In today’s digital age, affiliate links have become a common way for content creators, bloggers, and influencers to earn income while sharing products and services they love with their audience. Whether you’re browsing a blog, watching a YouTube video, or checking out a product review, you’ve likely encountered affiliate links without even realizing it.

But what exactly are affiliate links, and how do they work – and better yet, how can you make use of them to earn a few extra pennies, while talking about things you’re already passionate about?

What Are Affiliate Links?

Affiliate links are special URLs used in online marketing that track referrals from content creators or website owners to the website of a product or service. When someone clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase, the person who shared the link earns a commission from the sale. It’s a win-win situation: companies get more exposure and sales, while creators are rewarded for their recommendations.

Let’s take this link here for instance – here’s the full Harry Potter Collection, available to buy via Amazon UK. 🛒

If you were to use that specific link to purchase the Harry Potter Collection, or perhaps even browse around and buy something else, we would make a small commission (between 1% to 20%, depending on the product category).

No Extra Cost to Customers

One common misconception about affiliate links is that they increase the cost of products for customers, or perhaps there’s some kind of hidden catch. This is not true.

Products purchased through an affiliate link are sold at the same price as they would be without the link. The affiliate commission is covered by the company running the program – Amazon, for the example above – not the customer. Essentially, the company pays the content creator a small fee as a thank you for bringing in a new customer.

So, to clarify – if you buy a product from Amazon using an affiliate link, you’ll pay the same price as if you found the item on your own. The content creator simply receives a portion of the sale that would otherwise go entirely to the retailer.

Benefits of Using Affiliate Links as a Creator

For content creators, affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to monetize a website, blog, YouTube channel, or social media account.

We (12Boom) choose to generate revenue exclusively through affiliate marketing to help fund the website & its content, rather than crowd the website with ads. Naturally, we’re missing out on revenue, but it makes for a better experience for the reader – one that is hard to find in an age of ads being shoveled onto every blank space possible.

Here’s why affiliate links are beneficial from a content creator’s perspective:

• Passive Income: Once affiliate links are embedded in content, they can generate passive income over time. A well-written blog post or popular video can continue earning commissions as long as people are clicking on those links and making purchases. Combining this with “Evergreen Content” makes for a reliable income stream over time.
• Easy to Implement: Most affiliate programs are free to join and offer easy-to-use tools for embedding links into websites, social media posts, and emails. Creators don’t have to worry about inventory, shipping, or customer service—the retailer handles all of that.
• Monetising Niche Content: Whether you’re reviewing tech products, creating tutorials, or sharing gaming gear, affiliate marketing allows creators to earn money by recommending products that their audience already finds useful.
• Flexibility: Creators can choose which products and services to promote, making it easy to align affiliate links with the type of content they naturally produce. This also fosters trust, as they are sharing products they genuinely use and believe in.
• No Limits on Earnings: The earning potential with affiliate links is scalable. The more traffic a content creator generates and the more effectively they incorporate affiliate links, the more they can potentially earn.
• Diverse Opportunities: With affiliate marketing, creators aren’t tied to just one source of income. They can partner with multiple affiliate programs, promoting a wide range of products or services that are relevant to their audience.

How To Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

So, now that you know how affiliate programs and marketing works, perhaps it’s time for you to start generating some passive income!

While Amazon offers the the best tools for affiliate marketing – and it’s a recognised brand worldwide – there are a bunch of other sites that offer affiliate programs. Here are a few:

As you build your community, you may qualify for exclusive affiliate programs. PartnerStack is great for discovering brands to work with, often being given freebies in exchange for being an affiliate partner with them. Other companies like Corsair, Elgato & Razer have exclusive affiliate programs that typically require you to have a bit of an audience beforehand, but can prove to be far more lucrative – both in terms of commission, and freebies.

Restream, for example, is a company we’ve been working with for a while. They help creators co-stream via Twitch, YouTube, Kick, Facebook, X, TikTok and more, all at once! We get a higher percentage of the commissions, and even exclusive discounts and suchlike for our audience.

If there’s nothing on our list that takes your interest, have a look on your most commonly used websites and tools – you’ll be surprised how many companies offer programs like this!

Disclosure – Clarify When Using Affiliate Links

When using affiliate links, it’s important for content creators to be transparent with their audience. Many countries, including the United States, require creators to disclose when they are using affiliate links, typically in compliance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines.

If you take a peek at the bottom of this post, below the option to subscribe to our newsletter (which you should absolutely do, by the way), you’ll find a paragraph that states some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and gives you an option to learn more about them. For other platforms, like X, a simple “#AD” may suffice – but check with local laws.

This disclosure ensures that audiences are aware that the creator may earn a commission from their purchase. Not only does this maintain transparency, but it also fosters trust between creators and their followers, ensuring that recommendations are genuine. By openly disclosing affiliate relationships, creators show integrity, which can lead to stronger, more loyal audience engagement.

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Some links included in this post are affiliate links. These help to fund and sustain everything we do, at no extra cost to you. Learn more about affiliate links here.