Today, in part 8 of my series on how to monetize your blog, we’re going to look at Affiliates.

Really simply, affiliate marketing is when you promo something on your blog, and if that promo leads to a sale, you get a kickback.

There are quite a few ways this can work, but let me give you an example. Recently, I wrote a blog post on how to make cherry jam. I went out and bought  a cherry pitter for this job (because I’d learned the hard way the year before that pitting cherries without one is a pain in the ass!), the OXO Good Grips version. It worked like a dream. In the body of my blog post, I could have written something like:

To pit the cherries, you really should use invest in a cherry pitter. I liked this one from OXO Good Grips. 

The link takes the reader back to Amazon’s website, and if they order the cherry pitter, I get a kickback. Cool, right?

There are a couple of other ways this works, as well. My friend, Steve Dotto is starting up a new course right now, on how to mange your email. I could sign up to be an affiliate of his course, and any time someone purchases his course through a link on my site, I get a percentage of the profit.

I have an affiliate program for my e-books.

Affiliate marketing works best when you actually like/endorse/use the product or service. That way, you can honestly endorse it without seeming slimy, and it really creates a win-win situation for both the blogger and the person who’s trying to sell stuff. I also think it’s really important not too push the hard sell, because people will probably see right through it. Recommending something you genuinely like is the way to go.

Some additional resources for you: 

• Check out this comprehensive list of  Affiliate Marketing programs that you can sign up for, based on your blog’s niche. E-Junkie, the shopping cart service I use to sell my e-book has its own affiliate program, and you can join for free and see if anything there tickles your fancy.

• Check out Amazon.ca’s affiliate program.

• Read this really fantastic blog post from ProBlogger about how he’s made over $420K in 10 years via Amazon.