The use of Affiliate Programs can be another excellent source of income from your blog. Affiliate programs are basically just a way for large online retailers to pay you for referring sales to them.
Most likely, no matter what your blog is about there is some sort of affiliate program that would make sense for your readers.
For example, my blog, The Blogging Fool, uses Amazon.com's affiliate program to post those various blogging books that you can see on the right side of the page. Anyone that clicks through on one of those book links and then buys anything from Amazon.com, I get a commission on. Pretty simple.
Before deciding whether or not to give affiliate programs a try, take a second to ask yourself two questions:
- Who is my target reader?
- What goods or services are they most likely to be interested in?
Answer those two questions and you'll be well on your way to making money from blogging via affiliate programs.
A few good Affiliate Programs:
- Amazon.com Associates Program - You can almost always find some sort of books or cds that your reader may be interested in.
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LinkShare Referral Program - LinkShare runs affiliate programs for Target, Apple, Macy's, Netflix, Overstock.com and a ton more. Odds are you'll find something worthwhile.
- Commission Junction - Affiliate programs include Sony, Hammacher Schlemmer, Petco, Home Depot and a lot more.
Labels: Affiliate Programs, Blogging Tips, Monetizing
