Hi I'm Simon. For those of you who don't know me, I've been making good money as an affiliate for 3 years now and a majority of that has been from building Amazon affiliate niche sites.
You can read my full success story here.
Reently I've been getting a ton of questions from newbies asking how to get started, on how to make money as an affiliate with Amazon.
Things like:
- Do you know how to make money as an affiliate with Amazon?
- What's the easiest way to build an Amazon affiliate website?
- Where's the best place to find and buy done-for-you Amazon affiliate websites for sale?
That's why in this post I'm going to give you a full and simple rundown as to how all this stuff works.
How to make money as an Amazon affiliate?
Affiliate marketing is super simple and it's always been my online business model of choice. An affiliate is basically someone who gets paid to promote other people's products or services.
Here's why I love it so much:
- You don't have to waste your time and money trying to create products yourself.
- You don't need to bother about storage or shipping costs
- You don't need to deal with any customers face to face
- And you don't need to get involved with any of the payment side of things.
If you become an affiliate marketer, all you need to worry about is getting paid at the end of each month.
Here's a simple breakdown of how affiliate marketing works:
[Source: WealthyAffiliate.com]
So how do you get started?
It's really easy. All you need to do is join an affiliate which is free and takes just a couple of minutes.
It seems like nearly everyone has an affiliate program today, companies like Amazon, eBay, Samsung, Nike, Walmart, Apple, Canon, Starbucks, LEGO, Hilton Hotels and Sony.
You can usually find a ‘become an affiliate‘ link at the bottom of the company's website and you'd be surprised, there are countless affiliate programs out there.
So how to make GOOD money as an Amazon Affiliate?
If you're not registered as an Amazon affiliate yet, you can head on over to their Amazon Associates page and sign up. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Log in, search for any product you like and get your unique link. Every time someone clicks on that link and buys something from Amazon, you get a percentage.
And the really cool thing about Amazon is that they don't even have to buy the product they first clicked on for you to make money. Thanks to the awesome selling machine that is Amazon, people checkout with all kinds of random stuff in their Amazon cart and you still get paid for all of it.
In fact, my first ever sale happened when someone read a book review I'd written, clicked on my link to buy the book, didn't end up buying the book at all but ended up ordering a Black & Decker fruit juicer – and I STILL got paid commissions for it.
That's cool right?
Commission rates with Amazon are from 4-10% depending on how many products you sell and what type of products you're promoting.
They give you options too as to how you get paid at the end of the month, either by cheque or directly into your PayPal account.
Here's Amazon's latest commission rate structure:
There are a ton of different ways to promote your affiliate links and social media is definitely one way to do this, but for me, by far the most profitable way is by building simple websites (it's really not as technical as you think!) that target a specific topic with low competition.
This can be a totally random topic so let your imagination go crazy.
This way, it's easy for me to get these websites on the top spot on Google so that the millions of people every searching for those actual products, find your site, click my affiliate links, buy lots of stuff and make me lots of money.
In a nutshell I make money when someone:
Searches Google > finds my site > clicks on my link > buys stuff
An Amazon example:
So if I take an example from 10 Hot Money Making Website Niche Ideas and choose to start a website about ‘wireless headphones'.
Thanks to keyword research tools like Jaaxy, I know there's not too much competition so I'm confident I can rank on the first page of Google for phrases like:
- xbox wireless headphones
- sennheiser rs120 wireless headphones review
- beats wireless headphones
- Sony MDRRF985RK Wireless RF Headphone reviews
- wireless headphones in ear
- wireless tv headphones
- best wireless headphones
- cordless headphones
I'd do is choose a domain like ‘bestwirelessheadphonereviews.com' (this domain is still available by the way) and get my site setp up.
I'd add posts to the website targeting these low-hanging keywords by writing reviews for different makes and models of wireless headphones.
I'd then go on and promote this site on popular social media sites and, because there's hardly any competition, my site would easily rank on top of Google search engine results.
And this is just one topic idea, but you could start a website aboout almost anything and get people clicking on your Amazon affiliate links and see your Amazon sales skyrocket.
Getting started
So now you know what I do to earn $6,000+ per month and you can do it too. There's two ways to go about it:
1. Build your site from scratch:
If you're a beginner you might have a few questions like…
- What should I start an affiliate website about?
- How do I start a website? I've done anything like this before
- How do I get my site on the first page of search engines like Google and get lots of people visiting my website?
Here's a quick video run through from Alex at Extra-Paycheck.com on how to apply to become an Amazon affiliate:
With the right know-how and training, all of these things are really quite easy and I've set up a free crash course for newbies to help you get started in the right direction.
2. Buy a ready-made Amazon affiliate website
You've got to be careful when buying websites because there's a lot of junk out there. The best done-for-you Amazon affiliate websites I've seen are the ones made by Human Proof Designs.
They come with high quality content, reviews, comparison charts and built around solid niches and keyword research.
Built your Amazon affiliate website yourself if you have more time than money and buy one ready made if you have more money than time – the key is to start somewhere.
If you've got any questions or comments, be sure to leave them below.
I respond to every comment 🙂
Simon Crowe is on a mission to help as many people as possible kiss their bosses goodbye.
Take the free Wealthy Affiliate test drive to discover how to smash your online income goals and make your dream business a reality.
Hello Simon!
I think you portrayed affiliate marketing which can be scary for newcomers really easy and interesting. I am still new to the online business and would like you to give me some tips. I know the basics and btw you said everything that needs to be said in this post about starting out. But I am interested in some advanced tips.
And I am really interested in your backstory about starting your online blog. How long did it take for you to make this your full-time job? Do you have any ambitious future plans or are you just happy and settled for now?
Hi Goran, thanks I appreciate that.
Long story short, I started out in affiliate marketing just over 3 years ago as a complete beginner. I joined Wealthy Affiliate and they taught me everything I know. Since then I’ve build a series of websites based around different topics ranking from leadership and church growth, to learning Thai as a second language, to The Make Money Online Blog that you’re reading now.
I’ve since quit my UK call centre job and moved here to Thailand where I work for the church as a missionary full time. I head up the children’s outreach ministry working to help give slum children a brighter future. Thi is all thanks to the income I earn through affiliate marketing. You can read my Wealthy Affiliate success story here.
I wasn’t lucky, I just recognised the right training when I saw it and worked my arse off, took massive action and made it happen. I’m the kind of person that if I decide to do something, I’ll give it my all and I’m stubborn enough not to quit.
Honestly anyone can achieve the same result I have an more. For anyone serious about building an online business, just join Wealthy Affiliate as a free Starter member, start the training, build your first site and learn as you go. The more time you can put into it, the quicker you’ll see results.
And to answer your question, no I’m not settled yet! I think I’m just getting started and I’m excited for what’s around the corner.
To your online success Goran! Let me know if I can help with anything along the way.
Hi Simon. Your explanation couldn’t been any clearer =)
I just would like to know how long does it take to start getting lots of sales? I’m also currently in the Amazon associate affiliate program for a few months but I’ve yet to get any meaningful sale. The few sales that I have are from other things that people buy when they go to Amazon from my link (a good thing about amazon lol). If you can provide a certain time frame, that would really be motivating to me =)
Hey Isaac, it sounds like you’re making a good start. The best way, in my opinion, to make good money as an Amazon affiliate or with any other affiliate program is to create a website based on a specific topic otherwise known as a niche. Build your website out with helpful and useful topic readers can get a lot from and you build your audience that way.
Sure, it takes a while to get rank on the top spot of Google and build up a social media following etc. but once you’ve got momentum and traffic, if you’ve monetised your website in the right way, the sales will follow.
Results can take 6 months, a year or 3 years depending on how much time you put into it and how competitive your niche is. For me, I worked every spare hour I had, especially in the beginning, and after 12 months I had replaced my full-time income.
I think you might really benefit from my free 10 day Make Money Blogging email course where I go through each and every step, and tell you where you can access free affiliate marketing training, tools, website builders and support. Speaking of support, you’ll also get mentoring from me and I’ll provide one on one support to help you increase your affiliate sales.
I hope this helps and I’m glad this spurs you on to chase after your dreams. To your online success!
Hey,
I am happy I came across your post on making money as an Amazon affiliate. You explain it in a way that is easy to understand. Finding a good niche that you enjoy I think will help you enjoy finding products to promote. I like that you showed there are other affiliate programs you can join besides Amazon. I now have a few ideas of some affiliate programs that I want to check out and see if I can make some money!
Thanks Nae, I’m glad you found this helpful. An easy way to find the best affiliate programs to promote is to Google “your niche” + affiliate program.
So if I search Google for running affiliate programs I can see pages and pages of programs I can join for free and get paid up to 75% commissions. And you can join as many as you like.
So for my running website example, I could promote footwear, fitness trackers, online fitness and workout programs, protein and other supplements – the lsit is endless and this is just one niche idea.
You’re right, these principles can be applied not just for the Amazon affiliate program – but any affiliate program where you get paid for referrals.
Click here for 10 hot money making niche ideas!
Hi Simon, I am new to the affiliate marketing program game and relatively new to WA. I’ve only been a member here for about two weeks and have just started course 3, making money here at Wealthy Affiliate.
The one question that I’ve had is how exactly would I and is it actually possible to make money just from blogging? I found your site to be informative, clearly written and concise. It was very clear from your writings that your experience and success gives you the credibility to write the blogs that you have. I took some clear insight from your site and it definitely helped my mind to clarify some questions I have had.
Thanks for taking the time to write all of that and best of luck with all your future endeavors and all that you wish to accomplish in life.
Enjoy your weekend
Chris
Hey Chris, I’m glad you’re enjoying the training at Wealthy Affiliate – it’s the course I learned everything I know now about turning any niche idea into a profiting online business. It sounds like you’re making great progress in such a short space of time!
In response to your question, is it possible to make money just from blogging?
Most affiliate programs, though free to join, require you to have a website. If you don’t have a website yet, here’s a step by step for building a free website, (it only takes 34 seconds!)
If you’re blogging as an affiliate markter, you’re not just a blogger – you’re an online entrepreneur. It’s important you see yourself this way.
It’s not just about blogging but about creating content – this could be producing podcasts, running a YouTube channel, it’s all content creation.
Your website is your online platform that your future success is built on, it’s where you connect with readers through helpful how-to articles, review different products, answer reader’s questions and build that trust.
Without a website how are you going to make money as an Amazon affiliate? By spamming groups on Facebook? Harassing family and friends?
Do you and your business a huge favour by building on a solid foundation and you’ll do very well.
All the best to you Chris, have a great weekend too, flying out to Turkey for 10 days on Sunday with family so looking forward to that! 🙂
Hello, Simon. You offer a great opportunity to earn money online being as an Amazon affiliate. People who have websites and have knowledge about products or service, can make a great living through Amazon. Individuals search for products all time. The Amazon is biggest online retailer. We can buy ships, watches and books.
Affiliate commissions can be from few pennies to hundreds of dollars. What is most important that we would offer best information about searched product. In this way, clients would buy item through our website. At the end of month we would get commissions depending on how many products were bought through our websites.
Of course it takes time to write article, research information but on the end rewards can be pleasant.
All the best, Nemira.
I know people who are earning thousands a month as an Amazon affiliate! The potential here to make money is huge! Amazon pay 4-10% commissions depending on how much you’ve sold that month but I promote affiliate programs in the leadership and self-development niche that give me 50% commissions – this is not uncommon.
Anything you can think of – furniture, DIY supplies, Halloween costumes, home gym equipment – they all have an affiliate program that are free to join and mean you could start earning commissions and making good money by the end of the month.
If you haven’t yet, take the free affiliate marketing training at Wealthy Affiliate, you’ll learn how to build websites, get traffic to them and make good money as an affiliate.