You Scratch Mine, I Scratch Yours—Thoughts on (and Resources for) Affiliate Marketing
Yet another Pitch, Please newsletter comin’ at you from La Guardia. Lowkey, this finished Delta terminal is like, niiiiiiice.
Last week’s Pitch, Please was basically a plea for workplace kindness combined with hardly-poetic musings about burnout. I recommend reading it but only if you’re ~iN yOuR fEeLiNgS~ this Tuesday morn.
Otherwise, don’t forget to read up on previous posts about Press Hook and HARO.
Lastly for maintenance-y things, I want to put an awesome resource on your radar: the Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It’s an in-depth Masterclass for publicists that covers everything from pitching tips and networks to the perfect checklist for pitching. Get more info here!
What is affiliate?
Affiliate refers to a type of e-commerce in which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing or linking to another brand’s products or landing page. By promoting the product, the editorial side earns a commission.
My foray into affiliate
With the introduction of the Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists, it feels like as good a time as any to chat briefly about affiliate marketing.
I have conflicting feelings about it because, as you probably know, I come from a sustainability perspective. On a personal level, it’s important to me to use my career to highlight local, small, minority-owned businesses. Affiliate, at times, makes that hard.
Nine times out of 10, I’d rather link to a small biz. It moves the needle for them in a much more meaningful way and I think Amazon is going to be just A-OK.
In the last two years, I’d say, affiliate linking has exploded. I first learned about it after I went freelance. As in, by the time I left Parents Magazine in 2016, it was not a thing we were doing. I continued to write for about another two years before I started hearing the word “affiliate.” It’d be another three until someone referred to what I did as “e-commerce.”
I was like, IDK, I’m writing about products! LOL. Cue the cluelessness. And really, I just fell into it. A former colleague wanted me to write for the new company she worked at and she gave me a pretty quick rundown.
I was like, “oh, this is new. I’m used to writing explainers. Not about products.”
But I learned… and it was cool. At that point—2018, 2019?—we were prioritizing affiliate but still linking to items that were relevant to the article even if they weren’t paying the company a commission. (It was 99.9% Amazon links.)
A couple months later, my editors at Parade were like, do you know what affiliate is? Have you heard of Skimlinks? Can you do this roundup of 100 Christmas Gifts?
I was like, oh, I know Skimlinks! I know EasyAzon! I’ve been waiting for this moment. Apparently this product thing is like, taking off or something!
And to paint the picture even more, it was a gallery. A gallery, folks.
Affiliate life in 2022
Fast forward to the internet in 2021-2022 and you’re shit out of luck if you’re not on board with affiliate. Mostly. I mean, some brands are more willing to entertain the idea of including non-affiliate products/brands. Mostly though, they aren’t.
Almost everything I do is e-commerce. Or, if it’s not e-commerce directly, it comes back to e-commerce. Because even if I am writing about the environment, there’s probably an eco-friendly laundry detergent or a sustainable, slow-fashion brand linked in there somewhere.
Because relevancy. And also because $$$.
To be clear, not for me, of course. I don’t reap the $$$ made from affiliate. That goes to the brands and it depends on negotiations and programs and such.
Affiliate programs I’ve worked with
If you’re trying to up your affiliate marketing game, I’m really not your girl. While I primarily write e-commerce for a living, I don’t feel comfortable talking about the more in-depth ins and outs of it all. That’s why I highly recommend the Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists.
They’ll be able to explain it all (and help you) 10 times better than I can.
But here is a list of the top programs I’ve heard of and used. I will definitely say, Skimlinks and Trackonomics (or anything tha gets automatically picked up by Trackonomics) is preferred.
Amazon (EasyAzon and SiteStripe)
Skimlinks
Trackonomics
Share-A-Sale
What’s not preferred: Me asking if your product has an affiliate program and you saying yes, but I have to sign up for it by following this link.
Why: I’m a lowly, measly writer. I’m not an editor-in-chief of a magazine. I can’t sign up the brand I work for for a program like that just so I can link it. I am merely the messenger, ya’ll.
Other affiliate resources
I put together a little bit of light reading—in case you’re interested.
50 of the Best Affiliate Programs That Pay the Highest Commissions (for blogging)
How to Earn Passive Income Through Affiliate Marketing and Google Ads
And that’s that on that on affiliate.
Life (but also work) updates…
My wedding is next week! (Who knew hair extensions are so fucking expensive???) Anyways, will be OOO from June 20 to about… July 10.
I’ll be in Hawa’ii from June 27 to July 9. If you have a client in either Maui or Big Island, let me know. I’d love to do a coffee, tour, meet up, chat etc.
What I’m working on this week
As always, products with affiliate links will be given precedence.
I used this Jersey Shore GIF not because it is work related but because I will never forget Mike the Situation sitting in his neck brace, crying in Italy. I get it, Mike.
How Much Does a Passport Cost?: Looking for a source to extrapolate on the topic of passports; could be someone from USPS, TSA, or in the travel industry.
Best Sleep Apps: Do you represent a sleep app? A sleep expert? Looking for both for this roundup of about 15~ apps.
What Causes Bumps on the Scalp and What to Do About Them: Looking for one more dermatologist, esthetician, or otherwise MD to discuss the medical conditions/reasons that may cause bumps on the scalp.
Feel free to email me if you have any relevant contributions to the above assignments.
See you next Monday, pitches.
Follow me:
Instagram: @stephosmanski
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/StephanieOsmanski