With 2026 just getting underway, you might be looking for a new passive income stream. Last year was full of success stories, and you might be thinking 2026 could be the time to write your story as well, possibly in affiliate marketing.
If you’re thinking about how to make money with affiliate marketing, but don’t know how or where to start, this is your place. This step-by-step guide to affiliate marketing for beginners will walk you through your journey, from picking a niche to scaling your affiliate earnings.
By the end of it, you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how to start an affiliate marketing business in 2026, all without the guesswork.
Already have traffic? Then sign up with Profitise as an affiliate to monetize your leads across home services, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, solar, and more high-ticket niches.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
From the word itself, “affiliate,” you connect or partner with brands (service or product-based), then recommend their products and/or services to others. If they buy from your recommendation through links or codes, you earn a commission. Therefore, the more consumers, the more clicks, and the more purchases, the higher your affiliate earnings can be.
Usually, affiliate marketing works not as a direct relationship between advertisers and affiliates, but through an affiliate network that connects them, ensuring a level playing field. Examples of well-known affiliate networks include Amazon and ShareASale, along with hundreds of smaller yet equally beneficial niche affiliate networks.
For example, Profitise is specifically focused on the industries of solar and home services, including niches like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, windows & doors, and kitchen & bath, offering some of the highest payouts in the market. No less importantly, Profitise pays per lead, not per sale, which makes it much simpler to get a payout (we’ll review the differences between pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale affiliate marketing programs later on).
Almost anyone can make money with affiliate marketing because:
- You don’t need to create your own product.
- You can start with little or no money.
- Affiliate earnings are a passive income stream.
No wonder the global affiliate marketing market is projected to be valued at approximately $42.6 billion in 2026. Content creators are leading the rise, with affiliate marketing as their primary income source. The risk is low, while the opportunities are endless.
How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
1. Pick a Niche
If your niche is too broad, there is too much competition. With more competition, affiliate earnings tend to get rather limited. For example, if you choose fitness as your niche, targeting can be too complex since the audience is too broad.
So, why not niche down into “home workouts for beginners,”“fitness for digital nomads”, or “fitness for full-time moms?” Whatever it is, make sure you don’t waste marketing on everyone, or else you end up marketing to no one.
One successful affiliate marketer, Tom Dupuis, suggests “find a niche with high demand, but with little supply.” At first, Tom started with the niche “WordPress,” but quickly niched down to “WordPress SEO” and then “WordPress Hosting.”
“WordPress Hosting” got high demand but little supply. He searched YouTube and found that only a few people were teaching it, but many needed help and guidance. That’s how he found his niche. Now he makes $150,000 in affiliate earnings by writing hyper-specific, helpful guides and recommending hosting to his audience.
How to pick the right niche so you can realistically make money with affiliate marketing:
- Pick a niche you’re passionate about. Choosing a topic you like makes it easier to talk about it and recommend to others. This makes you an expert in the field, the go-to affiliate marketer.
- Check the niche’s demand. Like Tom, research the market. Go to YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, Quora, and online forums. See if people are actively searching for it.
- Check the competition. If content creators or affiliate marketers are flooding the competition, narrow down into sub-niches until you get that “high demand, low supply” sweet spot. In this context, Profitise might be your best choice, especially in the niches of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and other home services, as well as solar.
- Calculate earning potential. In some niches, affiliate earnings tend to be much higher and may include recurring commissions. Some examples include software tools, personal finance, and hosting, as in Tom’s example.
Join Profitise to monetize home services and solar traffic with higher payouts.
2. Research Affiliate Marketing Keywords
Affiliate keywords are search phrases your potential customers type into Google, YouTube, or any search platform when they’re looking for products to buy or services to pay for. By using these keywords in your content, you help search engines understand the meaning of your content and potentially rank it higher in search results.
Here are some types of affiliate keywords:
| Keyword Type | What it means | Affiliate Keyword Example |
| Product Reviews | You review one product | “Best noise-canceling headphones 2025” |
| Comparisons | Compare two products | “Canon vs. Nikon” |
| Buying intent | People want to buy soon | “Top-rated CRM software” |
| Problem/Solution | Help fix something | “How to fix slow Wi-Fi” |
| Long-tail keywords | Longer, more specific, easier to rank | “best budget drone for real estate photography under $500” |
Knowing your lead’s intent and buying stage helps you choose the best keyword to target.
How to find affiliate keywords that can make you money:
- Write seed keywords from your chosen niche. For example, your seed keyword could be “camera for beginners,” “travel outfits for fall,” or “best travel luggage for carry on.”
- Use the autocomplete search feature for ideas. On YouTube or Google, type your keyword idea and get suggestions. Auto-suggestions are real search phrases and terms people use, and these are gold.
- Look for low competition keywords. Since you’re yet to start, long-tail keywords are your low-hanging fruit. These get fewer searches, but they’re easier to win, compared to broad keywords with lots of searches but harder to rank.
- Use keyword tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, Mangools, AnswerThePublic). If you have a budget for a paid subscription, these tools give you real-time data on which keywords are hot and have low competition.
- Adopt your competitors’ best practices. Learn from YouTube channels and websites with similar niches to yours. What topics are they talking about? Which content gets the most views? These give you spot-on ideas about what kind of content your target audience is actively searching for.
Pro tip: The keywords that are quicker and usually easier to make money with are usually those people use during the transactional or ready-to-buy phase. These most often contain the words: “review”, “vs”, “best”, “how to.”
Join Profitise and make affiliate marketing easier with ready-to-use forms.
3. Learn about Affiliate Marketing Programs
The most well-known affiliate programs are Amazon Associates, ClickBank, and ShareASale. Which one is right for you depends on your niche, expertise, competition, budget, and multiple other variables. After all, it all boils down to whether you can realistically and sustainably make money with the affiliate program in question.
| Affiliate Network | Best For | Key Features | Example Brands / Partners |
| Amazon Associates | Beginners, lifestyle bloggers, product reviewers | Huge product inventory, easy approvals, trusted brand, simple linking tools | Amazon marketplace (millions of products) |
| ShareASale | Bloggers, niche creators, small–mid e-commerce brands | Wide range of merchants, simple dashboard, strong reporting, easy to start | Reebok, Grammarly, WP Engine |
| PartnerStack | SaaS & B2B creators, tech niche marketers | Focus on software/SaaS, recurring commissions, partner marketplaces | FreshBooks, Typeform, Monday.com |
| ClickBank | Digital products, creators in “make money”, fitness, and supplements niches | Potentially high affiliate earnings, instant payments, huge marketplace | Thousands of online courses & digital brands |
| CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) | Publishers who want big brand names | Strong tools & tracking, premium advertisers, performance marketplace | HelloFresh, GoPro, Lowe’s |
| Awin | Global retail & e-commerce | 30,000+ advertisers, international coverage, flexible automation | Etsy, Lenovo, Nike UK |
| Rakuten Advertising | Enterprise brands & publishers | Full-funnel tracking, brand-safe environment, premium brand access | Walmart, Sephora, Best Buy |
| impact.com | Brands & creators who want affiliate + influencer partnerships | Modern partnership platform, fraud protection, cross-device tracking | Adidas, Airbnb, L’Oréal |
Look for affiliate marketing programs that offer a fair and competitive commission rate, at least 5% as a bare minimum. Better, look for programs with a 10% to 30% commission on a sale, or a decent flat fee. The exception is affiliate programs with lower commission rates and very high conversion rates – these are also a good choice. So do the math in the first place.
To make good money with affiliate marketing, though, you might have to look further than Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or any other well-known affiliate network. These may be good for educational purposes, but they are very crowded, with thousands of bigger affiliates promoting the same products. As a new affiliate, you might want to avoid those.
Important: While well-known affiliate programs might seem a safe choice, they are highly competitive and don’t offer the highest commission rates. This is why many solar and home services affiliate marketers choose Profitise as one of the best and easiest pay-per-lead affiliate marketing networks, with a low entry barrier and a potential for a quick head start.
Join Profitise as an affiliate to maximize your earnings in solar & home services. We offer one of the highest payouts per lead, so you can kickstart your affiliate marketing from day one.
4. Get Your Affiliate Links
An affiliate link is a unique URL assigned to you by a merchant or affiliate network, used to track your traffic and sales. Once a customer clicks on your link, a tracking cookie is stored in their browser, which is a small text file that records the customer’s user journey and also contains your unique ID so you can be identified as the referrer.
So even when the customer doesn’t proceed to checkout right away after clicking, the cookie allows you to get a commission for up to 30 to 90 days, depending on the affiliate program. All things being equal, look for an affiliate program with a 90-day or longer cookie window to capture commissions on delayed purchases, especially in niches with longer sales cycles.
For example, in finance or insurance, it may take weeks or even months for a user to make a purchase decision, so you surely need a longer cookie window in these niches. On the other hand, if you’re selling something less complex, it may not matter that much.
How to get your affiliate link:
- Sign up for an affiliate network like Profitise, Amazon Associates, or ShareASale.
- Generate your affiliate link in the dashboard. The dashboard and tools differ by network, but generating a link always comes down to a single click. For platforms like Amazon Associates, the SiteStripe tool is used at the top of the page to instantly generate an affiliate link for any product. For major networks such as ClickBank, use the HopLink Generator in the dashboard. You enter your account ID, and it creates a unique, traceable URL.
- Once you’ve got your affiliate link, you can start promoting it and earn commissions.
Likewise, you can use an affiliate link generator to create a link for any page on the merchant’s website. You paste the URL of a specific product page, and the tool adds your unique tracking ID to it. For instance, you want to link to a specific $150 camera tripod. You paste the tripod’s URL into the generator, and it spits out your custom affiliate link.
5. Diversify Your Traffic Sources & Grow Your Audience
Now that you can get affiliate links, it’s time to start affiliate-ing (or referring people to these products and services).
Building an affiliate marketing website is a common way to attract customers, and it’s often where affiliate earnings begin. People will visit your website, discover your recommendations, and click those links or fill out a form if you’re in a pay-per-lead affiliate program.
Read also: 8 Best Website Builders for Affiliate Marketing
But a website alone might not be enough to make money with affiliate marketing, or at least you won’t be able to maximize your affiliate earnings. To reach more users and earn more, you need to activate all available marketing channels and adjust your content for each.
Here are the best traffic channels to make money with affiliate marketing:
- Blogging
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Email marketing
Let’s review each of these channels.
Blogging
Even in the age of YouTube and TikTok, blogging remains a strong channel for long-term affiliate earnings. Blogs rank on Google and are therefore evergreen, unlike short-lived TikTok or Instagram reels (which you shouldn’t discount by any means, though).
What can give you a big advantage in blogging is targeting long-tail, high-intent keywords. You can publish multiple blog posts with different target keywords and search intent while promoting the same product or service.
For example, one post could be “Top 10 Keyword Research Tools in 2026,” while the other could be “SemRush vs. Ahrefs: Which is Best for Freelance SEO Specialists?” Add to it a detailed how-to tutorial about “Beginners Guide to Keyword Research with Ahrefs”. The more comprehensive and helpful your affiliate marketing blog is, the more likely it is to rank higher.
Join Profitise to monetize your organic solar and home services leads. Use our ready-made leadgen forms to maximize your lead generation and sales potential.
YouTube
While blogging is passive, YouTube is very active and personal, a conversion powerhouse that you can use to make a lot of money. People trust people, and video reviews or content enable you to do that. People see your face, hear your voice, see how you use a product/service – and that’s how you become relatable and trustworthy.
Like Google, YouTube is also a search engine. The keywords you are aiming to rank for in Google Search can also be used in your YouTube content. People who are actively searching for a product first watch video reviews before making a purchase (like all of us).
Here are a few content ideas for affiliate videos:
- Product reviews & demos
- Tutorials & walkthroughs
- Unboxing videos
- “Best tools/apps for X niche”
- Long-term review: “I used ___ for 90 days, here’s what happened”
Place affiliate links in the description, in pinned comments, or on-screen calls to action. You can plainly say, “If you want to check it out, the link is below. I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps support the channel.” When people like your content, they’ll not second-guess proceeding to checkout with your link. Simply because the trust factor is there.
Facebook & TikTok
Facebook now reaches around 3.07 billion monthly active users, with about 2.11 billion people logging in daily. Instagram follows closely with roughly 3 billion monthly users and an estimated 500 million daily active users. TikTok continues to surge in popularity, attracting around 1.59 billion monthly users and almost a billion daily active users worldwide.
As you see, these platforms already have an audience waiting. Although you don’t need millions of followers to earn, once you attract the right people, you get consistent affiliate earnings.
For example, you can post content that solves small problems or inspires curiosity. Technically, you can just repurpose whatever you post on your blog and YouTube channel:
- Product reviews or demos
- “What I’m using right now” videos
- Before-and-after transformations
- Mini tutorials or tips
- Short stories about how a product helped you
Your goal isn’t to “hard sell.” Instead, share what you genuinely love and why. Similar to YouTube, include your affiliate link in your bio, captions, or pinned comments. You can use stories, reels, TikTok clips, or pinned posts to drive attention back to the link.
Believe it or not, but yes, Pinterest can be a powerful tool for your affiliate marketing campaign. For some niches, it’s a major affiliate traffic driver. All you have to do is create eye-catching pins that link back to your blog.
You don’t even need to build your own website to start earning on Pinterest — you can link directly to your affiliate products or services. What’s more, pins are not like short-lived reels; they can make you money 365 days a year.
You can make decent money on Pinterest, but keep in mind that it’s a visual search engine, and SEO is key there. Regularly post fresh SEO-optimized affiliate pins to increase traffic and maximize your affiliate earnings. Keep up with the trends and track your performance to see what converts and what doesn’t.
Email List
If social media is where people discover you, your email list is where they deepen their trust. In fact, affiliate marketers who use email marketing achieve 66.4% more conversions than those who don’t.
One major reason why email marketing is your highest-converting asset is that “you own” it. Algorithms can change, but your subscribers are always yours. Once you get a loyal base, there’s no more guesswork in trust.
Start by creating a freebie, like a checklist, template, or guide. When someone signs up, they join your list, and you can send helpful content regularly:
- Product tips
- Reviews
- New resources
- Latest content (YouTube video, blog)
- Personal stories
Again, avoid hard selling. Aim to naturally weave your affiliate links into the content when they support it. For example: “Here’s the budgeting app I use every month. It has saved me [x] hours. Link below.”
Although email marketing takes time, consistency is key here. When subscribers hear from you regularly, they begin to recognize your name, your tone, and your value. That trust makes it far more likely they’ll click links, take your recommendations, and buy.
Also, you don’t need to sell in every email. Just show up, help your audience, and build a relationship. They may only be ready to buy if they trust your recommendations.
Over time, your email list will become a reliable source of affiliate earnings.
Now that you’ve launched your campaign, website, and other traffic channels, the next step is to monitor and analyze your performance. See which products get the most clicks, which ones sell better, and how much you earn from that. Analyze it, focus on what converts, and stop wasting time on ineffective methods.
There are at least three key things to track to increase your affiliate marketing income:
- Clicks
- Conversions
- Payouts
Whether you’re backed by an advanced affiliate tracking system or not, it’s quite essential to understand where your referrals come from, what referrals click what links and why, and how effective a specific traffic channel is against the other channels. Then you can optimize your exposure, ad spend, and timing to grow your affiliate earnings.
Track Your Clicks
CTR, or Click-Through Rate, reflects the percentage of users who click on an advertisement after viewing it. Every affiliate dashboard provides the number of clicks your links receive.
If one of your links consistently gets more clicks, that means your content excites curiosity or is very helpful to readers/viewers. For example, if your link to a skincare product gets 150 clicks, while another product gets only 11, the skincare topic is clearly sparking more interest. This tells you what you should put your efforts into.
For a deeper analysis, you can use AI tools like RedTrack or Voluum. They go beyond traditional tracking, enabling you to identify potential customers and distinguish them from low-intent traffic. With traditional tools, you won’t see which touchpoint caused the click, but AI will show you the full customer journey and what leads to conversion.
Join Profitise as an affiliate to maximize your affiliate earnings in home services, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, and other industries and niches.
Track Your Conversions
A conversion happens when someone clicks your link and makes a purchase.
In your affiliate dashboards, you will see:
- Number of sales
- Which product was bought
- Total conversions and conversions per product
Sometimes a product with a lower commission can still be more profitable because it converts more often. For instance, if budget-friendly software converts 10% of clicks, it may earn more than a high-ticket item that only converts 1%.
Track Your Payouts
Payouts are your actual commissions. You can track them through your affiliate dashboard. Always check the company’s payout policy. Most programs pay per sale or per lead, but some may pay per download, install, etc., and provide recurring revenues.
The most common payout methods are:
- PayPal
- Bank transfer
- Wise
- Direct deposit
Payout schedules also vary: some pay weekly, others monthly.
Without a doubt, tracking allows you to make more money with affiliate marketing over time, especially if you review data regularly. The rule of thumb is to review the data at least 3 times a month, identify the most popular products, and continue promoting what works. After a few checks, you’ll get a feel for what brings revenue and be able to grow your affiliate earnings.
What Are the Best Affiliate Programs to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing in 2026?
The best affiliate program is the one that aligns with the niche you know, love, and can talk about for hours with confidence. Why? Because success in affiliate marketing often comes from trust, which can only be built when you actually know what you’re recommending.
Here’s an MRFR Study about the projected market size of the top affiliate marketing niches:
Source: Clickadu
The most profitable affiliate niches by projected market size are Gaming and AI Tools, followed closely by Education and Health. These industries are growing fast and have a lot to offer, from software to wellness subscriptions.
But again, remember: just because a niche is big, doesn’t mean it’s your best choice to make money with affiliate marketing. Hard work and passion can get rewarded in any niche. These market trends simply show that your labour of love could become a reliable income stream.
Now let’s look at affiliate programs that match these booming niches.
Pro Tip: If you’re in solar, home services, HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, windows & doors, or kitchen & bath niches, look no further than Profitise. We offer some of the highest payouts per lead in these niches alongside ready-to-use creative assets to kickstart your marketing and a user-friendly dashboard to track your affiliate earnings.
Join Profitise as an affiliate to sell your leads at the highest price in the market.
Top 6 Popular Programs to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing
To help you start strong, here are six beginner-friendly affiliate programs that match some of the fastest-growing niches in 2026 and can help you make good money.
Our team selected these based on the ease of entry, commission potential, and scalability.
ClickBank: For Health, Fitness & Digital Products
If you’re into health, fitness, and digital products, ClickBank offers 50% to 75% commission per sale. The platform partners with a wide variety of products, from fitness plans, supplements, and personal development courses. Choose which sounds like your game and test which converts best.
This program is also very beginner-friendly with open access and fast approval. This is also why bloggers and content creators in health, mindset, and personal growth choose ClickBank. Not to mention, it offers high payouts and recurring commission opportunities.
Amazon Associates: For Gaming, Parenting & Home Gear
The most common and beginner-friendly program for product-based affiliate marketing is Amazon Associates. Everyone knows Amazon, and everyone buys from it. That speaks of strong brand trust.
In addition, given its wide product selection, you can affiliate with consoles, games, baby gear, books, and kitchen tech if you’re into the gaming, parenting, and home gear niche.
Amazon Associates offers commissions ranging from 4% to 10%, depending on the product category.
If you’re a beginner affiliate marketer, Amazon Affiliates is also easy to join, so you can start promoting even with just your iPhone.
SEMrush Affiliate Program (BeRush): For AI Tools & Digital Marketing
For tech-savvy individuals, the SEMrush affiliate program pays $50 to $300 per paid subscription with additional recurring commissions. As SEO and AI-driven marketing tools grow in even higher demand, affiliate marketing in this niche is a sure win.
Signing up is straightforward; they promise it only takes 5 minutes. SEMrush also provides its affiliates with promotional assets. Their cookie life is also up to 120 days (4 months), and that’s reasonable. SEO tools like SEMrush have higher upfront costs. People need enough time to proceed to the checkout.
This is ideal for creators in digital marketing, blogging, and SEO. Content ideas include blogging or vlogging in-depth tutorials, how-to videos, useful reviews, and comparison guides that help audiences decide between SEO tools.
Booking.com Affiliate Program: For Travel & Education Events
Your wanderlust can be turned into an additional passive income stream. Booking.com affiliate program, for instance, lets its affiliates earn up to 40% revenue share.
Booking.com links to over 2 million properties worldwide, from hotels to vacation rentals. It’s also a world-renowned brand. Users already trust it, and that means better conversions.
Content ideas include creating travel guides, city reviews, or educational event content. Given its wide selection of listings, you get unlimited options to promote. This is perfect for bloggers, YouTubers, and influencers in the travel niche.
CAROL Bike Affiliate Program: For Fitness & Health Tech
Another affiliate program in the fitness and health tech field is the CAROL bike affiliate program. CAROL offers $100 to $250 per bike sale. That’s a solid commission for a high-ticket fitness product.
On the flip side, you need an established audience to better market this premium product to health-conscious visitors. If you’re a newcomer, you’ll need time to build a following and gain trust.
Content ideas are home workout posts and smart fitness equipment reviews. Also, try to craft more in-depth content and share your experience. You should earn the audience’s trust.
HubSpot Affiliate Program: For Business & AI Tools
Lastly, if you are tech-savvy and/or ready to share your entrepreneurial expertise, consider the HubSpot affiliate program. It’s free to join, you’ll get approved quickly, and their excellent marketing materials will help you run promotions more efficiently. But the most important thing — you can earn up to 30% recurring commission on each referral.
This program is for those interested in business management, marketing, CRM systems, SaaS, or AI tools. The generous 180-day (6 months) cookie window makes it even more beginner-friendly and worthwhile.
Choose What Works for You
These six programs focus on high-ticket products, which means you can earn significantly more per commission. This is great if this fits your niche, content style, and audience’s needs.
But the “best” program isn’t just the one with the highest payouts. Whether you’re creating gaming reviews, travel guides, wellness blogs, or tutorials for digital tools, as long as the program matches your strengths and requirements, it is best for your campaign.
For example, if you’re into solar or home services niches, Profitise might be the best affiliate marketing network for you, allowing you to sell your leads at the highest possible price. Moreover, you can kickstart your affiliate marketing with our ready-to-use lead generation forms, all from day one, without having to design creative assets on your own.
Join Profitise to make money with affiliate marketing in home services and solar.
Here’s a rundown of the best affiliate programs for all niches:
| Program Type | Examples | Why It’s Great |
| Hosting | Bluehost, HostGator | Great for blogging niches; often offer flat-rate payouts |
| Finance | Rocket Money, SoFi | Higher payouts; ideal for personal finance, budgeting, or investment content |
| Ecommerce | Amazon Associates | Best for beginners; huge product range and strong brand trust |
| Digital Products | ClickBank, JVZoo | High affiliate earnings from courses, eBooks, and downloadable content |
| Software | SEMrush, Shopify | Recurring income; great for content on SaaS, SEO, and ecommerce tools |
| Small Business Tools | HubSpot, Brevo | CRM, email, and automation tools for small businesses and solopreneurs |
| Travel | Booking.com, Expedia | Ideal for travel blogs and YouTube guides; strong global brand appeal |
| Fitness & Health Tech | CAROL Bike, Fitbit | High-ticket products; great for health/fitness creators and home workout content |
| Education | Coursera, Teachable | Perfect for course creators, education bloggers, and learning-focused channels |
Case Studies: Real People, Real Affiliate Earnings
If you want to accelerate your affiliate marketing success, learning from those who have already achieved it is the way to go. Avoid their mistakes, build your strategy based on the lessons they’ve learnt. Map out your own route to more affiliate earnings.
Below, we are featuring a few players who have made tons of money with affiliate marketing.
What made them successful? Could their challenges be the ones you’re facing right now?
Each story is different, but all share the same core ingredients:
- Expertise in their niche
- Consistency in content
- Smart use of affiliate partnerships
NerdWallet: $687.6M in Revenue
NerdWallet compares financial products such as credit cards, mortgages, loans, and insurance. The company obtains revenue primarily through commissions from referrals. With 14+ million monthly visitors, NerdWallet generates steady income and sets a good example to follow.
NerdWallet’s monetization strategy is straightforward but effective. They just place affiliate links to banks, lenders, financial advisors, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. When a user signs up for a product or service through one of these links, NerdWallet gets its referral fee.
In addition to being an affiliate, NerdWallet earns money through product endorsements. As you might notice browsing their website, there are numerous product reviews and comparisons. They make no secret of earning revenue from advertising. However, according to their claims, their recommendations are based on quality and consumer value.
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Perhaps the most notable thing is NerdWallet’s design and simplicity. Their website is intuitive, easy to navigate, and stands out from the crowd.
- Useful features could be another “driver of revenue”. NerdWallet creators go beyond traditional blogging by offering free tools to calculate your debts, earnings, credit scores, and more. These tools provide real value to users and also help the site rank higher on Google
- Finance remains one of the most profitable niches in affiliate marketing, largely because finance programs tend to offer higher commission rates than other industries.
- NerdWallet also demonstrates that relying solely on affiliate earnings should not be the only way to build income. You can monetize your blog (or any other media channel) in different ways.
- Affiliate marketing is not about making quick, easy money. NerdWallet’s success shows that long-term effort, unique ideas, and dedication are what ultimately lead to top-tier results.
Michelle Schroeder‑Gardner: Making Sense of Cents – $80,000/Month
If you’re dreaming about travelling full-time but your job keeps you tied to one place, you’ll be inspired by Michelle Schroeder‑Gardner’s story. She lives a so-called boat life (and often vanlife) and makes money even while sleeping. A few years ago, she went on a four-month world cruise trip with her family, spending $50,000.
How did she make it all happen?
Michelle Schroeder‑Gardner began her blog, Making Sense of Cents, in 2011 with no technical or marketing background. At that time, blogging wasn’t her full-time job — it was just a hobby. She used to work as a financial analyst, didn’t earn much, and struggled to manage expenses while paying off her student loans. The sufferings she went through were reflected in her articles.
Her ideas appealed to many readers, her audience grew quickly, and she decided to start monetizing her blog to earn extra income and pay down her debt. At that time, she couldn’t even imagine that she would not only pay off all her debts quickly but also save enough for retirement — and that one day journalists would even call her a millionaire blogger.
Today, Michelle’s blog generates over $80,000 per month and continues to attract more readers.
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Michelle’s blog became popular first because she hit the right spot in the making-money niche. And secondly, because readers prefer engaging content inspired by real-life experience.
- Don’t wait until you learn about all the pitfalls, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Michelle didn’t know how to monetize content or how affiliate marketing works. Just launch your campaign, and you can learn along the way.
- Pick the right tools and keep improving. Although Michelle wasn’t tech-savvy when she started her blog, she gradually figured out how to use various SEO and analytics tools.
- Go beyond traditional affiliate marketing and diversify your income sources. You could display ads or even teach others like Michelle, who created her own digital course on Teachable.
The Making Sense of Cents case shows that commitment and constant improvement, not volume alone, are what turn small actions into long-term affiliate wins.
Spencer Mecham: Buildapreneur — $960K/Year
Building a website, creating content with SEO in mind, and adding links don’t automatically guarantee steady affiliate earnings. Without a strategy, many affiliate businesses flop or stagnate.
An unfortunate marketer at first, Spencer Mecham didn’t give up on his affiliate marketing ideas and eventually made it to $960K a year. How did he break through?
Spencer decided to start an affiliate marketing business after hearing about his co-worker’s success. Enticed by the idea of fast and easy money, he believed he could quickly replicate the success of his colleague. But luck wasn’t on his side, and he struggled for a long time to drive traffic to his blog — until one smart move changed everything.
After experimenting with Instagram and other platforms, Spencer finally turned to YouTube and filmed a video that went viral. Since then, his audience has grown to almost 500,000 people, and he now has over 200,000 subscribers.
Today, Buildapreneur is a highly successful project with a large, loyal audience. In his vlog, Spencer teaches people how to build passive income streams and reveals a wide range of side-hustle ideas.
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Harbor no illusions and don’t get enticed by the idea of making money fast. Putting money front and center often pushes it further away. Blogging and affiliate marketing should be your way of life, your passion, not something you pursue only for quick gains.
- Diversify your traffic and income sources, just as Spencer did. Don’t limit yourself to blogging or rely on a single income source.
- Branch out into coaching and offer paid courses. Spencer does exactly that. He generates additional income through courses such as Turn Your Facebook Profile Into A Sales Machine and Learn YouTube From Someone with Over 200,000 Subscribers and 5+ Channels.
How fast can you make money with affiliate marketing? No one can tell you. Your business might take off overnight — or you might never get it off the ground.
Kevin Espiritu: Epic Gardening — $50,000+/Month
Kevin Espiritu definitely knows how to harvest success with affiliate programs. From a side hustle to a fast-expanding business, his Epic Gardening has grown into a big revenue-generating project that brings in over $50K per month — and sometimes even more.
What’s the secret to his success? Kevin’s YouTube channel is a major source of consistent traffic. He posts useful how-to videos on YouTube and gets thousands — and often hundreds of thousands — of views. This tactic helped Kevin scale his audience and become one of the highest-earning bloggers.
Epic Gardening is more than a blog. In addition to educational content, it features an online store where visitors can add items to the cart. Kevin sells Epic-branded products as well as items from other gardening brands.
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Share your expertise and prioritize depth over generic content. What makes Epic Gardening so successful is its valuable insights into gardening. Kevin writes as a true expert—not as a novice chasing quick money by rewriting existing content.
- Stick to your posting schedule. For Kevin, his Epic Gardening is a regular job. He constantly posts new articles and makes videos.
- Build multiple revenue streams to increase your overall income. Kevin doesn’t rely solely on Amazon affiliate programs; he uses display ads, sells his own courses and info-products, and has even expanded into e-commerce.
Matt Oney: ZenmasterWellness — $480K/Year
The pandemic of 2020 pushed many people into financial hardship and forced them to look for alternative ways to earn money. Matt Oney was one of those unfortunate workers who suffered a pay cut at his regular job. It was a hard time for him. But were it not for it, he might never have started an online venture.
Matt has always been passionate about health and well-being, so he decided to share that passion by launching a wellness blog. Started as an online side hustle, ZenmasterWellness has grown into a huge affiliate business that generates about $40,000 per month. Not bad, right?
The site started with zero traffic and no backlinks. But having mastered SEO, Matt optimized it and attracted an audience. He found the right keywords, applied SEO best practices, and signed up for numerous affiliate programs. That was a turning point for ZenmasterWellness.
Today, the site has about 80,000 monthly visitors, almost entirely from organic search. The success of ZenmasterWellness eventually allowed Matt to quit his boring 9-to-5 job and focus entirely on his affiliate marketing business.
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Play the long game. SEO isn’t instant. Stick with it, and it can bring you that steady, lasting traffic and long-term affiliate earnings.
- Write with the intent to convert. Unbiased reviews and comparisons meet buyers right when they’re ready to decide.
- Does the keyword work? Commercial search terms are the backbone of affiliate earnings.
- Don’t rely on just one partner. More affiliate programs mean more ways to earn through your content.
- You can start solo. One focused creator, with consistency and a plan, can build something big.
John Chow: Dot Com Lifestyle — $40K+/Month
John Chow is an online entrepreneur who became famous after launching his Dot Com Lifestyle vlog, which started generating over $40,000 per month within just two years. In his vlog, John demonstrates how he is building his affiliate earnings and the tools he is using.
John entered a highly competitive niche with no income and no audience. He challenged the common belief that affiliate businesses must be built in less crowded niches. He gained trust where there was little trust.
Transparent monetization is John’s main strategy. He posted monthly affiliate earnings reports, promoted only the tools he personally used, and tried to be open with the viewers. This transparency earned his audience’s trust, especially since they could follow him in real time. He also built an email list early and put the earned money back into his business.
The idea of John’s strategy can be expressed through this cycle: Earn → Create more content → Show more proof → Repeat
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Don’t be afraid to share your numbers if you’re in the making money niche. Follow John’s approach. Transparency can turn curiosity into trust — and trust into clicks.
- Going on a blogging journey means regularly creating content. People didn’t just read John’s blog; they followed his real-time growth. That connection made his message stick.
- Start your email list as early as possible. It became John’s most reliable channel for traffic and affiliate earnings.
- Earn, then reinvest. John wasn’t happy with his first achievements — he had bigger goals and pursued long-term returns. He used his affiliate earnings to scale.
Matt Giovanisci: Swim University — $25K/Month
Swim University is a blog started in 2006 by Matt Giovanisci to help pool and hot tub owners make the right decisions. Currently, the blog makes about $25,000 a month in affiliate earnings. Matt has also created his own video courses and written two handbooks on pool and hot tub care.
Since Matt has long been in the affiliate business, he’s not just a blogger — he has become a role model for many affiliates.
Matt believes that affiliate success comes from long-term commitment and visually engaging content. His affiliate product guides are both visually appealing and informative. Matt’s blog stands out with unique illustrations and diagrams.
Another effective tactic he uses to expand his email list is a pop-up window encouraging new visitors to sign up in exchange for “FREE hot tub cheat sheets.”
Takeaways to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Passive income isn’t a myth. With visually polished content, your blog can keep paying off in the long term. Use infographics, eye-catching illustrations, and don’t skimp on design.
- Want recurring income? It comes from building an audience that sticks around. You can earn your readers’ trust only by sharing your true expertise and knowledge.
- Blog success isn’t just about driving traffic to your website. What really matters is converting visitors into buyers and making them come back.
Final Tips To Make Money with Affiliate Marketing in 2026
As affiliate marketing continues to evolve and the market becomes more saturated, the odds of standing out as a beginner are shrinking. Not unless you have a strategy.
Know Your Market, Leverage the Right Platforms
In 2026, making money with affiliate marketing means diversifying your channels. Each channel favors different audiences. And that means not all channels are for you. This is why knowing your market so well helps.
YouTube: Best to Make Money with High-Ticket Affiliate Products
YouTube drives high affiliate marketing conversions, reaching over $2.6 billion in global affiliate sales in 2024 alone. Compared to short-form video platforms like Instagram and TikTok, YouTube has the highest average cart value at $84, compared to IG’s $61 and TikTok’s $57.
This suggests YouTube audiences have higher purchase intent and are at a higher price point.
Key strategies to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Build authority with in-depth reviews and tutorials. This is best if you are affiliated with SEO tools, web design builders, and the like. Review-style videos typically convert well, at 4.1%, compared to the 3.2% average. This is because the deeper a customer understands a product, the stronger the trust is built, and the more they are compelled to purchase.
- Embed affiliate links naturally throughout your content. Even when you intend to sell, avoid overselling. You can do this by aiming for a helpful and suggestive tone when speaking. Show real-life applications and figures on how the product helped you in specific case scenarios. Then subtly mention that the link is in the video description or flash your code on the screen.
TikTok and Instagram: Best to Make Money in Fashion, Beauty, and Travel Niches
TikTok might be the best social media platform for beginners to make money with affiliate marketing because its algorithm doesn’t discriminate against small accounts. As long as you’re consistent, you’ll gain a stable following and probably some affiliate earnings.
Meanwhile, Instagram remains the hub for visual storytelling. It also got multiple touchpoints, including Stories, Reels, and shoppable posts. Since Instagram is highly visual, fashion, fitness, skincare, and travel niches excel more in it.
Key strategies to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Post short but catchy videos. Within 3 seconds, aim to hook your target market with your products and discounts. Using trending audio also helps stop users from scrolling and keeps them on the app.
- Leverage each platform’s user touchpoints. Both TikTok and Instagram have the Stories, Reels, and Carousel posts features. Knowing how each feature works helps tailor the content to the intent.
- Put links in your bio for Instagram, and in the first comment for TikTok. Each platform works differently when it comes to link attachment. As for IG, it currently doesn’t support clickable links in the description or comments, but it does in the bio. While TikTok affiliate marketing allows product tags in the video or a link in the first comment.
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Blog & Website: Best Paired with YouTube Reviews
If you’re promoting premium or high-ticket items and already use YouTube for vlogging, don’t skip blogging on your website. Repurpose every video into written content. You’re not just posting on two platforms, you’re gaining two advantages: Google loves long-form content, and each blog post boosts your SEO while building your authority online.
Key strategies to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Write thorough product reviews. Like in your YouTube video, publish in-depth content on “best X” lists, how-to guides, and “X vs. Y” posts. Embed your YouTube videos in it, as well. Whether the user wants to hear and see you talking or just read, you’re giving them more options to trust you.
- Optimize for SEO. Since you own your space when you blog, make use of every element for SEO. Sprinkle target keywords in your title, headings, word variations, and alt-texts.
Email List: Best to Make Money with Niche Audiences
Along with your affiliate marketing blog, build your email list to further engage and strengthen connections. On your website, offer free resources and newsletter campaigns.
Depending on your niche, you can offer a free guide, checklist, mini-course, template, or discount or coupon. These can attract the right audience for your affiliate offers later.
Key strategies to increase your affiliate earnings:
- Send useful emails first, offers second. You don’t need to sell or include your affiliate link upfront in your first email. The goal here is to build trust. Send tips, personal stories, and lessons learned. Later on your email sequence, send links to the products and tools you recommend. But when you do, don’t force it. Just sound helpful.
- Use an email automation tool. GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, and Moosend are popular among affiliate marketers since they allow affiliate links and promotions (sadly, some tools forbid them entirely), so you’re not blocked by policy. With a tool, you can write once and automate sending week by week.
Here’s a sample 5-email sequence you can customize to your niche:
- Welcome + value
- Story + problem
- Solution + soft pitch
- Proof/testimonial
- Strong call to action
Choose Profitable Programs According to Your Niche
If you’re running a tech affiliate marketing blog, join web hosting or software programs. If you’re a travel blogger, promote airlines, hotels, and trip packages. And if you’re into health, fitness, and wellness, partner with skincare, workout equipment, and wellness brands. Your goal is to stand out and build authority. To achieve this, your niche should be your passion.
Seek programs with generous rates and (if possible) recurring payouts to maximize your affiliate earnings. SaaS products (software subscriptions) often pay ongoing commissions each month, which can be very lucrative.
To know whether a program is ideal, make sure to check:
- Commission structure: fixed vs. percentage, one-time vs. recurring
- Cookie duration (how long after a click you can earn): this averages to 30 days, but can run even up to 180 days
The earning potential depends on the niche you choose and the program you’re in. The ideal option is high recurring commissions.
But to succeed, target a wider audience. To do so, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Use a mix of affiliate networks and direct merchant programs. Networks like Amazon or CJ offer variety, while direct programs (e.g., a specific hosting company’s affiliate program) may pay higher rates. Managing multiple programs lets you compare performance and pick winners.
Register with Profitise as an affiliate to start making money with affiliate marketing. Get our free lead generation forms to generate more qualified leads.
Increase Traffic With SEO & Content Marketing
Traffic is the driving force behind your affiliate earnings. And while social platforms come and go, SEO-driven traffic stays longer. That’s why content marketing combined with SEO is your winning trick.
Do Keyword Research
Think like your audience. Put yourself in their shoes. What keywords will they use when searching for solutions or products? Get help from tools like Google Autocomplete, Ahrefs, or VidIQ to spot high-intent phrases.
For example, if you’re in the SaaS niche, “best project management SaaS for small businesses 2026” or “top marketing automation SaaS tools for ecommerce” are more competitive than just “SaaS tools.”
These are called buyer-intent keywords, and they’re the search terms that often lead to more conversions. People who search for it are ready to buy, whereas short keywords are only in the informational intent phase.
Craft Content That Delivers Real Value
Write in-depth guides, comparison posts, or review articles that go beyond surface-level fluff. People can go to any blog site for generic information. And that’s how in-depth, authentic guides lead you to stand out from the noise.
For instance, a blog titled “Top 5 AI Writing Tools Compared (2026 Edition)” with pros, cons, and your personal experience will always beat a generic affiliate post.
In addition, Google favors well-structured, helpful content, especially that over 1,500 words or 10+ minute videos.
Don’t Skip On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is important for both search algorithms and users. Place your main keyword in your title, URL, headers, and image alt-text. But write naturally. Google is now smart enough to detect keyword stuffing.
Also, make sure your site loads quickly and looks clean on mobile. A poor user experience hurts rankings and conversions. Google also calculates this as much as the users care.
Promote What You Create
Do not depend on the algorithm. Share your posts on social platforms, Reddit threads, Facebook groups, or niche forums. Try guest blogging to build backlinks. Or send it to your email list. Every piece of content should be promoted like a product. The more people see it, the more chances your links get clicked, and the more affiliate earnings you get.
Why Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It in 2026?
For starters, affiliate marketing is one of the few online businesses that can be launched without an initial investment. You don’t need to manufacture a product or hold inventory. You just sell products for companies and get paid.
Earning potential in affiliate marketing is also massive. Top affiliate marketers, like Michelle and John Chow, show that you can make tons of money with affiliate marketing – six figures and beyond. As long as you’re diving into a niche you’re passionate about, you’ll meet like-minded people who will make up your loyal following base.
This isn’t guesswork. Affiliate earnings rise annually, and there’s no reason you can’t be one of the success stories. The more you publish, optimize, and grow your reach, the more you can make with affiliate marketing. And even when the work is done, your passive earnings continue to come in, potentially for months and years on.
So whether you’re aiming to diversify your income or build a full-time business, affiliate marketing gives you the tools — and freedom — to make it happen.
Convert Your Leads into Profits with Profitise
Profitise is a high-ticket insurance and solar affiliate network that pays one of the highest prices for web and call leads and provides customizable JavaScript forms that qualify leads on the fly.
Here’s what you get with Profitise:
- Easy-to-embed JavaScript forms to generate quality traffic
- One of the highest per-lead rates in the insurance and solar industries
- The ability to sell your leads instantly
- Support from an affiliate manager
Join Profitise as an affiliate to sell solar and home services leads, including HVAC, roofing, plumbing, electrical, windows & doors, and kitchen & bath.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I add an affiliate disclaimer on my YouTube channel and blog?
Transparency builds trust, and if you want a loyal following, you should be upfront with your audience. All successful affiliate campaigns start with openness and honesty. Affiliate disclosure is not only advisable but, in many cases, legally required.
How much can I make with affiliate marketing per sale in the IT niche?
It depends, but programs in hosting and SaaS tend to offer quite high commissions. For instance, Bluehost normally pays between $65 and $130 per sale.
What kind of products should I promote to make money with affiliate marketing?
It’s up to you to decide, but if you know nothing about SaaS or budgeting, those niches may not be the best to pick. You can either choose a niche you are already well-versed in or invest your time in exploring a new field. But whatever your niche is, always choose quality products. Your followers won’t forgive you if they buy a faulty or poor-quality item through your links.
