So What ARE Affiliate Links?

If you don’t know what affiliate links are by now, you must be super confused by all those little blurbs that appear at the top of almost every blog post.

Like, “What is this big, ugly block of text about you taking my money?”

But I promise you, it’s not like that. In fact, affiliate links are pretty awesome and they’re one of the only win-win-win scenario I can think of… at the moment anyway.

Basically this is how it works:

  1. I want to promote a product that I believe in and have found useful. So instead of promoting it with zero incentive to me, I apply to the product’s company to become an affiliate partner. (NOTE: The desire to promote the product comes BEFORE the application for partnership. And in the case of a company approaching me to become an affiliate partner, I do a lot of research before accepting or declining. I do not accept every offer. Quality is more important to me than quantity.)
  2. My application is accepted (ALWAYS. Jk.) and I receive special links that I can use on my website. These links include a code specific to me, so when it is clicked, by one of you, I can track how many clicks I’ve received and how many purchases I’ve inspired.
  3. When a product is purchased, I receive a small percentage of the total cost. It’s important to note that this costs you nothing extra. It’s just the company’s way of telling me, “Thanks for advertising our awesome product and landing us a sweet sale!”. And, as we all know, the best way to say thank you is with money.

So essentially,

You win because you received an awesome product that you may not have heard of otherwise.

I win because I get a little cash for advertising the product, AND I get to feel good about sharing some of my favorite products.

And the company wins because they’ve got 1 more super awesome customer!

SO IF IT’S SO GREAT, WHY THE BIG UGLY WARNING SIGN BEFORE EVERY POST?

The good ole’ FTC requires me (and everyone else who uses affiliate links) to disclose what they are and that they are included in the post.

It’s nothing big and scary but people like to be informed, and understandably so! Plus, this way, if you decided I’m super annoying and you’d rather that money just stay with the company, you can always choose not to click my links. But I sincerely hope that’s not the case. A chick’s gotta get paid, yo!

Any more questions? CLICK HERE and shoot me a message. I’d be happy to chat 🙂

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