In this post, you are going to learn how to turn YouTube views into money with a business model called affiliate marketing.
Unlike earning money through YouTube ads, you don’t have to wait until you’ve reached 4000 hours watch time or 1000 subscribers, instead, you can do this from day 1.
Want to know how then let’s jump straight into it and discuss how to start affiliate marketing on YouTube.
Watch The Video
Before we do, if words make your eyes bleed and you prefer to watch the accompanying video then check it out below:
What Is Affiliate Marketing On YouTube?
One of my videos made me $500 in one sale, another earned me $1000 in one sale, in fact, many of these videos have the potential to earn money, and it isn’t from YouTube advertising revenue.
The strategy used here is called affiliate marketing, which is basically a referral system where you get rewarded if you introduce a buyer to a seller.
Let me explain, ok, so remember when you were a kid and maybe you got a new pair of trainers or sneakers, that first time you pulled the shoelaces tight and took them for a test drive. You would throw that door open and get outside. Starting with a bit of a walk, a little run, maybe a jump in the air, or a kick of the ball.
That awesome feeling when you can swap those stinky hole-ridden old things for your fresh new shoes.
Now imagine that you turn to your friends and you tell them how these trainers have made you:
- Faster at running
- You can jump higher at basketball
- Kick the ball harder at football
- And did you mention how the girls heads turn when you are walking down the street?
They are going to want a pair of their own, they are going to be asking you “Jon, where did you get those trainers!” and so you give them the link to the website they can buy them on, your special affiliate link.
They click that link, buy those shoes, and there you have it – you just made a commission.
Now imagine that instead of telling your friends, you were telling the 2 billion active users that visit YouTube each month!
That’s affiliate marketing.
It’s a 12 billion industry and one of the leading ways that content creators earn money online.
Now buckle up, I am about to give you 5 important lessons you need to learn before you can earn money on YouTube through affiliate marketing.
READ MORE: The Best Affiliate Marketing Course Available – Reviewed
Why Affiliate Marketing is F#cking Awesome
The first thing to cover is why we want to use affiliate marketing, is it really worth the effort to learn?
Short answer – your damn right it is, and here’s why.
We’ve already covered that getting monetized for ads requires you to qualify and pretty high milestones, and for some of you, it may be that you have created all of these videos and when the time comes may even get rejected and so you can’t even run ads.
Affiliate marketing though is all done external to YouTube, they don’t control it.
What normally happens is that you find products that fit with your content, you then apply to be an affiliate. Some of the product owners and vendors will make this really easy and some will require you to apply and check that you’re a good fit. I will explain in a moment where to find good affiliate programs, but you need to understand how simple this process is.
Put yourself in the shoes of the product owner, they have so much to worry about:
- Design
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Sales
- Shipping
- Customer service
- Returns and so on
Sounds like an absolute ballache right!
Whereas you as the affiliate, just have to convince people to click on that link. That’s it. It’s a ridiculously simple way of making money on YouTube or any content platform.
How To Promote Affiliate Products The Right Way
So you know what affiliate marketing is, but how do you do it the right way? Let me explain how to increase the number of sales you make and also not tarnish your reputation by coming across as a shady product pusher.
Firstly, don’t be a douche, just promote good products that people will like and will help solve their problems.
If you promote low-quality crap that you don’t believe in then people will pick up on that. Remember you are building a platform, a long-term business, where people watch your videos, trust you and are happy to invest in your recommendations. That won’t last long if you throw any old rubbish in their direction.
Secondly, if you want to increase those sales and earn more in commissions, then consider the products you promote.
Don’t push the features, instead focus on the benefits.
For example, this software costs a minimum $97 a month, anyone that signs up under my affiliate link will earn me almost $40 every month they use the software.
Now I don’t create content saying “There are 100 font styles, or that you can create 20 different sales funnels”, instead, I would focus on the fact that a sales funnel “streamlines the buying process for their customers, it is proven to increase their conversion rate, and using this software you can increase the minimum order value and ultimately your profits”.
Focus on the benefits and the transformation that the product brings. To do this you need to consider people’s pain points, the things that stop them from sleeping at night, and what they truly need.
Where To Find Good Affiliate Products
By now we are probably on the same page, and in agreement that affiliate marketing is awesome. But you want to know where to find affiliate products right? Don’t worry, I’ve got you, this part is easy.
First up, what products or services are popular in your niche, and may be relevant to your audience?
What are others in your genre promoting?
Go to google and type in that product name plus affiliate. Research the links that come up. Some retailers will use an affiliate network, such as commissionjunction, shareasale, awin, impact. These are basically networks with lots of retailers, and you create an account and apply for each one.
One of the most popular affiliate programs is Amazon.
Look for the link at the bottom of the homepage and apply there, its a really easy process and as you know amazon has almost any product for sale. eBay is exactly the same.
Now if you want more lucrative and higher-paying products then I suggest you look at Clickbank which is another marketplace but for digital products.
There are things on ClickBank you can promote for woodworking, learning languages, losing weight and pretty much any subject you can imagine. You do need to do some homework though and verify if they are any good.
My favourite category to look in is software, they usually offer rewarding affiliate schemes that pay generously, and often they pay each month that someone is a member. If you go to capterra.com and have a browse around you might find software that is relevant to your niche.
LEARN MORE: Make Money Online With SAAS Affiliate Programs
Once you have been accepted to an affiliate program the vendor will give you a unique link to use, this is yours alone, and anyone who clicks on it will be tracked and associated with yourself.
This is how they know who to pay.
How Do I Promote An Affiliate Product On YouTube?
So you have your product now you need to promote it. Like I mentioned earlier, do this in the most genuine and legit way possible as you are building a reputation not just chasing money.
Now listen up, 68% of Youtube users used YouTube to help make a purchasing decision. And many people use YouTube to learn and to solve problems, so create content that does exactly that.
Let’s say you are in the fitness niche and promoting this big fat bucket of whey protein – a personal favourite of mine…..
You could create videos that are based on buyer intent, in other words, they are what people would search for when they are close to buying like a Serious Gainz review video, or a top 5 whey proteins for meat heads video, or you can create more generic videos where the product just plays a small part.
In the video and the description, you want to add CTAs (Call To Actions).
This is where you tell your viewer to follow the link. And for those that do, and make a purchase, you earn your commission.
How Much Can You Earn With Affiliate Marketing On YouTube?
The beauty of YouTube is that when you start building momentum and growing your channel, your videos are shown all over the world and at any time of the day.
It becomes a passive income machine where you can truly earn commissions whilst you sleep – that old cliche.
The bigger you get the better the chances of making affiliate sales.
I made way more from affiliate sales than I did advertising revenue last year, it all depends on what products you are promoting and what commissions they earn.
I hope this has helped show you how to start affiliate marketing on YouTube, as well as some of the most important considerations you face.
If you want some in-depth and free training on this subject that goes really into detail and shows how you can build income streams through affiliate marketing then check out the link below.
Thanks for reading, drop a comment below with any questions you have and I will see you next time.