Making money from your videos can seem like a far away dream as a new YouTube creator, and the majority of channels don't ever make it to the point of earning their first cent. But what if I told you there was a way that you could start earning money with YouTube today, even as a small creator with very few subscribers or videos?
Well, in this episode of Full Time YouTuber, I'm going to share the Simple strategy that I've used since the very start of my time on YouTube that has earned me well above six figures in passive income without needing a product of my own to get there. Hey, I'm Ben and I help video creators who are entrepreneurs at heart grow their YouTube channels into a profitable business.
This podcast is for creators who want to help people through information based content. Not to chase fame or subscribers, even though that may come, but rather to build a business that generates revenue while you sleep. So you can live your dream life. And I want to start this episode by saying that the income source I'm about to share with you is just one of many different income sources that I use as a creator.
And one of many that you can also implement yourself as. Ongoing revenue throughout your YouTube journey. It's really important to diversify your income streams as much as possible, which is why I'd recommend having a few income sources in mind from day one. So you can be as financially successful as possible after putting in all that hard work, making awesome content.
Now I do have a free ebook that will definitely give you some ideas here. It's called my top 10 ways to make money with YouTube. And in it, you can find exactly that. Ten different ways that you can monetize your channel in order to build a profitable business that scales and makes recurring revenue while you sleep.
If you want to download the free ebook, just head over to benclaremont. com slash YouTube guide or follow the link in the show notes. And the revenue source I want to talk about today I've found has been the fastest and easiest way to start making money on YouTube without having to put a business or products in place because those things take a while to create and can be a waste of time in the very early days.
When your time is better spent making content and building up your brand. And what that income source is, is affiliate marketing. What is affiliate marketing? Well, it all has to do with affiliate links that are placed in the description of videos that tells certain companies and websites that you referred them a sale, and therefore they give you a cut of every sale you bring in.
These commissions can range from anywhere at the very low point of 1% All the way up to 50 percent per product. And with a lot of scale that really does add up quickly. So these affiliate programs are often run on affiliate platforms like impact. com. However, it's also really common for brands and websites to have their own inbuilt affiliate program, where you go to their website and sign up for the affiliate program and generate a link that you can then share with your audience.
Generally, I find that is the better strategy because when it. is on a company's website. They're not having to pay another website to host and manage their affiliates. Therefore they give their affiliates a higher commission percentage and affiliate marketing really is a very powerful income source, especially as you get further into your YouTube journey.
I think this method works particularly well with YouTube because YouTube really. Is at least at the moment, a platform that people go to for information about things. Maybe they want to see a review or a comparison of different products. They might want to see how to do something and the tools needed in order to achieve a result.
Whether it's something physical, like building something. or digital in using online software. YouTube very much is a how to platform and people are looking for recommendations. Therefore making those recommendations to people can be a very financially rewarding thing to do. Especially if you have a good affiliate system in place.
And it's really great because you don't need a big following to get started and to even make significant money. I remember back in 2018 when I was still a relatively small YouTuber. I might've had between 10 and 20, 000 subscribers. And it was around the Black Friday period. And at the time there was this camera with a really weird name.
It was called the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere. Try saying that 10 times fast. And this camera was like the. Best 360 camera available at the time and one that I was really excited about because it delivered way better results than all the other cameras did at the time. So I went to work and made reviews and comparisons of this camera.
I made an affiliate link from a platform called gear best. And over that Black Friday period of 2018, I earned up to 1, 000. 5, 000 per day promoting this single camera on this single affiliate platform. I had never even heard of this camera or this affiliate platform a few months before, but because it was the right product at the right time presented in the right way, I was able to unlock a serious revenue source from this camera that so few people had heard of.
But we're impressed by from seeing the content I made with it. And yes, Black Friday is an extremely high sales activity period. So not every day looks like that from an affiliate's perspective. It was more just like the key couple of Black Friday days that I did up to a thousand dollars just on this one camera.
Per day, but also before and after Black Friday, I was also selling a camera every day or two and with a commission of, I forget what it was, it would have been around 10 percent or so that was roughly 30 to 50 in my pocket per referral, which is pretty nice affiliate revenue to wake up to every morning.
Especially when it came from videos I posted weeks or months ago. So again, you really can get results quite quickly as a small YouTuber when you are promoting the right products to the right audience and you're giving them the kind of content they want, like a review or a comparison. Since 2018, I've obviously grown my channel a lot more and I'm currently nearing 200, 000 subscribers.
And since then, the tables have kind of turned with the 360 camera market. Insta360 came out and released some amazing cameras and they are now the primary 360 camera brand and have a great affiliate program attached to them. And from this one program alone, since I started affiliate selling for them in roughly 2019, I've been able to generate.
Over a hundred thousand US dollars in income. That is total since I started in 2019. And that's not too shabby. From one single affiliate program, from one single brand. Can you imagine if you were to join lots of different affiliate programs, what that would look like? I'm sharing these figures with you not to brag or show off.
But rather, so you take this affiliate marketing strategy seriously. This is a very substantial income source that can be unlocked with time and persistence. So let's talk about how to choose the right products to sell with your affiliate marketing. And again, affiliate marketing just means providing an affiliate link.
In your content, you don't need to do too much more than that. You don't need like marketing systems or email programs or whatever. It's literally just generating these affiliate links and referring people to them in any way you like. So the best way to choose the right products to affiliate market, firstly, are products that you're truly passionate about and that you could talk about all day long, because naturally you're going to be better at talking about those things and selling them to people.
There's nothing worse than when you see a review of something on YouTube and the person just really could care less and they have no enthusiasm because they probably accept every product under the sun and don't truly understand the underlying value in the product, but instead they're just trying to make an Okay, ish review in the hope that they'll get lots of affiliate sales, but that's really a bad way to go and nobody wins in that situation.
So make sure you choose products that you are truly passionate about. It's also important to understand your niche and what types of tools people are using within it. So is it a kind of software? Is it physical goods? In every industry and niche, there are potentially hundreds of different things you could talk about that can bring value to your audience.
So it's a good idea to brainstorm what some of those tools might be and trying them out for yourself. See if you love them or hate them. Personally, I don't bother making content about products I hate because it's just a waste of time. Even though I could make an honest review, that would be entertaining.
I'm not passionate about the product and I'm not going to get affiliate sales from it. And it's going to take up a whole lot of time. That would be better. I'm going to be talking about the tools that people in my niche and industry use most. Software is a very popular one, cameras, computers, SD cards.
These are some of the most common ones in my niche of content creation, but yours might look a bit different. So you want to brainstorm what kinds of things people are using in your niche. Also of course, it's important to promote products that are actually reputable. Again, don't try and sell something you're not passionate about and something that just isn't good.
I've seen this happen too many times over the years where a new camera has come out and others in the industry have made reviews and tried to make these products look Good. Some might say polishing a turd. I wouldn't say that personally, but others would. And then it turns out that that camera that they're promoting is a piece of garbage.
People buy it and it overheats. It freezes up. It delivers the worst experience possible. Yet they stay loyal to this company just because they have an affiliate link and a relationship with that manufacturer. So that really is not a good way to handle business. Because if you don't promote products that are reputable, You won't be reputable anymore because on YouTube and online, your reputation really is everything, which is why every word that comes out of your mouth and every product you recommend needs to be authentic and quality.
And the second you promote inferior products, the truth about those products always comes out eventually. And if it turns out you are misleading people that is going to harm your reputation irreparably. Okay. So what type. of products are there? Well, the first type is obviously physical goods, anything you could use physically, whether it's small, medium, or large size.
Generally, I find on YouTube products that sell well in terms of affiliate marketing are ones that the everyday person can afford. So not like a fancy car, but rather a tech gadget. Something in the 5 to 1, 000 price range that does require a bit of research for your audience to justify that purchase.
And that really is what this whole process is about. It's about your audience members doing due diligence to make sure the products they're buying are actually good products before they commit to buying. And physical goods are definitely something that people want to know about. Does this item break or not?
Does it deliver on the promises that were marketed? How does it compare to its closest competitor or two? What is the best feature? What is the worst feature? This is stuff we all want to know when researching physical products. In terms of selling these physical products, Amazon is the world's biggest affiliate program, and they have more or less every physical item you could imagine, at least of all the things that.
It can fit in a parcel and easily be sent to your door. And that really is a great place to start for beginner affiliates. The Amazon associate program is free to join. There's no barrier to entry and you can start generating links and referring people to those links straight away. So if you just go to Google and type in.
Amazon affiliate program. A link will show up to join the program and then just follow the prompts to get started. From my own personal experience with Amazon, I'd say overall, it's okay. Generally, the way you make the most money on Amazon isn't necessary. It's not necessarily through the product you recommend, even though the customer may buy it, but rather it's in the cumulative purchase that they might make.
So if you sent them there for an SD card, they may also add a camera, a tripod, a microphone to their cart. Making the overall order value significantly higher. And because of the beauty of these links and the cookies that Amazon and other affiliate programs use, you will get a cut of every purchase that person makes on Amazon, regardless of what it is, since you were the person that sent them to Amazon to begin with, that's Amazon's way of rewarding you for that.
I will say though that Amazon's commissions are generally on the lower side compared to other affiliate programs because they do take a fair chunk of the overall profit and leave the affiliate with less than other programs would probably give. So just keep that in mind. However, obviously Amazon has That's the benefit of being one of the world's biggest and most trusted online stores.
So converting those sales to begin with is going to be a much easier task. Regardless, there's no harm in joining it, especially if the products you're promoting don't have affiliate programs anywhere else. I will say though that. If a company sells their own product on their own website and they have an affiliate program, you're likely going to get far higher commissions referring people directly to that website than to Amazon.
Take Insta360 for example, the commission you get from selling a camera is about four times higher on the Insta360 website. Then it is on Amazon. Therefore, your conversions will add up four times faster. And that's been my experience with most other affiliate programs. If you can join an affiliate program directly on the company's website, they're likely going to offer higher affiliate commissions than on Amazon, since they often have to pay Amazon to host their stuff there.
And Amazon to begin with offers a lower rate for affiliates, which makes it better suited only to products that you. You can't affiliate sell directly from the company's website. The next type of product you can recommend as an affiliate link are digital products. This means either downloadable software or SAS software as a service, basically online websites and platforms, online courses, digital products, and more.
From my experience, after eight years of affiliate marketing, These are the ones that really pay off. And these are the ones that can offer really high commissions. Because if you think about it, a digital product can be replicated infinitely. A company does not lose money if they sell a course or an ebook a million times over.
Since it's a digital asset that they make only one time, but can sell infinitely. Therefore, they tend to incentivize their affiliates more since they are earning close to 100 percent profit. And if an affiliate can bring them extra sales, say at a 40 percent commission, they're still making 60 percent profit, which is unheard of in the physical goods space, where often profit margins are closer to 20 percent to 40%.
Maybe 40 percent is a bit high, you will get the idea. Odd program. There's 40 to 50% on average, though I found SaaS or online software to be closer to the 20 to 30% range. But again, it's a case by case basis. Everyone is different, which makes software quite a good one, especially if you find software that you really believe in that has a good affiliate program with good commissions.
I do find that mainstream software often doesn't often match when I think about Adobe and. CapCut, it's kind of a joke how small of a commission they offer for referrals. It's something like 2 per person and then they get that person's recurring subscription revenue from there. But I've found more niche platforms that aren't necessarily the lead contenders to be more generous with their affiliates to incentivize them to promote them.
So for any website or software, you might be. Thinking about promoting, just head to their website and scroll to the bottom and see if they have a link to an affiliate program. If they do go ahead and sign up and see what the commission is. I'm working with a coaching client at the moment. Who's in the travel industry where he makes videos about New Zealand.
Shout out to Michael from virtual journeys, New Zealand, and all of his affiliate programs revolve around travel. For him, this is hotels, rental cars, activity booking apps, like Get Your Guide. And some of these programs offer up to 70 per referral. And at 70 a referral, if you're able to get a couple referrals a day, that's enough for a full time income just based off of affiliate marketing.
And right now I'm working with him on how he can double down on his affiliate marketing strategy to hopefully get him to six figures a year in referrals, because every creator has a primary income stream and for the travel industry, affiliate revenue is right there at the top. And I think that one's a really good example of the types of online things that you can sell through affiliate marketing that there are actually affiliate programs for, you might not.
Think it, but anything that can be sold can be affiliate sold. So it's always worth doing the research to find whether certain services that you use and recommend have their own affiliate programs. And if they do join them ASAP. So the bottom line with choosing the right products to affiliate sell is that you obviously got to be honest in your videos and therefore the products you promote should be the things you genuinely like and use.
And you shouldn't just try to sell anything and everything because people will see right through that. It will come across as disingenuous. And as a result, they're unlikely to click your links. So make sure you have a target niche that you focus on in terms of promoting products. All right, next, what types of content should you make that you can feature your affiliate links in?
Well, the number one. Best type of video to put an affiliate link in is a product review. Again, YouTube is a platform where people go to evaluate things, especially products under a thousand dollars. And if you can make a good review of something that is honest and points out the pros and cons, again, you want to choose products that are reputable and therefore you would recommend.
Anyway, but in video form, you're just doing it a bit more analytically with pros and cons. Those are the types of videos that are likely to convert highly on that product, especially if your presentation is good. Another one is comparisons, product A versus product B, which is better. If you can isolate the two most popular choices in your niche, especially if those two products have affiliate programs, then it almost doesn't matter which one is better and which one people choose because if you encourage them to.
If you follow your link, you will get a commission either way. Again, you've got to be honest about the pros and cons, but if you do that well, people will trust you and follow your links. Other types of content you could make might be how to videos. So your audience are probably looking to achieve an outcome of some sort, whether it's something super easy or extremely difficult.
And creating step by step how to tutorials is a great way to showcase products in their best light. The more of these types of videos you make, The more your affiliate revenue is going to add up and turn into passive income that comes in while you sleep. I can guarantee you if you have more than 10 videos on your channel that do a good job of evaluating products and you've got a good title and thumbnail, you are going to make passive income, no question.
So just like all the other income sources, it is something that scales over time and the more content you make that It features products, the more passive income you can make. You might be thinking, yeah, but Ben, how do I actually ask my audience to follow my affiliate link? Doesn't it come across as salesy?
Well, no, not if you don't make it. A good YouTube video should feel like you're a friend talking to a friend and either recommending things or not. And if you can recommend a product in a genuine authentic way, then it will only feel natural for you to say, Hey, the link's down below if you want to find out more, just remember that you are.
Doing your audience a favor by evaluating products and sharing tools and resources that are going to help them. You're the one doing all the giving. So telling them to follow the link below isn't doing them a disservice. It's actually helping them find the product that they were searching for.
Therefore, the whole experience of your viewer watching your video and. Following the link below in their minds is all for their benefit. Even though you will get a cut at the sale, your audience won't care about that. And they're also not going to lose anything from clicking your link since it doesn't charge them extra.
So they are really the ones doing all the getting, and you are the one doing all the. Giving, except with affiliate links, you actually are doing a little bit of getting as well, which is the beauty of following this strategy. Now in regards to disclosures about using affiliate links, there isn't a lot of information out there, at least in obvious places, but I will say that you are supposed to disclose if you're using affiliate links, this can be done either verbally in the video.
Text as an overlay in the video or text in the description box. This might go along the lines of some of the links in this video are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them at no extra cost to you, something like that. So you will need to mention the word affiliate links somewhere according to FTC guidelines.
So where do you place these links? Well, the obvious place is in your YouTube description. If you're basing your whole video around one single product, put it in the very top line. This will mean it's visible directly underneath your video and will get far higher click throughs. You could also add it as the pinned comment for people that do like going through the comment section.
But the best place really is that prime real estate of the very first line of your description. I will say that you shouldn't post too many affiliate links in your description. Like don't post 50 because that's just way too much information. But if you can consolidate it down to the top. 10 links or less.
That's usually the best way to go. That said, I do also include affiliate links in all of my videos for common items that people might be searching for who are in my audience, which often are photo and video editing software. So I'll link that in my description for all videos, kind of down the bottom away from the main text.
If you head to my YouTube channel and look in one of my video descriptions, you'll see what I mean. Also, you will want to shorten your URLs for a cleaner look. Obviously you don't want to post a URL that is a thousand characters long, which are sometimes given to you with affiliate links. The affiliate programs are starting to become better at this.
I know on Amazon, when you create a link, it now automatically defaults it as a short abbreviated link, which is like amazon. to slash. A couple of letters, which is nice and short. But if you are using another affiliate program that doesn't do this, you'll either want to head over to bit. ly. com and generate a short link there.
That's spelt B I T L Y dot com. And you can also use a platform called Geniuslink, which is a bit more advanced and it's a paid subscription. So if you're just a beginner, I wouldn't worry too much about that one. But Geniuslink is essentially mostly facts. Amazon to help localize links in different Amazon stores around the world.
Now I'd encourage you to check your analytics of each program over time to see if your referrals are growing or shrinking, because just like with analyzing your YouTube videos, important data can be extracted from the graphs in the affiliate dashboard. The main one I'd probably look out for is like, are you actually making any money with this program or not?
If not, it might be time to consider abandoning it and joining another one. That's happened to me many times, so I'm glad I do check my analytics every now and then. But if all goes well, your earnings should be growing, and that needle should be moving slightly upwards over time. Now I've got some homework for you.
Since I've just talked about affiliate programs to death, I'm now going to hand it over to you and your homework is join the Amazon Associates program. Chances are you are probably promoting physical items of some kind and Amazon is one of the very first ones you can join even as a small creator and start generating links that you can share in the descriptions of your very first YouTube videos.
The commissions won't be big but it will be a Good place to start for you to start earning your first few dollars with affiliate marketing. So you can then start learning and tweaking the affiliate marketing strategy to scale that infinitely. Again, affiliate revenue really is my second income source.
Overall, I do have at least five others that bring me regular monthly income. And between them all, they create enough revenue for me to easily sustain my life as a full-time content creator, grow my business and live my dream lifestyle. So if you want to learn all of the other ways that you can make money with your YouTube channel, aside from affiliate marketing, feel free to download my Top 10 Ways to Make Money with YouTube Guide, which you can get for free at Ben Claremont.
And if you'd like to work with me personally to workshop your monetization strategy further and figure out whether affiliate marketing could be your number one income source or whether it's number six for you and there's another number one that would make you far more revenue. I do offer one on one coaching where I give you my undivided attention and many, many years of experience with both business and content creation.
And I'm confident I can help you take your YouTube channel to the next level, as well as scale your revenue to the next level. To get started, feel free to book a free discovery call with me at benclaremont. com slash coaching, or follow the link in the show notes, and we can jump on a call to get the ball rolling.
That's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. I wish you all the success in the world, and don't forget, you're just one video away.
