Module 7 Lesson 3: Affiliates

Summary

This affiliate module lesson dives into the ins and outs of affiliate programs, emphasizing the importance of using them with companies you genuinely support. It highlights the benefits of recurring revenue programs like VidIQ, which can build a steady income over time. The speaker advises on negotiating exclusive affiliate deals for higher earnings and stresses the importance of promoting only products you believe in to maintain audience trust. The lesson concludes with a caution against prioritizing affiliate income at the expense of reputation, advocating for genuine product promotion and ethical monetization strategies.

Takeaways

• 😀 Affiliate programs are a great way to earn money by promoting products or services you already use and love.
• 💰 The primary purpose of affiliate programs is to benefit the audience and provide recurring revenue, not just a one-time payment.
• 🔄 Recurring affiliate programs, like VidIQ, offer the advantage of receiving payments every month, building a steady income over time.
• 📈 Companies often provide standard affiliate programs, but it's recommended to ask for exclusive programs with higher commissions.
• 🤝 Negotiate for flat rate sponsorships that come with affiliate links to increase earnings as more people sign up through your link.
• 🔑 When promoting an affiliate product, it's crucial to genuinely believe in its value and explain how it will help the audience.
• 💡 For products like VidIQ, emphasize the benefits such as AI systems trained on your channel data, daily ideas, advanced analytics, and competitor analysis.
• 💸 Justify the price of the affiliate product by showing its value, like VidIQ's comprehensive features starting at just $1.
• 🙅‍♂️ Never promote a product you don't use or that isn't good; it can harm your reputation and alienate your audience.
• 🚫 Affiliate programs are not the main source of big money, so it's not worth damaging your reputation for short-term gains.
• 📚 Some creators and clients use link cutting in video descriptions for extra cash, but it depends on whether you prioritize YouTube growth or money.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of affiliate programs according to the script?

The main purpose of affiliate programs is to benefit your audience and also to collect a little bit of money over time, rather than to get super rich.

Why is it important to only use affiliate programs with companies you already use and love?

It's important because it ensures that you are genuinely recommending a product or service you believe in, which helps maintain trust with your audience.

What is the difference between one-time payment affiliate programs and recurring revenue affiliate programs?

One-time payment affiliate programs pay you a single commission for a sale, while recurring revenue affiliate programs pay you a commission every month for ongoing subscriptions, allowing you to build up an income over time.

Can you name some examples of companies with one-time payment affiliate programs mentioned in the script?

Examples of companies with one-time payment affiliate programs mentioned are Artlist and Skillshare.

What is special about the affiliate program of VidIQ according to the speaker?

VidIQ is special because it is a recurring affiliate program that pays you every single month, which can help build a steady income stream.

What advice does the speaker give regarding negotiating with companies for better affiliate terms?

The speaker advises to ask if companies have an exclusive affiliate program with a higher commission, and to negotiate for both a flat fee and an affiliate link.

How should creators market affiliate products to their audience according to the script?

Creators should market affiliate products by showing that they are genuinely good and explaining how they will help the audience.

What is the first step in marketing an affiliate product as suggested by the speaker?

The first step is to explain why the audience actually needs the affiliate product, highlighting its benefits and relevance to them.

Why is it important to justify the price of the affiliate product to the audience?

It's important to justify the price to show the audience that they are getting value for their money and that the product is worth the investment.

What is the final piece of advice the speaker gives about promoting affiliate products?

The final piece of advice is to not lie about using the program or its quality. Only promote products you genuinely use and believe in to maintain audience trust and long-term success.

What is the speaker's opinion on the role of affiliate programs in building a large-scale business?

The speaker believes that while affiliate programs can provide extra income, they are not where the big money is and should not be at the expense of one's reputation.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 Introduction to Affiliate Programs

This paragraph introduces the concept of affiliate programs as a means to monetize one's audience and emphasizes the importance of using such programs only with companies that the creator already uses and loves. It highlights the benefits of recurring revenue programs, such as those offered by VidIQ, which provide a steady income stream over time. The speaker also recommends seeking exclusive affiliate programs with higher commissions and suggests that creators should not promote products they do not genuinely use or that are not beneficial to their audience.

Keywords

💡Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are arrangements in which a company pays a commission to affiliates for driving traffic or sales to their products or services. The video explains how these programs can be a steady income source if you promote products you genuinely use and love. Examples include VidIQ and Skillshare.

💡Recurring Revenue

Recurring revenue refers to earnings that are consistent and predictable, coming in at regular intervals, typically monthly. The video highlights that programs like VidIQ offer recurring commissions, allowing affiliates to build a stable income over time.

💡One-time Payment

A one-time payment is a single transaction made for a product or service. The video contrasts this with recurring revenue, noting that companies like Artlist and Skillshare pay affiliates only once per referral, unlike recurring programs.

💡AI System

An AI system refers to artificial intelligence technologies used to analyze and learn from data. The video mentions VidIQ's AI, which helps YouTube creators by analyzing their channel data and offering insights, thus improving their content strategy.

💡Advanced Analytics

Advanced analytics involves sophisticated techniques to analyze data and extract actionable insights. The video emphasizes VidIQ’s advanced analytics, which help creators study their own videos and competitors' content for better performance.

💡SEO-based Content

SEO-based content is created with the goal of ranking higher in search engine results, increasing visibility and traffic. The video mentions that VidIQ provides tools for analyzing keywords, aiding creators in producing SEO-friendly content.

💡Exclusive Affiliate Program

An exclusive affiliate program offers higher commissions or special terms to select affiliates. The video advises reaching out to companies for these exclusive deals, which can significantly increase earnings compared to standard programs.

💡Flat Rate Sponsorship

Flat rate sponsorship involves a fixed payment for promoting a product or service, regardless of performance. The video suggests negotiating for both a flat fee and an affiliate link to maximize earnings.

💡Monetization

Monetization is the process of earning revenue from a platform or service. The video discusses various monetization models, including affiliate programs and sponsorships, and how they can be leveraged to generate income.

💡Link Cutting

Link cutting is a technique where creators link to their own videos instead of external sites, which helps retain audience engagement and favors the YouTube algorithm. The video contrasts this strategy with including affiliate links in video descriptions.

Highlights

Affiliate programs are a great way to get paid for promoting companies you already use and love.

Use affiliate programs to benefit your audience and earn recurring revenue over time.

Prefer affiliate programs with recurring revenue for long-term income, like VidIQ.

VidIQ is recommended for monetization and growing a YouTube channel.

Most companies offer standard affiliate programs, but inquire about exclusive higher commission ones.

Negotiate flat rate sponsorships with affiliate links for additional revenue.

Market affiliate products by showcasing their genuine benefits to your audience.

Explain the necessity and benefits of the affiliate product, like VidIQ's AI system and analytics.

Justify the price of the affiliate product, emphasizing its value like VidIQ's $1 trial.

Honesty is key - do not promote programs you do not use or that are not beneficial.

Affiliate income should not come at the expense of your reputation for long-term success.

Promote only products you genuinely use to maintain audience trust.

Consider leaving affiliate links in video descriptions for passive income.

Link cutting, linking back to other YouTube videos, can be beneficial for algorithm optimization.

Explore advanced monetization models for building a strong business generating high revenue.

Creators with small followings can still make significant income through effective monetization strategies.

Transcripts

welcome into the affiliate module lesson

where we are going to cover everything

that you need to know about affiliate

programs how to use them when to use

them and when you should say no so with

that said let's go ahead and dive in

affiliate programs are one of the best

ways to get paid when talking about

companies that you already use so if you

don't use a company it doesn't make

sense to do an affiliate program almost

ever I only use affiliate programs with

companies that I already use I already

know and I already love because what an

affiliate program is used for it's not

necessarily used to get you super rich

it's used to benefit your audience and

also you can collect a little bit of

that money over time my favorite

affiliate programs are the ones that

have recurring Revenue that means that

it's not just a one-time payment

companies like art list skillshare all

of those guys are one-time payments now

you can make really good money with that

but when you use an affiliate program

like vid IQ they're a recurring

affiliate that means that you get paid

every single month so when this is done

right it allows you to build up an

income over time because it's not just a

one-time sale right you get one sale and

then it repeats every single month and

when that happens if you get a lot of

those you can just build your way up

slowly and slowly and have a guaranteed

income coming in every single month

which is extremely powerful with that

said cheeky vid IQ plug it's an amazing

program seriously not just for the

monetization but if you really do want

to grow a YouTube channel you it's it's

a huge help it's been a big factor in

amplify views growth and I think if

you're not using it and you want to you

know grow to 100,000 a million

subscribers it's going to be a lot

harder so with that said let's keep

going back to affiliate program programs

most companies will give you a standard

affiliate program when you start you can

usually sign up to those on their

website or you know reach out to one of

their representatives but what I would

always recommend is ask if they have an

exclusive affiliate program with a

higher link and normally you'll have to

reach out to them for this it's usually

best when they reach out to you and then

you ask them about it but for many

creators companies have exclusive

affiliate programs that you know the

masses don't have access to and you can

get paid a lot more over time if you ask

for those so it's 100% worth doing you

can't get what you don't ask for also a

lot of the flat rate sponsorships that

you're going to be doing they come with

affiliate links so try to negotiate

something where you get a flat fee and

an affiliate link because that way the

more people that you sign up the more

you get paid and the best way to Market

these products to an audience is show

them that it is a really genuinely good

product because it is and then

essentially explain how it's going to

help them so I'm going to do this in

real time with fit IQ first you need to

explain why they actually need the

affiliate product right so for vid IQ

it's like okay you get access to an AI

system that's actually taking your

Channel's data and putting it in their

AI so their AI is trained on your data

not just like chat GPT or anything like

that you also get you know access to

tons of daily ideas you can even ask it

to come up with more ideas you get to

see tons of advanced analytics on other

people's videos do you know analyze them

better and learn from them for your own

channel you get to analyze your

competitors and you can also analyze

keywords if you're making more SEO based

content that was also part of explaining

the benefits which is Step number two

and then you want to explain why the

price price is Justified so with vid IQ

you get all of this and more for just $1

you can literally get started for $1

just try it out see if you like it and

if you don't then that's fine just

cancel it the next month but it is

genuinely one of the main tools that I

have used to grow my channels and I

think it would really be a big benefit

to you guys and the final step is don't

lie if you don't use the program or it's

not a good program don't promote it

because your audience is going to get

mad at you if you promote a bad product

and that's not what you want it's not a

way to facilitate long-term success also

affiliate programs are not where the big

money is so it's never worth it to you

know ruin your reputation in any way

even just harm your reputation a little

bit in return for affiliate income it's

not the big play there are much bigger

plays out there and it's it's not worth

it so only promote stuff that you

actually genuinely use you can also just

leave this in your descriptions for

extra cash I typically don't like to

because I like to use something called

link cutting where I just link back to

other YouTube videos because the YouTube

algorithm likes that but you can do that

creators like Ali abdala do that some of

my clients do that it just depends what

you want to optimize for YouTube growth

or money all right that is the end of

the monetization models that most people

know about now we're going to move on to

the advanced stuff where you can really

build a real strong business that

generates you multiple six figures seven

figures or even eight figures from the

comfort of your own home sitting right

in front of your camera these are tried

and tested and these are how creators

with a small following like myself are

making hundreds of thousands of dollars

online let's go ahead and hop into it