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This is Lesson Three of Matt Estlea's Affiliate Marketing Masterclass. To go back to the lesson plan - Click Here So hopefully by now I’ve convinced you that affiliate links are awesome. Now where do you use them? This is relatively easy for me as I create an endless stream of content where I’m using tools all the time. But for a business that focuses on the sale of physical items or services, this can be difficult. Here’s an example of how I use affiliate links for a physical product. After using it for years, my viewers began asking what brand of marking knife they keep seeing in my videos, not knowing I made it myself in 2014. I saw the opportunity and at the end of 2019 began developing, prototyping and manufacturing a line of replaceable blade Marking Knives that my viewers could buy.  To the dismay of some, these are sold without a blade due to the fact I do not want the hassle of having to verify people's age, and deal with the shipping. So in an attempt to avoid it being seen as a negative, I created this article instead. This was a perfect opportunity to provide a service to my viewers by adding a level of customisation to their knife, while also giving me an opportunity to place some affiliate links. In reality however, I could only find one of the blades on Amazon and am only generating income from one of the options listed in the post. Service comes before income. I liked where this post format was going and decided to make a separate post on ‘How to Care for your Marking Knife’ This provided some after sales support for the questions that were likely to arise due to the finish wearing away over time, or the metal components tarnishing. It also gave me an opportunity to put in some more affiliate links for items such as finishes and abrasives. My point is that you do not need to be directly talking about the product in order to promote it. As you can see from the previous examples, you can promote products surrounding your main product in a completely authentic way. Action Points: 1. Make an Amazon Associates account for your potential customers' countries. I would recommend the UK and the US to start with. 2. Make a profile on Kit.co and populate it with your favourite products. If they’re not on Amazon and you cannot generate a link for them. Take the time to put them on there anyway. You may not get income from it, but your customers will thank you. 3. If you have WordPress, look into Pretty Links. 4. Think of products that can be recommended alongside your own offering. How can your products be cared for? What extra items are useful? How can it be stored etc? 5. If you cannot find the product on Amazon, consider approaching the company manufacturing the item directly to create a scheme. Or encourage them to set up an account with a third party affiliate company such as The Affiliate Gateway. I recommend signing up for an account yourself and see which companies already participate. There’s all sorts from plumbing companies to funeral directors. 6. Create an affiliate disclaimer for your website and be transparent about it. The more transparent you are, the more people will go out of their way to support you. Secondly, people who attempt to call you a ‘sell out’ by earning commision from sales will not have a leg to stand on. It seems counterintuitive but it works. 7. Audit your list from time to time. Check the links still work and that they still align with what you currently recommend. Keep it authentic!
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