Affiliate Marketing
— A Simple Step by Step Guide

Everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, including how to get started, different methods, and things to watch out for are all below. Let's get started!

Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to generate an income online. You don't need to create your own products (which takes a ton of time), and you don't even need to really sell anything.

All you need to know how to do is to recommend something, and if you've ever recommended anything to anyone before, then you already know how to do this.

I’ve been affiliate marketing since 2009 on my very first website, GreenExamAcademy.com. On this architecture-education website I promoted an exam software that has generated more than $200,000 in commissions over the years.

And that's just one product out of dozens of products I've recommended across multiple businesses. All together, I've generated over 3 million dollars since 2009. That's not total sales, that's total commission that I got to keep.

I know, this sounds kind of wild, and almost too good to be true. You're not going to make millions of dollars overnight – this stuff takes time to learn what works, and what doesn't. But, I'm here to help you speed up the process and finally get the momentum going your way.

In this guide, I'll teach you how to get started and find the right products for your audience, even if you're just starting out.

Instead of worrying about upsetting and annoying your audience with your promotions, I'll show you how to gracefully promote products in a way that people will thank you for the time and effort you put in to help them make a buying decision.

I'll also teach you about the amazing opportunities you can have related to the companies you help promote, and the special kinds of deals and offers you can get for yourself, and your audience, through those relationships.

It’s the guide I wish I’d had when I started my affiliate marketing journey way back in 2009.

Excited? Here’s what’s in store:

Contents

• What is affiliate marketing?
• How does affiliate marketing work?
• Benefits of affiliate marketing (and drawbacks)
• How much do affiliate marketers make?
• What affiliate marketing strategies do marketers use to promote their partners?
• How to start affiliate marketing for beginners
• Affiliate marketing examples
• Affiliate marketing case study: SPI + Kit
• 8 best affiliate programs and networks
• Affiliate marketing tips for beginners (and experts)
• Affiliate marketing mistakes to avoid
• My best resource for beginner affiliate marketers: The Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet

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What is affiliate marketing in simple terms?

Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting another person’s (or company’s) product. You find a product you like, promote it to your audience, and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.

It’s similar to a salesperson earning a commission, except you don’t work for the company. Instead, it’s like earning a reward for sending a new customer to the company.

In other words, when you help another company generate sales, you get a cut!

The best part is that you don’t have to spend the time and money to create your own products, because someone else has already done the hard work.

You can begin making money as an affiliate as soon as you have a place to recommend products, whether that's a website you have, a podcast you've started, or even on social media.

So, all you have to do is send traffic through a link to that product, and everything after that is out of your hands . . . right?

Wrong.

There's so much more involved to make this work well, which is why most people who attempt affiliate marketing fail, or just see a few dollars coming in from their efforts.

I want you to see amazing, life-changing results from affiliate marketing, which is why I'm thankful you're here.

There are two ways to be involved in affiliate marketing—either as a product owner/affiliate marketing program creator or an affiliate marketer.

In this post, we’re going to focus on how to do online affiliate marketing from the affiliate marketer side.

Affiliate marketing is quite simply one of the most powerful ways to generate an income online. Regardless of your niche, the upside with affiliate marketing is nearly limitless if you go about it the right way! 

Part of the beauty of affiliate marketing, especially for beginners, is you don’t have to invest time in creating the products that will be serving your audience—because, guess what?

Those products likely already exist.

Because of that, affiliate marketing is an opportunity anyone can take advantage of, and it’s easy to get started.

Affiliate marketing examples are all around us—and you’ve probably been involved in affiliate marketing without realizing it!

If you’ve ever clicked on a link in a blog post to a product or service being offered on another website, there’s a good chance the owner of the website where you originally clicked the link received a commission from your purchase.

Yes, affiliate marketing is everywhere—but here’s the thing: few people understand how to take full advantage of it.

In fact, I believe affiliate marketing is the world’s most untapped source for generating passive income!

It’s a beautiful process that’s completely underutilized, and I’m excited to share with you exactly how it all works.

Who is a good fit for affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing can be a great choice for online entrepreneurs, bloggers, and really anyone who has a website and is willing to build an audience they can serve authentically.

If this describes you, products exist right now that people in your target market are probably already buying, and if you can become the resource that recommends those products, you can generate a commission as a result.

Affiliate marketing can be an especially good option if you’re not ready to create your own product or service, but you want to serve your audience by recommending products that may be helpful to them.

Online affiliate marketing can also be a good fit for a wide range of people because you can apply a bunch of different marketing methods to promote affiliate products and services.

These include the same marketing methods you may already be using—things like search engine optimization (SEO), paid search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, content marketing, and display ads.

You can even take advantage of other nifty ways to market products, like product reviews and unboxings.

Take for instance this YouTube video I did, where I review and demonstrate three USB podcasting microphones and include Amazon affiliate program links to purchase each one in the description.

Finally, it’s important to remember that affiliate marketing works best when you’re sincere and confident about the product you’re promoting.

You’d only sell your own product if you knew it could help people, and it’s the same with affiliate marketing. If you go in with a get-rich-quick mentality, you’re not going to be impressed with your results.

How does affiliate marketing work?

Let’s get into the details of how affiliate marketing works. There are three main players in an affiliate marketing arrangement:

1. You and your website—the “affiliate.”
2. The affiliate company (or network). In the simplest affiliate arrangements, you work directly with a single company to promote one or more of their products. There are more complex affiliate networks that provide an opportunity to earn affiliate revenue on a range of products, such as Amazon, Impact, and ShareASale.
3. The customer. This is a member of your audience who uses your affiliate link to purchase a product from the affiliate company or network.

A company that offers an affiliate marketing program may call it by a different name—these programs are also commonly called partner programs or referral programs.

Here’s how each party benefits from affiliate marketing:

1. From your recommendation, your audience learns about a product, course, or tool that may be useful to them;
2. From your recommendation, the company selling the product, course, or tool gets new customers they may not have found otherwise;
3. As a result of the sales to your audience, the company gives you a commission.

When done the right way, affiliate marketing can be a win–win–win.

But at the center of this is one thing: your audience’s trust.

When your audience believes you have their best interests at heart and trusts your recommendations, then all three parties in the affiliate marketing relationship ultimately benefit.

A lot of people worry about getting involved with affiliate marketing because it might make them look slimy or too salesy.

That’s why I’ve made it part of my mission to teach people how to do affiliate marketing in a way that makes it a win for everyone.

The biggest element to success with affiliate marketing?

Trust.

Earn trust from your audience first, and only recommend affiliate products that you’ve used yourself and know your audience will benefit from.

And you know what?

A lot of people do it the wrong way by taking an income-first rather than a serve-first approach.

These folks push random products and over-promote them without providing true value to their audience.

This has given affiliate marketing a really bad rap in some quarters, causing many ethically minded entrepreneurs to be wary of affiliate marketing.

But thankfully, you CAN do it right, maintaining your audience’s trust and having them thank you for your recommendations.

Benefits of affiliate marketing (and drawbacks)

As with anything, affiliate marketing has its upsides and its downsides.

Later in this guide, I’ll give you the guidance you need to go about affiliate marketing smartly so you can make the most of the opportunities out there and avoid the potential downsides.

Here are the main pros and cons of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing pros

• Low barrier to entry. Affiliate marketing is easy to get started with, and costs little. Most affiliate programs are free to join, and you don’t have to create, stock, or ship products, which also means less hassle/responsibility.
• Low risk. You’re not the product owner, so you don’t lose anything if a customer doesn’t buy.
• Passive income potential. Affiliate marketing provides the potential for passive income.
• More freedom. When you start earning passive income, you can work anytime and from anywhere, as long as you have internet access.

Affiliate marketing cons

• Not a quick fix. It can take time to generate the amount of traffic needed to result in substantial income.
• Less control. You don’t own or control the product/service you’re recommending, so you can’t control the quality or customer experience.
• Competition and audience fatigue. An attractive affiliate program means you might be competing with others for customers.
• Offer fatigue. Audiences can also get “offer fatigue” if they see too much ongoing promotion from you.
• Not all affiliate programs are created equal. While most companies that offer affiliate commissions are stable and ethical, there are shady companies out there too, some of which may not pay what they say they will. It’s important to do your homework.
• Risk of link hijacking. Unscrupulous individuals may hijack your affiliate links, known as “clickjacking,” potentially stealing your commission in the process.

How much do affiliate marketers make?

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that 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. In this way, affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn some extra income without a lot of hassle or upfront cost.

That said, it’s not a way to get rich quick.

Like all passive income ideas, it takes time and effort to create a decent revenue stream.

Although affiliate marketing has been my number one source of income for a while, it took me a while to get to where I am, including building close relationships with the companies I’m an affiliate for.

In my very first month doing affiliate marketing (December 2008), I earned a whopping $163.16:

Here’s how I did in December 2009, the month that marked my first full year as an affiliate marketer:

And here’s what my affiliate income looked like in December 2017, the last month I published an income report:

As you can see, I’ve done really well with affiliate marketing in the past 10 years—but it’s taken a lot of time and hard work to get to that point.

So, how much can you make once you’re up and running with affiliate marketing?

That depends primarily on how committed you are to making it work and how much time, energy, and focus you’re willing to put into it. It also hinges on a few other factors:

1. The commission percentage you receive for each sale of an affiliate product or service.
2. The size of your audience.
3. How successful you are at promoting those products or services to your audience.
4. Typical commission percentages vary depending on the affiliate company you partner with, and the types of products or services you’re promoting.

Digital products and services typically offer higher margins due to their lower costs of production and fulfillment—there are no raw materials, manufacturing, shelf space, shipping costs, etc.

These margins can be as high as 50 percent.

On the other hand, because of all the aforementioned costs, physical products tend to offer lower percentage margins, sometimes in the single digits.

Thankfully, there is no real limit on how much you can make as an affiliate marketer.

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to augment your existing income, or even become your main source of income if you’re willing to make the commitment.

But in either case, if you’re looking for long-term success with affiliate marketing, you have to be willing to do it the right way.

What affiliate marketing strategies do marketers use to promote their partners?

There are a ton of tactics you can use to promote your affiliate partner’s products online.

Here’s a starter list of 10 to get your affiliate marketer brain something to chew on and remix:

1. Create an epic post

One thing I like to do when promoting a product is create an Epic Post about it.

What’s an epic post?

Think of it as a potential one-stop-shop resource for this particular product—not just a review of it, but a full-fledged introduction, how-to, FAQ, best practices, and troubleshooting resource for anyone who purchases the product.

If you can show this much information to people before they make a purchase, they’ll be more likely to actually make a purchase.

At the same time, the epic post becomes an extremely shareable article, one with the potential to rank high for the particular product keyword in Google.

In this epic post, I’d go all out and . . .

2. Create multiple YouTube videos about the product

These videos should be embedded in the epic post.

This is an important affiliate marketing strategy because YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world. You can get a lot of traffic coming in through your affiliate link on YouTube, and the videos themselves can rank in Google too.

Plus, by shooting multiple videos about a particular product, you create even more SEO opportunities.

Make sure to include your affiliate link in the video description, ideally in the first part of the description, so people don’t have to click on “show more” or “read more” to see it.

What should you cover in these videos?

I recommend recording yourself from start to finish with it, then break it up into chunks. People like to watch shorter videos, so this works in your favor, and you get multiple opportunities to rank for various keywords related to that product.

If it’s a digital product, start at the moment of purchase and walk people through the entire process. And if you’re doing a physical product, consider an unboxing video.

3. Host a webinar

One way to take your affiliate product promotion to the next level is to host a webinar for it.

Webinars are an extremely powerful way to share a message with your audience. They’re personable, they’re live, and you can treat them like an actual event. That way, your promotion becomes a much bigger deal than just a regular affiliate link you dropped into a post.

Combine this with tip #15 in my list below, and have the owner of the product share high-value information, and even answer people’s questions directly on the webinar, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

4. Publish a webinar replay

Be sure to record your live webinar so that you can embed it on your website as a replay for those who didn’t watch it live, as well as those who did watch it live but want to review the information.

To be honest, more people will probably watch it as a replay than live, and that’s a good thing—you just have to give them the opportunity to do so.

I recommend recording using screen capture software like Camtasia Studio or Screenflow.

Here’s an example of a blog post on my site containing a webinar replay—one I recorded with Clay Collins of Leadpages, a company for which I’m an affiliate:

Finally, make sure that in the webinar and on the post where you embed the replay, you give people multiple opportunities to click on your affiliate link.

5. Give away a bonus

This is probably one of the more underutilized tips I have to share today—but probably one of the most powerful too.

In addition to promoting the affiliate product, give away a bonus to all of those who purchase the product through your link as a thank you.

Chances are, you’re not the only one promoting that product, so to get people to buy from you instead of the other guy, throw in a bonus that can only come with a purchase through your link.

Just have your audience members send you their receipt via email and then you can reply with the bonus, or information about how to access it.

So what could that bonus be?

Maybe it’s a special webinar that shows people how to use the product with a Q&A session at the end of it. Imagine being able to purchase a product, getting familiar with it, and then a couple of days later having access to a webinar that shows you exactly how to use the product, with an opportunity to ask questions about it. How awesome would that be?

Maybe the bonus is another product or piece of software that you have that complements the affiliate product.

Maybe it’s a discount you work out with the owner of the product, one that provides incentive to purchase from you.

Maybe it’s a coupon code or discount to another product you own or have ties to.

Maybe it’s a PDF quick-start guide with instructions and best practices for that product, or access to a website with videos with the same guidance.

You’re adding value to the purchase, making your buyers feel comfortable, and helping get those on the fence from “I’m not sure if this is right for me” to “This is exactly what I need, and more.”

6. Promote your products indirectly on social media

Although your website is the centerpiece of your affiliate marketing strategy, social media—Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.—can play an important role in your affiliate marketing strategy too.

The thing about social media—at least in my experience and in the experience of many other people I know—is that if you directly promote on your social media platforms, you’re not going to get a good response.

People on social media are typically there to be social, not to be sold to.

But all is not lost in the affiliate marketing world, because you can do an indirect social media push, which means instead of directly linking to your affiliate links on Facebook or X or any other platform, you’re instead linking to something of value that includes the affiliate link, such as a video, an epic post on your blog, or a link to sign up for a webinar.

You’re not linking directly through your affiliate link, but a resource that will engage people beforehand, earn their trust, and show them what the product is about before clicking on your affiliate link.

Yes, one of the cardinal rules of online marketing has long been that the fewer gateways or clicks people have to go through before they get to the “buy” button, the better.

But I think that’s been changing, and now it’s closer to the less information you give away, the less you’re likely to make a sale.

The more trust you can earn beforehand, the greater the likelihood people will buy from you.

You don’t want someone to have to click 100 times before they get to where you want them to go, but a few clicks is okay, as long as you give them enough information beforehand to help them make their decision.

7. Run a giveaway to take advantage of “social proof”

Social proof is the idea that people will naturally gravitate toward what the masses are doing. As an example, say you’re at the mall, and you see a huge crowd gathering around one store.

You can’t help but want to know what’s going on—everyone else is there for some reason, and you want to know what that reason is.

Online, this translates to having other people do the marketing for you, except in this case it’s through metrics like numbers of subscribers, likes, comments, and things like that.

Here’s how this strategy can play out in the real world.

When you plan to promote a product as an affiliate, try to work with the owner to get a few copies to give away to your audience for free.

Maybe you can get a discounted price for a limited time only for your audience as well. This may not always be possible, but it never hurts to ask. 

In a blog post, review this product—maybe it’s your epic post, or maybe you just mention it at the end of one of your regular posts.

Share that you have two or three copies of the product to give away for free, and that in order to be entered to win one of the copies, your audience members have to leave one comment about how they would use the product and why it would help them.

Have them go through an affiliate link of yours to see what the product is all about first, and then come back to your blog to leave their entry as a comment.

What happens here is that you get tons of people leaving comments that become social proof for the greatness of the product.

There’s nothing more powerful than someone else’s recommendation, and in this case, it’s other people’s recommendation for a product you’re promoting as an affiliate.

Plus, you can follow up with the people who leave a comment on the post but don’t win, to share a limited-time deal or an email saying thanks for the entry and giving them your affiliate link one more time.

I’ve used this strategy to great success promoting several products in the past, so I suggest you give it a shot.

8. Promote products indirectly via your email list

Your email list is an integral part of any affiliate marketing campaign—and if you don’t have one, you need to get started building one yesterday! Email is extremely powerful for marketing, which is why so many people say, “The money’s in the list.”

As with social media, I recommend indirectly promoting to your email list. I don’t directly promote anything on my email list. If there are any links in my emails they point back to other content, usually on my blog, such as epic posts, videos, webinars, and the like.

Email should be all about giving people as much high-value content as possible, not direct selling. In fact, certain affiliate programs such as Amazon’s don’t even allow you to include affiliate links in emails. For more on Amazon, check out my Amazon affiliate marketing guide here.

You need to take great care of your email list and not be too aggressive with it. Indirect promotion is a much better way to go about things, especially if you’re focused on building trust with your audience (and you should be!).

9. Promote products indirectly on other people’s sites

This is another instance in which indirect linking is your friend.

If you’re interviewed for another person’s blog, or asked to write a guest post, you can link back to a piece of content on your site that contains your affiliate link.

As with social media and email, you don’t want to hit people over the head with your links—and most of the time, if you try to link directly to an affiliate product through someone else’s site, they won’t allow it anyway.

10. Review and compare different products of the same type

Another strategy is to compare different products of the same type. Compare and contrast, and if you give them your recommendation, make sure that link is an affiliate link.

The reason this works is because people like to shop around, but they also like convenience. So instead of making them carry out their search all over the web, keep them on your site by reviewing each of the different products in one spot.

If you’ve done a good job building up audience trust, then a well-written comparison review of different products of the same type can be a great way to drive affiliate purchases.

This could potentially become an epic post as well, complete with videos and special deals just for your audience.

How to start: Affiliate marketing for beginners

Many how to start affiliate marketing posts suggest a series of steps similar to this:

1. Find a company and product you want to promote.
2. Sign up as an affiliate.
3. Get your unique affiliate link and add it to your site.
4. A visitor to your website clicks the link, which takes them to a third-party page.
5. If the visitor makes a purchase, you receive a commission based on the value of the item purchased.

Now, these steps are definitely accurate—you can’t earn money with affiliate marketing without first finding a product to promote! 

But more importantly, you shouldn’t be affiliate marketing without first establishing trust with your audience. Audience first, always.

That’s why my methodology for successful online affiliate marketing goes like this:

1. First, build a relationship with your audience.
2. Then, identify a product that might fit your audience’s needs.
3. Next, use and test the product yourself, to ensure it’s truly something worth recommending to your audience, so you don’t risk taking advantage of their trust.
4. Show your audience tangible proof that the product does what it promises via a blog post or case study on your website or YouTube channel.
5. Then—and only then!—you can start to promote the product to your audience and hopefully start earning some affiliate revenue when they purchase it.

This approach puts your audience’s needs front and center, setting you up for success with affiliate marketing.

This YouTube video featured a panel discussion between me and several online course creators, hosted by Teachable, an online course creation platform for which I’m an affiliate.

Although I shared my Teachable affiliate link in the show notes, the primary purpose of the video was to deliver value to my audience, not promote the link.

Put your audience first (build trust)

Affiliate marketing helps me generate over $60,000 in affiliate commissions each month. My affiliate income has grown because I follow two major rules:

1. I only recommend products that I’m very familiar with. Preferably, these are products I’ve used before and that have helped me achieve something. If I’m not confident in the product and I don’t feel it will help people, I will not promote it.
2. I never directly tell anyone to buy a product. I always recommend products based on my experience and in the context of what I’ve done or what I’m doing with it.

What does following these two rules achieve?

Trust.

By doing these two things, my audience knows that I only want them to buy the tools that they need, at the time they need them. They know that I’ve used and believe in the products I recommend.

And they know there’s no pressure, because I’m only looking out for their best interests.

Many affiliate marketers choose not to follow these rules—and I think that’s why affiliate marketing has a bad reputation. We can do better, and so I hope you’ll join me in following these rules.

Every affiliate marketer needs to understand the importance of establishing and maintaining trust with their audience before they get started with affiliate marketing.

Thankfully, my system for getting started has trust baked into the entire process. Let’s dive into it now!

The Soft Pitch Pipeline

My approach to affiliate marketing is built around something I call the soft pitch pipeline.

This approach is designed to do two main things: build trust, and reduce the amount of “hard selling” needed to promote your affiliate products (hence the “soft pitch” part).

Imagine a series of pipes. These pipes represent the experience or “flow” people go through when they visit your site or are introduced to you and your brand.

On one end is traffic entering the pipeline, and on the other “exit” end of the pipeline is the sale or conversion.

Between these two points, there are five segments that combine to make up the total experience of your brand:

1. The Relationships you cultivate with your audience
2. The Products you decide to promote
3. The Experience you have with those products
4. The Proof you share that those products work
5. The Pitch or “sell” of those products to your audience

These segments can vary in strength and size.

For example, if you have an amazing relationship with someone, it doesn’t take much to convince that person to do something for you.

In this case, the relationship segment is extremely long, so the pitch segment doesn’t have to be long at all.

For example, say your wife is pregnant. It’s two in the morning and she wants you to go to the store and buy a Little Debbie’s Fudge Brownie. Well, you’re probably off to the store to buy a Little Debbie’s Fudge Brownie—there’s not much pitch or convincing needed at all.

Now take the other extreme: a company you’ve never heard of before.

Since you hardly have any relationship with this company, they’re going to have to work a lot harder to pitch you—to convince you to try them out.

And many companies pitch really aggressively, which can backfire and make people uncomfortable or even annoyed.

That’s exactly what we try to avoid with the soft pitch pipeline.

By focusing on the first four segments of the pipeline—the relationships you cultivate with your audience, the products you promote, the experience you have with those products, and the proof you can share with your audience that the products work—you can make the pitch phase shorter and less aggressive.

If you set up the first four segments of the pipeline the right way, hardly any pitch will be needed to get your audience to click through your affiliate links and make a purchase.

Let’s go over each of those segments now!

Segment 1: Relationships

Relationships are everything.

Having a relationship with your audience is the foundation of trust. It also allows you to get to know your audience in depth, so you can understand their needs and pain points.

That way, you can identify potential products that can help meet those needs and pain points.

Not too long ago, a lot of people were trying to do affiliate marketing by finding a product that offered an attractive commission, then building a site around it and selling it by driving traffic using Facebook ads and Google Adwords.

That tactic used to work, but Google and Facebook have caught on and started clamping down on those ads, making it much harder to pull off.

But more importantly, on a strategic level, it’s just not the right way to do things if you’re interested in building a lasting business. Instead, you need to take a longer-term approach, one centered around relationship building.

What does that look like?

First, you need to identify a target audience that has a specific pain, issue, problem, or goal.

By homing in on that target market and understanding exactly what they’re going through, you can discover ways to help them achieve their goals and overcome their problems.

The key is to not go into it with the aim of finding an affiliate product, but to get to know your audience and find solutions they can use.

Start with the pain, not the product.

How do you learn what your audience needs?

You need to become friends with the people who visit your site and interact with you on social media. Without that relationship, it’s much less likely that meaningful transactions will ever occur.

By meaningful transactions, I’m not just talking sales transactions—I’m talking about email list subscriptions, comments, clicks, likes, follows, shares, and retweets.

The hard part is, a relationship takes time to build.

Thankfully, there are ways to speed up the process of building a relationship with your audience without compromising the quality of that relationship.

So how can you connect with your audience more quickly? Here are three ways:

1. Be Personable

What would make YOU buy something from someone you didn’t know, especially if they were selling a product they didn’t even make themselves?

In a lot of my content, be it blog posts, podcast episodes, and even in-person presentations at large conferences, I try to share aspects of my personality and my personal life.

As a result, most of my audience knows a lot about me—that I’m a family man, that I love Back to the Future, that I’m still working toward my goal to touch a regulation-height basketball rim…

The point is, they know me as a real person, someone just like them.

They can relate to me. And as a result, they’re much more connected to me than if I were to spend all my time telling them about the strategies and tactics that will help them build a successful online business.

What do my kids or my favorite movies have to do with affiliate marketing? Nothing, at least directly.

But what do those things have to do with my brand? Everything, because building a brand is the equivalent of building relationships.

People connect with people, and the more you can become a person in the eyes of your audience, the easier it is for them to connect with you—it’s as simple as that.

2. Tell Stories

People are programmed to love stories.

Think about the last time you were engrossed by someone’s tale around the dinner table, or just watched a movie or read a book.

When you tell a story, it’s easy for your audience to put themselves into that story; stories put things in context and make them relatable. Stories are an easy and personable way to relate to your audience.

Now, you don’t have to dedicate entire posts to stories about random things to create a meaningful connection.

Instead, be creative and share little anecdotes and examples here and there to illustrate concepts, honest stories that relate to the message you’re trying to get across.

Doing this helps you convey information and build those important relationships with your audience at the same time.

3. Practice ROAK

RAOK is short for “random acts of kindness,” and it’s one of my all-time favorite things to do.

Why?

Because when you do something unexpected and generous for someone, it leaves an amazing impression.

It can be as simple as replying to comments on your blog and social media. I do this, and it helps people see I’m a real person.

If someone has a question, I answer it. It saves them time, and helps them remember who I am.

Sometimes I even take it a step further and leave comments on the blogs of people who’ve left comments on my posts.

It’s small things like these that can help you quickly form a deeper relationship with your audience.

And you can do the same thing!

So ask yourself, what kinds of RAOK can I do for my audience? What unexpected favors can I perform that will help me build a positive, lasting relationship with them?

Segment 2: Products

Once you’ve started to build your audience and develop a relationship with them, you’ll start to learn what that audience needs.

The next step is to identify products you can recommend to meet your audience’s needs and help them in their journey.

First, keep in mind that sometimes the products will be ones that allow you to generate an affiliate income—and sometimes they won’t.

You never want to start with a product or commission in mind. You want to start with the problem, then find solutions for it.

And if the best solution for a particular problem is not an affiliate product, well, that’s what you should promote to your audience. Remember, trust and relationships come first, always.

With that in mind, once you’ve gotten to know your audience and its needs and pain points, how do you select a specific product?

To help you get in the right frame of mind here, think about a brand new visitor who comes to your site for the first time—what is it you want that person to ultimately achieve?

This might be a tough question to answer, but you need to know what you want your visitors to do, because if you don’t, then everything you recommend is going to seem random.

You need your recommendations to be precise and targeted, so your audience can get what they need from you to reach their goals.

Once you’ve identified what you want to help your new visitor to achieve, think about how they’re going to get there.

What’s their roadmap or path to success? Defining the steps on this path will help you determine exactly what kinds of products will help your audience at different points along the path.

Next, you need to think about the products that will help your audience along this path.

One of the best places to start identifying these products is through ones you’ve used yourself. Whatever niche you’re in, spend a little time making a list of the tools and services you use.

Those things that you used to help you achieve your goals can help your audience achieve their goals too. Just about any product or service can work, including:

• Courses
• Books
• Physical products
• Software
• Coaching services

Often, you’ll need to look beyond the products and services you already know and use to find things that will be a good fit for your audience—which means doing some research!

Thankfully, there are plenty of great places and resources to find new affiliate products, including:

• Google
• Word of mouth—your professional network, including masterminds, Facebook groups, etc.
• Amazon, to find books and products

Remember: don’t start with the products; start with your audience’s goals and pain points. Then find the products to help them get where they want to be.

It’s also important to realize that by not promoting products and services that will help your audience along their “success path,” you’ll actually be holding them back.

Remember, your knowledge and your relationship with your audience can help them filter through all the noise and find the right solutions, because you’ve put in the work to understand what’s best for them.

Finally, it should go without saying, but if a product doesn’t make sense to promote—if it’s not a part of the audience’s success path—then you shouldn’t promote it, no matter how generous the affiliate commissions may be.

Segment 3: Experience

Okay. You’ve found a product that will help your audience achieve their goals. Now what? Do you immediately start promoting it to them with your affiliate link?

Not yet. The next important element in decreasing how much you need to pitch is the experience YOU have with those products.

I have two words for you: Experience sells.

On Amazon, we read other people’s reviews—people we’ve never met!—to help us make a purchase decision.

That’s powerful stuff, so imagine how much more powerful your real-life experience with a particular product can be, combined with the relationship you have with someone in your audience already.

So, before you start promoting your product to your audience, you need to get to know it yourself, inside and out. 

Affiliate marketing works best when you treat the products you’re promoting as your own. You need to know firsthand the experience your audience will have using this product.

Obviously, if you learn that the product is a dud, it’s not going to make sense to promote it to your audience!

And if it’s great, then you’ll be reassured that your audience is going to find it useful.

As a result, I really encourage you to use and test a product thoroughly before you promote it, for three main reasons:

1. For your protection

You have to understand what it’s like to use any product you promote, because your audience’s trust is the most important thing in the world.

Anything you promote directly reflects on you and your brand, whether it’s your product or somebody else’s. If you’re promoting it, your reputation is on the line.

2. To become a resource

By using and experiencing a product, you’ll be able to answer specific questions about it much better, and become a helpful resource for an interested person in your audience who could become a buyer.

3. (Most importantly) To get rid of the mystery

By showing your audience exactly how a product is used, they’ll be able to imagine themselves using it.

You make that product a known quantity, and make it easier for your audience to imagine buying it and benefiting from it.

So, how exactly do you show your audience how a product is used?

The key is to show the product in action—to show yourself physically using it.

Why is this important?

Science, and little things in our brains called mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons are a special set of brain cells that respond when we see other people do stuff; they let us understand what it feels like to do something by watching other people do it.

As an example, take all the “unboxing videos” on YouTube—the ones where someone buys something like an iPad and records themselves unwrapping the plastic and taking out all the parts and firing it up—those videos are extremely popular!

Check out this example, where I unbox three podcasting mic options for under $75:

People like to see exactly what they’re going to buy, so do yourself and your audience a favor and “unbox” the products you’re promoting as an affiliate.

Write extensive blog posts about products and everything there is to know about them. Record videos and podcast sessions with the products’ owners with questions to popular questions about the product.

You can even host live webinars with real questions from the audience about the product.

So, show them what it looks like, how to use it, and how not to use it. Share the good, the bad, the tips, the tricks, everything. Make it easy for them to picture themselves using it.

In every case, be honest and thorough. Give your audience enough accurate information to make a qualified decision about whether the product will work for them.

Segment 4: Proof

Next in the pipeline is proof.

People want to see how a product can help them be successful at achieving their goals. I’m talking about real, tangible proof—undeniable results you can feel, taste, smell, and touch.

You can’t just say something will help your audience—you have to show them.

Proof is similar to experience, but it’s about focusing on the positive outcomes of using a product. If experience is about seeing the product in action, proof is about seeing it work.

A few years ago, I watched a documentary called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. It’s about a man named Joe Cross who was going through a tough time: he was really overweight and had a lot of skin problems, things he attributed to the food he was eating.

The documentary covered his ninety-day juicing journey. That’s right—all he consumed for ninety days straight was juice.

His transformation was remarkable, and you saw it happen over the course of the documentary. By the end of the ninety days, he was completely healthy—off his medication, no more skin rashes, happy and healthy and thin.

Only thirty minutes after watching that documentary, I had a receipt from Amazon in my inbox for my new Breville Juicer.

All thanks to Joe Cross, whose documentary showed his remarkable transformation in a bold, personal way.

This documentary is almost the perfect example of proof—showing your audience the remarkable outcomes that are possible for them.

After watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, I didn’t need to hear a pitch. The proof of Joe Cross’s transformation did it all for me.

If there had been an affiliate link mentioned at the end of that documentary, I would have been more than happy to use it. I was on the fence initially, but showing that proof sealed the deal and moved me firmly into the “buyer” camp.

If you can show the success you’ve had with a product, your audience will be excited about the possibility of achieving the same success.

Joe’s platform for showing his proof was a documentary—maybe yours is your blog, or a podcast you're starting, or video, or all of the above.

Whatever it is, give your audience tangible proof—data and demonstration—that the products you’re promoting can change their lives for the better.

Segment 5: Pitch

The last part of the pipeline, before you get to a conversion or sale, is the actual pitch or sell.

There’s a reason this comes last—because, as I mention throughout this guide, trust is key. You shouldn’t start directly promoting a product until you’ve earned your audience’s trust and know the product is something they will benefit from.

Here’s the great part: If you’ve done things correctly to this point, the pitch phase should be the shortest and least aggressive part of the pipeline.

The more you focus on building a relationship with your audience, recommending products that align with their success path, sharing your experience using that product, and providing tangible proof of that product’s benefits, the less important it becomes to actually pitch the product directly.

So yes, you can reduce the amount of pitching you have to do by focusing on the first four stages of the pipeline.

But at a minimum, you’ll still need to enable the sale. You need to make sure people have a way to click on your affiliate link to buy the product!

This means creating a point of sale where you insert one or more calls to action (CTAs) to click on the affiliate link and purchase the product. You have lots of options in terms of where to put these links and CTAs:

• Emails
• Blog posts
• Landing pages
• Podcast show notes
• Webinars
• Social media messages

So is it as simple as just adding your link to an email or blog post and watching the commissions roll in?

Not so fast!

There are a few crucial tips to keep in mind when it comes to adding your affiliate links at the point of sale.

1. Be honest

When you provide a link, always be clear that it’s an affiliate link that will earn you a commission for each sale.

In fact, if you do everything in the pipeline leading up to this point, this will actually help you, because people will want to pay you back for everything you’re doing for them.

Some people may not know about affiliate links and commissions, and will sometimes open a new window to buy a product.

By being honest and upfront that you’re using affiliate links, you’ll help ensure you’re getting all the affiliate commissions you deserve.

2. Offer support

In addition to telling them it’s an affiliate link, offer to answer questions and provide support if needed.

This is a great way to show your audience, right at the point of sale, that there’s someone there to help them if they need it.

Yes, this also means someone to blame if things don’t go well—but since you’ve already vetted the product and learned how to use it, you shouldn’t have any problem taking on that responsibility.

3. Provide multiple opportunities

Give people more than one chance to click through your affiliate link.

Take blog posts, for instance, since they’re probably the most popular way to share affiliate links. A lot of times, business owners will just link the first mention of an affiliate product in a post.

If their reader misses it—or keeps scrolling, intends to return, then forgets to scroll back up—well, you’ve lost your potential commission.

Instead, add a link near the beginning, middle and end of a post.

Also remember that, beyond just blog posts, there are lots of ways and places to share your affiliate links, including:

• YouTube videos
• Emails
• Podcasts
• A “resources” or “tools” page—in fact, my tools page here on smartpassiveincome.com is my most profitable page.

4. Offer a bonus

Offering a bonus with an affiliate product is a great way to make sure your audience goes through your link and not someone else’s.

Lots of people use the bonus technique, but many don’t use it to its greatest potential.

They’ll throw in random things that aren’t something the potential buyer needs. If you really want to knock bonuses out of the park, create a bonus that truly complements the product you’re promoting.

This could be something like:

• A quick-start PDF guide on how to use the product
• Access to something you have that complements the product—if you’re selling a juicer, you can provide a recipe guide to go along with it
• A coupon code or discount on a related product or service

Get creative!

5. Remember why

Finally, remember why you got into affiliate marketing.

It’s not for the commissions. It’s for your audience—to help them achieve something.

It’s your responsibility, as someone with a platform and an audience that trusts you, to give them the products they need to achieve success.

Your commissions are ultimately a byproduct of how helpful you are to your audience. So aim to be incredibly helpful, and you will earn more in the long run.

When you approach affiliate marketing in a way that keeps people around and doesn’t rely on the pitch, but rather everything that happens before that—the relationship, the product, the experience, and the proof—you’ll set yourself up for maximum success.

Remember: Use affiliate marketing as a tool to help your audience, and the commissions will come!

Affiliate marketing examples

What does affiliate marketing look like? If you’ve visited my website, you may have come across my Tools page.

This page contains a list of recommended resources—products, services, apps, and more—to help my audience build their own online businesses.

Many of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission if someone clicks on the link and purchases the product or service it links to.

Here’s what someone sees if they click on my affiliate link for Bluehost, the web hosting company I use and recommend:

And here’s what they’ll see when they click on my affiliate link for Kit, the email service provider I’m happy to recommend:

As we’ll further discuss below, you can also earn affiliate commissions by signing up with an affiliate network. One of the most popular is the Amazon Associates program which you can read more about here.

You can easily find tons of other examples of affiliate marketing “in the wild.”

For example, Create a Pro Website is an affiliate marketing website and YouTube channel that creates tutorials on anything and everything related to “how to create a website.”

They do a good job of offering value through demoing products (which we’ll see in the case study below is a great affiliate marketing strategy), while working in their affiliate links where it makes sense.

Freelancing.school is a particularly good example of focusing on building relationships with an audience first by offering extras like a community of like-minded individuals and a free course to help people find success with their freelancing careers.

These days, even well-established news outlets like the New York Times are becoming affiliate marketing websites!

The example here is NYT’s Wirecutter section, which reviews products and offers tutorials on everything from How to Clean a Toilet the Right Way to Everything You Need to Make Hot Pot at Home.

Affiliate marketing is essentially about sharing your affiliate links, so however you choose to share those links—whether on your website, on social media like X, Facebook, or YouTube, or via emails to your list—well, that’s affiliate marketing in action!

Affiliate marketing case study: SPI + Kit

Next up, I’m going to share a case study to show you what effective affiliate marketing looks like “on the ground.”

This case study is based on a product I’ve recommended for a long time that’s also become one of my biggest drivers of affiliate income.

From 2015 to 2017, it brought in a whopping $315,000 in affiliate revenue.

Kit (formerly known as ConvertKit) is an example of a product I promote as part of a long-term strategy.

It’s a great example of an affiliate resource I promote to my audience that can benefit and serve them over the long term and hopefully I earn a healthy affiliate income at the same time.

Although I love and use Kit myself (and the founder, Nathan Barry, is a good friend of mine), the point of this section is not to promote the product.

Instead, I’m here to show you how I’ve promoted Kit.

And I’ve done so in a very specific way: by D-O-I-N-G. This strategy has helped me be very successful in promoting Kit as an affiliate.

Those letters stand for:

• Demo the product
• Offer answers to your audience about the product
• Interview the founder of the product
• Never recommend more than one of the same kind of product
• Get the product in front of your people

Before we get into the details of the D-O-I-N-G approach, here’s a little background on how I got started promoting Kit as an affiliate.

ConvertKit (now Kit) wasn’t my first email service provider.

My first one, back in 2010, was AWeber.

AWeber was great as an entry-level email tool, and I also promoted it as an affiliate, making up to $2,000 a month at one point.

And that income still comes in each month, because I get paid a recurring commission for every month a person I refer stays on, even though I’m not actively promoting the product anymore.

Eventually, though, I needed an email service that was easier to use with more advanced features.

For a while, I turned to another tool called InfusionSoft, which was good, but still not exactly what I needed.

Shortly after I started using InfusionSoft, a friend of mine, Nathan Barry, reached out to me to ask how I was doing with the new tool.

Nathan had recently started a new email service provider, ConvertKit.

We met for coffee in downtown San Diego a couple weeks later.

After catching up about personal stuff, the conversation turned to business.

Nathan asked me a lot of questions about my needs, experiences, and desires as a blogger, podcaster, and digital marketer.

He didn’t try too hard to plug his new tool, except toward the end of our conversation when he said, “Hey, if Infusionsoft doesn’t work out for you, let me know, and we can see how you might be able to use ConvertKit.”

I didn’t think much of his offer for a little while.

But over time, I started growing more and more frustrated with Infusionsoft.

So I reached back out to Nathan to see how ConvertKit was doing.

I wasn’t surprised to hear that they were experiencing constant growth month after month.

New features were being added on a regular basis, and after a couple of side conversations with other users, I was happy to hear extremely positive reviews.

That’s when I asked Nathan to demo the current software for me over Skype—and I was blown away.

I loved the intuitive user interface, along with the tool’s segmentation and automation capabilities.

Seeing what the tool could do, it wasn’t long before I decided to switch from InfusionSoft, and Nathan’s team even helped me migrate my email list.

I’ve been using Kit very happily ever since.

That positive experience has shown up in terms of my affiliate revenue from Kit, too.

Although I was happy with my AWeber affiliate income, since shifting to Kit, I’ve broken into a new level of affiliate income and success.

Part of that is because Kit is an amazing tool—but a lot of it has to do with how I leveled up my promotional efforts with the D-O-I-N-G approach.

Let’s learn all about it now!

D: Demo the product

Affiliate marketing is technically easy to do.

All you have to do is get your affiliate link and start sharing it with your audience. It’s easy to stop there and think you’ve done enough.

But if you’ve been with us since the beginning of this post, you know that a crucial practice in affiliate marketing is to take products that are not your own and treat them as if they were your own.

If you were selling your own product, you’d show people what they were going to get before they got it, right?

But most people who do affiliate marketing just share a link and a couple of sentences and call it good.

Instead, as we talked about above, you need to show the product in action. That’s where the demo comes in.

People are more likely to buy when they know what they’re getting and exactly how it will help them.

The best way to do this is with a video demo that shows people two main things: 1) how they can benefit from the tool and 2) how to use it.

In 2015, I created a YouTube demo of ConvertKit.

In the video, I talk about the benefits and features that made me fall in love with ConvertKit: ease of use and setup, beautiful design, powerful statistical analysis, segmentation and tagging, and a lot more.

Along the way, I show screenshots of ConvertKit in action, so viewers can see exactly how to accomplish different things using the tool.

When you search “ConvertKit demo” or “ConvertKit tutorial” on YouTube or Google, my demo is typically one of the top results.

It’s been viewed 30,000+ times, and it’s driven a ton of traffic both back to my website and through the affiliate link mentioned in the video description.

When you’re thinking about creating your own demos, you want to show not just the features and benefits of the tool, but also make it fun and show your personality.

In the ConvertKit demo video, although you don’t get to see much of me (it’s just my voice with a Screenflow video), I’m just being myself.

I could have made a stiff, mechanical demo that was all about just conveying the relevant information—and it would have been shorter too—but who wants to sit through that?

Instead, I’m relaxed and sharing my honest opinions, using words like “cool” and “powerful” (and yes, “nice”!) to convey my excitement about ConvertKit’s capabilities, in the hopes that excitement will be shared by my audience too.

You want to create a thoughtful demo that shows you care about creating informative content while also keeping your audience engaged and excited to try the tool.

And of course, make sure you include calls to action (CTAs) to go through your affiliate link, as well as disclosing your affiliate relationship with the company.

You don’t want to bombard your audience with these CTAs, though, and if you’ve provided enough valuable, engaging content in the demo, you shouldn’t have to include more than one or two CTAs.

In my ConvertKit demo video, I only mention my affiliate link and status twice very briefly, at the very end:

“Go ahead and check it out: smartpassiveincome.com/kit. And I look forward to seeing how you are able to use it. As I said, Kit is constantly releasing new features to make our lives even easier. Hopefully, this is helpful. Cheers. I appreciate you. That affiliate link one more time, which I do get a commission from if you do go through that link, is smartpassiveincome.com/kit. Thank you so much, and I’ll see you in the next video.” [Full Disclosure: I’m a compensated advisor and affiliate for Kit.]

In other types of content, such as blog posts, I might share my affiliate link a little more often, for instance at the beginning, middle, and end of a post.

But in either instance—whether a video demo or a blog post—the content itself does the “heavy lifting” of sparking someone’s interest in trying out the product, so I don’t have to hit my audience over the head with my affiliate link.

O: Offer answers

The next step is to offer answers to people’s questions.

This is huge, because if a person asks you a question about a product, they’re likely already interested in it.

They may just be on the fence, and if you can be the one to answer their questions, that may give them the final piece of the puzzle to go ahead and make a purchase, knowing there’s someone there to provide product support if they need it.

That’s why I always offer support for Kit and the other affiliate products I promote.

When questions come in, I’m quick to answer them because I want to make people feel comfortable with the idea of spending money on this thing I’m promoting.

The combination of the demo and offering answers is powerful.

If you put together a thorough and helpful demo, you’ll likely answer a lot of people’s questions in the demo itself.

But even if your demo covers all the bases you can think of, you should still offer to answer people’s questions.

Why?

Even if they don’t have any, just the fact that you’re offering this assistance will make people feel more comfortable and inclined to buy the product through your link. Remember, you want people to trust you and feel secure in their investment.

Want an example of how you could offer support in this way? Here’s what I say toward the end of the ConvertKit demo video I mentioned in the previous section:

“I’m here to answer your questions too. If you’re watching this on YouTube, ask your question below; I’ll do my best to answer it. If you’re watching this on the SPI blog, go ahead and leave your question in the comments section. Or, if you want to send me an email, that’s totally fine too. Happy to help, because I really believe in this product.”

I also offer to answer people’s questions about my affiliate products via other channels, including email and social media.

People often reach out to me on X, because X makes it easy for me to reply quickly.

It helps that there’s a character limit, too, because it forces both parties to get to the point.

Offering to answer questions also makes people feel secure about the fact that if they were to have questions later on, once they’re up and running with the product, you’ll be able to answer them.

This is especially important if the product you’re promoting is of a highly technical nature.

So, offer support and people will be more at ease about buying through your affiliate link.

I: Interview

When you’re promoting an affiliate product, having other people talk about the product, and the story behind it, can be a powerful way to get people excited about it.

A great way to do this is to start a podcast and interview the founder of the product on one of your episodes.

ConvertKit (Kit) founder Nathan Barry joined me on episode 244 of the Smart Passive Income podcast, titled “Bootstrapping a Business.”

But here’s the thing: we didn’t actually talk about the product itself much at all!

We talked about his story, and how he bootstrapped the company and grew it successfully.

We talked about how I met him and built a relationship with him and his company, eventually becoming an advisor to ConvertKit (Kit).

Because the product itself—as well as my affiliate relationship with Kit—was not the focus of the interview, listeners were able to focus on how much care and quality Nathan put into creating the product and cultivating the company’s culture.

As a result, in a way, they were able to start building a relationship with him too.

I only mentioned my affiliate link at the very end in a casual way, as almost a natural conclusion to the episode.

The ability to augment your affiliate marketing efforts by interviewing the founder of a product you’re promoting is a great reason—among many—to have a podcast.

Even though Nathan and I recorded the episode in 2016, people are still downloading and listening to it today.

I also reference the episode a lot when I mention ConvertKit (Kit), which helps make it an active resource in promoting my affiliate relationship.

So, if you’re planning to promote a new affiliate product, see if you can get the founder of that product on your podcast.

If you can’t get access to the founder for a podcast interview, consider an email interview or maybe a video interview over Skype or Zoom.

And if you can’t get the founder, try for somebody who represents that company at a high level.

If that’s not possible either, aim for somebody who’s used the product and knows it well, hopefully somebody your audience is already aware of and respects.

In the How to Start Affiliate Marketing above, we talked about the importance of promoting a product yourself, showing how much you know and love it and the great results you’ve gotten from using it—i.e., showing proof.

When you’re the only one doing the showing, there’s always the risk, however small, that your efforts may come off as too promotional.

On the other hand, as the Nathan Barry podcast episode showed, interviews are powerful because most of the selling that’s done is indirect—and often, you won’t have to talk about the product much at all.

N: Never recommend more than one of the same kind of product

Next up, you should never recommend more than one solution for a specific type of problem.

This is a really important rule, and one that generates a lot of debate.

And there are exceptions, which we’ll talk about in a second.

But first, what exactly do I mean by never recommending more than one of the same kind of product?

Well, if I were to recommend Kit, but also recommend other email solutions like AWeber or MailChimp, it would dilute the strength of my primary recommendation.

You need to pick one, because otherwise people are going to be confused.

I went the route of recommending multiple similar products once, and it didn’t go well.

People said, “Wait, I thought you were recommending this one. But now you’re talking about this one? What’s the difference? How is it better?”

You don’t want people asking themselves even more questions about which product makes sense for them.

That’s why they came to you in the first place!

So, yes, I’ve made my decision, and the only email service provider I recommend to people is Kit.

Are you recommending more than one product right now that’s essentially the same type of solution?

If so, you’re diluting your affiliate marketing efforts and reducing the amount of income you can make. Yes, sometimes it’s great to give people options, but it can also work against you.

Now, if someone were to say, “Hey, Pat. I know you recommend Kit, but what other solutions are out there?” then of course I’m going to be honest with them and tell them what other options they have.

I’m not going to say, “Sorry, Dave. There are no other great options out there.”

That would be lying. There are other great email service providers out there.

But the one I use, recommend, and trust will be there to help my audience is Kit.

Plus, as with everything, there are exceptions to the rule.

In this case, only having one recommendation doesn’t make sense for some types of sites.

For example, if you run a vacuum review site, you can’t get away with promoting just one product, as that would go against the entire aim of the site.

You can certainly highlight featured products and recommendations in different categories. But when people are searching for helpful comparisons of similar products, the N rule likely won’t apply.

Here’s another example from one of my own affiliate promotional materials that you might remember from above.

In one of my YouTube videos, I review three different podcasting microphones.

Here’s the key: Even though each of these products is very similar (they’re all microphones), I use the review as an opportunity to differentiate them according to their best uses, then make specific recommendations about which microphone should be used for different scenarios.

For instance, in the video, I end up recommending that you not use one of the microphones for podcasting at all—instead, I recommend another use case that makes more sense for this particular microphone. I’m comfortable including my affiliate link to each of the microphones because I’ve made the effort of differentiating them for my audience.

G: Get the product in front of your people

This final one is a big one, and it represents a mindset shift I’ve undergone over the past few years.

Often, people become timid when it comes time to put products in front of their audience.

If that describes you, whether it’s your own product or an affiliate product, then I want you to shift your mindset—to one of excitement about sharing something you know will help your audience.

In fact, it’s your obligation and your role to do that, and you should embrace it. Because if you don’t, you’re not serving your audience in the best way possible.

It’s not about being pushy or aggressive; it’s about being motivated to get the product in front of people.

You’ve done the research, you’ve used the product, you’re offering answers, you’ve created the video demo, you’ve recorded the interviews.

You know the product can help your audience, so get it in front of them!

Talk about it on your podcast, and on other people’s podcasts.

Share it in blog posts.

Create more videos about the benefits and capabilities of the product.

That’s exactly what I’ve done and continue to do with Kit.

I believe in the product, and the company, so it’s my responsibility to get it in front of my audience so they can benefit from it like I have.

I’ve used lots of methods and channels to get Kit in front of my audience, including:

• Blog posts
• Videos (like the product demo)
• Social media messages
• My Resources page
• Podcast episodes (like the interview with Nathan Barry)

When it comes to getting the product in front of your audience, it pays to be creative!

On that note, I wanted to share one more pretty novel way I’ve gotten Kit in front of my audience.

In a March 2018 video, I congratulated ConvertKit (Kit) for a huge milestone—hitting $1 million in monthly recurring revenue (MRR).

In the video, I also shared 8 important lessons for people looking to start and grow a business, ones that came directly from ConvertKit’s (Kit) example in becoming a $1 million MRR business.

The video was a response to a single tweet by ConvertKit’s (Kit) founder, Nathan Barry, about the company’s $1 million milestone.

But I built on that tweet to tell a much richer story about the company and how they were able to accomplish something so remarkable. You can see the whole thing below.

The key in this video is that I didn’t focus that much on the product itself—and especially not on my affiliate relationship with them—but on ConvertKit (Kit) the company, and how they used 8 powerful and ethically-minded principles to grow their business rapidly.

These are principles anyone who’s trying to grow their own business the right way can learn from and implement.

And you can do the same thing I did with this video.

Ask yourself, what can I learn from the success of a company I have an affiliate relationship with?

How can I use that company’s example, and the principles behind its success, to help my audience and deliver them value?

When you do that, you’re getting the product in front of people—but you’re also giving them so much more.

8 best affiliate programs and networks

Reminder: always start your affiliate marketing journey by building a relationship with your audience and never recommend products you haven’t used or don’t love.

That being said, I want to give you a starting point for finding affiliate marketing programs that might be a great fit for you and your business, and give you some insight into what you should consider when evaluating affiliate marketing websites and opportunities.

Note: I’ve used many but not all of the below networks and programs myself, but am familiar with the others from my research and recommendations from friends and colleagues.

So while I’m comfortable sharing them with you there isn’t any direct financial benefit to me for doing so.

For more useful affiliate marketing tools, check out this guide!

Affiliate Marketing

Monetization

12 Affiliate Marketing Tools to Take Your Business to the Next Level

Want to upgrade the affiliate income potential of your business? This list of 12 affiliate marketing tools features software to help you do just that!

Find Your Next Tool

Top affiliate marketing networks

Affiliate marketing networks are platforms you can join to get access to hundreds, sometimes thousands of affiliate marketing products and programs.

Let’s explore a few of the most popular:

Impact

Formerly Impact Radius, their Marketplace was built to offer content creators a seamless way to monetize their work and offer their audiences a lot of value through a huge list of brands looking to advertise and a suite of tracking and automation tools.

With direct access to global brands like Airbnb, Adidas, and Allstate, flexible payment processing, and robust reporting and alerts, there’s a good chance you’ll find them a great fit for your audience and business.

CJ

Formerly Commission Junction, CJ has spent the last 2 decades building relationships with brands and publishers to create an affiliate marketing platform worth exploring.

Advertisers you’ll find here include Priceline.com, Overstock.com, and J. Crew.

CJ also includes some one-click join affiliate programs to make it easy for beginner affiliate marketers to start their journey, while also offering omnichannel tracking (across browsers, devices, etc) and strategic recommendations based on business size, vertical, and region for when you’re more established.

ShareASale

ShareASale helps beginner and expert affiliate marketers alike create profitable long-term partnerships with brands their audience will love.

With 260+ affiliate programs launched every month (businesses like Etsy and Rebook are already on board), a product discovery bookmarklet for quickly generating affiliate links, and a slew of analytics and reporting tools, if you find a product worth promoting to your audience here you won’t be going astray.

ClickBank

ClickBank has done a good job of owning the information product affiliate program space, offering products like online courses and ebooks that you won’t find as readily on other affiliate marketing platforms.

A word of caution: I’ve seen a lot of shoddy products that were created with an earn-a-dollar first approach on offer so be sure to do your due diligence before recommending what you find here.

If the affiliate product checks out, though, this is an affiliate marketing network you can rely on for ease-of-use and on-time payments.

Best affiliate marketing programs

What is an affiliate marketing program?

Beyond the products you can promote, affiliate programs include the commission rates, payment terms, marketing materials, and promotion rules a business with an affiliate product offers affiliate marketers like you.

Again, please do not start by seeing the financial opportunity in these programs and working backward from there to fit your business around them.

These affiliate marketing programs are great examples of what’s available to you as an affiliate marketer so use them, but only if they’re truly going to benefit the audience you’ve built a relationship with.

Amazon Associates

You know Amazon, now you know about their Amazon Associates affiliate program!

They’re the world’s largest retailer so if your business is related to any sort of physical product, you’ll find a quality option to offer here.

Worth noting, Amazon recently caused quite a stir by drastically lowering their commission rates (from 8% to 4% in many categories), which is a good example of why building relationships with your audience and eventually creating your own offerings is so important.

That being said, on top of having the world’s largest catalog, Amazon has poured billions into optimizing their site for conversions and you earn a commission for any product purchased visitors purchase within 48 hours of clicking your links, so they’re still a top recommendation for physical affiliate products.

Learn more about making Amazon Associates work for your audience and business in my Amazon Affiliate Marketing Program guide here.

Fiverr Affiliates

Fiverr, the popular marketplace for freelance services, offers a few different affiliate products and services that might be a good fit for promoting to your audience.

These include:

• Fiverr, the freelance marketplace offering services for everything from graphics and copywriting to complete websites and custom apps.
• Fiverr Business, their suite of premium tools and vetted talent for business owners.
• Fiverr Learn, their online courses platform.
• Fiverr affiliates, their affiliate program (links to Fiverr on this page are NOT my affiliate links)

If you work with clients who might need support from freelancers available on Fiverr’s platform or have an audience of entrepreneurs, a partnership with Fiverr is worth considering.

In addition to being a good fit for a broad set of businesses, I decided to add Fiverr to my list of affiliate marketing programs because they introduce some interesting commission structures you can find in some other programs.

Many affiliate programs will offer flat commissions per sale.

In Fiverr’s case, this includes a $15-150 Cost Per Action (CPA), depending on the service the person you refer buys.

They also offer percentages of the sale price, 30% for Fiverr Learn courses as an example.

Something you don’t see as often but is very valuable as an affiliate marketer is a revenue share option.

In this case, Fiverr’s “Hybrid” payment structure lets you earn $10 for a first-time purchase and 10% of all further purchases made by someone you refer for 12 months.

The beauty of revenue share commission structures is twofold:

1. You have the potential to earn a lot more than flat-rate plans
2. Revenue share smooths out your earnings curves

For example, as people get outside during the summer months, you’ll sometimes see a natural dip in traffic and sales for software-based products as people are spending less time on their computers.

But, if you earn a piece of the monthly fees a person you refer pays for their software, you’re less likely to see a dip in your monthly revenues.

HostGator Affiliate Program

HostGator is a popular web hosting and domain registration company you’ve likely heard of because their affiliate program is so popular.

And because so many different audiences from entrepreneurs to crochet enthusiasts can benefit from having a website, chances are your audience may be interested in a web hosting service.

While I use and prefer Bluehost because I know them, trust them, and have a great relationship with their team, I mention HostGator here because it shows us another element of affiliate marketing commission structures: pay for performance.

What does this mean exactly?

HostGator offers a tiered payments structure based on how many monthly signups they receive from you:

• 1-5 signups per month: $65/signup
• 6-10 signups per month: $75/signup
• 11-20 signups per month: $100/signup
• 21+ signups per month: $125/signup

Again, please think about your audience’s needs and the quality of the product/service first, and commission rates and structures second.

But if all else is equal between two tools, it’s worth investing your time and effort in creating helpful content and building a partnership relationship with the company that helps you grow your commissions as you grow their sales.

Wix Affiliate Program

Our last affiliate marketing program example is Wix, the popular website-building software.

I mention them here for two reasons:

1. Again, website-related products and services are useful for a lot of audiences, so chances are Wix might be a good fit for you and yours.
2. They’re an example of one other element of affiliate marketing program commission structures – minimum payouts.

To point 2, many affiliate programs have minimum earnings targets you have to hit to get paid. In Wix’s case, you have to generate at least $300 in commissions before they’ll send your earnings to your bank account.

This is a fairly common practice and thus a nice example of why I say affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Affiliate marketing tips for beginners (and experts)

Affiliate marketing is not a “push-button” solution. It takes focus and commitment, and a certain choreography to make it happen the way you want it to.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to increase the number of people clicking on your affiliate links and buying the affiliate products you’re promoting.

So below, let’s go over my 22 tips to help you succeed with affiliate marketing.

Some of these are things we’ve covered already but they’re definitely worth repeating!

Others will be new to you. But all of them are potentially important keys as you build your affiliate marketing business.

22 affiliate marketing tips for beginners

1. Build trust first
2. Know the product
3. Ask yourself: Can I trust the product will be good for my audience?
4. Show your own results (Proof)
5. Help your audience learn as much as possible about the product (Evidence)
6. Become a source of information and support for a product
7. Use your website (or build one!)
8. Give people multiple opportunities to click on your affiliate links
9. Disclose that your links are affiliate links
10. Keep track of your click-throughs
11. Use your own language to promote your affiliate links
12. Thank people in advance for going through your affiliate links
13. Thank people afterward for going through your affiliate links
14. Establish a relationship with the owner of the product
15. Offer special deals just for your audience
16. Ask for a landing page on the owner’s site
17. Focus on how it will help your audience (not features, but benefits)
18. Believe in your recommendation
19. If it doesn’t work out, try another offer
20. Test, test, test
21. Make your own product instead
22. Be patient

Laying the groundwork

A great affiliate marketing strategy starts with a solid foundation. Here are the fundamentals you need to keep in mind as you’re getting started.

1. Build trust first

Surprise, surprise! My number one tip is to build trust!

Trust takes time to build, and energy to maintain. This is why I wanted to give you this tip first because I want you to expect things to take a while, and to focus on building your community and the trust within that community first.

The recommendations for products and the affiliate love you’ll get from your community comes almost naturally after you EARN that trust from them.

Trust is earned through 2 things:

1. Giving—and giving away as much as possible. Content, information, freebies, high-value stuff, and sometimes even your own time. 

Online karma does exist, and the more you give away, the more you get back in return—and maybe not from the very same people you gave to, which is why the second piece of earning trust is . . .

2. Recommendations from others. Get on other people’s radar and have them do the marketing for you. Not for the affiliate products that you’re promoting, but you, or your brand.

YOU.

Trust is earned faster through the friends and relationships people already have with each other.

That’s why it’s important to give to everyone, no matter how big or how small they may seem to your brand.

Because you never know—they may know somebody who knows somebody who will become your biggest client, or a multi-product customer, or maybe the window to an opportunity that would have never happened otherwise.

Relationships with other people are extremely important to your success, and you won’t have sustainable success with your affiliate marketing until you earn your audience’s trust.

2. Know the product

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when attempting to sell a product as an affiliate is not knowing much about the product.

This usually stems from a desire to push a product for the primary purpose of earning money from it, which is a no-no.

Don’t get me wrong—it’s smart as a marketer to take into account what the commission is and how much money you might make per sale, but the commission shouldn’t drive the decision to promote a product.

It should be just one part of the entire decision to promote a product.

So, know the product.

Why?

Because if you really know the product, it will shape how you promote it, what you say to promote it, and the overall feeling people will get when you offer or recommend it.

So what’s the best way to get to know a product? Use it. Get to know it.

If you’re not extremely familiar with a product, don’t promote it.

It may not be a rule most affiliate marketers follow, but it’s one I’ve followed for years with great success, because it helps with tip #1, building that trust factor with my audience.

All of the products I promote on my Tools page, such as Kit for email marketing, Leadpages for landing pages, and Bluehost for web hosting, are ones I’ve used myself extensively.

I know all about them, and I’m very comfortable with how they work, so I’m happy to recommend them to my audience.

This goes along with tip #3, which is . . .

3. Ask yourself: Can I trust the product will be good for my audience?

This is crucial. It’s the idea that you should be sharing or recommending something that will actually help your audience.

Do you trust that after you send people through your link that the sales page for that product, the product itself, and the customer service for that product, if any, will be good to them?

This is important, because the dictionary definition of affiliate is:

Officially attach or connect to an organization.

The moment you decide to promote something as an affiliate, you attach yourself, your brand, and your business to that company and that product, and if that product isn’t going to be good for your audience, then it’s going to reflect ultimately on YOU.

If it’s an awesome product that totally helps them out?

Awesome! You’re going to look that much better and be thanked for it, and it’ll be a win–win–win for everyone.

If it’s bad? It’s a lose–lose–lose for everybody.

I was once approached to promote a product I knew would sell well and make me a lot of money.

But I didn’t end up promoting it, because I didn’t like the way the company managed the upsell process—it was very aggressive, and even ended with an automatic 30-day trial.

That didn’t sit right with me, so I didn’t promote it. I may have lost some money up front because of that decision, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do.

4. Show your own results (proof)

One of the biggest ways I’ve been able to take my affiliate income to the next level is by showing people what I’ve gained as a result of using those products.

For example, I use a tool called Kit to help me run my email campaigns to build an even bigger following. I then use these results as proof when I’m promoting Kit as an affiliate product to my audience.

By showing that I’ve actually used and succeeded with a product like Kit, it helps to build that trust and lessen the “I don’t know exactly what this product is about so I’m not going to buy it” mentality among my audience.

You want to show them as much as possible, which leads us to our next tip . . .

5. Help your audience learn as much as possible about the product (evidence)

So a person sees an affiliate link for a product you recommend on one of your sites. Big whoop!

Instead of just a paragraph or two explaining the product and what it can do for them, show them how it works.

Tell them what it’s like to sign up for the product, share some tips to make the experience of using that product even better, give answers to the most frequently asked questions about that product . . . show them everything.

The more you can show, the more comfortable people are going to be actually making a purchase.

Giving your audience thorough information about a product like this will help you to . . .

6. Become a source of information and support for a product

The next level is to make yourself available to your audience as a source of information and support for that product. To treat the product as your own.

This can help in the pre-purchase phase. If someone has any questions about a product before making a purchase, tell them to go through you (or maybe someone on your staff or a VA).

If a person is on the fence, it may just take an answer to a simple question to get that person to click through your link and make a purchase. Plus, they’ll feel more secure with their purchase, again, since they know if they have any questions they can come to you.

The next thing you can do is provide support for it too.

You don’t necessarily have to be available 24/7 for customer service questions.

But when you promote these products, you want to say, “Hey, if you have any questions about this, let me know. Because I know this product, and I want to show you how it can help you achieve your goals or address your pains and problems.”

And when you do that, your audience will automatically think, “This guy knows what he’s talking about, and if I ever have any questions, he’ll be there.”

Now, if you’re worried this means you’ll be deluged with support emails, don’t fear!

You’re not going to be buried with questions.

In all my years of offering support for my affiliate products, I’ve never had an issue with receiving too many questions.

But the value of offering this support is huge, and will help your audience trust your recommendations.

A lot of people think, “Oh, I don’t want emails from people about my affiliate products.”

You should!

Because the people who email you are the ones who are most interested in being successful with a product.

Must-Dos

These next 7 tips are things many affiliate marketers don’t realize when they get started—to their detriment.

7. Use your website (or build one!)

There are many ways to build an audience today: on social media like Facebook, X, or Instagram, or via your own website.

But when it comes to affiliate marketing, one of those is a must-have: a website.

I know a lot of people who are generating an income via Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube, without even having a website. Power to them—but if you want to set yourself up for success with affiliate marketing, you absolutely need a website.

What if Facebook or X were to shut down tomorrow?

That probably won’t happen, but these sites can still make changes that can greatly affect your business.

We’ve seen this time and time again, especially with Facebook. Facebook loves to make changes, especially since they went public and are trying to make money for their investors.

Affiliate marketing is your business, and so you need to take control of it, and if you put your business in the hands of something like Facebook, X, or even Google, you’re risking everything.

The smart approach is to create a website where you have full control over the experience of your audience and customers.

Platforms like Facebook are limited when it comes to delivering a custom experience to your audience.

X is extremely limited.

LinkedIn and YouTube are limited in customer experience, and you want those places to be the start of a conversation and always drive people back to your website.

The website is where all the action happens.

It’s where people buy stuff.

It’s where people click and share things mostly, and it’s where you can get the most leverage.

It’s where you can most easily build an email list.

Yes, there are affiliate marketing tools available that allow you to do everything without a website, but if you’re in it for the long haul and want to do affiliate marketing right, you need to have a website.

Why would you ever put your business in the hands of somebody else?

8. Give people multiple opportunities to click on your affiliate links

This next one is a pretty obvious tip that, sadly, many people fail to implement.

I say “sadly” because a lot of people are missing out on potential income as a result.

When you only give your audience one opportunity to click on your affiliate link—by adding a single link near the top of a blog post, for example—you’re losing out on potential income that could come with not much more work.

Of course, you should avoid the other extreme too.

You can definitely go overboard with stuffing affiliate links into your posts. The best thing to do is just naturally place links where it seems like they work.

For a blog post, this could be the first time you mention the product, somewhere in the middle of the post, and then again at the end.

You can catch the “low-hanging fruit” with that first link (since lots of people will click it just because it’s there).

But the people who continue to read the post are likely to be more engaged and take action.

That’s where adding links in the middle and at the end can come in handy, so these engaged readers don’t have to scroll all the way back up the page.

Another quick and easy tip is to link product images with your affiliate link.

Also consider adding affiliate links to other content, including YouTube videos, podcast show notes, and your Tools page.

Bottom line: make it as easy as possible for all of your visitors to use your affiliate links, without overdoing it.

9. Disclose that your links are affiliate links

Most of you know I’m all about transparency and authenticity—and it’s no different with affiliate links. So, I do my best to always reveal when links are affiliate links.

Why?

Well, for one, at least in the US, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations require that if you’re receiving any compensation for promoting any other product or company, you have to disclose that relationship.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but the best thing you can do is just be honest and upfront with your links.

But more than that, people appreciate honesty.

Along with that, if you give away enough information and really help people out, some of those people will likely want to pay you back for your generosity.

If you disclose that you have an affiliate link they can click on, that right there is a good call to action for people to give back to you.

When you mention that you’re using affiliate links, you should also say you’re getting a commission, but at no extra cost to them, so if they are going to buy the product anyway they might as well buy it from you and help you make some cash too.

10. Keep track of your click-throughs

One thing you should always do with your affiliate links is keep track of them—where they’re located in your content, how many clicks are going through each one, and what your conversion rates are.

This takes time to set up, but you have to know what’s happening to each of your links in order to understand what works and what doesn’t.

If you have just one affiliate link for every location—your videos, podcasts, blog posts, webinars, etc.—then how do you know where you’re getting most of your sales from?

How do you know what campaigns aren’t working and which ones are?

You don’t, unless you track.

You can use a tool like Pretty Links, a WordPress plugin, to shorten your affiliate links into custom links that are trackable.

There is more on this in my affiliate marketing tools post, where I cover Pretty Links and other tools I recommend to augment your affiliate marketing efforts.

11. Use your own language to promote your affiliate links

When you sign up as an affiliate with a company, they’ll often send you marketing language to use in your emails, blog posts, and social media messages to help sell the product.

While this language can be helpful, I absolutely recommend not using it 100 percent verbatim. Instead, use it as inspiration to craft personalized language to sell the products.

Why?

Because of trust.

Your audience wants to hear from you in your voice. It’ll be obvious to them if you’re just copying and pasting from somewhere else.

12. Thank people in advance for going through your affiliate links

When I disclose affiliate links on my blog posts or videos, I will sometimes thank people in advance for going through them.

Is this a small thing that probably doesn’t make a drastic difference in sales?

Yes.

Is it something that’s easy to do and people will appreciate it?

Definitely.

With that in mind, here’s the next tip, which is . . .

13. Thank people afterward for going through your affiliate links

If the company you’re an affiliate with is able to provide you with the name and/or email of people who purchase through your link, you should definitely follow up with those people and thank them.

Maybe give them a surprise bonus if you want to, something you didn’t mention they’d get in the first place.

This will help make them want to make a purchase through one of your affiliate links again in the future.

Advanced tips

Here are 3 tips to consider once you’re up and running with affiliate marketing, to take your promotions to the next level.

14. Establish a relationship with the owner of the product

Imagine this: you’re promoting a product and you get the owner of the product to answer some questions about the product, which you post in a blog post, or a podcast episode, or maybe a video interview.

Or maybe you have that person on as a guest and he or she offers some really high-value content, with a small promo for the product at the end.

This does a couple of things.

One, it starts to foster the necessary relationship and trust between your audience and the owner of the product, if your audience is ever going to purchase that product.

Second, it helps the audience trust you even more, by showing them that you’ve established a relationship with the owner of the product— you’re not just messing around when it comes to recommending this product.

You’re familiar with the product and the people behind it, which will help your audience feel even more comfortable with their purchase.

I’ve done this a few times here on SPI, and it’s worked really well.

I have a great relationship with the team at Bluehost, even having gone to their offices to meet the team.

Not just to get to know them, but to ensure they’re A) on top of things and helping out my audience, B) learn about new product plans that might be coming up that I can help promote that could be a win for all, and C) see if there’s anything else they can do to help make my life easier, such as creating customized landing pages (as in tip #16 below).

I have a great relationship with the team at Kit as well.

Because I’ve cultivated this relationship, I’ve had the chance to speak at their event, and they’ve let me offer a longer free trial period that my audience seems to really appreciate.

One other advantage of developing a relationship with the product owners is you might even be able to negotiate higher commission rates.

It’s always worth making a connection!

15. Offer special deals just for your audience

This is the next step in building a relationship with the owner of a product you’re promoting.

If you can negotiate a special deal from the product owner just for your audience, that will give your audience an even better value and more of a reason to purchase from you.

Try to work out a deal with the owner before you have them as a guest on your podcast.

What’s the worst that could happen?

They’ll say no, and that’s it.

I’ve done special deals on several products here on SPI.com, and each time it has driven the affiliate sales through the roof.

You can do a limited-time deal, or one that is evergreen.

16. Ask for a landing page on the owner’s site

Most of the time, the actual sale of an affiliate item takes place on the website of the company that owns the product.

Unfortunately, it’s complicated to keep the entire sales process on your own site, so you’ll need to be willing to send people to the company’s site to complete their purchase.

By vetting the product and the company beforehand, you can help ensure that your audience will have a positive purchase experience.

But you’re still sending your audience into another company’s “territory” where you usually don’t have any control over their experience.

In some cases, you may be able to handle the purchase process on your own site, but that requires the company to agree to it, along with a lot of technical know-how.

But there’s another, easier option that can help increase your audience’s trust and comfort in purchasing: having your own branded landing page on the company’s site.

When people click on your affiliate link, they’re taken to a custom landing page on the company’s site that has some elements from your brand on it.

For an example of such a personalized landing page, see askpat.com/bluehost. [Full Disclosure: I’m a compensated advisor and affiliate for Bluehost.]

like you’re still there with them as they go through the purchase process.

The big caveat here is this will not always be possible, which is why it’s an advanced tip.

Some companies may not be open to creating a custom landing page for you, and even if they are, you may need to already be a successful affiliate with them before they’ll agree to it.

When the Going Gets Tough

As with anything in online business, affiliate marketing will throw up roadblocks along the way.

Here are 6 ideas to help you keep your head up when things get rough.

17. Focus on how it will help your audience (not features, but benefits)

When talking about the product to your audience, no matter what platform you’re using or methods you choose to deliver your content, always focus more on the benefits for your audience.

In other words, what’s in it for them?

In each section of your blog posts, in your videos, in podcast episodes, don’t forget to remind your audience exactly how the product will help them.

Features are good, but benefits are what people want.

“Sure, it’s cool that this link building tool helps you get links from high Page Ranked sites, but the benefit is that your site will have more authority, so you’ll rank higher in Google and get more traffic.”

“Sure, it’s cool that this in-ear headphone comes with a flat, tangle-free wire, but the benefit is so that you don’t get frustrated trying to untangle the darn thing every time you take it out of your backpack or pocket.”

If you’re having trouble with the whole feature vs. benefit thing, it’s okay—a lot of people get confused, but the simplest way to understand it is to think of a feature, then add the words “so that.”

“We have this feature, so that you can blah blah blah.”

It works every time.

18. Believe in your recommendation

If you really believe in the product, in your recommendation, then so will your audience. If you have motives other than trying to help people out or give them something they need—if it’s for the commission, or you’re just doing a favor for a friend who owns a product—then you’re not going to perform as well with your sales.

Believe in it, and your audience will believe in you.

19. If it doesn’t work out, try another offer

Let’s say you have an affiliate product you’d like to promote.

You’ve used the product, it’s great, and you know it will help your audience.

You set up a promotion with links in your posts, create an epic post with videos, the whole nine yards . . . and it doesn’t work out.

It’s not the end of the world.

Sometimes you think your audience will respond one way, but they surprise you and go the opposite way.

The campaign you thought was going to be a home run turns out to be a bust.

Why? Figure out why and evaluate the circumstances, and try again knowing what you now know from what you learned.

Then use what you learned and try another offer!

It’s all a learning process, one that happens through taking action, and trial and error.

That’s what affiliate marketing is all about.

In fact, the more things don’t work out, the better, because the more likely you’ll be to eventually get to something that does work.

And the more you’ll learn along the way.

Related to that . . .

20. Test, test, test

As in the previous tip, test your offers, yes, but more than that—test everything.

Test how you promote, to see what your audience responds best to.

Test the placements of your links, the number of links within posts, whether they’re bolded or italicized, whether images work better, whether interviewing the owner helps, whether Thursdays convert better than Tuesdays for webinars . . . test everything you can possibly think of.

Test, test, test.

21. Make your own product instead

If all else fails, but you know there’s a market out there for a particular product that’s perfect for your audience, and it doesn’t exist—create it yourself.

Yes, this isn’t affiliate marketing.

And when you create your own product, you waive the benefits of affiliate marketing, such as not having to create the product, dealing with customer service, and other aspects of being a product owner.

But affiliate marketing doesn’t always work out, and there are advantages to creating your own product.

You get to keep people in your own brand.

You get to keep all the profits.

You can even set up your own affiliate program for other people to sign up and promote your product.

And lastly . . .

22. Be patient

No matter how quickly people say you can make money online, realize that it’s going to take time.

Relatively speaking, yes, things can happen pretty fast—that’s the beauty of online business.

You can have a site up today and start sharing content with the world, but in order to make an impact and really make money online, you’re going to need to get your message out there, and build relationships with people.

In time, this will drive traffic to your site, and eventually clicks, sales, and affiliate commissions.

Learn, but take action and keep learning as you go.

Things take time, but by following these tips, and everything else you learn in this post, you’ll give yourself the best chance to make things happen as fast as possible for you with affiliate marketing.

Learn to choose the right affiliate products and services

Your affiliate marketing success depends on choosing the right product mix for your audience. The Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet will teach you how to find the products best aligned with the needs of your audience.

Affiliate marketing mistakes to avoid

Affiliate marketing: it’s easy to do—and easy to do wrong.

Anyone can grab a link and promote it from behind the scenes. But successful affiliate marketing that delivers value for you and your audience in the long term?

That takes work.

It also means knowing what not to do.

We’ve covered how affiliate marketing works, how to start affiliate marketing, my top tips for succeeding as an affiliate marketer, and a whole lot more.

Now, I’d like to give you some insight into what to avoid when it comes to affiliate marketing.

I’ll start by sharing with you what happened to me the first time I ever tried affiliate marketing—and what I learned when I fell flat on my face.

Then, I’ll give you the four main affiliate marketing mistakes and traps you need to look out for as you’re getting started on your journey.

My $300 affiliate marketing mistake

First, let me tell you the story of my $300 affiliate marketing mistake.

It was 2008. I had just been laid off from my job in the architecture industry. In the months leading up to my layoff, I had been experimenting in online business with my very first effort, GreenExamAcademy.com.

As I was building Green Exam Academy to help others in the architecture industry pass the LEED Exam, I discovered affiliate marketing and learned how others were making money with it.

So I signed up for an affiliate network and I picked a product I felt would be okay for my audience and got an affiliate link (I didn’t really know if it would be okay—unfortunately, that wouldn’t become clear until later).

I set up a Google AdWords account to start advertising it, and created my first ad. In the ad, I drove people to click on the affiliate link for the product I was advertising.

A couple hours after publishing the ad, I saw that it already had a few hundred impressions—i.e., views by a visitor.

Not bad! After a few more hours, it was over a thousand impressions.

But how many clicks had the ad gotten?

Zilch, nada, none.

I waited and waited until I finally got my first click, but that person didn’t end up buying the product.

I had spent $300 on a couple dozen clicks, and those clicks had amounted to zero sales.

I began thinking about those clicks, and the people on the other end of them.

Who were they? What compelled them to click?

At that time, I was a terrible marketer and copywriter—but that wasn’t the biggest issue. What I realized after a short while was that there was really no way for me to know the answer to those questions about who was clicking on my ad or why.

I had created an ad based on a product I didn’t understand inside and out.

I hadn’t spent the time getting to know the product and understanding how it could serve my audience.

And by failing to do that, I was failing myself and my audience (small, at the time) who counted on me.

I had left them behind while I panned for gold in the wrong place.

A wake-up call for doing affiliate marketing the right way

My $300 mistake was a wake-up call.

I decided right then and there I wasn’t going to do that ever again. I learned how integral relationship building is to effective affiliate marketing.

My learning process would continue from there, of course, but the building blocks were set.

Affiliate marketing isn’t a quick, impersonal thing.

It’s the exact opposite. You need to start from an authentic place.

Affiliate marketing is about fostering genuine long-term relationships with people you trust, products you love, and companies that align with you and your philosophies.

And unless you truly know the product, have used it successfully for yourself, and can prove that to your audience, you can’t expect others to just take your word for it.

Any healthy relationship takes time to build and a great deal of trust.

And that’s what we need to focus on in our affiliate marketing relationships.

Too often, I see people wasting time and energy promoting products under the guise of affiliate marketing while ignoring the relationship aspect of things.

But affiliate marketing should be a natural extension of your authentic efforts to build and serve an audience—not a tack-on just to make a little extra money.

The four biggest affiliate marketing mistakes

On the spectrum of affiliate marketing mistakes, my $300 mistake wasn’t too serious. You can chalk that one up to a beginner’s lack of good judgment or experience.

But there’s a bigger picture here we need to talk about too.

Like everything, affiliate marketing has its positive and negative sides. And in fact, for a long time—and especially when I first started out in online business back in 2008—affiliate marketing has had a negative connotation.

I’ve made it part of my mission to show that affiliate marketing can be done in a legit way, one where everybody can be a winner.

But at the same time, because affiliate marketing is technically easy to do, it’s easy to fall into an aggressive, income-first approach rather than one centered around serving your audience.

I want you to be aware of how affiliate marketing can be abused, or how your efforts can be derailed.

My intent isn’t to worry or scare you from going down the affiliate marketing route, because it can be a fantastic opportunity if done the right way—but I do want to arm you with knowledge about the traps to look out for as you build your affiliate marketing business.

I feel it’s my responsibility to show you how to do affiliate marketing right—and that includes knowing how not to do it.

Whether you’ve just started learning about affiliate marketing, or you’re already promoting other people’s products via affiliate links and want to make sure you’re going about it the right way, I’m going to share with you four rules to keep in mind in avoiding the dark side of affiliate marketing.

These are the four biggest traps to look out for, so that you have an even greater chance to succeed with this powerful tool that can help you better serve your audience, generate an income, and build relationships with the owners of the products you’re promoting.

The four biggest affiliate marketing mistakes:

1. Promoting a product that doesn’t make sense for your audience
2. Not keeping an eye on the quality of your audience’s experience
3. Not being honest about a product or promotion
4. Earning all of your income from affiliate marketing

Okay. Let’s talk about these four dangers you need to look out for on your affiliate marketing journey.

1. Promoting a product that doesn’t make sense for your audience

Perhaps the biggest affiliate marketing mistake people make is not promoting a product that actually makes sense for their audience.

This often happens when someone takes an income-first approach rather than a serving-first one.

You should look for solutions that can help your audience—whether there’s an affiliate opportunity there or not.

If there happens to be one, great. That’s a bonus.

If there isn’t, but you know the product could still be helpful to your audience, it’s your responsibility to share it with them.

Since my brand is focused on helping people build successful online businesses ethically, the products and services I promote are all things that support this focus: I recommend services that help people host their website (Bluehost), start an email list (Kit), plan their editorial calendar (CoSchedule); audio and video gear to create great content; and books and courses, both mine and others, to help people learn and improve their skills.

Most of these are things I recommend as an affiliate—but a good number of them are not.

Even if I can’t form an affiliate relationship with a company, if their product is the best one for my audience, I’m going to recommend it.

As your brand grows and you start to build an audience, you’re going to get noticed. The affiliate marketing opportunities will start to trickle in, as companies see the traffic you’re getting and the trust people are putting in your brand.

These companies will also know you’re a human being who can potentially be swayed by a commission.

Sometimes, they’ll offer you payments for simply sending them leads, because it’s basically easy advertising for them.

They know how much money they need to spend, and how many leads they need to collect, to convert a certain percentage of them to customers.

Either way, as you grow, you’re going to notice an increased number of those kinds of inquiries—many from companies you’ve never even heard of before.

At the start of my online business journey, every couple months I’d get an offer from a different company saying, “Hey, we have this new product. We think your audience would really like it. Promote it to your audience and we’ll give you $75 for every person you send our way.”

I implore you, please: do not be persuaded by the dollar value of the commissions you’ll be offered.

Sometimes when a new company reaches out to me with an affiliate offer, I’ll look at the product and realize it’s obviously not a fit for my audience.

In those cases, it’s easy to say, “No, thanks.”

But when you’re just starting out, the promise of a commission can make it hard to see things clearly.

You might think, “Wow, this opportunity is in front of me right now. Maybe I should say yes. What damage could it do?”

The damage it could do is potentially huge: the destruction of the trust you’ve worked hard to build with your audience.

That’s why my recommendation is to stay on the safe side by always offering and recommending products you’ve used before and understand, so you know exactly the kind of experience people will have with them.

You should also get to know the company itself, and ideally have a personal relationship with someone in a leadership role there.

That way, you can be certain that the company behind the product you’re promoting is one that will take care of your people.

Again, be careful.

Often companies will reach out to you based on a simple algorithm—if you’ve reached a certain threshold of social media followers, for instance, they’ll send you a message asking if they can pay to get in front of your audience.

You may have even heard of these products, and know they have a good reputation. Sometimes those products may actually be a great fit.

Still, don’t immediately say yes to the opportunity.

You need to be aware of this, because the vultures start to come out at a certain point once you start to gain some notoriety in a space.

In the early days, I’d get affiliate inquiries from companies every couple months.

Now, almost every day, I get emails from companies I’ve never heard of that want to get in front of my audience.

The nature of these offers also ranges more broadly now, probably because my audience is much larger.

For instance, I sometimes get offers from financial planning companies to get in front of my audience for tens of thousands of dollars.

But it’s not in my best interest to say yes, because even though those services might help my audience, financial planning isn’t what my brand is about.

Bombarding my audience and saturating my brand with stuff that doesn’t fit would dilute the brand and confuse people’s perception of what I stand for.

I don’t need to give my audience financial planning assistance to help them the best way I possibly can.

There are plenty of great brands out there that focus on financial planning, but it’s not my realm.

So, realize you have a choice, and that it’s okay to say no. Opportunities will come your way, but your priority should be to protect your brand and your reputation.

Choose wisely.

2. Not keeping your eye on the quality of your audience’s experience

This next one is similar to #1, but it has more to do with how things can change after you start promoting what seems to be a great product that you know is a good fit for your audience.

Let’s say you recently started promoting a new product, and it’s working out well. Everybody’s happy—you, your audience, and the company.

But then the company gets bought out, and new management takes over.

This creates a ripple through the entire company, affecting your audience’s customer support experience with the product.

Sound unlikely? It’s happened to me before, with the web hosting company Bluehost.

I still recommend Bluehost, and in fact, they’ve been one of my top affiliates over the years. But it hasn’t always been a smooth road.

I began recommending Bluehost in 2009, and was soon making a few thousand dollars a month from affiliate promotions. Even better, the company was taking great care of my audience.

Everyone was happy.

The next year, my monthly income continued to grow into the five-digit range. Things were looking good.

But then in 2013, I started getting a few emails from people who weren’t too happy with Bluehost’s customer support, especially when they had issues with the service.

The following year, things got a little better—the negative emails dropped off—but then they got worse again.

At that point, I started to really pay attention.

I decided to fly out to Utah to meet with the company and share my concerns with them directly. I met with the founders and told them, “Hey, this is not okay. This can’t happen.”

The Bluehost team told me they were aware of the issues, and that they were making changes to address them.

I said, “Okay, but these changes need to happen now.” Of course, with a big company like that, I understood changes can take time, but I wanted to do as much as I could to move them along.

Thankfully, the Bluehost team took my words to heart and put together an action plan to address the issues.

They also agreed to let me offer my audience a special connection to a customer support person who could take care of them more quickly than the company’s traditional support channel.

During my visit to Bluehost headquarters, I also kept in touch with my audience about how my meeting was going, and what the Bluehost team was doing to improve things.

I sent an email to my list about what was happening during my visit, and wrote about the experience in my May 2016 Income Report.

Although this kind of situation may not occur with every company you partner with as an affiliate, you have to be open to it.

Companies grow and evolve, and people come and go. You can’t assume that if things are going well, they always will.

The lesson here, especially for affiliate relationships you’d like to maintain for the long term, is to keep close tabs on your audience’s experience with the product.

In addition, you should cultivate relationships with the product owners, so they know how important your audience’s experience with the product is to everyone involved.

In an ideal world, your audience’s experience with a product should only improve over time—but if it’s going in the opposite direction, you’ll have to act to make things right, and having a direct line to the company leadership makes it easier to do that.

You also need to have a backup plan.

Right now, I’m really comfortable promoting Bluehost, especially knowing they have a customer support person I can send people to when things go wrong.

But there’s a point at which, if things were to go badly again, I’d consider promoting a different hosting provider.

Most of my audience is still having an amazing experience with Bluehost, but it’s important to stay aware and be prepared if things need to change.

3. Not being honest about a product or promotion

When I recommend products, I’m always very honest about what the product can and can’t do.

But I’ve been on the other end of this before—and not in a good way. I won’t name names or products, but let’s just say I’ve been recommended products that came with certain promises, promises that didn’t come to fruition.

These were products that, shortly after I started using them, I realized they weren’t at all what I‘d expected.

When you’re promoting your affiliate products, you need to make sure you set the right expectations for your audience.

Otherwise, what happens? You lose the trust of the person to whom you recommended that product.

In one case, someone I knew and looked up to recommended a software tool to me.

His recommendation also came with some lofty claims of how the tool could help me. I ended up buying the software based on his recommendation.

But what I quickly found was that in order to take advantage of the capabilities I was promised, I would have had to pay more—more than five times the price I was paying already.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy about this.

I shared my frustration with the person who’d recommended the tool to me, and he apologized. It was an oversight on his part, and we’re still on good terms today.

Our story turned out okay—but this won’t always be the case if you’re not totally honest and upfront with your audience about the affiliate products you promote.

You have to be careful, because if you make a mistake that skews your audience’s expectations, you might lose them for good.

You need to be totally honest about what a product can and can’t do, and make sure you’re not recommending it to someone who’s not a good fit for it.

What if you find yourself in a tricky situation where you’ve promoted a product to your audience, then realized later that it wasn’t what you thought it was?

Thankfully, I have a special “rule” that comes in handy here. I call it the 8 Mile Rule.

[SPOILER ALERT] If you’ve never seen the movie 8 Mile, Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem), plays the main character, a rapper named B-Rabbit. In the finale, B-Rabbit faces off against another rapper in a huge rap battle.

B-Rabbit decides to rap about all the weird things about himself, things his opponent would likely call him out for in his rap.

Why does he do this?

By calling himself out first, he leaves his opponent without any ammunition to use against him.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

When you’re promoting an affiliate product, take the 8 Mile approach.

If something goes wrong, be the first one to say something. 

If you make a mistake, own up to it.

Perhaps you recommended a product you realized wasn’t a good fit for your audience.

The quicker you can say, “I’m sorry.

That product wasn’t the right fit for you.

I hope you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt and stick around,” the more likely your audience will be to do that.

This rule is handy for a lot of other areas of your business, too. It’s all about taking ownership and being honest and forthright.

This is not always easy to do, but always the right thing to do.

Being honest fosters trust, even if the circumstances aren’t totally favorable.

And if you’re being honest and serving your audience in a way that’s valuable to them, they’ll often jump at the chance to help you back.

This is where the law of reciprocity comes in—when you do something helpful for someone, they often feel compelled to do something for you in return—and affiliate marketing can be an amazing way to give your audience a way to pay you back.

So when you tell people upfront, “Hey, you know what? This is a product I’m promoting as an affiliate, so I get a commission if you go through that link,” I guarantee some of those people will be excited by the opportunity to click on that link.

There are people out there you’ve served who are looking for ways to pay you back.

So make it easy for them.

4. Earning all of your income from affiliate marketing or treating it like a get-rich-quick scheme

This leads me to my final point related to the dark side of affiliate marketing.

That is, you don’t want all of your income to come from affiliate marketing.

Back when I started out—and this is still true today in some spaces—a lot of people were doing affiliate marketing by running promotions, not through a brand they’d created or trust they’d earned from an audience, but by using copywriting, targeting, and advertising techniques to get people to click on affiliate links.

Remember my $300 mistake?

Before I ran that fated ad, I signed up with an affiliate marketing network.

This is essentially a site that allows you to sign up and choose from a huge number of products you can promote.

Once you pick a product, you get a link you can share with as many people as possible.

Because most people who go this route don’t already have a brand established, they have to resort to advertising—things like Google Adwords—to get their link in front of people.

Unfortunately, there are several things wrong with this model.

As you learned from my $300 mistake, if you just throw a link up there hoping it’ll do all the work for you—well, it won’t.

That’s not to say that you can’t make money with this kind of affiliate marketing. You can, if you go about it smartly.

But there are still two main ways you can go wrong with this model.

First, as soon as you stop putting effort into it, the income stops flowing. It’s not passive.

Second, because it doesn’t require you to build a brand, it means it’s not unique to you. Just about anyone could leapfrog you if they master the copywriting and targeting required to be successful with it.

As a result, this kind of affiliate marketing can become a very scary game to play.

That’s why I recommend instead that you take the time to build your own brand and grow an audience you can serve.

Build that audience’s trust in you as the go-to resource in your area of expertise, not just someone they don’t know who’s only serving them ads.

This is at the heart of how I teach online business: to help people become recognized for their efforts in serving an audience, whether that’s through creating their own products, blogging, podcasting, building physical products, or affiliate marketing.

Focus on building your brand and serving an audience.

When you make this your primary aim, you’ll find you have plenty of options to make money—with affiliate marketing being just one of those options.

Think about it this way: With whatever path you choose to generate an income, make sure you give the people you serve a way to thank you.

If you’re not thanked for the products you’re promoting, you’re doing affiliate marketing wrong.

In episode 9 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, author and online business consultant Nicole Dean shared one of the most memorable quotes from the hundreds of interviews I’ve done.

She told me the motto of her business was “to make the web and the world a better place.”

And when you approach your business like that, it trickles down to everything you do.

It affects how you advertise and promote.

It affects how you interact with people.

It helps you look beyond strategies and tactics, like affiliate marketing, and stay focused on the most important thing: making things better for others.

So give your audience a reason to thank you, and the (affiliate) income will flow in.

Serve first to succeed with affiliate marketing

As we’ve seen, there is a darker side to affiliate marketing.

But if you know what to look out for, you can avoid falling into the common traps and mistakes that befall so many aspiring affiliate marketers.

As a reminder, here are the four keys to staying in the “plus” column with your affiliate marketing:

• Being careful to promote only products that make sense for your audience
• Keeping tabs on your audience’s experience with your affiliate products
• Being honest and forthright about the products you promote
• Not relying solely on affiliate marketing or using it as an impersonal, get-rich-quick scheme

Use these four keys as your guiding light, and you’ll be able to make the most of this powerful tool that allows you to tap into the incredible array of products, services, and tools out there that can help your audience succeed.

My best resource for beginner affiliate marketers: The Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet

This guide was my first ebook on the topic of affiliate marketing.

I wrote it after lots of trial and error with affiliate marketing—starting, failing, and eventually succeeding.

I learned a lot, and I came to believe that there’s a “right” way to approach affiliate marketing.

That’s why I created my free ebook guide to doing affiliate marketing right, the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet.

Sadly, there are a lot of misconceptions about affiliate marketing out there, which is what this guide specifically focuses on.

In the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet, I address these misconceptions by tackling some of the most common questions about affiliate marketing rules and strategies, including:

• What specific mediums work well for affiliate product promotion?
• How do I find my number one affiliate product or service?
• How do I make my affiliate product stand out in a crowd?
• How can I improve the relationship I have with the product owner?

At just 11 jam-packed pages, the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet is full of insights I’ve learned through years of real-world experience in affiliate marketing—insights I’m excited to pass on to you.

Here’s what a couple readers have to say about how the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet (formerly called Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way) has helped them:

“Pat’s guide, Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way, really lives up to its name. Soon after implementing his tips, I saw a sudden $500/mo rise in my income. Reading it was enlightening!”

—Mike Martyns

“I gained a lot in the 30 minutes it took to absorb such valuable information. It was precise and to the point—a tool that is ready and available for any newcomer to GET STARTED.”

—Louisa Barzey

The Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet is filled with all of my best advice on the topic, and makes a fantastic free “pocket” companion to this article.

Make affiliate marketing part of your success.

Learn how to:

• Find products to promote
• Stand out from the crowd
• Find tools to help you with the setup and execution

Join Now!

The sky’s the limit with affiliate marketing

If you’ve stuck with me for this whole post, then you’ve taken an exciting journey into the heart of affiliate marketing!

And you’ve hopefully emerged from that journey armed with some serious knowledge, tools, strategies, and possibilities to take with you as you strike out into the wide, exciting world of affiliate marketing.

As with anything, what you get out of affiliate marketing is about how you approach it and what you put into it.

If you treat it as just another tactic, then you’re not going to be very successful with it.

But if you treat it as a way to build more trust with your audience and serve them better, then the sky’s the limit.

So now that you’ve made it this far, what’s next?

Hopefully this article has given you a great starting point, along with a wealth of resources to support you as you strive to become a pro at affiliate marketing.

It will always be here for you as a free affiliate marketing resource, along with the Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet.

And beyond those resources, I’d love for us to stay connected as you go down this exciting path.

I cover affiliate marketing-related topics often on my blog and in my podcast episodes, so stay tuned there. And if you ever want to send me a note, whether it’s a question about affiliate marketing, a success story you’d like to share, or anything else related to online business and entrepreneurship, you can reach me at [email protected]. I’m here to support you on your journey, so let me know how I can best do that!

Cheers,

The post Affiliate Marketing – A Simple Step by Step Guide appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Have trouble coming up with podcast episode ideas? Whether you release a new podcast episode every week or once a month, coming up with consistently high-quality episode ideas can feel like a lot of pressure. 

This demand for consistent content is one of the major players in the “podfade” phenomenon and a challenging aspect of being an independent podcaster. 

In this article, we'll…

• share 101+ examples of podcast topics, 
• lay the foundation for great content, 
• provide practical methods for coming up with new podcast episode ideas, 
• and outline ways to cultivate creativity throughout your podcasting journey.

And real quick before we dive in — if you're starting out and want to kick off your podcasting journey with aplomb, check out the SPI Community.

Contents

• Podcast Topics: 101 Ideas for Things to Talk About
• How to Find Topics for a Podcast
• Keep the Podcast Episode Ideas Coming

101 Podcast Topic Ideas

Starting your process to think up podcast ideas can feel intimidating, but don’t worry; you have a lot of options. Get your ideas flowing with these 101 topics to talk about on a podcast.

(And, if you're just starting out, don't miss out how to start a podcast guide seen by over 100,000 people!)

1. Learning a new skill

When brainstorming what to talk about on a podcast, why not record yourself learning a new skill you’ve been wanting to pick up?

Start a podcast about your journey learning to play the piano, paint, or sew—the list goes on. 

2. Events/groups

Consider making a podcast about specific events or groups, such as:

• Local or national political groups 
• Sporting events or festivals 
• Marathoners, bikers 

Good podcast topic ideas will often align with your own interests, allowing your enthusiasm to keep you motivated. So, pick an event or group that speaks to you.

3. Book reviews and summaries

Are you an avid reader? Let people know what you think of your latest picks with full reviews. 

Or, for the people who don’t have time to read the books themselves, put your storytelling skills to the test with engaging summaries. 

4. Book recommendations

Similarly, if you like books, you probably have a lot of recommendations. 

You could focus the podcast on a specific genre, do different genres for different segments, or take calls from your listeners and give recommendations based on their interests. 

5. Sports

If sports are more your thing, make a podcast recapping last night’s game, discussing industry news, talking about your favorite players, and more. 

Don’t be afraid to find an angle; you could discuss odd or underrated sports only or go the sports business route.

6. People who know nothing about sports

For another creative twist on a sports podcast, you could invite people who know nothing about a sport to try to explain it, narrate the big game, or bring little kids on to commentate.

7. Location-based

People spend a lot of time in locations like the gym, coffee shops, etc., so why not go super niche and target them directly? Create a podcast dedicated to a specific place that people frequent to help them pass their time there.

8. Time-based

Use your podcast to accompany people through the seasons, holidays, bedtimes, morning hours before work, etc. 

You could create a spooky-themed podcast during the month of October or a New Years’ self-help/resolutions-themed podcast. Or, if you want to go at a more regular pace, you could do a nightly bedtime story podcast. 

9. How-to

A how-to podcast can be as general or focused as you’d like it to be. You could focus the entire podcast teaching your listeners how to do something from start to finish, make each episode a new topic entirely, or take a broader focused topic, like getting a job, with relevant episodes like “how to make a killer cover letter.” 

10. Preparation

A preparation podcast is like a how-to podcast but with a preparatory focus. Discuss things like preparing for college applications, preparing for a big race, or even just how to prepare for social gatherings. 

11. Movie and TV review

If you’re someone who always catches new movie releases, give people the thumbs up or down on whether they should check them out too. 

Or, give TV show recaps and reviews after each episode airs, offering your opinions and speculating what will happen next.

12. All things cinema

For the cinephiles, start a podcast on all things movies. You could do your podcast on the history of cinema, on a specific film movement, or humorously cover all the worst movies you can find. 

13. POV

What better way to give your podcast a unique flair than by showcasing a popular story from a new perspective? 

Take a show’s season, a movie, a novel, etc., and go through the story from each character’s (or an unexpected favorite’s) point of view. 

14. Comedy

If you’ve always been praised for your sense of humor, give a comedy podcast a go. Tell funny stories, perform comedy sketches, or talk about current events with a dash of your winning humor.

15. Travel tips and recommendations

Tons of people love to travel, making it one of the best topics for a podcast. 

Give great traveling tips and recommendations, talk about travel gear, and more.

Don’t be afraid to pick a niche; you could do a luxury or budget theme, an outdoor excursion theme, or some combination of themes.

16. Travel storytelling

Allow listeners to travel along with you through your storytelling. Narrate your experiences, give funny anecdotes, and provide vivid descriptions of the places you go and the people you meet. 

17. Travel interviews

Make a podcast where you interview the people you meet on your travels; ask their opinions on the city they live in, recommendations, and any interesting information they might have.

Or, invite travelers to come and document their travel experiences on your podcast without even leaving your home. 

18. Expats

If you’re an expat, you’re familiar with how daunting it can be for those just getting started. Share your expat story, the steps others can follow, and provide advice. 

You can create a community in your new home country by inviting other expats to share their stories and inspire others too.

19. Fashion

If you’re known for your taste in fashion, share your opinions or advice through a podcast. 

Topics for podcasts in the fashion niche are extensive, too; you can talk about styling tips, where to shop, models, designers, funny red carpet mishaps, or runway reviews. 

20. Beauty

Likewise, podcast ideas in the beauty industry are endless.

Make a podcast about beauty brand news, holy grail products, products to avoid, curly hair tips, or how to manage common skin problems.

21. Politics

There’s always something to talk about with politics; share your thoughts on current events, invite interesting speakers, and discuss the latest news from a political standpoint. 

22. Pets

If you’re an animal lover, consider starting a podcast on pets. Pet-lovers will surely tune in if you provide them valuable pet care information, facts, and interviews from experts. 

23. Wild animals

Similarly, if you’re passionate about animals, make a podcast giving facts about wild animals and where to find them. Interview people who have worked with wildlife and have them tell their stories.  

24. History

You’ve got thousands of years of known human history to pick from, making history one of the most expansive topics for podcasts.

And if you’re already a history buff, you’re (at least) one step ahead. Choose an era you love to research and talk about, and do just that.

25. Street interviews with strangers

Love talking to anyone about anything? Interview strangers on the street on various topics. Here are a couple of podcast topic ideas you could try:

• Ask strangers their take on current events.
• Have your show’s listeners submit topics to interview strangers about.
• Interview people at mundane places, like outside the DMV. 

26. Tech

The beauty of a tech podcast is that the tech industry is one of the fastest moving around—you’ll never run out of podcast episode ideas. 

Keep people up-to-date on new products and advancements, security issues, or tech how-tos.

27. True crime

It’s no secret that true crime is one of the most popular podcast ideas. People love to speculate and search for the truth behind an interesting topic. 

Find a mystery and do some digging; interview people of interest, research facts, and make speculations from there.

28. Law

Want to put your law degree to another use? Start a legal podcast. Talk about odd or interesting laws, inform people on laws they should know, or discuss legal ethics. 

29. Celebrity news and gossip

There’s no shortage of celebrities, and they’re always up to something. Give people the gossip. 

Report the latest celebrity news, speculate the behind-the-scenes context, and snag some interviews.

30. The top 10

People love to rank and see things ranked. Give them something to talk about with top ten lists for anything and everything. You can rank musicians from Canada, TV ads, animes, and much, much more. 

31. Facing fears

Ever wanted to put your fears behind you? Make a podcast to share your journey.

Take things a step at a time; give your story, delve into the psychology behind the fear, invite specialists, and inspire others as you work to overcome it once and for all.

32. Nature

For the people who live in the city or don’t often find themselves outside, you could start a podcast that describes everything you see out in nature, amplifying the natural outdoor sounds for a serene effect. 

33. Time-crunch

For those who just don’t have the time or attention span to sit through a long podcast, give them some quick facts, short stories, or extremely condensed how-tos. 

34. You

So, you’re trying to figure out what to talk about on a podcast… why not talk about you? If you feel you have something to share, your unique experiences and perspectives, you might find that many people will relate. 

35. Educational

Are you an expert on a topic or want to learn it yourself? Do a load of research or round up the information you already know into bite-size pieces to teach others. 

36. Language learning

Give people a hand learning your native language, or another language you know fluently, with a language learning podcast! Share vocab and grammar tips, mistakes to avoid, and cultural tidbits. 

37. Perspectives by the generation

Each generation tends to view things a little differently than the one before them; start a podcast comparing and contrasting views from all different generations.

38. Acting

If you’re an experienced actor, younger actors could benefit from hearing about your insights, the challenges you’ve faced, auditioning stories, etc. 

Or, you might turn to interview other actors on their experiences and start a discussion from there. 

39. Local foodie

Are you really into your local food scene (or wanting an excuse to be)? Start a podcast taking listeners to restaurants, cafes, and food trucks around your city. 

Conduct some interviews, talk about the places, and review the food itself to create a full experience. 

40. Household chores

Everybody has to do chores—now and then, anyway. Consider making a podcast where you talk about household chores and hacks. 

You could talk about all things chores, record yourself doing your chores and have people guess what you’re doing, or simply give tips and hacks. 

41. Marketing

No doubt, the marketing industry is incredibly popular; if you have some insight or expertise from working in the industry, or find marketing data and trends fascinating, make an informative podcast about it. 

42. HR 

Start a podcast about what it takes to be in HR: the skills people need, the recruitment process, and difficulties they might face.

43. Live events

Go to live events solo or with a friend and chat about it—provide interesting, in-depth coverage with a full review. Interview people at the event and get their thoughts too. 

44. Business

Know a thing or two about running a business? More and more people are curious to start their own and could use some insight and actionable advice, so start a podcast with all the business know-how.

45. Medical

If you’re a health professional, why not start a podcast in your field? Answer questions, talk about fascinating medical conditions or discuss medical policies. 

46. Music

Does your life revolve around music? Make a podcast that dives into the lives of your favorite bands, discusses the industry, or gives your local indie bands a spotlight.

47. Self-Help

Make a podcast to help others on their self-improvement journey. Discuss topics like focus, stress, depression, and more. Provide tools and information to help overcome personal struggles and share inspirational stories. 

48. ASMR

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and many people find it relaxing to listen to. Whisper to your listeners on a variety of topics, providing them a calming experience or sleep aid.  

49. Freelance

Whether you’re a freelancing newbie or pro, invite people along on your freelance journey with a podcast. Share your experiences, advice on how to get clients, business and organization tips, and more. 

50. Investing

If investing is your thing, make a podcast discussing strategy, market news, and giving your best “this is not financial advice” speculations. 

Go for a penny stock, REIT, tech, or another niche to make your podcast a go-to place for specific topics.

51. Ads

Ads—love ‘em or hate ‘em, they often give us something to talk about. Rank the worst of the worst or the best ads out there, or provide some analysis and industry insight. 

52. Casual advice

Everybody needs a little advice sometimes. Let listeners call in, share what they need advice on, and give the advice yourself or bring someone else in to help. 

53. Quote of the day

Share a quote each day; this could be business, motivational, or literary quotes for people to start their mornings with. Analyze and dive into the quotes, and let people know where they can read more.   

54. Blogs and blogging

Blogging is still prevalent across the internet. However, it can be surprisingly difficult to find good ones. Make a podcast that covers the best blogs in one or more niches. 

Alternatively, create a podcast that helps bloggers get started with tips and other helpful information. 

55. Cooking/baking

There are a lot of different options for a culinary or baking podcast; you can give recipes, focus on the culture behind dishes, talk about food science, create peaceful ASMR baking sounds, and the list goes on.

56. Wedding

If you love weddings or are a wedding expert, share what you know for all the newlyweds-to-be. 

Or, share your best funny, dramatic, or sweet stories—basically, the podcast version of a 00’s romcom. 

57. Day trip

Take listeners with you through your steps to plan and go on day trips. Invite some friends or family and let the conversations flow. 

You could also let viewers pick or guess where you go to add extra engagement. 

58. Philosophy

If sitting under apple trees or questioning the absurdity of life sounds more like you, start a philosophy podcast. Discuss one or multiple philosophical schools, interview leading thinkers, and have healthy debates. 

59. A hiking/camping

Make a podcast about all things hiking and camping; talk gear, stories, and advice. Take listeners along with you for a peaceful or exciting experience. 

60. Astrology

If you’re an astrologer or simply into astrology, consider doing a podcast all about it. Analyze the birth charts of famous people, your listeners, or go deeper into the philosophy of astrology. 

61. DIY

Everybody wants to know how to do things themselves, so teach them how with a DIY podcast. You can focus on themes like organization, repairing clothes, or DIY crafts. 

62. Social media

Everyone and their mom is on social media, so consider taking advantage with a social media-themed podcast. You could discuss social media companies, hashtag trends, influencers, marketing, and more.

63. Musical instruments

Invite listeners to learn new instruments with you, share your knowledge on an instrument(s), or teach people how to play. 

64. Weather

Who says talking about the weather has to be boring. Make a podcast going in-depth about the weather. Discuss extreme or pleasant weather, science, forecasting, and how to prepare for certain weather conditions.

65. Adrenaline junkies

Take listeners along on courageous outdoor activities like skydiving, bungee jumping, paragliding, and more.  

66. Sailing

Make a podcast taking listeners out to sea with you, detail your sightings and experiences, or give educational how-tos.

67. On the road

Always on the road? Start a podcast narrating your experiences on the road, whether you’re just driving around for fun, for work, or you live on the go. 

68. Paranormal

Raise some hairs discussing paranormal phenomena. Invite people to share their close encounters, narrate ghost stories, and share your own spooky sightings.

69. Nutrition and weight loss

Make a podcast helping others with all things nutrition and weight loss. Share the science, helpful tools and information, meal ideas, foods to avoid, and more.

70. Home improvement

With some home improvement knowledge in your tool belt, start a podcast about all things home renovation and repair, home design, and general home DIYs. 

71. Gameshow

Get people involved with your very own gameshow podcast with tons of fun segments. 

For some gameshow podcast segment ideas, do one segment with a classic game (e.g., trivia), another where you take that classic but add an extreme twist, or try making your own whacky game for a segment.

72. Improv

What are some things to talk about on a podcast for improv? The beauty of this one is that you don’t have to plan much ahead. Start with any random topic and put your improv skills to the test from there. Consider inviting your listeners to join in the fun. 

73. Art

There’s no shortage of good podcast topics for an art-themed podcast. Talk art theory, art history, the modern industry, or place a spotlight on underrated or minority artists. 

74 Feminism

Make a podcast discussing current events and topics from a feminist perspective, talk about theory, and invite activists and authors on to your show.

75. Taxi/Uber driver interview

Many of us are familiar with the chit-chat you make with Uber and cab drivers—but what if you took the conversation a little deeper. Make a podcast interviewing drivers about their story and their experiences.

76. Mystery

Keep people guessing; create a podcast with a secret theme and hide clues within stories that seemingly have no rhyme or reason. Wait until the final episode of the season to reveal the theme and award listeners that got it right.  

77. Human rights

Take a more serious tone with your podcast and discuss human rights. Cover parts of the world in violation of these rights—in need of help—and create awareness with options to help out.

78. Gaming

To appeal to all the gamers out there, you could make a podcast about a specific game you love, review multiple games, cover new releases, talk trends, and so much more.

79. Short story/poetry

If you’re a writer or just a lover of short stories and poetry, create a podcast where you immerse your listeners through readings of short literature and poems.

80. Children’s stories

Similarly, if you have strong spoken narrative skills, make a podcast dedicated to reading out children’s stories to keep kids entertained on the bus, in the car, or as a bedtime story.

81. Dating

Make a podcast all about dating; share date night advice, activities, and invite listeners to share their funny, bad, or sweet dating stories.

82. Relationships

If you’re somewhat of a cupid or just like to play one, offer relationship advice to listeners and guests, or invite a professional to share their expertise.

Another option: create a podcast with couples games and let people share their experiences and funny anecdotes.

83. Wine

Turn your love of wine into a full podcasting gig. 

Wondering what to talk about on a podcast for wine? You could discuss wine varieties and pairings, rank and review wines, or even interview sommeliers. 

84. Coffee

If you’re a coffee enthusiast, share your passion and teach people about the world of coffee. Cover brewing techniques, bean fermentation, and all other coffee-related knowledge. 

85. Boozy

Give people a place to turn to when they have a glass at the end of the day. Talk about what you’re sipping, have a casual or lively chat with a guest or listener, and review the drink at the end. 

86. Documentary

Wanting to deep dive into an interesting topic? Start researching and conducting interviews for the inside scoop, and make an enthralling documentary podcast. 

87. A look into an industry

Take listeners behind the scenes of an industry, from publishing to farming, showcasing its inner workings. 

88. All things geeky

Start a podcast to geek out with your listeners about a topic(s) of your choice. Create a community of discussion around The Lord of the Rings lore, Doctor Who, programming, or grammar.  

89. Retirement

If you’ve retired yourself or know a lot about retirement, share wisdom on how people can set themselves up for a successful retirement. 

90. Meditation

Provide peaceful meditations to help your listeners relax. Your meditation podcast could be as short as 5 minutes or as long as a full night’s sleep. Pick a focused topic like stress, sadness, motivation, etc. 

91. Psychology

Create a space to discuss the human mind and behavior; focus on mental health, psychoanalyze fictional characters, or take a look at certain psychological phenomena. 

92. AMA

Take a page from Reddit’s book and create an “Ask Me Anything” podcast. You can answer questions as an industry professional, an author, or simply anything about you—or anything you’ve done—that people might want to know about. 

You could also add this to your list of good podcast segment ideas. 

93. Habits

Want to form better habits? As it turns out, so do a lot of people. Start a podcast where you can take your listeners on the journey of forming better habits together. 

94. Alternative living

There are several different kinds of alternative living out there. You could do your podcast on what it means to be a minimalist, a van-life person, or a WWOOFer. 

95. Bad bosses

A lot of us have had bad bosses, but at least they make for good stories, right? Yep, bad bosses are a podcast topic idea many can relate to, so you won’t have any shortage of listeners to tune in or share their stories.

96. A day in the life of the successful

We’re used to hearing the broad, vague answers on how successful people found their great success, but wouldn’t it be nice to know what they actually do on a daily basis? 

Interview the people who have it all figured out, following their day from breakfast to their nighttime routine to give listeners up-close inspiration. 

97. Spotlight

Want to put a movie, event, destination, artist, or anything else in the spotlight? Pick something amazing that’s underrated or trending to feature and go in-depth with all facts. The podcast episode ideas here are endless.

98. E-commerce shop owners

More and more people are getting into E-commerce. Get the inside scoop from shop owners to find out how they got their start, their favorite tools, tips, and more, and share it on your podcast.

99. Mythbusting

There are a lot of widely-believed myths floating around; explore these myths on topics like history, science, nutrition, etc., and reveal the truth to your listeners. 

100. News

Sure, there’s not much new about a news podcast, but there are several ways you can switch things up. For example, only discuss only good news or focus solely on environmental news. 

Or, try out some podcast segment ideas to switch things up, like a rapid-fire Q&A or a round of Mario Kart with your guest to keep things interesting or lighten things up.

101. Podcasting

Why not start a podcast on podcasting? The sky is really the limit for podcast topic ideas here. 

You can take people along on your own podcast journey, provide advice (tech tips, how-tos, etc.), talk about podcasting industry news, discuss other podcasts, and interview other podcasters. 

Ready to learn podcasting the smart way?

The SPI Community has the courses, resources, support, and accountability you need.

Learn more about the SPI Community

How to Find Topics for a Podcast

1. Lay the groundwork: Know your audience 

Ultimately, your content ideas won't get far without a solid understanding of your target audience and what they want to hear. And how well your ideas land once you choose them is heavily dependent on getting this step right.

So if you aren't already clear on the audience you want to reach, this is an essential place to start. 

Knowing your audience doesn't only help you develop more ideas for episodes but also keeps you from experiencing creative burnout. If you're trying to create content for an audience whose needs you aren't familiar with, you'll run dry pretty quickly. 

So if you don't already have a good read on your audience, start by asking yourself who you want to reach with your content, being as specific as you can. What's your target audience's age and geographic location? What are their struggles, goals, and interests? 

Some podcasters find it helpful to create an avatar to visualize who you want to reach.

A well-defined listener demographic narrows your focus, gives you invaluable insight, and goes a long way toward connecting you with a wealth of podcast topic ideas. 

2. Find out what's already been done 

Before you try to develop ideas for episodes, it's best to survey the land to see what's already been done with your podcast topic. From there, you have a strong foundation for coming up with your own unique angle on the issue.

If you don't yet have any ideas, researching the competition can help get your gears turning. And if you have a vague idea for a possible episode, you can use this research to see what other creators have done with the topic. Here are a couple of ways you can start.

Research competitors & fill in the gaps 

Researching episodes in your podcast's genre is a powerful tool for seeing what ground is already covered and what gaps still exist. The only way you can fill in said gaps is to consistently keep an eye on other podcasters' content and do something different from the rest.

Search out other shows and find ways to answer questions better than they've been before. You can also spin a topic that's been done a thousand times before with your own unique take.

You can go to Apple Podcasts > Browse > Categories to find your podcast's genre and search the top shows within its category, or just search a topic in the search bar. Browsing other podcast episodes is a great way to quickly survey your genre and see what kind of content is out there.

You can also run more specific searches using tools like Listen Notes for a deeper, more advanced search. This tool lets you tailor searches to quickly get an idea of the shows within your podcast's niche.

Search the topic on YouTube

Similar to researching the competition on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes) or Spotify, YouTube is a great way to see what people are already doing with your topic so that you can veer from it with your own take on the subject.

This method works best as a way to see what's already been done with your topic idea, vs. finding new ones—although you might end up finding some along the way.

Once you get an idea of what content exists around a topic, you'll have a sense of what you can do to stand out. From here, you can get more creative using tools to help generate specific ideas.

3. Use idea-generating tools and techniques 

Creativity isn't just about waiting for inspiration to strike; there are many tools and tactics you can employ to help get your gears turning. Here are ten methods you can use when you need some assistance brainstorming episode ideas.

Answer the Public 

Answer the Public takes the data from over 3 billion daily Google searches and puts them into one big well of data—and it's a treasure trove of episode ideas for podcasters. 

The tool works by taking data from search engines like Google and collecting every phrase and question the public asks about virtually any topic you can imagine. Let's say you have a podcast on entrepreneurship and are considering doing a podcast episode on getting started. Just enter “entrepreneurship” in the search bar (it's usually best to keep your search to one or two words vs. a phrase or question). 

The site breaks down your topic into questions related to the topic, comparisons to help you bring in other related issues, and even a list of common searches for each letter of the alphabet (i.e., “entrepreneurship books,” “entrepreneurship courses,” etc.).

“Google searches are the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche.” — US data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 

Answer the Public gives non-paying customers one free search per day, and the good news is that's more than enough for podcasters. One search gives you hundreds of ideas per topic the first time around and enough to chew on for quite a while.

If you want unlimited searches and a deeper dive into other pro features, you can upgrade to the Pro plan for $99/month (and cancel anytime). Again, this isn't necessary for the vast majority of podcasters, and the free version should do just fine.

Google the alphabet 

In our opinion, Answer the Public is the best way to get an alphabetized list of searches on your topic. But what if you don't like the platform, feel stifled by the once-a-day search limit, or just want to do the research yourself? You can use the “Google the alphabet” technique to access some of the same information—with a little more footwork on your end.

Here’s how to do it. Open Google and enter your podcast’s topic. For example, you could enter “entrepreneurship for” or simply “entrepreneurship.”

Then, enter the first letter of the alphabet after your search phrase to let Autocomplete work its magic. Other ideas automatically generate when you type in “a,” letting you see what people search for related to your entry. 

Next, enter “b” and continue going through the alphabet until you get enough ideas jotted down. You can go back and alter your phrase or question to get more ideas or a slightly different slant on the topic, and this can usually get you pretty far.

Again, Answer the Public does this for you automatically, but it can be helpful to know how to do it yourself, too. 

Ask your social media followers 

Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have made it simple to run polls, take Q&As, and stay connected with your audience's struggles and questions. 

If you aren't already familiar with this feature, just take a picture or video in your stories, select the “poll” icon and place it in your post. You can ask questions like “What content do you want more of?” or “What's something you wonder about but are afraid to ask?”

You can also turn the tables and run a Q&A to let your audience ask you the questions. Running social media Q&As is a great way to get content ideas with little effort. 

Ask your podcast audience

If you don't have a big social media presence yet, you can directly poll your podcast audience instead. 

Asking questions via the podcast is an excellent way to reach your core audience and most loyal listeners—the people who care most about the content you create. 

One of the most direct ways to get feedback from your audience is by posting a survey in your show notes using a tool like Survey Monkey. You can announce the survey in your episode and even provide an incentive for completing it, like a free ebook, guide, or cheat sheet.

Researching your topic is great, but nothing beats getting feedback directly from your audience to use as inspiration for future content.

Search Reddit & Quora

Reddit and Quora are network communities featuring forums based around people's interests and exist for nearly every topic imaginable. 

These platforms are an excellent way for podcasters to get inside the heads of the public to get you brainstorming and help connect you with specific, niche questions you wouldn't find elsewhere.

Continuing with the entrepreneurship example, you can search these communities for related subreddits and see what kinds of questions the public has about it. 

Forums attract people passionate about the topic, making them great resources for finding those nitty-gritty questions and untapped topics.

As a bonus, if you have an episode that answers a question, you can freely promote your own podcast (in the form of an answer). So you might attract some new listeners in the process!

Make a list of all your ideas (good and bad)

Some of the best podcast ideas come from writing down all your ideas—without judgment or holding back. Just list out your thoughts until you hit a designated number, let's say 50. If you write 50 ideas, you'll not only get your creativity flowing, but you'll likely come up with several unique ideas you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

If you prefer, you can set aside a designated time, say 20 minutes, to write as many ideas as you can on a sheet of paper or in your Notes app. 

The main takeaway here is to not second guess your thoughts, overthink, or hesitate to write them down. And when you find a good idea, you can flesh it out using a similar technique called freewriting. 

Take the idea you want to explore, and write out your stream-of-consciousness thoughts. Set a timer and write everything that pops in your head. You'll surprise yourself with the ideas you can generate when you relax, lower the stakes, and get your thinking brain out of the way.

Advanced searches on Google & Twitter 

Twitter can be an excellent tool for seeing what people are saying about a given topic, and a simple search on your subject matter can yield a lot of helpful results. For even more tailored results, you can use the advanced search filters to narrow your search by date, hashtags, accounts, and mentions.

You can use Twitter's search option as a time capsule to view past conversations or stay current with what's trending.

Google also has an advanced search tool that lets you tailor your search results with more exact parameters. Most people using Google results stop after the first one or two pages, and in podcasting, using the same sources can lead to a lot of repeated content.

Narrowing your focus using advanced search tools is key to finding highly relevant, relatively untapped podcast ideas.

Join Facebook groups

Like Quora and Reddit, Facebook groups serve as a helpful forum where people gather and discuss a given topic in more depth.

You can join a handful of Facebook groups related to your topic and occasionally browse the page to see what people are saying. You'll likely find a lot of questions, recognize some common themes, and get great podcast ideas from threads.

Consider the opposite viewpoint 

Also called asymmetrical thinking, studying the opposite viewpoint of a given topic is a mind-expanding practice that opens you up to a bigger picture and can prompt more ideas for your episodes.

You can also study different ways people approach the same topic, question, or problem. Taking in conflicting or paradoxical ideas can clarify your own thoughts on the issue and keep your content well-rounded and dynamic.

4. Cultivate the habit of creativity

The ideas listed above work best as part of a consistent habit versus a last-minute effort to develop podcast content. Here are a couple of tips to help you cultivate the habit of creativity and integrate it into your workflow.

Schedule time to brainstorm

Coming up with quality content ideas is probably the most critical aspect of creating a successful podcast, so it's a good idea to schedule time specifically dedicated to content idea generation and brainstorming. 

Scheduling blocks of time, or even an entire day, solely for coming up with content helps you stay one step ahead of the game and gets you in the habit of being creative instead of waiting for inspiration to strike.

Remember, as a podcast host, it's entirely up to you how often you publish new podcast episodes. You can build in scheduled gaps between episodes if you feel overwhelmed at the idea of posting new content every week.

Use a spreadsheet to stay organized 

Once you start coming up with podcast topic ideas, you'll need an organized way to keep track of them all. Using a spreadsheet really pays off here, and a little organization can free up valuable mental space you can use to focus on your content. 

Keep the Podcast Episode Ideas Coming

Now you have a ton of podcast ideas to get you started and the steps you need to keep the good ideas flowing.

To recap, coming up with podcast episode ideas takes a four-pronged approach:

• Know your audience
• Survey the competition
• Use the right research tools and methods
• Be persistent about cultivating the mental habit of creativity

Content generation is a big part of podcasting; whether you produce content about tech or the arts, it requires persistence and commitment. 

We hope these tips can help you integrate the practice into your workflow in a way that feels feasible for the long term!Haven't nailed down your podcast's overall concept yet? Check out SPI Media’s complete podcasting tutorial and our blog post on untapped podcast ideas for more content inspiration and podcasting tips.

Ready to learn podcasting the smart way?

The SPI Community has the resources you need.

Learn more about the SPI Community

The post Podcast Topics: 101 Ideas for Things to Talk About appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

How to Start a Podcast in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide

You're about to learn how to start a podcast, step-by-step, even if you've never done anything technical like this before. I've been podcasting since 2010, but I can still remember how confusing and intimidating it was in the beginning. You're about to learn how to start your show, the easy way. The SMART way.

Let's get into it…

Want to start your podcast faster?

The SPI Community has the courses, resources, support, and accountability you need to launch your podcast now.

Join the SPI Community today!

The #1 reason why you need to start a podcast

On the Internet today, it's all about earning trust, and there's no better way to earn trust from people than with your voice—the real you.

As a podcaster, you're going to broadcast your message to thousands, maybe even millions of people. But to the listener, it's just you and them. As I once heard from a fellow podcast veteran, “Podcasting is the best way to scale intimacy.”

And it's so true. When I meet my listeners in person, they say things like:

• “Thanks for keeping me company while I was . . .”
• “I was scrambling, taking notes while you were talking about . . .”
• “Pat, I feel like I know you.”

When I learned about the kind of connection you can make with your listeners, I became obsessed with podcasting. I created several more shows, including AskPat, FoodTruckr School, and The 1-Day Business Breakthrough Podcast, and even one with my ten-year-old son called All Of Your Beeswax.

Here's my second most popular show with over 1,200 episodes!

AskPat 2.0

A series of weekly coaching calls with entrepreneurs and business owners just like you!

LEARN MORE

What do I need to start a podcast? Myths and blockers

Before you can begin recording, we first have to dispel a few myths. Once the “what is a podcast?” question is answered, these are the most common blockers I find many of my podcasting students have when trying to get started:

Myth #1: You have to be a natural-born communicator or speaker

Back in 2008, I wrote a blog post announcing that I was going to start a brand new podcast. I even published a little audio file to make the announcement to test my new equipment. I cringe when I think about it. Personally, it's hard for me to listen to, but I'm going to let you listen to it now:

What's with that music? And did you hear how timid I sounded? I was NOT great behind the microphone, and every time I tried to record my first actual episode, I'd get scared and go back to blogging. I didn't think I was good enough.

It took me a year and a half to finally publish my first episode, and of course, I'm so glad I did. Over time, my communication skills improved, and as you already know, the results are more than I could have dreamed.

I hope sharing this with you helps you realize that you don't have to be great to get started. I wasn't, that's for sure. Now, on to the next myth …

Myth #2: You have to podcast in a large niche to succeed

Not true. Need proof? Let me introduce you to one of my students, Phil Lichtenberger, host of Scanner School.

Phil's podcast is in the scanner niche, the handheld kind that you can use to listen to police lines and emergency frequencies and nerdy things like that.

Yeah, not too large in terms of a listening audience compared to things like entrepreneurship, personal development, fitness, and other large niches. This was a hobby of his, and he wanted to use a podcast to just talk more about it and connect with others.

Well, within six months, he became a micro-celebrity in the space. Check out this Facebook Message he posted in our Podcast Student Center:

Phil's podcast, in the small niche of scanners, was a hit. Now he has fans, repeat listeners, and even companies reaching out to work with him.

No matter the size of your niche, you can bring your audience together. Also know that many times the riches are in the niches, and there's an advantage to narrowing down your focus and staying small.

Myth #3: You have to have a following to get started

Nope. Not true.

In fact, a lot of people are starting their podcasts SO THAT they can finally start building their audience, even from scratch.

Take Sophie Walker, for example, another one of my students who literally started with zero. No email list. No audience. No following.

Here's what happened with her new podcast, Australian Birth Stories:

Yes, she did it. She became the #1 Kids & Family podcast on Apple Podcasts in Australia. Her podcast has recently been accredited by the Australian College of Midwives as Certified Professional Development to all Australian Midwives.

How amazing is that?! And all of it, from scratch.

If you're starting from the beginning with zero audience, then I think you've made a wise choice to start a podcast to get going.

The easiest way to learn how to start a podcast

I've outlined the entire process from start to finish for you below. Recently, I also published an updated video to take you step-by-step. If you prefer learning visually, and with voice behind it, click play on the video below.

Looking to start an audio podcast? Watch this.

Looking to start a video podcast? Watch this.

Whether you watch the video above or not, here's a list of things you'll need ahead of recording and publishing your first podcast episode, explained:

What to prepare before you start recording

Before you start recording, and even before you dive into the tutorial videos below, there are five things you need to prepare. Have all of this stuff handy for later—you'll thank me for it.

1. Choose a podcast topic you can commit to

It's easy to get hyped up about an opportunity like podcasting, however I've seen it many times before: If you don't plan ahead, you're going to be doomed.

Podcasting takes some work, so you're going to want to make sure you spend adequate time upfront to make sure you choose a topic that excites you. Something that has more than three episodes worth in your head. Something that'll keep you going for the long run.

I can't tell you what topic to choose, but I can give you a couple exercises that I teach my students that will help you frame whether or not a topic you're thinking about is worth pursuing.

Check out my full guide on choosing podcast topics, complete with tons of ideas for podcast episodes!

Exercise #1: Create a list of 25 episodes

Write down a list of twenty-five potential episode ideas for the podcast topic(s) you have in mind. You can include potential guest names, too, as if you already have those people booked.

You don't need to worry about the exact title of the episodes — just come up with the ideas.

If you can't get past ten, then what happens when you record ten episodes and you're left scrambling to figure out what's next?

The Smart Passive Income Podcast has published over 850 episodes, and AskPat over 1200, because business topics are a passion of mine. I could write down 1000 more right now if I needed to.

If you showed me at least twenty-five right now, I'd feel comfortable about that topic for you.

Exercise #2: One year from now

It's one year from now, and you're going full-steam with your podcast. You're fifty-two episodes in, and you're even beginning to get a number of emails from companies and your fans about your podcast.

You wake up each morning and connect with people on social media who just recently listened to your show.

Are you bored? Are you stoked? Are you happy?

When I run this exercise with my students, some realize that a year from now, even if their podcast was successful, it's not a topic they'd really be happy about.

Instead of just choosing something that's obviously right in front of you, spend some time thinking about what would make you happy to wake up and podcast about a year from now and beyond.

2. Pick your podcast name

The title of your podcast is one of the first things people see, even before they listen to a single word of your show. So naturally, this is a really important decision.

All this info goes into your podcast host when you setup your show there, and you can always change anything related to your show (people change their title, description and artwork all of the time).

I understand if you're feeling a little hesitant about nailing down a show title and moving forward. It defines your branding, your artwork, what you say, how you share it, and many, many more things.

For several podcasters who already have a brand elsewhere (where the podcast is an extension of that brand) then naming the show is usually relatively simple. It includes the brand name, and sometimes some version of the word “podcast,” “radio,” “show,” or another modifier to differentiate it a bit:

For personal brands, you'll almost always see the name of the person in the show itself, which makes sense because they are the brand:

Then you have the titles of podcasts that describe exactly what you're going to get when you listen to it. The title itself is descriptive of the content. And yes, this does help with search engine optimization:

And then, of course, you have the podcast names that at first glance don't make any sense at all. These can be successful, too! The podcast name takes meaning based on what the host does with it. So even if you can't nail the perfect descriptive show title, know that whatever title you pick eventually becomes what you make of it:

Remember, Apple and other directories are also search engines — don't forget that.

However, I do have an important warning: Don't go overboard with the keywords in the title of your podcast. Don't keyword stuff by adding a billion keywords after the actual name of your show. Try to keep your title as natural as possible, and select your keywords carefully.

Apple has been known to remove accounts due to obvious keyword stuffing in titles.

Don't do that.

Oh, and for your host name, don't do this, either:

John Smith | Fitness Expert | Nutritionist | Weightlifting Coach | Likes Long Walks on the Beach

Spend some time coming up with ideas for your podcast title. Share it with people around you and get a gut reaction to see what they think. And if you have an audience, ask them. It's a great excuse to seed that you're coming out with a podcast soon (and it'll hold you accountable, too).

3. Write a compelling podcast description

You'll need to write a description paragraph about your show for your audience. After they make their way to your show page, this will be the description they read to decide whether or not they want to stick around.

This is where you'll have a little more freedom to play with keywords. Whatever keywords and keyphrases your target audience may use to find content like yours, include those words in your description.

But, just simply listing them out isn't going to work because people will read these descriptions — you want these people to feel compelled to click and listen to your podcast.

My best advice: write for the humans in your target audience and know who your podcast is for. Understand their wants, needs, questions, curiosities, and more, and you'll be more likely to create a description to feed people into your show much, much easier.

With that in mind, here is a list of tips I have for you related to your podcast description:

• Start with something that matters to them. There's a small part of the description they'll see first before they have to click to see the rest, so if the benefits or connection is buried, then they won't even know it's for them.
• It's okay to talk about yourself. You need to prove that you're someone worth listening to and spending time with. But similar to the above, don't start with you. Feel free to add any credentials and other proof that support this person's decision to listen to you.
• Imagine your listeners sharing your show with their friends. What would they say? When they say, “Oh you have to listen to this new podcast, it's great because it's the only one I've found that…”, how would you imagine they finish that sentence?

You have 4000 characters to work with, so you have a lot of room. Have fun with it, but make sure it all makes sense, and if something is not important, leave it out.

4. Decide on your podcast format

• Should I do interviews or a solo show?
• How long should my podcast episodes be?
• How often should I publish my podcast?

Let me answer these common questions for you:

Show Style: Interview show or solo show?

There's no wrong answer here, but it's good to think about, ahead of time, whether or not you'd like to invite guests onto your podcast.

Don't worry yet about how you're going to interview other people, or even how you're going to convince them to say yes (more on that later in the tutorial), but the earlier you decide, the earlier you can plan and begin reaching out to others.

Interviews are fantastic because you can get information and collect amazing stories that you yourself couldn't provide to your audience — at least not from the source. That being said, scheduling interviews and coordinating all of that can get difficult at times. I use a tool like SavvyCal [affiliate link] to help me schedule my interviews.

The biggest benefit, however, is the relationship that you can build with your guest during the call. You're going to have a conversation for several minutes, sometimes even over an hour, and sometimes you can't help but get to know the person and become friends.

Many of my best friends in the online and business space have come as a result of the people who I've connected with on my podcast, or on their podcast.

Solo shows (where it's just you recording) are awesome, too. They show off authority, you can build trust with your audience (especially if you help them) more directly, but imagine sitting in a room talking by yourself to a microphone. It feels weird at first, but you get used to it. Like anything, it just takes some practice.

“How long should my podcast episodes be?”

The most common question I get when it comes to how to start a podcast is about the length of episodes.

Number one, know that you don't have to have the same length episode every single time. In general, you want to stay within an expected range, but if you happen to journey outside of that time, it's not the end of the world.

The best answer to how long an episode should be is this:

However long the episode needs to be to serve its purpose for your audience.

If an interview was going well but you haven't gotten to the main story yet, would you cut it off just because of time? On the other hand, if you said everything you needed to say, would you add 20 minutes of fluff just to hit a certain time?

Long episodes are okay, and short episodes are okay. Try to remain within a range consistently over time, but the random outlier is okay, too.

“How often should I publish my podcast?”

You should publish your podcast consistently.

That's the answer.

It doesn't matter if your podcast comes out each week, every other week, or once a day. As long as you can get into a rhythm and groove so that your audience knows what to expect, then it's okay.

Obviously, the more frequently you publish, the more opportunities there are for your audience to download and share more episodes, plus there would be more content for you to be discovered with via search.

But at the same time, the more episodes you publish, the more work there is for you to do.

You can change your frequency (you're not “locked in”) and publish whenever you want, but try your best to stick to a schedule for a while until making changes, or else you might confuse and frustrate your audience.

When I started the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I only had the capacity for episodes once every other week. I was blogging and publishing three times a week. Then, once I saw how amazing the results were for my show, I switched it to weekly, and then got obsessed and created even more podcasts.

The most important advice related to all of this format stuff is, you have to pick something and go. Stop questioning what the right answer is, because really you won't know until you get started and publish your podcast. Stop holding yourself back, make decisions, and keep moving forward!

5. Get your podcast artwork and music created

Your podcast is definitely going to need cover artwork and could probably benefit from having a piece or two of music.

How do you get those?

Creating podcast artwork

Your podcast is also going to need some artwork — a square image that represents your show. As much as podcasting is an auditory medium, the graphic, visual element that represents your podcast plays an extremely important role.

For one, it's what people will see in podcasting directories before listening to a single spoken word and before reading any written words about your show in the description or summary. Your artwork is your podcast's first impression, and it's also what competes for attention with every other podcast that's out there.

For Apple Podcasts specifically, a visually appealing podcast image gives your show a better chance of being featured in highly visible sections of iTunes, such as their “New & Noteworthy” and “What's Hot” sections for your show's category.

And lastly, your artwork is what people will see on their media players — their computers and mobile devices — when they listen to your show. It's an important element for reinforcing your brand identity to your followers.

Podcast artwork specifications

The Apple Podcast image specifications change periodically. This is from the most recent update:

“Size: Square; 3000 x 3000 pixels. If you’re submitting your show via RSS feed, Apple Podcasts accepts show cover artwork ranging from 1400 x 1400 to 3000 x 3000 pixels. The largest size is preferred.File type: JPEG or PNG”

Here are some more tips related to your artwork to help you even further:

• Head to Apple Podcasts (or any other directory) and find podcasts in categories that you might potentially place your podcast in. What kinds of artwork do you see there? What stands out to you? What inspires you?
• Although you're designing for a big size (3000 x 3000 pixels), most people find podcasts on their smaller devices. Make sure you design for the small size, too. As a test, export your artwork at 55 x 55px and make sure all the things that you want to see are still there.
• Again, if you have an audience, design a few different versions and get their opinion. This will seed your podcast once again, get them involved, and make them more interested in this project of yours, and ultimately more likely to support you when it goes live.

Where might you get great artwork created? Out of everything else here, this is definitely worth investing in because it's literally the first thing people see related to your podcast. If you don't have a designer of your own, try 99designs.com or Fiverr.com, or potentially try designing your own artwork using a tool like Canva.com.

Finding podcast music

There’s certainly not an official book of rules for starting a podcast, and even if there was, “you must have music” wouldn’t be included.

That being said, I’m a big fan of having some bumper music at the beginning and end of my podcasts for an added layer of branding and professionalism.

You can follow my lead and also include a voice-over, though don’t let that hold you back from just getting started.

A 10-second piece of music on its own is fine, if you include a voice-over try to keep your intros and outros to about 30 seconds to avoid annoying your soon-to-be-long-time listeners.

Where can I find podcast music?

There are a ton of websites where you can find podcast music that’s completely safe to use (meaning you won’t be getting any copyright infringement letters from the music's creator).

This music will typically be called “royalty-free,” “library,” or “stock” music, and can be sold piece by piece or through subscriptions that give you ongoing access to huge volumes of sounds and tracks.

There’s also an avenue for finding free music under Creative Commons licensing, though keep in mind you’ll have to pay attention to the rules of the license for each particular piece of music as some don’t allow commercial use.

You also might consider commissioning custom music via Fiverr or another freelancing platform, but again, don’t let the time or dollar costs of doing this hold you back from starting your pod!

A few places I like to look for podcast music:

• Shutterstock
• Storyblocks
• Envato Elements

I hope you're enjoying learning how to start a podcast so far. Now is where it starts to get real. It's time to get podcasting equipment so we can finally make this happen.

6. Purchase your podcast equipment and test your podcasting software

There's a lot of equipment you could purchase to start your show — the prices range from cheap $5 microphones (that sound really bad) to entire broadcasting studio setups (that sound like you're about to drop an album) that get into the five and six-figure ranges.

I promise you, you do not need to spend as much money as you might think to get your show up and running.

The most important piece of podcasting equipment is a microphone that makes you sound good. There's a certain standard of audio quality now in the podcasting space. If you're not up to that standard, you could have the best content in the world but still have people leave and find something that sounds better.

So what should you get? Something easy to use. Something that won't require a lot of additional extras (like mixers, amplifiers, etc.), and something that's not going to break the bank.

The answer: The Samson Q2U USB/XLR Dynamic Microphone [Amazon affiliate link]. Here's what I love about it:

• Great value ($70-$90 on Amazon with accessories)
• It plugs in to your computer via USB (no extras needed)
• It sounds just like my pro $400 microphone

Here is my basic beginner podcasting gear recommendations. You'll find two microphones on this list to accommodate for availability issues in different countries, but you only need one (they are very similar).

Also, in case you're interested, here's a review video where you can see it in action below, along with the Audio-Technica ATR-2100, which was previously my favorite podcasting mic but has since been discontinued:

As far as software to record into, I recommend going simple with what you might already have access to. Again, you don't need to spend money on anything fancy right now. I'd rather you save that for marketing your show.

I recommend Garageband if you're on a Mac, or if you're not a fan of Garageband and/or you're a Windows person, then I'd recommend Audacity instead. Both are free.

For interviews, I recommend Zoom.us, or Skype on the low-end, but if you want the best quality, I highly recommend going with SquadCast, an amazing web-based interview platform that makes it SUPER simple to record the highest quality audio over the Internet.

For editing your show using the software mentioned above, I have a couple of tutorials on YouTube that have been seen over half a million times that you can watch here:

• How to Record & Edit a Podcast in Garageband (Complete Tutorial)
• How to Record and Edit a Podcast in Audacity (Complete Tutorial)

If you need help with reducing echo in your recordings (which can happen with hardwood floors and rooms with lots of windows), here are some easy (and cheap) ways to use things around the house to reduce the echo in your recordings:

• Does a Rug Reduce Echo?
• Free Ways to Reduce Echo
• Cheap and PRO Acoustical Sound Panels

7. Choose a podcast hosting service

A common mistake when starting a podcast is thinking that you can simply open the podcast app on your phone or computer, hit record, and voilà — your podcast is ready.

While we all wish it would be that easy to publish an episode, you must first pick a podcast host. A host that will publish your recordings to popular podcast directories with ease and give you the ability to share your episodes on your website in style.

For those reasons, SPI recommends Fusebox as both your podcast host and podcast player of choice, and here's why:

While there are quite literally dozens of platforms out there to choose from, it's rare to find one that offers …

• Intuitive podcast hosting and analytics
• A sleek web player experience
• A price that won't break the bank
• And no messy add-ons or extra fees

Sure. There are hosts that check one or two of those — but why settle for just a few?
Fusebox doesn't charge extra for podcast hosting. They offer the best-looking players in the industry. And their “go-anywhere” HTML code allows you to put podcast players almost anywhere you need them to be.

Fusebox

Fusebox began its journey as a tool of necessity. Back in the early days of podcasting, the podcast players available weren't great. So, they set out to build a highly-customizable player that can seamlessly blend into a website.

Over the years, Fusebox built a following of podcasters who realized that providing their website visitors with a top-tier, elegant player was sometimes more important than who hosted their podcast.

Fast forward to today, and Fusebox has continued to grow its presence in the podcasting industry by introducing its own podcast hosting service, Easy Hosting, all while remaining agile enough to quickly roll out new features and respond to customer feedback.

Here are some of my favorite features:

• Podcast hosting is INCLUDED with all paid subscriptions!
• Three different player modes to meet the needs of your website.
• Highly-customizable players. Hide all the buttons, show all the buttons — it's up to you!
• An intuitive dashboard design, built to make podcasting easy.
• Included podcast analytics to learn more about your listeners and how they listen.
• Go-anywhere player HTML! Embed a player in your Circle community, Shopify website, and more!
• An episode transcript plugin with email capture.
• Simple pricing with no extra add-ons, overage fees, or bandwidth throttling.

The team at Fusebox is so passionate about helping podcasters achieve their podcasting goals, we've worked out an amazing offer for our How to Start a Podcast Step-By-Step Guide!

Try Fusebox

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The official podcast player used by SPI! Fusebox provides your website visitors with a superior listening experience. From its powerful podcast hosting and analytics to the industry's most elegant and responsive web players, Fusebox is a must-have tool for starting a podcast.

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8. Record your podcast episodes

So you're finally ready to record. Great! If you're like me when I first started, then it's very likely that you're going to open up your recording software, stare at the screen, and hesitate to hit record. Or, you're going to hit record, struggle like mad, and doubt this entire process.

I use Riverside for recording remote interviews because they record high quality audio with each guest onto a separate track, and are able to compensate if a guest's internet drops during recording. This is a tool I use — and they've agreed to give my readers a special deal.

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Please don't wait a year and a half like I did. You can do this.

I know it's scary, but here are some tips I have to help you get started:

1. Editing is how the magic happens.

Don't think you have to hit record and get it all perfect in one seamless take. We call that a one-take Jake, and he does not exist.

You're going to mess up. You're going to have to re-say lots of things. You're going to have awkward pauses.

And no one has to know. That's the power of editing! You have two options here:

1. Hit record, let it run, even through all of your mistakes, and then go back and edit those mistakes, long pauses, and awkward moments out after.
2. Hit record and go until you mess up. Stop, cut out the mistake, and then hit record and pick up where you left off.

You do not…I REPEAT…you do not need to start over from the beginning if you mess up in the middle. You do not need to take perfectionism to that extent. And yes, I've driven myself crazy before thinking that's how it had to be done.

2. The Secret: Reverse engineer the episode outline

When writing a book, the worst thing in the world is staring at a blank page and asking yourself “What am I going to write about?”

The same goes for your podcast. Don't go into your recording software without a plan — at least a high-level one — for the talking points of the episode you're creating.

Here's my process for “reverse engineering” an episode structure:

1. Start with the end in mind. What's the purpose of this episode? What's the takeaway I want people to have?
2. What stories, points, case studies, or bodies of work do I need to reference in order to support #1? I just do a brain dump of these. No particular order.
3. What order should all of #2 be in?

I often use Post-It notes (my favorite thing in the world) to outline my show so I can more easily move bits and pieces around. Watch this video if you'd like to see that Post-It note process in full effect.

If you're doing an interview episode, then it's a little different, but not by much. I want to know what I want the audience to take away from my time with my guest, and I also want to have an idea of what questions I might ask to help the audience get there.

I rarely stick to the entire list of questions when I conduct an interview. It takes practice, but eventually you'll get to the point where you can follow-up with great questions and dig even deeper to get better information from your guest for your audience.

3. Think of your listener persona while you talk

 A lot of beginner podcasters get themselves in a tangle by imagining talking to themselves or just talking to a microphone when they start recording.

This can lead to feeling overly self-conscious or like there’s not much of a point to making a podcast. It’s not only uncomfortable for you, this can also leave your podcast feeling flat, disjointed, and unenjoyable for your listeners.

When you imagine yourself speaking to your podcast listener avatar, that one person who absolutely loves and raves about everything you create for them, you’ll help yourself stay connected to the why behind the podcast you’re making. That will shine through in your voice and words, just like you can tell a person is smiling and happy or angry and upset when you talk with them on the phone.

4. It's going to be bad at the start

You have to get through a good number of episodes first before you start to get into a rhythm and feel the groove. If you wait until you feel good about your show before you hit publish on episode one, I guarantee you will never have a podcast.

Just get it out there, let the world find it, and use that experience to continually improve your podcast over time.

5. Upload your episodes, even if they aren't perfect

Perfectionism will ruin any chances of your show taking off, or even getting published in the first place. Remember, it was the perfectionist mindset that got in my own way and kept me from publishing my first episode over a year after I purchased my microphone. I don't want that to be you! You will regret it, like I did.

Export your edited podcast episodes as a .mp3 file and upload it to your host, such as Fusebox. Finally, don't forget to submit your podcast to any podcast directories you want your show to be visible on. Fusebox's dashboard and support page point you in the right direction.

9. Review my top tips for creating and growing your podcast

I've updated one of my most popular videos for the current podcasting landscape. Here are 50 tips for making your podcast the best that it can be.

Then it's time to let the world know about it.

10. Let the world know about your new podcast!

Getting your podcast up and running is just half the battle. Once it's up, how do we get people to find it?

Well, that's my specialty. There's a lot involved with podcast marketing and findability (too much to share here or in a single post), — I offer a ton of detailed tips and strategies in my premium course, Power-Up Podcasting. But from a high-level, here's what you could focus on:

1. Launch like it's an event. You want to make a big deal out of your new podcast to get as many eyeballs (and ears) as possible on your show as soon as it launches.
2. Utilize your network. Now is the time to ask your friends, family, community, audience, colleagues — anyone in your network — to help support you and your show. Don't be afraid to ask (this is a big deal!) and hopefully you'll get lots of support.
3. Anywhere you might have access to larger groups of people — for example your social channels, your email list, any groups you're involved with — let them know ahead of time that something is coming, and when your podcast goes live, you'll be able to announce it without feeling like it came out of nowhere.
4. On social media, you could utilize tools such as Repurpose.io and Wavve.co to create little snippets of your audio in video format so it's more viewable and more interesting on your channels.
5. During launch week, thank every single person who comments on your podcast. Ask them to leave a review and share it with anyone who they know who might find it valuable. Interact. Even if your audience is small to start, the direct interaction can feed your energy level and offer valuable feedback for your future podcast episodes.

And of course, I have a video with some more helpful info that you may find useful:

11. How to make money podcasting

Whether you want to become a full-time podcaster and have your show replace your income, or you just want to do it on the side, I think it's really important to consider how to make money with your podcast, even if the goal is to simply cover your time and costs with some passive income.

You should be rewarded for your hard work, for sure!

The most common way podcasts make money is through advertising or sponsorships. Companies may pay you money to have you read off a script or talk about their company in different parts of your podcast episodes.

This can be very rewarding, but at the same time it's hard to find sponsors when your show is just starting out. They want to know people are going to listen before they pay you.

I'd recommend starting with affiliate marketing. That means you can generate an income by talking about and recommending various products that you use, similar to how I've provided helpful content here while mentioning various microphones and podcast hosting platforms. You can start with this kind of income generation from day one. Even if you don't have many listeners, you'll see the clicks coming in a year from now when you do.

You could potentially promote software you use, programs you've joined, services you use, or even physical products by joining Amazon's associates program.

For more info about generating income from your podcast, check out this popular video below:

What's Next?

Download the free Podcast Cheat Sheet

Sign up for my free Podcast Cheat Sheet! This checklist was made as a companion to the How to Start a Podcast Guide, and will help you stay on track as you go through the steps I've outlined above so you can learn how to start a podcast the smart way. It has all the steps (and more) to help you launch and grow your podcast.

A free checklist for starting your podcast

Make sure you don't miss a step! The Podcast Cheat Sheet gives you all the steps you need to start your show.

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How to start a podcast FAQ

1. How Long Should My Podcast Episodes Be?
2. How Often Should I Release My Podcast Episodes?
3. What Equipment Do You Need to Start a Podcast?
4. How Much Money Does It Take to Start a Podcast?
5. Can You Start a Podcast for Free?
6. How Much Money do Podcasters Make?

How long should my podcast episodes be?

The answer here is tricky as the most successful podcasts in the world range in episode length from 10 minutes (like NPR’s Up First) to 3 hours (like The Joe Rogan Experience).

When you’re getting started podcasting, your episode length is really a matter of what you think is best for your format as well as your recording and editing stamina (it’s going to take a lot of energy to record and produce 3 hour long episodes multiple times a week when you have so much to learn and practice).

That being said, the 15 minute to 1 hour mark is a great place to start for most beginner podcasters.

Eventually you can layer in different series that could be different lengths (bite-sized 5 minute “did you knows” mixed with hour-long interviews), and get feedback from audience surveys about what they feel is best.

How often should I release my podcast episodes?

This is definitely one of the most common “how to start a podcast questions” I’m asked and my answer, as with so many things, is that consistency is key.

If you can only manage one episode a month to start, great. Publish your one episode a month and hold yourself to it.

One every two weeks? That’s awesome, get it done!

Podcasters and podcast networks that have a lot of experience (and hands to help) sometimes publish multiple episodes a day. That can certainly help you grow a large audience fast, but if you publish five episodes for one week, then completely lose steam and stop podcasting due to burnout, you’re not doing yourself or your audience any favors.

Some podcast producers create their shows in “seasons,” launching a series of podcasts all at once or in a regular stream, then taking breaks just like your favorite TV shows growing up.

Season-based podcasting can be a great strategy if you want to cover particular subjects or themes that are a subset of your overall vision, or feel that’s a better way for you to personally manage your attention or energy.

Just keep in mind that you will have listeners drop off as people incorporate other podcasts into their routines once they run out of new content from you. So unless you already have a large audience you can reach out to jump-start your listenership each season, I’d recommend you first find a consistent schedule without intermittent breaks.

Whatever schedule you choose — seasonal, weekly, or monthly — exercising the discipline of consistency is key.

What equipment do you need to start a podcast?

To start your podcast, at a minimum you’ll need:

• A computer
• A good podcast microphone
• Podcast recording and editing software
• Podcast artwork
• Podcast hosting
• Call recording software

A few things you might want but aren’t absolutely necessary:

• A podcast camera
• Noise-canceling headphones
• Podcast music
• A soundproof recording room
• Podcast music

How much money does it take to start a podcast?

Definitely an “it depends” question, but assuming the computer you already own is good enough to start a podcast with (8GB RAM, 2.5Ghz Quad-Core Processor should be fine), you can get a good podcast mic like the Samson Q2U for about $60, use free podcast recording and editing software like Audacity, and get podcast hosting free for 6 months from Fusebox — bringing the total to about $60 to get started podcasting!

Can you start a podcast for free?

It is possible to start a podcast for free using free podcast recording and editing software, a computer and microphone you already own, as well as free podcast hosting from companies like Spreaker or Podbean. The caveat with some of the do-it-for-free platforms is that you’ll likely spend more time working with tools that aren’t as easy to use as paid options, and in the case of podcasts you might end up with lower-quality audio using a less-than-the-best podcast microphone.

How much money do podcasters make?

This is yet another “it depends” answer that considers your particular sponsorship deals, audience, and size — but AdvertiseCast reports the average podcast advertising rates are currently $18 CPM (cost per mil, aka 1,000 listeners) for a 30-second ad and $25 CPM for a 60-second ad. And if you use affiliate marketing to promote products with your own custom ads and get paid when your listeners buy the products you recommend, you may be able to earn more than that by leveraging your audience trust-building and sales skills.

I appreciate you!

I truly hope you enjoyed this tutorial about how to start a podcast. I spent over 50 hours putting this tutorial together, and several more keeping it updated for you over time.

Feel free to share this guide (click here for an easy X share), especially with your friends and colleagues who you think could benefit from it.

Cheers, and I'll see you and your podcast on Apple (and other directories) very soon!

Lastly, if you still feel like you need more help and guidance to help you launch and market your podcast, check out my course, Power-Up Podcasting, for more help!

The post How to Start a Podcast in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

The SPI community has been asking about the world of freelancing a lot lately, so I thought I’d share some recent thoughts on freelancing to guide you in how to get started freelancing (and get your first client).

But first, I want to take you back to a post I shared in November 2017:

The 2 Quickest Ways to Generate an Online Income

In that post, I explain that freelancing is one of the two quickest ways to generate online income (the other is affiliate marketing). Freelancing allows you to quickly get paid for a task that can actually help solve problems for people.

And when you’re first starting out, freelancing is the number one way to get started online. It’s not passive income, which is an important thing to understand. Freelancing is definitely not passive; it’s super active. If you don’t do the work, you’re not going to get paid. But if you are dedicated and put in the effort, freelancing is a great way to get your foot in the door of an industry or niche you’re interested in. It’s, quite simply, a great way to get started in business.

After all, think about this: You just need one client. One client to make a little money. One client to get the ball rolling. One client to make a difference. And then, as you’ll hear me talk more about later in this post, you can take what you learn working with clients, and turn it into something more passive—with tools, or even a team! But first, let’s figure out how to get that first client.

Let’s get started!

What is freelancing, and why there’s huge opportunity in freelancing

I think it’s important first to define what freelancing is. Freelancing is, at its core, offering a skill you have in exchange for payment. If you have a skill a particular client or brand or business needs to help them solve their problems, they will want to hire you to solve it. And you do so with your specialized skill.

The cool part about freelancing is that there are so many different types of freelancers out there, offering up a huge range of skills. Even if you don’t have that skill right this moment, who says you can’t learn it and eventually offer up that skill too?

Here’s just a sampling of some of the types of freelance skills out there:

• Graphic design
• Photo editing
• UI design
• UX design
• Video editing
• Video production
• Voice acting
• Web design
• 2D animation
• 3D animation
• Ajax development
• Java development
• API development
• HTML development
• WordPress development
• Administrative support
• Email tech support
• Virtual assistance
• Transcription
• Data entry
• Academic writing
• Copywriting
• Copy editing
• Proofreading
• Editing
• Creative writing
• Ghostwriting
• Translation
• Accounting
• Bookkeeping
• Business analysis
• Quickbooks
• Excel
• Advertising consulting
• Google AdWords
• Marketing strategy
• SEO
• PPC
• Lead generation

And that’s just a small portion of the types of freelance skills available on the market. That’s a huge benefit when it comes to starting out in freelancing. You probably have a few of those skills already. And even if you don’t, you know that there’s a big opportunity for you to build your base of skills for your future clients.

Another benefit of freelancing is that it empowers you to enter a particular business space, get to know the people in there, and learn the ins and outs of that specific business type or industry. You may be hired for a specific skill, but you (or them or both) soon realize that there are other opportunities that you see, other areas where you can benefit the business.

In SPI Podcast session 460, Jay Clouse joins me to talk through an easy way anyone can get starting freelancing. Listen to it here:

Will my business idea work?

Enroll in our free course, Smart From Scratch®, and you'll get:

A clear understanding of your target audience

Ideas on how to serve your audience

Your roadmap forward

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today! Learn more about Smart From Scratch®.

How to get your first client (and why you just need one client!)

Once you have your own client, the road ahead gets a little easier. Don’t get caught up in thinking you need ten clients out of the gate. You just need an audience of one to start.

To help guide you through what that’s like, I had a chat with Charli Marie of CharliMarieTV.

In the video (embedded below), Charli, a successful freelance designer, shares essential tips for how to get your first freelance client, best practices for working with that client to make sure that it’s a great experience, and advice for making sure you get paid on time.

Once you have your first freelance client, how do you start making more money? In the second video in my freelance series, I continue my conversation with Charli Marie on the topic of:

5 ways to make more money (as a freelancer & entrepreneur)

So, you have your first freelance client. Now what? How do you start making your freelance life fruitful? There are many ways you can start making more money as a freelancer and entrepreneur, but we’re going to focus on just five ways for now.

1. Start building a reputation

As Charli says, building up your brand and getting your voice out there allows you to be “known for your craft.” A few great mediums to make yourself known is a blog, YouTube channel, and podcast—all platforms I use to build and grow my brand and reputation. The more you put out there, the more useful and relevant content and information you share with people online, the more you’re going to look like an expert in your particular craft or skill.

2. Have a good process in place

Know your process, and know it well. A good process means that you have an organized system and way to work with your clients from the start, the middle, and the end. If your process is non-existent, it’s just a disorganized mess, the less likely your clients are going to want to continue working with you, and probably won’t recommend you to their friends.

3. Serve the clients you already have

It can be tempting to want to always go after new clients, or to land the next great client. But when you’re too focused on new clients, you’re often forgetting about the clients you are already serving. Focus on your existing clients and the ways you can improve your service to them.

4. Upsell in an authentic way

Upselling can be tricky, and in some cases has a bad reputation. But here’s how Charli does it for her freelance clients: a tier-based approach:

• Tier 1: You do the basic work to meet the client’s stated need
• Tier 2: You meet the basic needs of the client, but also provide additional value
• Tier 3: You have a solution for the stated needs of the client, but then you also offer an additional service based on your review of the client’s situation and your experience

5. Increase your prices

Most freelancers undervalue or underprice themselves when they’re first starting out. It’s an easy thing to do because you’re just doing everything you can to get your foot in the door. But it doesn’t have to be that way—especially if you have your one client. Focus on what you do and your value.

For an extended look at more ways you can make money as a freelancer, check out my video with Charli Marie below!

Now that you’ve started freelancing, what’s next?

Freelancing, THEN WHAT? Career & biz options for freelancers

As a freelancer, you’ve probably felt the pull to do more in your career. It’s totally natural. And so in this final section of this post, I am going to share a few ways you can expand on your freelance career and business. (And don’t forget to watch the video below for the full deep dive into your many options—with Charli Marie and Caleb, my videographer!)

1. Freelancing can transform into a full-time job

In the video, Charli shares how she got her first full-time design job after doing some design work for a company. If you do good work for your clients, and you have a good relationship with them, that’s a potential opportunity if the client is looking for a more long-term, stable solution.

2. Your side hustle can transform into a full hustle

Caleb, my videographer, used to work at Fizzle doing video work. He loved that part of his full-time job so much that he set out doing videography as a side hustle. And that side hustle is now a full-time hustle! In the video below, Caleb shares how he prepared for that transition, and how he masterfully worked his way to a successful videography business owner.

3. If you want to scale, you have to hire people

I know this very well, as I tried to do everything myself for a while before realizing that I needed to bring in a team to free me up to do bigger and brighter things for Smart Passive Income. The same is true for Caleb’s business. He wanted to grow and push the limits, and he realized he couldn’t take that journey alone.

Read about how 20 different entrepreneurs made the exciting decision to finally hire someone—and how it changed their business for the better.

And if you want to hear the story of my very own first hire—and why I tried really hard to avoid it—then give SPI 474 a listen.

Make sure to check out the full video below for an extended conversation about career and business options for freelancers!

Before I go, make sure to also check out SPI Podcast Session 158 with my guest Brian Casel, who shares how to productize your service-based business—a great lesson for freelancers like yourself.

Brian returned in episode 314 to share how to turn your service-based business into a product, or into something that can be scaled and automated, so check that out, too. (Don't forget to subscribe to the SPI Podcast!)

And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for instant access to my weekly videos!

Again, you can check out the full Freelance Video Series below:

Happy freelancing!

Enroll now — access to the course is completely FREE

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today!

The post How to Start Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!) appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

I just had an amazing interview with Brenda Petrella of Outdoor Photography School on Wednesday, and it was one of my favorite recent episodes to record. It got me to dig back into the archives, where I realized just how many incredible episodes we've put out this year. That's why in today's follow-up Friday, I wanted to go back into time and call out some of my favorite episodes of the SPI Podcast in 2021.

I'll be sharing some of the most memorable moments from the show this year, and expressing my gratitude for the year that was in podcast land here at SPI. We've got a ton of great podcast content coming at you in 2022, and I can't wait for all of it. But for now, thanks for being here for the ride that was 2021. I appreciate you!

Resources

• SPI 455: How to Build a Trustworthy Brand in a Crowded Space with Rob Maurer from Tesla Daily
• SPI 456: From Side Hustle to a Life-Changing Business – How Josh Hall and His Courses Made It Happen
• SPI 459: The Right Formula to Win on YouTube with Derral Eves
• SPI 460: The Easy Way to Start Freelancing Now to Make Money and Change Your Life with Jay Clouse
• SPI 466: The Moment I Took the Entrepreneurial Leap
• SPI 468: When I’ve Failed at Work & Life Balance
• SPI 473: Assistants, Admins, and Appreciation (with Jess, My Assistant of 7+ Years)
• SPI 477: How to Launch and Manage a Successful Membership Community with Stu McLaren
• SPI 499: How to Get Your Ideas to Actually Spread with Jeff Goins
• SPI 500: Session 500! A Mystery Host Flips the Script!
• SPI 509: How to Play the Long Game in Business and Win in Life with Dorie Clark
• SPI 511: Why Thursday Is the New Friday with Joe Sanok
• SPI 517: The Best Way to Start a Successful Business Today with Arvid Kahl
• SPI 519: Great Storytelling 101: How to Be Remembered & Get Shared with Mike Pacchione

The post SPI 534: These Are the Best Episodes of 2021 appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

So look, I usually don't try to “sell” anyone too hard when it comes to these episodes, but this one might just change your life. Seriously, there is so much value for you here. Let me tell you why.

A lot of us start out with passive income being our goal, right? Well, that's pretty much never how it starts. There's a lot to learn, and a lot of us have a hard time even getting started. But if I had to suggest ways to get started tomorrow, this would be one of my top recommendations: start freelancing now.

Freelancing is one of the best ways to learn how to make money online — you can start generating income sooner than you think.

With us today is Jay Clouse, Community Experience Director for Smart Passive Income. He's also the creator of Freelancing School, an incredible resource for anyone who wants to learn how to make money with freelancing. He's going to break down some of the in and outs of freelancing for us: from where to focus early on to landing your first clients and asking for referrals or testimonials. Like I said at the top, this episode could change your life so don't hesitate to give it a listen!

If you want to go deeper with Jay, you can save 25 percent on a bundle of his three courses: Business for Freelancers, Marketing for Freelancers, and Selling for Freelancers. Just visit Freelancing.school/spi and enter the code SPI25 — offer valid for the next seven days only! [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]

Today's Guest

Jay Clouse

Jay is the Community Experience Director for Smart Passive Income. Previously, Jay was the founder of Unreal Collective, a community for creators. The Unreal community grew from a 5-person mastermind group into a tight-knit group of more than 100 business owners. SPI acquired Unreal Collective in January 2021.

Jay is also the creator of Freelancing School, which provides the training and community to help people make a living freelancing. And on the side, he hosts Creative Elements, a podcast about how high-profile creators broke through.

SmartPassiveIncome.com/pro
Freelancing.school
JayClouse.com

You'll Learn

• Why Jay left his full-time job within 48 hours and started his first mastermind group
• Why you don't need a blockbuster hit, viral video, or millions of followers to start freelancing
• Where to start if you want to start freelancing but have no idea what to do first
• Where to focus in the early stages of your freelance career
• Three ways to get freelance clients, and where to look first
• How to create advocates for your freelancing business
• Why freelancers don't hear back from potential clients
• How to set and manage expectations while creating deliverables
• Why it's critical to lead yourself as a freelancer
• How to ask a client for a referral or testimonial

The post SPI 460: The Easy Way to Start Freelancing Now to Make Money and Change Your Life with Jay Clouse appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

“Your blog is not your business.”

If, like Pat and me, you started looking to the internet in the late 2000s as a possible avenue for new career opportunities, then you’ve probably heard that phrase once or twice…or a hundred times. It became standard advice during the height of the blogosphere boom. New sites were bursting to the scene like wildfire. Blogging was the new it thing. Everyone wanted one. And thousands upon thousands of people started one because blogging had become intertwined with the dream many of us were chasing.

The dream? To escape the 9-to-5 job. To become your own boss. To pursue and perform work that is meaningful to you. To replace (or exceed) your current income level. To maybe, just maybe, build something that can grow bigger than you and become something more—a thing that creates a real, lasting impact upon others that is celebrated and remembered well into the future, perhaps even after you're gone.

I dare say that many of us entrepreneurs share that same dream—at least that broad outline of it. I also dare say that dreaming is the easy part. And that's the gritty truth at the heart of the notion that your blog is not in fact your business.

Many an entrepreneur have become misguided in their thinking that merely having a popular blog, or podcast, or YouTube channel, or similar platform with a large following is the dream personified. It's not—at least not completely, not by a long shot—though it's easy to understand why this mistake is made. On the surface popularity may look like success, but buying into the notion that popularity and success are synonymous risks the misconception that marketing drives success on its own. That's not true, though many are fooled into thinking so in part because it's human nature to ascribe success merely to the things we can see (the marketing) and then focus on those things—and only those things—with limited to no consideration of anything else that may be unseen (e.g. the business model, the operating budget, the team culture). The point: Marketing is a critical business function, yes, but it's not the whole picture and on its own cannot transform your entrepreneurial dream into reality.

The dream, really? To have a business—a real business that serves customers and generates profit—including but not limited to marketing.

Business dynamics differ. You may envision a solo endeavor performing a service-based craft to help others. Or you may want to partner up with one or two other founders in a venture that creates a product that solves a pesky problem in your industry. You may see the value in hiring and leading an in-house team. Or you may get queasy at the prospect of recruiting and managing employees. You may not want to take on any money to start because the notion of debt or having investors gives you the heebie jeebies. Or you may actually want to raise startup capital to give your new venture a fast and hot start.

Business outcomes also differ. You may never care about exiting—meaning selling in some form. Instead, a freelance business that's just you working from the comforts of anywhere you please may sound perfectly dreamy. Or, the promise of an exit may be wildly motivating and exactly what you want to build toward. Or maybe something in between sounds right—a business that isn't just you alone doing everything, that can achieve modest scale with a small team, and that generates a healthy and sustainable profit for the foreseeable future.

Despite such important differences, many fundamentals are the same. A set of documents that establish terms and boundaries with your business partner(s) (if you have them). A well-defined business model. An empowered set of culture principles. A sensible operating plan inclusive of anticipated costs. A method for planning, managing, executing, and delivering work. These assets are among the most important foundational pieces to any business venture.

As a composite, they are what's meant by the “business” part of the phrase, “Your blog is not your business.”

This guide exists to help you learn the ropes of these fundamentals as well as guide you through the big decisions related to them. These subjects aren't as sexy as the marketing. From someone who happens to love this stuff, I think that's just fine—thank you very much—because for what the business stuff lacks in terms of outward flashiness it more than makes up for in terms of inward intricacies that make a business a beautiful thing. 

As a dream-big entrepreneur, if you’re up for the challenge to take these business matters seriously and embrace them fully, then you'll develop the mindsets, instincts, and abilities to actually run a business versus just being the face of one.

Vital skills, trailblazing resources, and a motivating community.

Your business growth starts now.

Get Started with the SPI Community

What to Expect in this Beginner's Guide to Business Fundamentals 

This guide is for you if you self-identify as a digital entrepreneur of some variety. That's not to say that it can't help you if you're pursuing a brick-and-mortar business like a bakery or bicycle shop. It definitely can, and I encourage you to give it a go if that's you. However, the primary lenses used to structure and develop this guide come from the world of agencies, book publishing, content marketing, enterprise information technology (IT), e-commerce, software product development, MBA-caliber leadership programs, and freelancing.

It's definitely for you if you're someone who is pursuing any of the following venture types:

• A personality-driven brand and business that may incorporate self-publishing or related book deals, speaking gigs, coaching clients, and paid membership programs.
• A tech startup that may or may not be venture capital-backed and is operating in rabid pursuit of ever increasing monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
• A freelance company of one specializing in a particular craft within your industry that is likely focused on a niche client persona.
• An information product-based company that sells premium content (e.g. online courses) to students who want to learn from your experiences and skills.
• An agency that concentrates a fine-tuned collection of services toward a portfolio base of individuals and brands.
• A media company that may lean heavily on paid ads or sponsorships to monetize audiences that amass around quality podcasts, newsletters, video channels, etc.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means. I share it merely as a launching off point to help give context to the subject matter in this guide.

Here's a quick preview of what we'll encounter in this guide:

1. How a Good Business Is Structured, From the Inside Out
2. How to Start a Business Built to Endure
3. 3 Ways to Raise Capital For Your Business
4. Business Case Study: The Operating Dynamics of SPI
5. 7 Business Mistakes That Risk Ruin
6. 15 Essential Business Tools to Help You Operate and Grow
7. The Lifecycle of a Business
8. Our Recommended Business Platform for Darn Near Everything

Before we dig into all of that, here are some not-so-exciting but important disclaimers that govern all the material in this guide:

• I am not a legal or tax expert nor am I attempting to be here. Neither is Pat. Neither is anyone else who works at SPI. The information to come is based on my personal experiences as an entrepreneur and founder, which I’m excited and proud to share on the explicit grounds that it’s for your consideration only and not actual legal or tax advice.
• Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns at all about how to apply some of these concepts to your own business, whether it’s new or existing, please consult with an accredited professional who can properly advise you.
• Our legal counsel, whom you’ll meet later in this guide, have thoroughly reviewed this guide to make sure I didn’t say something that was outdated, inaccurate, or plain stupid. (See, I’m taking my own advice and involving the real pros on this stuff.)
• Finally, this information is based on experiences forming and running companies founded in the United States. If you happen to live outside the United States and intend to start a business in your home country, I’m afraid this guide will be of little service to you.

Now, with that pretext established, let's get down to business, starting with the blueprint that underpins it all: your business model.

Ready to start your business the smart way?

The SPI Community has the courses, resources, support, and accountability you need.

Learn More About the SPI Community

The post The SPI Beginner’s Guide to Business Fundamentals appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Ever hear a customer say “I feel like you made this just for me”? It's an amazing feeling—RightMessage can be a major catalyst for personalizing your customer's journey. Today I have Brennan Dunn on the show—the Creator of RightMessage. Rarely do I get excited about a tool like this, but the possibilities are giving Team Flynn and I goosebumps. [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]

If you've listened to this show before, you know that at the top of each episode I say that I'm here to help you make more money, save more time, and help more people too. Well, sometimes that happens because of inspiration. Sometimes it's because of strategies. Sometimes that happens because a new tool comes along.

If you like making more sales and providing a better customer experience—pay attention to this episode! RightMessage is one of the most mind-blowing tools I've used in the last year. Seriously, it's a total game changer. Today you'll learn strategies for onsite and email personalization, segmentation, and more, so that you can increase your earnings, save yourself some time, and yes, help more people too. Whether you have something going or not, this tool can totally change the way you approach business.

Brennan has an amazing story that ties into how and why he developed RightMessage. I remember making the switch from Aweber to Infusionsoft to ConvertKit and being super stoked about that tool—I feel similar about RightMessage. It's going to change your business big time. And speaking of ConvertKit . . . there's more to come between ConvertKit and RightMessage, so make sure you listen until the end to find out what that is.

Let me put this in no uncertain terms—if you have an email list (and you should), you should check out RightMessage as soon as possible. Brennan's making that very easy for you today—if you go to RightMessage.com/spi you can get an extended trial—more than double the typical trial length for RightMessage. Plus they're offering screen-shared onboarding via Zoom completely free! It's an insanely generous offer, and I highly encourage you to take up Brennan and the team on it. [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

• Leave a note in the comment section below.
• Ask a question over on AskPat.com.
• Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

• Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
• Subscribe on iTunes.

Special thanks to Brennan Dunn for joining me this week. Until next time!

Today's Guest

Brennan Dunn

The creator of RightMessage lays down strategies for understanding and serving your audience through segmentation and web personalization, driving more sales and saving you money at the same time. It's a next-level tool for online business!

• Website: RightMessage.com
• Twitter: brennandunn

You'll Learn

• How Brennan went from a brick-and-mortar agency to an online business and created RightMessage.
• How RightMessage is doing online what people have naturally done offline for decades.
• Why RightMessage has been a game changer in my business, and why it can help anyone with an email list.
• How RightMessage powerfully integrates with tools like ConvertKit.
• How Brennan uses RightMessage in his own email course to drive 66 percent more sales.
• Why using RightMessage to change your website's hero image can make a massive difference in conversions.
• Strategies you should implement for understanding your audience and serving them better.
• How RightAsk (part of RightMessage) gives you significant data about what your audience needs, and more!

Resources

Note: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

• ConvertKit
• Double Your Freelancing

The post SPI 361: Super Simple Segmentation & Web Personalization for Next Level Marketing—with Brennan Dunn appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

What do you do when you hit a ceiling? Sometimes that means it's time to grow, and sometimes that growth happens in the form of an agency. If you've ever considered starting one, then this is the episode for you because I've got Jason Swenk with me today, who has mastered the art of helping people build and scale their agencies. Even if you have a personal brand, there's a lot to learn today, so let's do this!

Jason defines an agency as a digital marketing agency: Anyone creating a website, pay-per-click ads, AdWords, or other marketing services for a business. On a broader scale, if you have skills that serve people through your own capabilities or the people you hire, you're going to want to listen up. There's a limit to how much you can do on your own, and Jason has a lot of helpful information for anyone who wants to grow their business through a team.

What happens for a lot of people in online business is that they start off freelancing, but later discover that there's a cap (Jason uses the metaphor of milking a cow). The only way to grow, at a certain point, is to hire, to bring on team members to do the things that you don't need to be doing. The goal is for you to only be doing the things that you're really good at, the things that not everyone can do.

If you're considering going the agency route, Jason has some guidance to offer on that decision. He's also got a ton of practical and straightforward advice for growing into an agency: how to take your first step toward agency life, who to hire first, how to manage your team and position your brand, plus the mindset you need to get past any fear you might have about taking those first steps. It's a packed episode today, so press play and let's get started!

You can hear more of Jason over at the Smart Agency Masterclass podcast, and the Swenk Today Show podcast. Plus, you can get a bunch of free resources from Jason by visiting Swenk.it. Jason's got a new book out as well: Accelerating Your Agency. Check it out!

I've been doing a bunch of live webinars and free trainings recently, and I'd love to see you at the next one! If you want to see when the next training is, and also where I'm speaking next, go to SmartPassiveIncome.com/connect/. If you're looking for help on starting a podcast, how to do affiliate marketing, or even if you're starting a business from scratch, that's where to go. See you there!

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

• Leave a note in the comment section below.
• Ask a question over on AskPat.com.
• Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

• Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
• Subscribe on iTunes.

Special thanks to Jason Swenk for joining me this week. Until next time!

Today's Guest

Jason Swenk

Learn practical strategies for growing your business into an agency, hiring your team, positioning and marketing your brand, and pacing your growth so you don't fall off the rails.

• Website: JasonSwenk.com
• Twitter: jswenk

You'll Learn

• How Jason got his unconventional start in online business.
• How to decide whether you should expand to an agency or not.
• The first step that you can take to start transitioning from freelancing to an agency business.
• What first hire you should make for your growing agency.
• How to position your services so that clients feel great about working with you and your team.
• How to set a clear-cut vision for your agency so that decisions aren't bottlenecked.
• How to manage your team so that you have a clear snapshot of what's going on at all times.
• Strategies for marketing and positioning your team in the marketplace.
• Why niching down pays off big time when you're running an agency.
• How to pace your agency's growth so you don't fall off the rails.
• Mindsets for getting past the fear of creating an agency.
• Why Jason decided to get rid of his website's contact page, and more!

Resources

Note: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

• Smart Agency Masterclass podcast
• Swenk Today Show podcast
• Swenk.it
• Accelerating Your Agency book
• SPI Live: Free Webinars with Pat!

The post SPI 332: How to Build and Scale an Agency Model Business—with Jason Swenk appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Today I am going to share with you how to make passive income online, with three specific business models to choose from:

1. The FP Model: Starting with Active Income
2. The AA Model: Advertising Your Way to Income
3. The EP Model: Making Money By Being Expert Enough

But first, something we all know but an important ongoing reminder: The internet is an amazing place, folks! I probably don’t need to tell you there’s more than one way to make money online. And today, I’m going to give you the lowdown on three strategies you can use to do just that!

I’ve built several businesses since 2008 using one or more of these models. I’ve been featured in magazines and articles across the globe, and since I started my journey I’ve generated over $5M in earnings from these businesses. All of my income and expenses for those businesses dating back to October 2008 have been tracked publicly on SPI.com. You can see 10 years of income reports here.

But you don’t have to read all of my income reports to learn how I’ve made these three strategies work for me—or how they can work for you.

In this post, I’ll distill what I’ve learned into three business models you can choose from to decide which path you want to go down.

Those three models are the FP, AA, and EP models.

“But those are just acronyms, Pat! Tell me what they meeeeeaan!”

Fear not. I’ll explain them all, and help you figure out which one suits you best.

A Quick Primer on Passive Income

But first, let’s about talk passive income! What is passive income? There are many different definitions out there, but mine goes something like this: Passive income is all about building online businesses that can work for you, that allow you to generate income, and grow and scale, without a real-time presence. In other words, you don’t trade time for money. You build something up front that can continue to work for you over time.

In SPI Podcast Sessions 192, 193, and 194, I go a little deeper on what passive income is, which you can listen to here:

SPI 192 show notes.

SPI 193 show notes.

SPI 194 show notes.

“But Pat,” you might be asking, “is this really possible?” It’s definitely possible. And you don’t need a huge investment, either. Unlike investments such as real estate or stocks, you don’t need a ton of money to start to build something.

But there’s one thing you need to be super clear on. It’s definitely not easy to do. Some people may tell you there’s a magic button or blueprint you can use to get rich, all by doing nothing. Don’t get me started on people who say you can make it happen overnight. No way, no how. It takes a lot of hard work. You’ve got to put in the hours.

You have to work hard now to build assets that will continue to work for you later. But once you start to build that passive income stream, you start to gain a little flexibility and freedom. You have a little more time to do more things, build even more passive income streams—or do fewer things, if that’s what you prefer!

So as I introduce these three business models to you, realize that yes, they all take time, but that time will also be very much worth it.

Cool? Okay, let’s get started.

The FP Model: Starting with Active Income

FP is the Freelance to Product model. In this model, you start by freelancing, then you find a problem that can be solved with a product.

Yes, we’re talking about passive income. And yes, freelancing is active income. So what’s the deal? To be perfectly honest, I believe freelancing is the #1 way to get started a building business of your own. You’ll learn a lot of skills, and you’ll get paid a lot quicker, too. You need some active income first!

But the biggest reason I recommend starting with freelancing is you’ll get to know the industry you’re in really well. You’ll learn it so well, that you’ll be able to find the holes, the opportunities, that allow you to create a successful product-based business.

Let me tell you about my friend Brian Casel. He was a freelance web designer who used to bill all his work by the project and sometimes by the hour; it was all tied to his time. He could only fit in a certain number of projects, and he was basically living project to project. It was not an ideal situation.

Brian had found a huge need for web design in the restaurant and food truck space. After getting tired of working with client after client, he decided to turn his service-based business into a product-based one. He made his services more standardized and productized. He eliminated all his client work and created templates and products to serve that market instead. And it’s been going great for him.

You can check out my interview with Brian in the Smart Passive Income Podcast #158.

All active businesses can be turned into more passive businesses by using products you’ve already made, by using software to do a lot of the legwork, and even having other humans do some of the work, too.

The AA Model: Advertising Your Way to Income

Next up, I’ll tell you how I made my first bit of passive income in 2008 with business model #2: the AA Model.

AA stands for the Audience and Advertising Model. It’s one of the most-used models for building passive income online—but it does come with a fair number of warnings, which I’ll share with you in a minute.

If you’re a YouTube personality, this is how you generate your income. An amazing example of this how Antonio Centeno got 1 million YouTube subscribers. If you’re a blogger who gets a lot of traffic to your site and uses advertising or sponsorships, then you’re also following the AA Model. Got a podcast with sponsorships? Same deal. I talk about successful podcast sponsorships and other ways to make money podcasting here:

You have an audience, and you have advertisers that want to get in front of that audience, so you marry the two and get paid for it.

When I started building my architecture-related business in 2008, I made my first dollar through advertising. I’d spent a lot of time and money building the site and getting traffic. Then one day I threw an ad on the site one day, and I made $1.18. Sure, I could find that much under my couch cushions—but that’s not the point! The point is that I was able to build something online, put an ad up, and make money without having to do anything. I learned it was possible, and it motivated me to move forward.

Eventually, I put more ads on the site. Traffic continued to grow, and I started earning between $30 and $50 a day just from advertising.

Then I built a brand-new site, got even more traffic, put ads on it, and . . . didn’t make more than $50 after six months of advertising. And therein lies one of the downsides of the AA Model. Ads are not super-predictable, especially auto-generated ones like those through Google AdSense.

There’s a second downside to this model. Although I’ve done advertising and sponsorships in the past, and have made hundreds of thousands of dollars doing so, the truth is it takes a lot of time for this business model to start to generate income for you, because you need to build that audience first. In addition, what happens when you build your audience on a platform that ends up changing its algorithm, affecting how often you actually get seen by the audience you’ve built?

In order to build an audience, you need to have a platform. You need to have something worth following and sharing; something that’s valuable to others. And that, of course, takes time. That’s not to say you can’t build a huge audience in a short amount of time. But as much as we hear about the people who’ve succeeding at doing this, we don’t hear about the millions of others who are struggling every day to get just a few more fans and followers.

Long story short: the AA Model, while it can work for you, should be approached with care.

The EP Model: Making Money by Being Expert Enough

But the great thing is, you don’t need a huge audience to generate passive income and make money online!

But even with a small following, you can go with the EP Model of making passive income. In this video, I show you how to grow that audience and turn them into raving fans:

This is the Expert to Product Model. Now, don’t let the term “expert” scare you away—because it’s probably not what you think it is. Most people think an expert is someone who’s a master at something. Someone with a special degree or training, who’s put in those 10,000 hours, who is just great at what they do.

That’s not the kind of expert I’m talking about here.

What I mean is that you can be an expert in the eyes of someone else just by knowing a little more than they do. Because guess what? You have experiences, ideas, and opinions that are all unique to you. The goal is to become expert enough to earn the trust of others so that they’ll want to learn even more from you.

Quick story: Remember that $1.18 I found in the couch? Even when that increased to $30 to $50 a day, it still wasn’t enough to live on. So I looked for other options. In August 2008, after people started to know who I was and how I could help them pass the LEED certification exam through my blog, I wrote an ebook. It included all the information I knew about passing this exam, and I sold it on my blog for $19.95.

On October 2, 2008, when I finally put the book online, I sold my first copy, which was an amazing feeling. Fast-forward through October 2008, and I ended up making $7,126.91 just from ebook sales!

The craziest part of this was I’d wake up in the morning and there would be more money in my bank account, from people who had bought my book overnight. When you think about it, an online store that sells something that’s digital is something that’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Using tools, software and systems, you can automate the delivery process so you literally don’t have to do anything to serve that audience. That’s super powerful.

What’s also really important to realize here is that when I took the exam I was teaching people to study for, I didn’t get a perfect score. In fact, I didn’t even get close to a perfect score. I passed. But I also knew a lot about this exam—way more than somebody who was just getting started diving into studying for it. And it was because of that, because I was just a few steps ahead of them, that they trusted me to help them with that information. To support this, I provided a lot of great free value to help them along the way. I engaged in conversations and interacted in comments sections and on forums. Most of all, I just really cared about those people, because I struggled big-time with that exam myself.

Here’s the truth: a successful business is something that successfully solves a problem. And that business can make more money in two ways: solving more people’s problems, or solving bigger problems. The cool thing about the EP Model is that sometimes these products don’t even have to be yours. You can generate income by recommending other people’s or companies’ services or products. This is called affiliate marketing. It’s actually how I’ve made most of my money since I started in 2008.

The first time I did affiliate marketing was way back in the day on my architecture exam website. I connected with a company that sold practice exams, which gave me $22 for every person who bought one of their exams via my site. Since then, I’ve generated over $250,000 simply by recommending that product alone. Again, this is a product that was not mine, but one that has still been helpful to my audience. This was all done with thousands of visitors a month. Not millions, or even hundreds of thousands.

So how do you get started with the EP Model? First, you need to be an expert in the eyes of those you’re looking to serve. And again, you don’t need all those qualifications and credentials. A lot of people gain expertise and credibility just by sharing their experience learning something, which is something I’ve done on SPI.com. If you think about it, many people in the personal finance or fitness space establish their authority by sharing their journey and their process. They do it by sharing their experiences—and you can do the same thing, too.

Another great way to get started is to identify an area of interest you have. For instance, Robert Duff has been successful in building passive income by selling books on Amazon. Then, go out and start talking to people. Ask them, “What are you struggling with right now? What are your biggest pains? What’s something you wish existed that doesn’t?” That’ll give you some ideas about where to get started.

Check out my video on How to Create MULTIPLE Streams of Passive Income here:

Active Problem Solving + Automation = Passive Income Success

Remember, a successful business solves people’s problems. At first, you’re going to have to do the legwork and put in the time. But it’s about building something now so you can reap the benefits later, with the help of software, tools, automation, and people you hire. In this way, you can then turn this business that solves people’s problems into something that generates passive income for you!

A perfect example of the Active Problem Solving + Automation concept is in my online courses I’ve created over the years, or my free webinars I’ve created more recently Each of my online courses and webinars are targeted to help people with specific problems, whether that’s in the area of affiliate marketing, podcasting, building a brand, and so forth. I am always improving upon the courses, but they are also evergreen for my audience.

What model resonates with you most? Leave a comment below with your pick!

Also, make sure to watch this video below about 3 passive income myths, and the truth behind each:

The post How To Make Passive Income Online (3 Business Models) – UPDATED! appeared first on Smart Passive Income.