Last Updated 2 months by Emily Standley-Allard

Can you really make money unlimited money while you sleep? Or is it all a bunch of nonsense? The answer is of course you can, and hundreds if not thousands of people are doing it every day. If you think this is far-fetched, you’re out of the loop. 

Read on to learn the exact methods how me and so many others make a passive, unlimited income streams from anywhere in the world. 

Unless you have a huge stock investment portfolio earning thousands in dividend income, or were born into wealth, then one of the most effective strategies to earn unlimited money while you sleep is by implementing affiliate marketing.

Since the 2000s, affiliate marketing has steadily gained traction, as more and more businesses use digital marketing to get their brand closer to consumers.

And now with the rise of content creators, social commerce and social influencer marketing, business owners collaborate with creators to advertise the products and services more authentically. This has helped companies utilize affiliate marketing as integral part of their overall growth plans. 

In this article, we’re listing the top reasons in 2023 that every advertiser and affiliate marketer should know, about why you should be implementing it in your plan to make unlimited income while you sleep. 

Benjamin franklin dollars
Images by Pixabay.com

How to Make Unlimited Money While You Sleep

In the words of Warren Buffet, the infamous billionaire investor and owner of the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep you will work until you die.” 

warren buffet quote
how I make 4500 per month with affiliate marketing

The good news is that anyone can make money while they sleep, to leave for your loved ones, pay for school, pay off debt, save for retirement and more, and with the help of the internet it’s gotten even simpler.

Think this is out of your reach? Read this post:

How 37 Bloggers Earn $2K – $1Million Per Month

The wonderful thing about affiliate marketing is that there’s an unlimited cap on earnings. Unlike a salary from a typical job, you can make an unlimited amount of money.

The kind of money that you could not possibly ever make working a typical 9-6 position that most people work at for the majority of their lives.

In the Internet Marketing (IM) world this is referred to as ‘passive income’. You just need to learn how to do it correctly. 

In the words of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, “The Beauty of Affiliate Marketing is you don’t have to invest the time and effort to create a product to sell, you can begin selling something as an affiliate as soon as you have a platform to sell it on.”

I make a full time living at affiliate and content marketing along with hundreds of other bloggers and online digital nomads all around the globe. 

It’s crucial to understand that this is a legitimate business, not a get rich quick scam.

And just like any authentic business it involves real work and effort.

However, if you follow the expert strategic methods from those who have done it, the rewards can be incredibly lucrative and surpass anything you can imagine in a ‘regular’ 9-6 business working for someone else.

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Why Use Affiliate Marketing for Unlimited Money

Affiliate marketing has been around for a while and is still considered to be one of the world’s fastest growing and best internet marketing techniques on the internet. 

Some folks may tell you it’s time has passed but nothing is farther from the truth.  

In fact, Affiliate marketing is expected to increase by more than a billion dollars in 2023. 

Mhojhos Research found that in 2019, the affiliate marketing industry was estimated to have a worth of $17 billion.

This is up from $13 billion in 2016. Research we previously reported predicted the affiliate marketing industry to have an estimated worth of $12 billion in 2022, so the industry has grown much more rapidly than expected.

And we have yet to see figures from the post-Covid era, where the value of the affiliate marketing industry is likely to be higher yet.

Revenue from affiliate marketing has steadily increased over the years as eCommerce continues to grow in popularity. With consumers purchasing basic goods, household devices, tech gadgets, and procuring services using the internet, businesses are finding affiliate marketing as an effective means to connect to promote their brand.

The average affiliate marketing earnings of a marketer in the United States is around $50,000 annually. The bottom 10% of affiliate marketers earn around $37k per year, while the top 10% earn $71k per year.

High earners of affiliate marketing methods who partner with major brands have earned upwards of $50,000 – $150,000 per month.

– resource influencermarketinghub.com

Forecasts suggest that affiliate marketing spend will continue to increase

Statista reports that the projected expenditure for affiliate marketing in the United States alone was expected to reach $8.2 billion in 2022, up from $7.4 billion in 2021. From only $2.5 billion in 2012, the spending for affiliate marketing has continued to increase year by year, which suggests that more businesses are incorporating affiliate marketing in their campaigns.

Advertisers and companies are paying more now for creators to promote them than ever.

making sense of affiliate marketing
Image of Affiliate marketing payout commissions

 

8 out of 10 brands run an affiliate marketing program

The results of a Rakuten/Forrester Research 2016 survey showed that 90% of merchants and advertisers say that they considered affiliate marketing an essential part of their marketing strategy.

Of the respondents polled, more than 80% ran an affiliate marketing program to improve website traffic and increase sales. Also, over 80% of the advertisers set aside about 10% of their marketing budget for affiliate marketing.

Setting up an affiliate marketing program can lead to boosting brand awareness, improving lead generation, and augmenting sales without spending a huge amount on advertising.

However, a successful affiliate marketing program relies on several factors, which include selecting brand affiliates who are in the same niche or target the same consumer profile. This way, the brand can reach their target audiences faster and discover new audiences for their products and services.

 

The majority of publishers use affiliate marketing to generate more income

Affiliate publishers are content creators who specialize in publishing materials through websites, mobile apps, and other digital channels.

Over 84% of online content publishers join affiliate marketing. A whopping 94% of publishers join 2 or more affiliate programs, while 39% and 20% of publishers use 3 or more and 5 affiliate marketing programs, respectively.

Publishers can work directly with brands or join an affiliate network like Amazon Associates, AWIN, or eBay Partner Network (EPN). Affiliate networks not just connect brands and publishers, but they also streamline processes such as account management, commission payouts, and reporting.

Although most U.S. publishers don’t consider affiliate marketing as great a money-spinner as eCommerce, 38% of publishers name affiliate advertising as one of their top 3 sources of revenue.

How Much Can Affiliate Marketing Earn You?

According to Payscale, the average base salary for an Online Affiliate Marketing Manager is $58,241, not including benefits, bonuses, profit sharing, or commissions.

Top-end affiliate marketers earn a combination of up to $87,000 p.a. as a base salary, $13,000 p.a. as a bonus and $16,000 for commission. Meanwhile, low-tier affiliate marketing managers typically earn from $35,000 annually.

Many publishers say they use affiliate marketing because it allows earning money with only a little effort. They only need to sign up for an affiliate program and then create and upload content.

When web users click or make a purchase after clicking the publisher link, they get a commission.

This means affiliate marketers can earn while doing other activities like taking a vacation, watching a movie, or even while sleeping.

With these stats at hand you can’t deny that affiliate marketing is the most efficient way to earn money as a creator or influencer. 

Think about it.

Ad revenue is directly tied to your page views.

Period.

If your page views don’t increase, your ad revenue will remain stagnant.

If your page views decrease, your ad revenue will also decrease.

Why Not Focus on Sponsored Posts?

Sponsored posts are limiting, in my opinion, for two reasons:

1) Some readers are sensitive to sponsored posts, so I like to keep the vast majority of my content organic and take on very few sponsored posts per month; and

2) They can take a TON of time and even if you are earning a great flat rate, your return on investment is going to be limited.

Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, is NOT directly tied to page views.

I sometimes earn more through affiliate sales during months that my traffic is down than when it has hit a record high!

Just about all companies offer affiliate marketing opportunities, including stores such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Ebay, Sephora, Adidas, Shopstyle Collective and literally hundreds of others.

In fact more and more companies each day are adding affiliate programs to their websites hoping to attract bloggers who will promote them.

Think of affiliates as today’s influencers.

Today major advertising companies don’t want to spend hundreds of thousands on celebrities to market products and services.

They are turning towards ‘influencers’.

Regular folks and bloggers and creators just like you & I with a following to sell products.

Now there’s even the term ‘micro influencer’ which is a person with a smaller social following.

Micro influencers are creators on social media platforms who typically have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers.

These creators typically build followings around niches like travel, fashion, beauty and photography, and cultivate communities surrounding their content.

“If you’re not earning money through affiliate marketing, then you are leaving money on the table”. – Michelle Schroeder Gardner, Making Sense of Cents

So, let me reiterate – Can you really make unlimited money while you sleep?

There’s no reason why you can’t learn how to do it too.

There are thousands of Businesses and Retailers that need your help.

And methods of Digital Advertising are only going to increase.

Listen. Blogging can be really difficult.

Many bloggers and online influencers skip over affiliate marketing.

They either think it’s too hard, that it’s a waste of time, that they will turn followers away, or that their followers just won’t be interested.

However, if you’re not earning money through affiliate marketing, then you are leaving money on the table.

Perhaps you’ve tried affiliate marketing in the past, but nothing seemed to work.

Now, you just feel like it’s not possible and that you’ll always be stuck.

Trust me, I know how you feel. When I started out blogging, I knew NOTHING about it.

And due to that, I was afraid to try new things, and I was definitely afraid of affiliate marketing because I didn’t want to scare my readers away or waste my time.

Michelle earns over $150,000 a month through affiliate marketing, and she shares all of my best tips in her course.

In this course she created, there are 6 modules, over 30 lessons, over 20 worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful exclusive Facebook group, and more, and she goes through everything when it comes to affiliate marketing, such as:

  • What affiliate marketing is and how it works
  • Why affiliate marketing is great for producing income
  • The exact steps she’s taken to earn over $300,000 from a single blog post
  • How to pick the right affiliate products to promote
  • How to increase conversions
  • How to build trust and not lose followers
  • Required disclosures that you need to know about
  • The one major tool you need for affiliate marketing
  • Different strategies to use to promote your affiliate products
  • How to use Pinterest to succeed at affiliate marketing (yes, this includes the newest Pinterest affiliate rules!)

You have nothing to lose.

If you’re interested in learning how to make unlimited money with affiliate marketing, I recommend you check out Michelle Gardner’s bestselling affiliate marketing course to get started:  Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

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More reasons why affiliate marketing makes sense

1) Cost effective:

Marketing on the internet is cheap, there’s no concerns about production cost and you don’t need a physical business address or hire any employees.

 

2) Global Market Exposure:

Online marketing gives you the opportunity to reach people in any country all over the world.

 

3) Affiliate Marketing is Affordable:

It is completely FREE to join Affiliate programs.

Some programs require you to have a decent amount of traffic and some accept anyone who has a website/blog or who markets on social media platforms.

 

4) No Storage/No Shipping:

You never have to worry about storage, packing or shipment of the product. These tasks are all taken care of by the seller.

 

5) No customer support to manage:

You don’t need to provide any customer support or deal with consumer complaints, returns or exchanges because you never deal with the customer. The company does.

 

6) Somewhat Passive income:

A steady job provides steady income. Depending on your Affiliate marketing skills, Affiliate marketing can create a steady flow of income even when you are sleeping or even years down the road!

“A single sponsored blog post has created over $50,000 – $200,000 and up due to Affiliate marketing”. – Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income 

7) Work from home:

Need I say more?

You can skip the traffic, co workers and the daily grind of the office.

As long as you have conscious dedication, consistency and laser focus to work on your own this is an added perk! 

Affiliate Marketing takes work, but no technical no how, a stream of dedication and persistence. 

Done the right way, it’s a fantastic way to increase your income exponentially. 

 

There Are Many Products to Promote in Your Niche

The top affiliate networks have over 100,000 affiliates

Startup brands and small businesses that don’t have a huge marketing budget can use affiliate marketing to get their products and services closer to consumers.

Affiliate networks have hundreds of thousands of brand affiliates that cater to a specific audience.

Likewise, joining affiliate networks can benefit bloggers and influencers who are looking to monetize website traffic and earn high commissions from advertising the products or services of a partner merchant.

Below are some affiliate networks with the largest number of partner merchants and publishers.

  • AWIN has over 15,000 advertisers and 100,000 publishers
  • ShareASale has over 4,000 merchants(1,000+ of which are exclusive)
  • CJ Affiliate has over 4,000 merchants and 70,000 publishers
  • Amazon Associates has over 900,000 members globally

There are an endless variety of products, services, and companies to promote.

There’s something for everyone. The key is to choose ones that you try and use yourself so you can be authentic in promoting them. 

Products you could potentially promote to your audience include:

The list is truly endless!

In the words of Warren Buffet: 

unlimited income
Image by Pixabay.com

 

How can you make unlimited money online fast with affiliate marketing?

First sign up with a company like Share-A-Sale for examples and choose products to promote – it’s always best to choose products that you’ve actually tried yourself and recommend to others.

Also be knowledgeable of the company’s general practices.

This is a great way to get started fast with your own website, niches, backlinks and a huge supportive community of other affiliate marketers. 

shareasale-screen

You never want to promote a product that you know nothing about or a company that has a negative reputation because this could damage yours.

Next, you need to get your affiliate account set up – get affiliate links for that product – and promote them on your website/blog, through social media platforms, YouTube and even email campaigns.

There are affiliate opportunities that pay a lot more in commissions and one of the best ones are on Share-A-Sale.com. 

They have tons of online retail businesses, and the commissions are substantially higher than most other affiliate programs which makes them attractive to a lot of online marketers, which means there is a lot of competition for their products.

Another thing you can do is start a YouTube channel and promote your Share-A-Sale affiliate products there.

You simply put your affiliate links underneath your videos in the description box.

Sponsorships and affiliate marketing with YouTube

For some YouTube creators, ad dollars only go so far, and a significant portion of revenue comes from sponsorships and “affiliate marketing” (when brands offer a commission on any sales or traffic that the creator’s content drives).

Affiliates function pretty seamlessly through YouTube; anyone can include links to featured products in their video’s caption, and when audience members click through and buy them, that YouTube channel gets a small kickback.

Many YouTubers prefer Amazon’s affiliate program, “Amazon associates,” although there are plenty more to choose from.

Amazon affiliate
Amazon affiliate program

But sponsorships are generally where the big bucks are made, and where intermediaries like Monumetric and other agencies come in.

This is the major leagues: Most brands aren’t interested in YouTube channels with fewer than 200,000 to 300,000 subscribers or average views of less than 10,000 to 20,000 per video. 

The bar is also high because videos cost more to make and require tricky negotiations —the sponsor will want to know where their product will be featured, for how long, and so forth.

“When we’re connecting top brands with top influencers on YouTube, you’re talking a minimum budget of $50,000 to $100,000, and it just goes up from there.  Some of the biggest YouTube influencers get paid $100,000 to 200,000 for a single video. And then those videos get millions of views. That’s why there’s a lot of money in the space.”

Resource – Charlotte Cowles The Cut

Another free method of promoting your affiliate offer is doing article marketing.

You can write an article about your affiliate offer and submit that article to all the free article directories you can.

Once you feel comfortable you can contact companies to write articles for them and eventually you will have companies contacting YOU to write articles and sponsor products for them.

Article marketing is good because it is free, it uses skills you already have, and it sends traffic to your site.

Believe me, that traffic keeps coming for a long, long time. I am still getting traffic from articles I wrote three and a half years ago.

I have used these articles as samples of my work, and to get people to see more of my work.

You can do the same.

affiliate marketing


FREE sources of traffic to promote your affiliate links:

  • Your own blog
  • Your Email contacts
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mix.com
  • Reddit
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest 

 

Conclusion

From these methods you can make a very comfortable, unlimited and full time living through affiliate marketing. 

Affiliate marketing is hard work in the beginning there’s no doubt, and it is only worth it if you can match your product to your particular audience.

Pick products that match your niche and pick products that you are passionate about. It comes down to targeting the product to your audience.

The good news is there are so many incredible methods to make money through affiliate marketing and the $17 billion dollar market is only expanding.

It’s a creative and lucrative business regardless of your previous working background or education.

The great thing is that you don’t need any previous technical knowledge and you can start off with it as a side business or go full throttle into a full-time gig!

The choice is yours!

But you have to get started:)

Start learning from Shareasale or the expert blogger in affiliate marketing how you can make a passive, unlimited income while you sleep with these proven formulas you can implement from Michelle Gardner’s top selling course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.

making sense of affiliate marketing

How to make passive income with affiliate marketing