I do say that I spend hours looking for the ideal note-taking app (Obsidian, that’s the one I am using at this time).
Your niche should be something where:
- You have real opinions and experience
- People are actively looking for solutions
- There are actual products to promote
- You could talk about it without getting bored
Step 2: Find affiliate programs that match:
Not every company has a public affiliate program. Some you have to apply for (and they might reject you). Others are invite-only.
I use three main sources:
- Amazon Associates: Lots of products, easy to sign up and get high volume, but have low commissions (1-3%). A good starter income.
- Individual company affiliate programs: Direct to the source. Software companies like Notion, Zapier, and Loom offer 20-30% commissions. Far better than Amazon.
- ShareASale Impact and CJ Affiliate: These will help you find all the affiliate programs in one place and work with hundreds of brands within a single dashboard.
So far I have promoted about 15 products, not every product that we use, but the products that are beneficial to me and other people.
Step 3: Create content related to a problem that people actually faced:
Everything changes here. Instead of writing 15 Best Email Tools I Write:
- How did I switch from Gmail to Hay Mail, and what is the reason for this?
- Can you use Substack instead of your email marketing software?
- The email tool I chose after testing eight.
The specificity matters. These titles target people actively searching for comparisons. They’ve decided to switch or try something new—they just need help.
Step 4:Build a way to get traffic:
You can post anything on the internet and then assume that traffic will come to you. That’s not true. You should follow the path that I told you or that I will explain to you.
- Social media platforms: Twitter and X work for me, while LinkedIn works for others.
- Reddit and other Communities: I reply authentically; links here seem more natural.
I have a 2% click-through rate with affiliate links on my email newsletter. My blog gets 0.3%. More engagement on Reddit, but I need to be careful not to come across as spammy. Various channels will transform in different ways.
Step 5: reveal all details (legally and ethically):
This isn’t optional. I write about products I link to, and earn commission if I do. This typically means that it’s an affiliate link, but by buying it, you’ll make me some money.
Google requires this. FTC requires this. Deserve it; your readers deserve it. If you’re honest and transparent, individuals will have more faith in you.
The best tools to do the job:
I don’t get paid for this, but here are some things that I do use:
For analytics:
- Google Analytics lets me know the articles that are most likely to get clicks.
- The Amazon Associates dashboard displays my conversion rate (I’m at about 0.8%, which I believe is average).
- I use email software (I use ConvertKit), which tells me which links people use in emails.
For content creation:
- A good spreadsheet that I use to keep track of which products I am promoting, where, and what the commission rates are.
- Typos destroy trust; that’s why you should use Grammarly.
For traffic building:
- My email list. Seriously. This is what I have to offer in my best interest. SEO.
- My methods would not be focused on competitive keywords; I’m looking for smaller keywords that I can win.
- Twitter/X for community & relationship building
The mistakes that I made and you should not:
1: Promoting too many products:
I used to link to literally everything in my first six months. Any tool that seemed relevant got a link. This makes you look desperate. Now I promote maybe one or two products per article. Quality over quantity.
2: Recommending things I hadn’t used:
I once promoted a web hosting service because the commission was high. I’d never used it. Someone bought it, hated it, and emailed me angrily. Never again. My reputation is worth more than any commission.
3-Neglecting the real asset (your audience):
At first, I focused entirely on getting traffic. Once I realized my email list converted 10x better than random blog visitors, I switched priorities. Now I focus on growing my newsletter even though it’s smaller. Quality beats quantity.
4: Expecting immediate results
Affiliate income didn’t become meaningful until month eight or nine. If I’d quit after month three, I would’ve missed all of it. This requires patience.
Real Numbers (What This Actually Looks Like):
After about 18 months
- My blog makes about $200-300/month in affiliate income
- My email newsletter makes $150-250/month
- I’ve earned about $4,500 total
That’s nothing life-changing. But it’s also passive now. I wrote most of those articles 12+ months ago. The email recommendations continue to earn, and when you become an expert in your works it outcome will be bigger than the effort you put into it.
Will I be able to increase my income even more? Maybe, but the fact is that I am more interested in the things that I like than in running for Commission.
What is needed and matters :
After doing this for a while, I’ve realized that the important things aren’t all that sophisticated.
Build real value: People buy from those they trust. Write engaging and helpful content. Respond to every comment and always be available. This will build your trust with people. And it’s much better than using a trick.
Increase your math skills: Know and interpret your conversion rates. If I write an article with 500 clicks/readers and a 0.8% conversion rate, I would make four sales. This costs $30 per article in commissions. This is why it’s important to know so that you can prioritize.
Be patient and don’t be in a hurry: The more articles you write, the more you will earn. Your old stuff continues to bring in some income after 2 years while you continue to write new stuff.
Don’t sound like an affiliate marketer: Top affiliate marketers don’t sound like affiliate marketers. Their words reflect their care for others; they are concerned.
Starts Now:
If you are actually going to do this, it is not advisable to join 50 affiliate programs. Start here:
- Choose a niche that you are good at.
- Choose three products that are related to what you actually use.
- Write content on it that provides important information about its benefits and how to buy it, but it should be genuine content.
- Then show it on a platform where people know about it or want to know about it.
- Track what’s happening.
You can do this in many other ways when you do it right away instead of reading it over and over again.
This method will not make you rich overnight, but it will not make you rich unless you work at it with real hard work and consistency. But this method actually works,s and I am an example of it. And most importantly, this method works even better when you intend to help people.
Do this with good and sincere intentions, and money will come to you on its own.
