Playbook #084: Affiliate Marketing
🖼️ The Big Picture
If you have Mental Capital related to online marketing or tech, or Relationship Capital with people who have a large database of leads / customers or a product that’s selling well, then affiliate marketing could be a relatively easy entry point to start generating recurring income to supplement or replace your job.
Affiliate marketers get paid commissions from promoting a company’s products or services through any number of channels, including email marketing, websites, blogs, YouTube, and even paid advertising.
For instance, let’s say that you’re an avid pet lover. Here are just a few of the affiliate programs you could look at promoting:
- Courses on how to train your dog (courses often pay up to 50% commission)
- Dog beds, bones, and toys on Amazon (~5% commission)
- Dog food with Chewy (4% commission)
- Dog supplements
- Dog service providers like walkers, vets, mobile groomers, and more…
(In fact, here’s a list of 46 pet affiliate programs if your dog is cuddling with you as you read this and you’re “all in” already…)
Generally, “digital products” like courses will pay the highest commissions, since they have the largest margins and can afford to do so. “Physical products” like toys and food, or services, have lower margins, so you’re more likely to see ~5 - 10% commissions.
The best thing about affiliate marketing is that the cost of entry is low, so anyone can start a website promoting products and services today. This is a double edged sword, however, because it also means there’s a lot of competition. Those who are able to market the best, earn the most.