Most of my students wonder when and where to start affiliate marketing? We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs with affiliate marketing over here at the CEO Teacher®. And we’ve seen what resonates with teachers and what doesn’t. We also know what we excel in and what we just wanted to see if it would work. Affiliate marketing isn’t just as easy as recommending your favorite goods and making a couple hundred dollars every month. 

It’s a little bit more detailed than that if you want to make this a real side hustle as a full-time teacher. If using other people’s products they’ve created to help you kickstart your online teacher business sounds like you – then stick around. Because I am ready to share the 5 affiliate marketing strategies that are hot right now.

Can affiliate marketing make you money?

Before we get into our action strategies for the 5 affiliate marketing strategies you should use today. I thought it could be refreshing to hear what has worked for us and what hasn’t. 

Let’s start with what I thought would be a good idea that wasn’t. I’d like to preface this by saying that what we tried was totally out of left field and for my lifestyle not sustainable. Mostly because I’m sloppy and a mom of 5 kids. So the reason why this affiliate marketing didn’t work isn’t that it couldn’t be successful for you but it just didn’t work for us.

We tried to share clothes and links through our Instastories. We have a pretty good number of people that tune in to our Instastories on the Kayse Morris page. So the idea was why not monetize that, right? Wrong. What we thought would be an opportunity to share cute teacher outfits, was nothing even close. What actually ended up being our highest gross profit from sales on one single clothing item (well a package) drumroll please, a pack of granny panties from Amazon that I fell in love with post-partum. Hahahahahaha! 

I really don’t have style, I’m not a fashionable person, I’m just lucky to dress all these kids and myself most days. But I’m on a mission to start being more presentable – so here’s the thing, affiliate marketing only works IF it works in relation to what you already do. Who you already are, and is something you are deeply passionate about. 

Affiliate marketing without a following

Now, let’s talk about what HAS worked for us. Collaborations that value community and connection. Because in a nutshell that is who we are. We serve teachers. And when we chose affiliate revenue that also had a heart of service it was a win-win. 

Collaborating with humans and companies like:

• Shannon Mattern 
• Kajabi
• Honeybook
• Brittany Ratelle 
• Amazon Prime Day (Biz Books and CEO Teacher® Tools)

All helped us create affiliate streams of revenue that supported our mission, our students and helped them create the side hustles they always dreamed of. 

The proof is in the data…

• Affiliate marketing is responsible for 16% of global eCommerce sales. 
• 1 out of 10 eCommerce sales in the world happens because of the good practices of successful affiliate marketers. When I say eCommerce I mean: commercial transactions conducted electronically on the internet.
• Affiliate marketing is a multibillion-dollar global industry. 
• The forecast shows that affiliate marketing spending will go higher in the next five years. 
• Affiliate marketers consider product relevance as a crucial factor in choosing an affiliate program.

Types of affiliate marketing strategies

Link Building and Co-Marketing

Link building is a search engine optimization technique that increases your search engine ranking. Links are one of the primary ways that search engine algorithms determine the relevance of a page. Having a good number of links to a website indicates that the content is there is valuable. 

The only issue? Building links from scratch is a long time strategy. We highly encourage you to start doing this immediately. But we also know that many teachers get into the business of building their side hustle as full-time teachers and are looking for ways to increase their income faster than the long game. So if you’re also looking to do something maybe a little faster than link building, that’s where co-marketing comes into play. 

Co-marketing is a marketing strategy where brands or organizations partner together to expand their reach. Typically, the companies working with each other have some similarities, such as being in the same industry or having similar audiences.

Promote someone else’s programs

• Find someone/something you are a part of and reach out to them about sharing their programs.
• Apply to become an affiliate
• Learn the percentages and what things help you make more money

Amazon: check into bounties and dig into the data with Prime Day. Their platform now allows you to go live from Amazon and get rewarded. My favorite affiliate marketer right now? Cat Ben on TikTok

Eat to Evolve: I share a post on stories and in my reel naturally each week, I get food for free after applying and working with them for 2 years. Some influencers want to get paid, but I love their food and use it in my meal preps so getting free food is a much better option for me. (You can get started ordering your own healthy meals with my code: Kayse15).

Kajabi/Honeybook – we share about Kajabi inside our programs. Our students use Kajabi to create their own programs and services so it's a win-win for us. Honeybook is a new program we are excited to partner with. I’ll share more about that soon. 

Social Sell things you love as a teacher on Tiktok

Social selling is different from the traditional selling strategies you’re used to seeing online. I mentioned my fav affiliate marketer these days is Cat-Ben but she is an expert social seller as well as Emily Fauver. Emily knows how to create HYPE around a product. And hype is real. If you are not in love with your product, no one else will be either. 

Write a blog post sharing what you do with your students in your classroom or any school supplies you love

Be sure to follow all rules and regulations surrounding sharing your classroom on social media. But you can absolutely share the items you love, either your own creations or those you find on Amazon, or with small independent businesses. That helps you grow your reach organically and perhaps make some affiliate money on the side. 

Like my girl Tara from Autism Little Learners who shares her favorite visual schedules and all the hands-on manipulatives to go along with them.

Create a Toolkit

Grab your favorite brands and products you use in your teacher business to share in a quick post on socials about your toolkit. This is your go-to niche-specific must-haves. Once your toolkit is created you can share about it regularly. Show yourself using it in the classroom, and share with your audience why it's made your life easier. Why they must have the items as well? Then link to your Amazon affiliate store or small biz affiliate links. 

And you know I love a good bonus: 

The best way to make money using affiliate marketing in 2022 is in the following categories: fitness, Earth-friendly, home decor, pet stuff, and kitchen supplies. How can you make your teacher's business relate to these trending topics? 

You could potentially create a teacher home/classroom decor account or a teacher's favorite meal prep account. I know as a classroom teacher my cheezits and drink were not nutritious lunches by any means. Help your audience take back their health by creating a teacher fitness account. Share what you do each day to sneak in some movement exercises. Maybe you could start taking your furry friend for a walk after school. And while you walk you share in your stories about your teaching day. There are many ways to get your name out there and start making connections in the affiliate marketing world. 

My biggest piece of advice on where to start affiliate marketing is… Make sure the company aligns with your mission and goals. Make sure the messaging allows you to stay true to your brand, and think in terms of service-based collaborations. 

Affiliate marketing strategies for beginners:

Generating Passive Income

How to Make Money Blogging

7 streams of Revenue for any Teacher

5 ways to make quick money during the back to school season

Where to start affiliate marketing and How to be bold in your business