With over 20 collective years of blogging experience, Anne Parris and Lynsey Kmetz have put together their list of things they wish they had known about affiliate marketing when they first began blogging.

Whether you are just getting started with affiliate marketing on your blog or looking for some strategies for increasing your affiliate income, this list is for you.

This post is just scratching the surface with things we think every blogger should know about affiliate marketing. 

Getting Started With Affiliate Marketing

1 – You can put links in old content.

In fact, this is a great way to get started right away! One big misconception with affiliate marketing is that you have to create new content that is targeted to the program. Putting links in old content that is already performing well in Google or Pinterest is actually a great way to immediately monetize your content and get started in the program. 

You can manually add links to old content or use a tool such as Pretty Links Pro for WordPress to scan your entire site to add affiliate links to keywords you set using their replacement tool.

For example, if you are an affiliate for CEFALY, you could automatically turn any instance of the word migraine into a link with your affiliate code. If you are an affiliate for The California Wine Club, you could make each mention of wine or merlot a link with your affiliate code. The possibilities are endless.

Another benefit to Pretty Links Pro is that should you need to change a link, you can change it in your Pretty Links Pro dashboard and the plugin immediately updates it throughout the entire site. 

2 – You can also create new content.

In addition to adding affiliate links to monetize old content, you can create new evergreen content to promote your affiliate program.

New content works great for social promotion but also for SEO. Even if you have old content that is related, you can connect the old content to the new content for even greater search benefits.

When you create new content, consider sending the link to your Affiliate Manager. He or she may pass along your content to show the brand, which can potentially turn into you being bumped into a higher VIP commission level or even working together on a collaboration.

3 – You can put more than one program into the same post. 

Unlike sponsored content where you can only speak of the specific brand you are working with, you can mention more than one product in a non-sponsored post with affiliate links. 

In fact, many affiliate programs complement each other. For instance, Snake River Farms is a great program that offers premium meat perfect for people living the keto lifestyle, and Key Eats is another great product for Ketonians.

If you were writing a post about keto, it would be a great resource for your readers to include both programs, as well as gives you two different opportunities to earn.

Another tip is to create entire “round up” posts or gift guides that show off several products from different programs. In the above example, a round-up could be “Must Have Keto Staples” or a gift guide for “Gifts For Keto Lovers.”

4 – Your invitation wasn’t random.

Before getting into the affiliate management side of affiliate marketing we would receive an email invitation to join a program and just think it was a random mass email. Now we know that each blogger is individually chosen to receive an invitation.

Affiliate Managers have incredible tools to help them decide who would be the best fit for each program. When you receive an email inviting you to join an affiliate program, know that the manager already thinks you are a great fit.

Always remember there is a human on the other side of that email, and consider replying back to learn more about the program or even why the manager may have thought you would be a great fit.

The Affiliate Manager is there to help and can offer guidance and suggestions to help you maximize each program.

5 – You can email ShareASale links.

Unlike Amazon links, your ShareASale links can be used in email blasts to your mailing list. In some cases, conversion rates on emails have been shown to convert even higher than content posts. Just make sure to always disclose the affiliate relationship in your emails. 

And remember, most affiliate programs have at least a 30-day tracking period. If someone clicks on your link but does not order until the following weekend, you still make your commission. With Amazon, the tracking length is only 24 hours.

Stay tuned for part 2, tomorrow!