This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
First $1,000. How do you make your first $1,000 in a new side hustle? That is today's segment. Goes out every single Monday, today's episode 2,438 of Side Hustle School. Today we're gonna hear from a fashion lover who uses affiliate campaigns to earn commissions.
Now this is a really fun story because this business is really taking off. And the right kind of affiliate business where you're essentially recommending products, people are clicking links, you then get a commission on the product. Lots of people do it and make very small amounts of money, like with the Amazon affiliate program. But sometimes people actually find a way to hit it. And they found like the right source of traffic, the right products to refer to, they're making reviews or endorsements or otherwise doing something to get people excited about whatever the product is.
And it can be lucrative. We've had some stories over the years of people making hundreds of thousands of dollars from affiliate commissions. And under the right circumstances, it can be a great business model because it's very easy to get started. Now I never wanna say that things are just so easy, like it's so easy to go make hundreds of thousands of dollars. No, of course not.
But what I'm saying is that there are a variety of business model types and some models are easier to get started than others and relatively low risk as well. Like if you start an affiliate commission site and it doesn't take off, well, you've spent some time, you might've spent a small amount of money, but you're not like investing your life savings or spending a year before you find out whether you have any returns. You can usually know within 30 days or so. So let's hear a bit about this from Mia. She is that fashion lover.
As I said, the business is taking off. In fact, in one month recently she earned more than $10,000. So that's cool. But of course our segment is her first $1,000. How'd she make it happen?
What did it feel like? What did she learn? Let's hear a bit from Mia. [Music]
My name is Mia. And my side hustle is all about making fashion work for me.
I've been doing affiliate marketing, specializing in clothing and accessories. This is a very seasonal business. I've seen earnings as high as $10,000 in a single month. But the story of how I earned my first $1,000 is a mix of persistence, learning, and a little bit of Instagram hacking. In the beginning, I focused primarily on Amazon's affiliate program, but I quickly realized the power of diversification and added a few programs from share a sale.
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you're not tied down to a single retailer. You can recommend products from a variety of sources and earn commissions across the board. Earning that first $1,000 didn't happen overnight. The pivotal change happened when I learned the ropes of search engine optimization. I started to use keyword tools to understand what potential customers were searching for and optimize my blog and product reviews accordingly.
By writing informative SEO-friendly posts about the latest trends and must-have items, I gradually started to see my website climb up the search engine rankings. But that was just one side of the coin. Instagram was my other secret weapon. The gram is a natural fit for fashion and style, but simply posting and hoping for the best wasn't enough. I needed to get creative or, as I like to call it, I needed to hack Instagram.
I started by researching the best times to post and trailing different types of content. Outfit of the day posts, flat lays, before and after transformations, and styling tips. Interacting with my followers became a routine, answering their questions and engaging with their posts. I worked hard to grow my follower base organically and sustainably. I also made sure to link back to my blog post whenever possible.
This way, my Instagram followers became website visitors and, ultimately, customers who clicked through my affiliate links. Reaching my first $1,000 in commission was a satisfying milestone, but the journey was just as rewarding. Through my foray into SEO and Instagram hacking, I learned the importance of understanding my audience, their needs, and how to deliver valuable content to them. If you're considering a similar venture, my advice would be to dive deep in SEO and understand its nuances. Be consistent with your content, whether it's blog posts or Instagram.
And always remember, in affiliate marketing, trust is everything. Build a rapport with your audience, be authentic in your recommendations, and the commissions will follow. With patience and persistence, it can pay off. Lastly, I want to say thanks to Chris and team for the podcast. I started listening in 2020 and I still enjoy it every day.
It's been a great motivator for me and many others. - I used to run a number of affiliate sites and it's kind of like I said in the introduction, some of them didn't do anything and some of them did really well. For a while, I did some travel hacking, credit card referrals, and that was a big business. Not doing it these days, but it's the kind of thing where if you find the right industry and me has been able to do it with fashion here, then it can definitely produce a good return. So lots of other episodes about affiliate commissions in our archives, it's all completely free.
I encourage you to dive in. I also wrote about it a bit in the Side Hustle book. I may have mentioned it a little bit in Gonzo Capitalism, the new book as well. So check that out. Let us know if we can be helpful in some way.
Again, me, I appreciate you sharing that story. Listeners, if you've got a question or an update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. And lastly, today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2438. 2,438. Thanks for tuning in today.
I hope you'll subscribe. Come back for more. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
