In partnership with
Insideletter
Hi 👋🏻
99% people never think of affiliate marketing as a way to monetise their newsletter.
Practically, Affiliate marketing looks old school. But affiliate marketing still makes sense. And the easiest way too.
What affiliate marketing actually is
Affiliate marketing is all about recommending a product or service. If someone buys through your link, you earn a commission.
The best thing is that you can get the commission without creating a product, customer support and inventory.
Why it works for small newsletters
You might not have a big audience yet. But you do have something more important.
Trust.
Even a few hundred readers who consistently open your emails are paying attention. That is enough to start.
People buy because they trust your opinion. But more than that, all you need is an engaged audience, even if you have 50 people who regularly open your email, it’d be sufficient.
The biggest mistake to avoid
Most people treat affiliate marketing like ads.
They:
Share random links
Promote things they have never used
Focus only on commission
This breaks trust, and once trust is gone, your newsletter will not work.
A simple way to do it right
Think of affiliate links as recommendations. Only share things you actually use or believe in. Add context. Explain how it helped you and why it matters.
Be honest. If something has flaws, say it.
And keep it minimal. As you have already built engaged people and built the trust factor, you don’t need to put in extra effort. The best way to understand is to check your favourite creator’s video/newsletter, where they subtly add sponsors. Similarly, you’ll add the affiliate products.
You can check Amazon Marketplace, direct product affiliate or PartnerStack like an affiliate hub.
Quick example
Instead of writing:
‘Here are 5 tools you should try’
Write:
‘I tried 3 tools to solve this problem. This is the only one that worked for me and why’
It converts better.
What to expect
Affiliate marketing is not instant money.
But it can help you:
earn your first revenue
understand what your audience values
build a foundation for future products
Did you like it?
If your readers trust you, they will value your recommendations. Start with one product you genuinely like. Write about your experience.
That is enough to begin.
Hope it was helpful! Thanks for reading! See you soon!
Anirban ‘affiliated’ Das
