For many content creators the idea of making money online selling what they already know can feel a bit intimidating. But, monetizing your platforms with an affiliate strategy may be a low-key and surprisingly profitable way to monetize your brand. And, one of the easiest ways to grow your brand and build affiliate income is by self-publishing a book that addresses a topic that you cover or are known for on your platform. If you’re not sure how that works as an affiliate strategy then read on!
*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*
Thinking about starting a blog?
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Grab This Resource!
Do you have 20 minutes later in your day? Watch the 20 minute workshop “Why Now is the Time to Publish Your First Book.” Click the link in the show notes to take the workshop. If you’ve already decided to write that first book and need support and resources, join the Make Money with Ebooks Academy. Gain ongoing access to the following:
- A supportive author community
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- Twice a month live office hours
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- In-depth coverage of the following topics:
- Book writing and productivity
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Self-Publish as An Affiliate Strategy
For the past 8 years I’ve blogged about two different topics: Colorado and personal finance. I still really enjoy doing it and it’s super helpful that I actual make passive income via the content that I share. That hasn’t always been the case. In fact, I didn’t even consider making money with my online projects until about three years ago and even then I was super nervous about it.
Not anymore.
One of my favorite ways to make money online is via affiliate marketing. I love affiliate marketing because of its simplicity. How does affiliate marketing work? Affiliates of different products that can range from books, to Amazon, to services, etc. are giving a unique link to share the product/good/or service with other people. If a product is purchased via that unique link, the affiliate earns a percentage of that sale.
Cha Ching!
If you’re not sure about how affiliate marketing works, I recommend the following course “Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing” by my friend Michelle Schroeder-Gardner. She’s made over $5 million dollars in the past 5 years as a rock star affiliate marketer.
Self-publishing a book as part of an affiliate strategy is an ingenious way to do the following:
- Share your expertise with your audience.
- Build your brand.
- Function as an inexpensive first purchase that introduces people to you. Then, if they have a positive experience with that initial purchase, it will be easier to sell other higher priced products/goods/services to them in the future.
Things to Consider
Encouraging people to self-publish as an affiliate strategy can seem like a huge undertaking. It doesn’t have to be. Here’s what would be self-publishers need to keep in mind:
- Your self-published book doesn’t have to be War and Peace (which is HUNDREDS of pages long) Instead, your book needs to achieve one of the following goals (whether it’s a fiction or non-fiction book):
- Educate
- Entertain
- Inspire
- Basically, complete achieve the book’s stated purpose.
- It’s helpful to have a platform to showcase your work. Platforms include (but, aren’t limited to the following)
- Websites/blogs
- Podcasts
- Youtube channels
- Other influencers’ platforms-be a guest on their platforms!
- Be comfortable marketing! It’s not enough to mention occasionally that you’re a fan of the product that you’re an affiliate of. You need to share the affiliate often and in a targeted way that makes sense.
There are so many opportunities to leverage your self-published book as part of an affiliate strategy. As you’re crafting your ideas make sure to consider the following:
- How are you engaging with your audience?
- Do you have a simple way of directing people to your book/funnel/or opt-in? I use Join By Text when I’m a guest on other people’s podcasts/vlogs/or Zoom events. It’s an easy way to get people to connect with my products. I just share a phrase that I’ve created that is connected to my email list. Text to opt-in is so much easier for people to do than writing down your email address.
- Are you creating dedicated content specific to the topic that you cover and gets people in front of your book over and over again?
If you’re an online influencer ideally you would have more than one place for people to engage with your content. Those places could be (but, aren’t limited to the following).
- Blog posts
- Vlog
- Podcast episode
- Opt-ins
- Webinars
- Social media posts and livestreams
My point in sharing all of this is to impress upon authors who would like to grow their income outside of their book sales is to be clear that it’s possible and they can.
Books as Affiliates
There are a couple of ways to use books in your affiliate strategy. First, understand what the affiliate program is for the platform that you decide to publish your book on.
- Gumroad has an affiliate program for products sold on its platform
- Amazon has the Amazon Affiliates program that also allows affiliates to share links to other products on the platform. The payout is ok. But, it’s a great way to get used to sharing affiliates as part of your monetization strategy.
- Shopify has an affiliate option for people who set up Shopify stores.
Next, created targeted content to share your books. How do you do this? Pay attention to the questions that people are asking you over and over again. Those are the questions, musings, and comments that you should be answering in the content that you create that supports your book and book platform.
The more you create opportunities for people to interact with your affiliate links, the more likely it is that you will get people to take actions that convert into sales.
Don’t sleep on all of the incredible opportunities there are to leverage the books that you’re writing. Good luck and tell me how it goes!
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[…] you’ll have a book written before you know it – a book you can self publish and sell online. (Michelle Jackson makes a killing with self published ebooks and affiliates.) Never underestimate, the small things […]