Best affiliate programs for lifestyle bloggers
The go to post for new bloggers on the best and highest paying affiliate progrmmes.
This week I am starting a new A to z series on blog tools and resources. I’ve been blogging for some time now and have spent the last couple of years growing it as a second income stream. So I thought I would share the knowledge I’ve gained.
So you can avoid the mistakes I’ve made and make a fast track to making your blog a profitable source of income. To start my A to Z series I thought I’d share what I have learnt about affiliate marketing and the best affiliate programs for lifestyle bloggers.
Affiliate platforms
When I first looked into affiliate platforms I didn’t know which ones to sign up to. So I basically went through any list I could find and applied to them all. This took a lot of time and realistically it was probably a waste of time too. As most were geared for products and services I would never use myself and therefore never want to promote.
Affiliate platforms are a great starting point as the have a wide range of companies under one umbrella making it easier for you to find services and products you are keen to promote.
The main affiliate platforms I regularly use are amazon associates, awin and share a sale.
Amazon associates
Amazon associates is easy to set up and use, but because it is so widely used and covers so many types of products. I have found although I get plenty of clicks they don’t turn into lots of income.
You can choose to add direct links to your website, make carousels of products or use image or text links in your posts. I tend you use both text links and photo links as this give people two opportunities to click. The good thing about amazon is it also has cookies on the clicked links, which means if a person goes on to make a purchase on amazon even if it isn’t the product you’ve promoted you can make a small commission.
Amazon have now also launched a influencer’s channel where you can set up a store front filled with products you love. I have set mine up and I’m waiting to see if this is a more effective way of making affiliate sales through amazon.
Point to note. Affiliate sales need to be declared on your site. Amazon associates has very specific wording you need to use, but it is easy enough to find in the FAQ’s and just a matter of pasting it to your site in a prominent place on your side bar.
Awin
Awin features some of the biggest brands and it is easy to set up. They do however require a £5.00 returnable fee when opening your account. You get this back when you reach the first payment threshold, which is currently £20.00. The features I love most about using awin are the convert a link plugin which means if the link you are using is a awin advertiser it automatically is converted into an affiliate link. I also love the chrome extension. It is easy to use and flags up special promotions advertisers have when you are on their sites.
Awin allows you to use text links and banner adverts which are great to place on pages and not have to worry about. Whilst they bring in extra valuable affiliate income.
Awin is my most successful affiliate platform I use and has many of the sites I would be recommending regularly regardless of them being affiliate in my normal day to day blogging. Such as etsy, redbubble and top cash back.
Shareasale
Share a sale is a American based affiliate program and may be good for you to use if you get lots of traffic from the US. I only signed up to Share a sale as I wanted to promote Tailwind as this is a product I know, like and trust for helping me improve my pinterest referrals to my blog. They are also easy to set up and can give you text links and banners to use on your site. Their advertisers also regularly email me. With updates on their products and with ideas for host to promote them and boost sales.
Promote what you love
You don’t have to use big affiliate platforms to promote products and services if you don’t want to. Use my worksheet to make a list of the ones you use regularly and love. These could include services like your web hosting, social management tools or stock photo sources.
It is so much easy to get people to want to buy the products if it is a genuine desire that to share the benefit of something fantastic you’ve found. For example I’ve only just started promoting my web hosting with Lyrical host. I really do love the service they offer. I just have to jump on the chance to tell people when they are looking a around for a new host. I’ve already made over £200 in commission. Plus a lot of people happy when they realise they are such a great web host provider.
(If you are looking to change you can get 10% off your first hosting plan payment at Lyrical host with this code CRAFTCARTWRIGHT10)
Affiliate strategies
Once you have signed up to some affiliate platforms. Considered what products and service you love. You need to think about how best to promote them. These are currently all the ways I promote my affiliate advertisers.
- Sidebar ads
- Recommended resources page
- banner ads on pages
- Text links
- Photo links
- Article dedicated to the product or service
- Inclusion in a round up style post
- Newsletter to mailing list
- Social posts on twitter
- Social posts on Facebook
- Instagram stories
- Pins
You may of course come up with other ideas of how best to promote your affiliate links. Use my worksheet as a handy place to jot them down and refer to at a later date.
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