How To Set Up An Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle

Seeing everyone earn from links on TikTok, instagram, YouTube, and other platforms, many of us also wonder, “Can affiliate marketing be a side hustle​?”

Yes, affiliate marketing can be a side hustle, or even a main hustle as it grows. The best part? ZERO investment!

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a marketing model where a business gives commission or rewards to individuals for selling its products.

You might think, “Isn’t this just sales?” No, it is slightly different.

Affiliate marketing has three entities:

1. Seller (business)

2. Affiliate Marketer (content creator)

3. Buyer (user)

Businesses provide unique links to internet users (content creators) who create content to sell products through those links to other internet users (buyers).

Imagine you have a TikTok account where you post skincare videos. 

• A skincare brand gives you a unique affiliate link for their face cream.

• You create a video reviewing the product.

• You add your affiliate link in your bio or TikTok Shop showcase.

• A viewer clicks your link and buys the cream for $20.

• The brand gives you a 10% commission.

You create videos → add affiliate links → people buy from those links → you get a commission

Affiliate Marketing as a Side Hustle​

Now that you know what affiliate marketing exactly is, you might want to know “Is affiliate marketing a good side hustle​” before starting it.

Online affiliate marketing side hustle is an excellent way to make money for those who:

• Want to make some extra after their 9-5

• Enjoy creating content

• Have a decent following on social media already

• Prefer working from home

It might take you some time to learn editing and content creation, but once you get the hang of it, you will be creating more interesting videos with higher conversions in less time. Many also hire Editor and Content Creator for their videos to speed up the process.

Affiliate marketing as a side hustle is a good idea because:

• You can do it from anywhere 

• You do not have to invest any money

• You do not have to manage inventory or shipping

• You can become a faceless TikTok affiliate marketer

• You can spend as much time as your schedule allows
  

  

How To Set Up An Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle​?

Side hustle affiliate marketing is not as complicated as it may sound. We’ve broken down how to set up an affiliate marketing side hustle into easy-to-follow, actionable steps, so you can start your affiliate marketing side hustle asap.

Choose Your Affiliate Marketing Platform

Affiliate marketing is a whole wide world as it does not restrict you to one platform. Initially, a lot of netizens started affiliated marketing through blogs. 

Brands share unique links of products with Affiliate Blogger that integrate those links into their blogs. Whenever a reader clicks on the link (in some cases) or makes a purchase through that link, the Blogger receives a percentage of the product price as a commission.

However, as social media crawled into everyone’s lives, internet users started affiliate marketing through social media as well. Facebook, YouTube, instagram, TikTok - you name it! Other than Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok affiliate marketing, Pinterest is also a popular platform where users can earn money as affiliate marketers.

Other than social media, some people prefer taking the email marketing road. It is more suitable for those with an established newsletter and a loyal readership who trusts their recommendations.

Select a Niche

Selecting a niche is never necessary, but it helps build expertise and trust. 

For example, if you select the gardening niche and share content and products related to gardening, viewers will understand that you are an expert in the category and are more likely to follow your suggestions.

Similarly, someone with an interest in skincare and makeup can focus on products relevant to that category, showcasing that they’re more informed about this niche than others who are selling everything and anything. Even if you’re not an expert starting out, you eventually become one when you focus on a specific niche.

Some common affiliate marketing niches include beauty, health and fitness, cooking, and pets. There are multiple businesses and affiliate programs to choose from, and you may get a pretty good payout typically. However, this popularity also leads to saturation and a higher competition.

Niching down further into a category and building authority in a sub-niche can help you beat the competition. For example, you can pick a specific sub-niche in finance, like investment, credit card, budgeting, or retirement planning. Or, niche-down in health, such as nutrition, fitness equipment, mental health, fitness tracking, sleep optimization, etc. There are numerous options out there; pick what suits you the best.

Some affiliate marketing side hustlers prefer selecting a niche before picking their marketing platform to assess the opportunity and scope of that niche. You can do that too.

Sign Up for Affiliate Programs

Once you have selected your marketing channel and product niche, the next step is to find products and sign up for relevant affiliate programs. You can find many, including ClickBank, Amazon Associates , and affiliate programs by businesses themselves.

Search for products in your specific sub-niche on Google, reddit, or tools like Pinterest Trends, and then look for affiliate programs with those products.

• Type “[product name] affiliate” on Google

• Check each program thoroughly

• Make sure they are legit with a reasonable payout
  
  

  

After signing up for these programs, you can select products and get unique affiliate links.

Create a Website or Social Media Account

When you have done all the prep for your affiliate marketing side hustle, the question is “Where do I share these links?”

Option 1: Blog

The first option for side hustle affiliate marketing is to start a blog. Create a website in your specific niche and share informative content in the form of articles to establish expertise and authority. Many Blogger earn from their viewership using affiliate links.

To create a blog, you need to buy a domain name and hosting. Then, set up your website and start posting content. Make sure the content is original, informative, and relevant to the niche.

Option 2: Social Media

Sign up on your preferred social media platform, where you want to start your affiliate marketing journey. If you already have a social media following, that’s even better!

Create & Post Content

What if I tell you that everything you do before this step could be meaningless if the content is not worth it?

That’s true.

Content is the most important part of affiliate marketing as it makes you stand out among all other affiliate marketing side hustlers. Make sure that your images/ video clips are high quality, grabs the viewers’ attention immediately, conveys the message and encourages conversions. 

The most effective types of content for affiliate marketing include:

• Tutorials

• Product reviews

• Product comparisons

• Product roundups

• Best-of lists

Use tools like canva, CapCut, InShot, or Adobe Illustrator to create visually appealing images/ videos with interesting hooks and valuable content to boost conversions.

Post the content on your preferred social media platform along with affiliate links to start making money from your affiliate links; adding the links to Linktree can make it easier to share all the product links in one place. 

Optimize Your Affiliate Marketing Campaigns

Let’s say that you keep posting content for 30 days. Users engage with your content, but most do not convert. Optimizing your campaigns helps solve this problem.

• First track where most of the traffic source is coming from. It gives you insights into which sources are not working well. 

• Once you find out which sources are under-performing, try A/B testing with different hooks, types of content, and landing pages to see which performs better.

• Furthermore, you can also ask for direct feedback from the audience through forms or email to fill the gaps.

Understanding the loopholes will allow you to fix those issues and eventually optimize your campaigns for conversions.

Scale Your Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle

Many people have turned their online affiliate marketing side hustle into a proper income source by experimenting and expanding.

One of the simplest ways is to keep doing whatever is working well already. However, as you add more products, you will need to automate systems to improve efficiency. Tools like Thirstyaffiliates (link management plugin), Buffer (post scheduling), and ConvertKit (email marketing) are best for automating affiliate marketing campaigns.

Best Affiliate Programs for Affiliate Marketing

Best Platforms for Affiliate Marketing 

• TikTok (short-form content)

• YouTube (long-form content)

• instagram (best for niche influencers)

• Pinterest (image-based content also works)

• linkedin (higher B2B conversions)

• reddit (niche products)

You can start your journey with Amazon links on TikTok, creating your website for affiliate marketing on Pinterest, aesthetic videos on Instagram or any other platform you prefer. For higher conversions, make sure to provide value to the viewers before you sell the products.

How to Succeed with Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle?

Choose the Right Platform 

Facebook is a suitable choice for products intended for millennials.

Instagram is better-suited for aesthetic niches/ content.

TikTok works best for Gen-Z, though Millennials users are also there.

Pinterest may be a good idea if you don’t want to start with video content.

YouTube is best for long-form informative, product reviews, or podcasts.

Understand the Audience’s Pain Points

You might want to ask yourself when creating content for your affiliate products “Why would anyone buy this?”

Understand your audience’s pain points and create content accordingly addressing their problems or sharing benefits of the product to encourage purchases.

Boost Visibility

If you start your affiliate marketing journey with a blog, search engine optimization (SEO) can boost visibility significantly, or you’ll get lost in the ocean of other blogs in the niche. Niching-down can help you here as many creators do not work in a sub-niche. Authority and expertise combined with SEO can be the perfect way to rank in SERPs.

Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and Ahrefs are widely used for keyword research. Incorporate these keywords in the blogs, meta data, URLs, image alt text, etc., along with high-quality content to push your content to the top SERPs.

Post Consistently

Most importantly, be consistent. Whether you create content daily or create a lot of content at once and publish gradually, make sure to not abandon it after trying for a few weeks.

Algorithms reward consistency, and thus, you must not give up too soon.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle

• Anyone can become an affiliate marketer from anywhere in the world

• It does not require any capital or investment

• No training cost if you opt for free courses or YouTube tutorials

• Affiliate marketing can be a good passive source of income once established

• You do not need prior experience in marketing

• No website needed to start affiliate marketing on social media

• Creators with an existing audience on social media can start making money quickly

• Affiliates do not have to worry about order fulfilment

• Best for people who want to make some extra money online after work

Cons of Affiliate Marketing Side Hustle

• You must follow the rules of the platform 

• The business or seller decides the commission rate

• Some affiliate marketing niches are more saturated

• Even though many do, there is no guarantee that you will make money
  
  

  

What Do Affiliate Marketers Say?

Here's what affiliate marketers say about affiliate marketing as a side hustle: [internal links to be added]

1. “I focus on creating content that my audience is interested in. And if I find an affiliate program for a product I am already recommending, I add the affiliate link.”

2. “As an affiliate marketing side hustler, I've made a little money. I see it as another side income like YouTube and print on demand.”

3. “I am a busy mom of three and making money by promoting other people’s products fits my tight schedule perfectly. It saves me the hassle of setting up my own business to earn. I can just earn from what other people are selling.”

4. “I started affiliate marketing a few months back and now I make $200 to $500 a day in commissions. It’s been going great for me!”

5. “Affiliate marketing has its pros and cons. It is usually hard to get the audience and conversions you need for a steady income. However, once you’re there, it’s quite easy to maintain.”

Realistic Affiliate Marketing Challenges

While affiliate marketing is a popular side hustle for those looking to make money without any investment, it comes with some challenges:

• Sometimes, it may take months for the first sale, especially if you’re a new TikTok affiliate creator.

• Creators who are not creative or good with hooks and visuals may take longer to convert viewers into buyers.

• Many affiliate programs have low payouts. Thus, you need to make more sales for a prominent income.

• Some platforms may have their specific rules that you need to follow for affiliate marketing.

• The income may fluctuate, depending on the seller or market conditions.

• Income from affiliate marketing is likely taxable (depending on where you live), so you need to track those numbers.
  
  

  

FAQs

How to start affiliate marketing with no money?

Yes, you can start affiliate marketing on social media with no money. First, you need to pick a niche and look for affiliate networks or businesses that work with affiliate marketers in that niche. Then, choose your marketing channel (website, blog, social media, etc.) and add the links to the content you post on the platform. Make sure the content is interesting and attractive to boost conversions.

How to start affiliate marketing with your phone?

You can earn from affiliate marketing with your phone the same way you’d do on a laptop or desktop. Use tools like canva, CapCut and InShot to edit images or videos, and Linktree to add all links in one place.

How to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners?

When starting affiliate marketing, make sure to evaluate the market demand and competition when selecting a niche. Create and publish high-quality content that pushes conversions or gets you your desired act (lead/ click/ install) from the affiliate link.

How do affiliate marketers get paid?

Affiliate marketers may get a commission per sale (on every product sold), per click (when someone clicks the link, even if they did not make a purchase), per lead(such as filling a form or subscribing to a newsletter), or per install (software/apps).

Can you make $100 a day with affiliate marketing?

Though it may seem unrealistic, you can make $100 a day with high-ticket products. Choose profitable niches, optimize your conversion funnel, and opt for products with 10%-50% commission rate.

Do you need 500 followers for an Amazon affiliate?

If you want to start earning as an affiliate marketing side hustler and looking for affiliate networks, starting with Amazon can be your best bet. You do not need any specific minimum follower count to become an Amazon affiliate.

Can you do affiliate marketing full time?

Though many people start affiliate marketing as a side hustle, it can very much be a full-time job. However, you need to be good at searching for high-ticket affiliate products, content creation, designing a marketing funnel, search engine optimization, and running ads to make consistent profits.

Affiliate Marketing Cheatcode

If you find it hard to look for resources in multiple places (who has time for that anyway!), we’ve compiled all relevant courses, creators, and tools for affiliate marketing on Moonlite Money. 

Search for affiliate marketing, click, and enter a world of resources to kickstart affiliate marketing WITHOUT ANY INVESTMENT!