This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome listeners, welcome to Side Hustle School and welcome to Throwback Thursday. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Every week in this segment, we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. Now we've had all kinds of stories, all kinds of variations of stories. Last week we heard from an eBay consignment seller who decides to focus on selling items for other people for a commission.
Instead of just trying to go out and find a bunch of stuff herself to sell, she finds people who have stuff and then she sells it for them and she gets paid. Now today in our latest feature, we have another commission model. This is quite different. We're gonna hear from a camera gear affiliate who earns thousands of dollars a month from commissions. So as I said, it's a different commission-based model.
As an affiliate, he gets paid whenever he refers sales of purchases. Now camera gear is a great category for this kind of business because it's expensive. So your 6% commission, your 10% commission, whatever the percentage is, your percentage on the sale of camera gear is gonna be a lot better than on the sale of a very low-priced item. Also, people who are into it are always buying stuff. So camera gear, sports gear, music, computers, obviously.
Anything that costs money and inspires frequent purchases is always a good fit for an affiliate model or often it is, let's say. Also, since he started, I don't know if he mentions this here in his update, we're gonna hear from Jake, but he has actually earned $100,000 in commissions and counting so far. So I thought that was pretty good and I thought you'd like to hear about it too. So let's hear more about the business from Jake. [Music]
My name is Jake Thompson and I live in Austin, Texas.
For the past two years, I've been running a website focused on camera equipment reviews. This venture has allowed me to earn a steady affiliate income and indulge in my passions for photography. Here's my story, including some valuable lessons I learned along the way. September, 2021. I decided to use my extensive knowledge of camera equipment to help others make informed purchasing decisions.
I launched my website, Shutter Savvy, featuring in-depth reviews and buyer guides and tips for photographers of all skill levels. November, 2021. To boost my credibility and online presence, I created social media profiles and started sharing my content, engaging with photography enthusiasts and collaborating with other photography bloggers. January, 2022. I joined several affiliate marketing programs, partnering with major camera equipment retailers and manufacturers.
I integrated affiliate links into my website content, ensuring they were relevant and non-intrusive. March of 2022. To keep up with the latest trends, I attended photography trade shows and conventions, bringing my findings back to my audience. I also started offering exclusive discounts and promotions to my readers through my affiliate partners. June, 2022.
I expanded my content beyond camera equipment reviews, venturing into articles about photography techniques, editing software, and accessory recommendations. This diversification helped me attract a broader audience and boost my affiliate income. September, 2022. As my website gained traction, I started receiving requests from manufacturers to review their products. I developed a strict policy to maintain my credibility and remain unbiased in my evaluations.
November, 2022. With growing traffic, I optimized my website for search engines, focusing on keyword research, quality content, and improving the user experience. This effort further increased my online visibility and affiliate income. January, 2023. I launched a monthly newsletter to keep my audience engaged and informed about the latest industry news, my recent reviews, and exclusive deals from my affiliate partners.
March, 2023. Two years into my journey, I now have a thriving online business earning a stable affiliate income from my website dedicated to camera equipment reviews. And here are a few lessons learned. First, establish credibility. Building trust with your audience is crucial for the success in the affiliate marketing world.
Be transparent about your affiliate partnerships and maintain unbiased reviews. Second, diversify your content. Expanding your content beyond product reviews helps attract a broader audience and increases the potential for affiliate income. And third, keep up to date with industry trends, reading constantly, and even attending trade shows ensures you remain knowledgeable and relevant to your audience, further establishing you as an authority in your niche. Fourth, optimize your website, focusing on search engine optimization, SEO, and user experience increases your online visibility and helps drive organic traffic to your website.
This was a big one for me. My journey as an affiliate marketer in the photography industry has been both fulfilling and rewarding, allowing me to share my passion with others while building a successful online business. [Music]
Awesome. Thanks so much to Jake for sharing those updates and the tips as well. Very helpful.
The affiliate model continues to be strong. It's one of those under the radar kind of things that never really goes away. It's been a viable business model for, I don't know, decades now. And like I said, it's just going to continue to evolve, but I don't think it's going anywhere because merchants are always going to want to pay to acquire users and customers in sales. So if you can start a blog or some other medium that has the potential to attract users and then therefore refer them, I mean, a lot of YouTubers are big on this as well, then that can have a lot of potential.
So let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than a thousand stories. If you have questions or an update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. By the way, this has been episode 2,301, 2301. That's pretty fun, but I'm excited about 2302 as well. Comes out tomorrow, it's all completely free.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
