The WordPress community is a really unique place to be an affiliate marketer. The platform is like a living thing – always changing with new design options and tools. That means a lot of on-going learning and searching for suggestions, directions, problem-solving tips and product recommendations. This opens up endless opportunities for WP experts and users to share their knowledge – and yes, get paid.
Don’t squirm, it’s only money
There is nothing wrong with being paid for your honest work. Posting takes time. Tutorials, reviews, even “best of” lists all take time. People in the WP community respect that and most have no issue with you being compensated – if you’re honest about it. Remember, clicking on an affiliate link doesn’t cost your visitors a thing. It’s a way for them to compensate you for solving a problem or saving them time.
An affiliate social experiment
One blogger put this idea of compensation to the test. He posted a video discussing the strategies used on a landing page and at the end of his post he gave visitors two options. For the first, he told people if they clicked on it, he’d get a commission. For the second, he said that clicking on that link would eliminate the possibility of a commission.
Guess what happened?
76% chose the clearly stated affiliate link, knowing he would get paid
24% chose the non-affiliate link
The responses to his experiment were equally enlightening. In the comments section Melody writes:
“If a blogger/writer posts something that is interesting enough to make me want to click on a link (whether it be an ad or affiliate link), I absolutely HOPE they benefit by my click.”
Honesty, Quality and Link Disclosure
Success as an affiliate means providing useful content and relevant, natural links or products. You can start by recommending products you have personally used and benefited from. This builds up your credibility and also allows you to answer any questions on the products.
Another way to build trust is through a link disclosure statement. This is a legal requirement and must be obvious and clear. You can infuse some personality or humour into it, it just needs to make clear that some of you content includes links that may pay you a commission.
