How To Make Money With Amazon Affiliate Marketing

By podcast | March 22, 2023

In this article, I’m breaking down how to make money with Amazon’s affiliate marketing program, Amazon Associates.

Let’s give it a go.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a great way for content creators to make some extra cash online.

Here’s how it works: you promote someone else’s product or service on your website or social media, and if someone makes a purchase through your special link, you get a commission. Straight forward, right?

In fact, I’d be willing to bet you’ve actually bought something from an affiliate link several times in your life.

It’s kind of like being a middleman between the company and the customer. You don’t have to create your own product or handle any of the logistics, but you still get a piece of the pie for helping make the sale.

Lots of companies have affiliate programs, so you can find products and services in almost any niche.

Affiliate marketing is great for Podcasters, YouTubers, or Bloggers, because you can talk about products and services you use in your content creation workflow, as well as recommend products that go along with your niche.

It’s not easy, but if you have followers or some kind of audience, you can begin recommending products to them.

Having A Following Is Key

If you don’t have any sort of influence or following, it’ll be hard to be successful with affiliate marketing. If that’s the boat you’re in, focus on building influence before you start trying to make money.

To succeed in affiliate marketing it’s crucial to choose the right product or service to promote. In addition, it’s critical to create high-quality content that resonates with your audience and that builds trust with your followers.

By providing value and promoting products that align with your brand and audience, you can earn passive income through affiliate marketing.

What Is Amazon Associates?

Amazon Associates is Amazon’s affiliate marketing program. Personally, I think Amazon is one of the best places to get started with affiliate marketing, because people trust Amazon.

It’s a well-know brand with incredibly fast shipping and customer service.

As a consumer, would you rather buy a product from Amazon or a different e-commerce website? Let’s assume the price is the same.

That’s what I thought…

In addition to sending your followers somewhere they can trust to buy products, you as a seller can also trust that Amazon will pay you your commission on time.

Amazon has a great on-boarding process with very transparent earnings summaries, and account data that’s accessed via your account dashboard.

Another benefit of using Amazon for affiliate marketing is the vast array of products available. No matter what your niche is, there are products on Amazon that you can promote and earn commissions with.

Whether your content is about parenting, tech, wellness, books, or any other topic, there are countless products available on Amazon that you can recommend to your audience.

How To Get Started

To get started with Amazon’s affiliate program, go to affiliate-program.amazon.com and sign up. However, to stay in the program, you must sell three products in your first 180 days.

In the beginning the easiest way to sell those three products is by sharing your links with friends and family.

I actually didn’t do this, but looking back it would have been a sure fire way to hit that sales quota. I got a little lucky and hit my three sales by linking to some audio products in an article I wrote.

Commission Rates

Commissions range from 20% to 1% depending on the category. To see which category you fall into, check Amazon’s Commission Rates.

I realize Amazon’s commission rates aren’t the highest. There’s actually a lot of other e-commerce websites that offer much higher commission. But again, consumers trust and enjoy buying products from Amazon.

Starting out you may only make a few dollars a month. But, you can earn more by creating more content and sharing more links.

The more links out there that are living in perpetuity from your Podcast, YouTube, or Blog, the more income you can generate.

At this point, I have a few hundred links out on the web. Below is a screen shot of my earnings for the first 2.5 months of 2023.

Tips For On Going Success With Amazon Associates

Beyond making those initial sales, the key to success with Amazon affiliate marketing is to consistently create high-quality content that is relevant to your audience, and includes links to relevant products on Amazon.

Here are some great places to promote products:

Blogs
Podcasts and Podcast Show Notes
YouTube Descriptions
Social Media
Online Courses

Affiliate Marketing Disclaimers

It’s important to disclose to your audience that you are using affiliate links. Transparency and honesty are key to building trust with your audience. Writing an affiliate disclaimer is required by law, regardless of which affiliate program you’re in.

This Is Taken Directly From Amazons Website:

To comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, your link-level disclosure must be:

Clear. A clear disclosure could be as simple as “(paid link)”, “#ad”, or “#CommissionsEarned”.
Conspicuous. It should be placed near any affiliate link or product review in a location that customers will notice easily. They shouldn’t have to hunt for it.

In addition, the Operating Agreement requires that the following statement clearly and conspicuously appears on your site:

“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” For social media user-generated content, this statement must be associated with your account.

I typically write, “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you chose to purchase something from my links, it won’t cost you anything extra and I might earn a commission. The money I earn helps me to keep pumping out content.

Things To Be Aware Of As An Amazon Affiliate Marketer

Apparently, Amazon Associates changes its commission structure from time to time.

I’ve personally never experienced this, but, I’ve read horror stories from bloggers and content creators who’ve lost thousands of dollars in revenue because Amazon lowered the commission for their niche.

For example, in April 2020, Amazon reduced its commission rates for many categories. In response to negative feedback from affiliates, Amazon reversed this decision in May 2020, and reinstated the previous commission rates.

Thankfully, it ended up being only a month of less sales commission. But you never know what could happen.

So, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the commission rates offered by Amazon Associates and stay informed about any changes that may be made in the future.

This can help content creators make informed decisions about which products to promote and how to maximize their earnings.

Also, keep in mind that Amazon is just one of many potential revenue streams. Depending on the niche of your content, other monetization options may also be lucrative.

Diversification is key in any business.

Make Money on Amazon

Amazon affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn commission on products related to your contents niche.

By consistently creating high-quality content and including relevant links to products on Amazon, you can potentially earn a significant amount of revenue over time.

However, it’s important to understand the commission rates and requirements for staying in the Amazon Associates program, as well as to be transparent with your audience about your use of affiliate links.

Keep Listening, Keep Engaging, and Keep Creating

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