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There are many different ways to monetize a blog:
- Become a freelance blogger
- Sell coaching and consulting services
- Create and sell eBooks
- Google AdSense
- Affiliate marketing
- And more
Related Reading: 5 Proven Ways to Monetize a Blog that Generates Under 1,000 Visitors Per Day
In this post, I’m going to share with you how to get started and start earning passive income with Bluehost Affiliate Program.
Earning Passive Income with Bluehost Affiliate Program
No matter how big your business is, it’s always smart to have multiple streams of income.
I know you might be wondering why I would recommend making money with affiliate marketing since I make most of my passive income by selling books on Amazon.
Undoubtedly, building a 6-figure publishing business on Amazon allows me to spend more quality time with my family, traveling, writing blog and doing what I love. As you read this post right now, I’m actually traveling in Australia.
But I think it’s too risky to have a business awfully dependent on the whims of a powerful big company like Amazon. Any changes made to the rules or program will have a significant effect on your revenue.
For example, self-published authors like myself used to earn royalty by per book read and in mid-2015, Amazon decided to change the KDP Select payment to per page read. From earning about $2 per book, and now we’re getting $0.004-$0.005 for each page read. For a 100-page book, I would get about $0.005×100=$0.50. It’s a drastic change- overnight my eBooks royalties dropped more than 70%.
There’s nothing we can do about it- you can either opt out from KDP select or adapt to the change.
By relying on ANY one single platform, you’re building your business empire on somebody else’s backyard. And that is risky.
Steve Chow in Mywifequitherjob mentioned that Amazon is like a drug, a drug that promises you quick sales in a short period of time while making you addicted and dependent on their marketplace. Sales and revenue might be great right now, but things can turn on a dime and you have to make sure you have a fall back plan just in case…because Amazon doesn’t really care about you.
The best advice I can give is that you place at least 20% of your resources on your own branded platform instead of going all in on Amazon. ~ Steve Chow
He could not have said it well enough.
That’s the reason why I think you should start blogging and build your own audience.
If you haven’t started your blog yet…
I have written a helpful guide to help you start your profitable blog with Bluehost (Only for serious beginners). For less than $4/month, you can create your own blog and get a FREE domain name! click here to get started now.
So I thought since I’ve already started a blog, why not try to recommend products that have helped me grow and make a profit from it?
On the 4th day of my one-month traveling in Australia, I received this email from Bluehost:
It’s not big bucks, but it’s an additional source of passive income. There’s no cap on the amount of commissions you’ll receive. And it’s free to join!
Things you will prior to joining Bluehost Affiliate Program:
– Get ready your tax information
– Paypal account
How to Signup For Bluehost Web Hosting Affiliate Program
- Go to Bluehost Affliate Program and click “Sign Up” to create an affiliate account with Bluehost.
- Next, fill up the Affiliate Signup form by entering your information: account username, password, email address, and Paypal email address. And click “Sign up” button to proceed.
- Done. Now you will be taken to your newly created Bluehost Affiliate dashboard. You will be prompted to provide your tax information. Do note that without completing this tax form, you won’t be able to receive any payment from Bluehost.
- To provide your tax information, click “Settings”> “Tax form”. If you’re a U.S. person or organization, you’ll need to fill out Form W-9. For affiliates from any countries other than U.S., you’ll need to complete Form W-8BEN.
- That’s it. Now you can start promoting Bluehost products. To get your special tracking link, click “links” on the top menu bar. You can create your first affiliate links, banners and widgets.
How I Make Money with Bluehost Affiliate Program
Follow these tried-and-true techniques to promote Bluehost and make money online:
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Write a How-To Guide
One of the best ways to promote Bluehost on your blog is writing a helpful step-by-step guide to help your audience sign up for a Bluehost web hosting plan. Add some sign-up screenshots, written descriptions and include your unique tracking link when you mention Bluehost on your how-to post. Whenever someone clicks on links from your page, it will be recorded in your affiliate account.
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Create a Resource page on Your Blog
You can curate a list of products, services and tools that you’re using for your blog. Under the web hosting section, you can recommend Bluehost and share why you love using Bluehost. Remember to include your affiliate link so that any sales coming from your blog will be reflected in your Bluehost affiliate account. Make sure you add your resource page on your menu bar too.
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Use Banners, Widgets and Links
There are few effective ways to place links and banners on your website. Placing large banners and widgets on your website will increase the visibility and click-through rates.
First, I include a hyperlink in my articles when I talk about web hosting. Secondly, I place Bluehost affiliate banners on my blogging resource page.
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Social Media Marketing
If you already have an engaging online following, why not promote Bluehost to your social networks.
For me, after creating blog posts, review articles and resource page, I will promote them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Related reading:
10 Strategic Ways to use Pinterest to Drive Blog Traffic
How to Choose the Best Social Media for your Business
7 Tips to Get Started with Social Media for your Small Business
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Email Marketing
Although it takes time and effort to build an email list, it’s still the best way to build a deeper relationship with your readers.
Not only does email converts to sales better than other channels, you can build a brand loyalty too. I would recommend ConvertKit for your email list building.
Not sure whether you should start building your own email list? Check out this article.
Related Reading: Email Marketing Guide: How to Get Started With ConvertKit
Conclusion
If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, check out this 5-day free training on Affiliate Marketing. It’ll help you craft a successful affiliate marketing strategy and make your first sale!
And also, get this spreadsheet of affiliate programs (along with sign-up links, commission rates and minimum payout threshold). It’s totally worth it.
Do you have any concern not to have this extra passive income stream?
Do you have any problem or question following this tutorial? Tell in the comments!
Last but not least, if this post was of any help to you, please share it on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
A quick share from you would seriously help the growth of this blog.
Thank you so much!
Related Reading:
- How to make passive income by selling information products
- 5 Proven ways to monetize a blog that generates under 1,000 visitors per day (#3 is my favorite)
- Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
- How to Make Money with ShareASale Affiliate Program
- 17 of the Best Affiliate Programs That Pay the Highest Commission
I live and breathe making an income online.
I’ll be sharing more ideas and guides soon. Stay tuned.
If you haven’t already, sign up here to receive my emails.