Blogging Journey: Is it too early to become an Affiliate?

Immediately after asking myself the question, I started digging. With all of the “you can do it, too” blogs and workshops rising in popularity now, it seems simple to get an affiliate link and hope the passive income comes rolling in. So how many readers do you need to have? Does it matter? I mean, in a worst-case scenario, can't you have an unused link sitting around on your site?

Well, I found good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad.

Amazon Affiliate Program

My reviews started with the Amazon Affiliate program and the unfortunate answer came all too quickly.

For me, the answer to “Is it too early to become an Amazon Affiliate” was simple.

Yes, it is too early to become an Amazon Affiliate.

All of these professional articles about internet marketing are energizing – so many passive income possibilities! Which, of course, is always the author’s intent. That way, you buy their book or their workshop, jumping right into the deep end. Great for some people – I'm certainly not knocking it. But it's not for me. I’m not in the business of setting up shop after shop, solely trying to funnel internet shoppers into a web of Amazon goodies.

I research everything I buy and compare options intensely. I research every place I visit and try to find a way to see everything, do everything and eat everything in sight at a good value. All I want is to share that with others in a natural way, so maybe you can use your time for your next big project instead!

If I can cut time out of somebody else’s day by posting my results — showing people my final brand purchase or travel itinerary — and it helps in any way, I have succeeded.

That said, I thought it might be best to have an affiliate account for those particular moments, no differently than how I had established all of my social media accounts despite not yet having a site launch.

Amazon Affiliate Sign-Up Process

Page one of the Amazon Affiliate link was easy: “List the name and address where we should send the check.”

Well, if that’s not one of my favorite requests ever, I’m not sure what is.

The problem came on page two: “List the websites and/or mobile apps that you will be posting Amazon Affiliate links on.”

I felt good about this, because I own a domain name. My site is hosted. I’m ready to roll.

Except, check out the instructions when you scroll over the link:

Is it too soon to become an Amazon Affiliate?

“Your account will be closed if you do not make any referrals within 180 days.”

Now, it clearly states you will be able to reapply, so it’s not a make or break scenario.

But for me, knowing I’m drafting up a site for fun, primarily as a personal adventure and learning piece, I lose confidence about pushing a product to a sale on a site that has not even launched. [Editors note: My sentiment hasn’t changed one-month post-launch.]

Bluehost Affiliate Program

The good news, on the other hand, is that if you want to dip your toe in the affiliate marketing waters, you can do so with Bluehost right away (like I have done just there!)

I truly do use Bluehost as my web hosting service. I chose them mostly because the price was right and the information about them was so prevalent, making it easy for me to find community and resources as I learn the tech side of websites.

So far, they have been great. There is a live chat service I have already used a handful of times, with pretty generic questions like “why haven't I received any of my test emails” and often replying to their follow up questions with “I'm sorry, I don't understand what that is.” Somehow, they manage to fix whatever my issue is quickly, even if I don't sufficiently explain it.

The Bluehost Affiliate Program was a simple sign-up (literally, under 5 minutes!) The only information you need aside from the standard contact information is a PayPal account to link up. Within 24 hours I was confirmed, and supplied with the referral link I now have here.

Try It Out

If you've been thinking about starting a website, stop thinking about it and take some action. It's never too late! I'm in the very early stages and will be documenting everything from domain names to hosting to WordPress lessons and hurdles I've learned, so if you start today, we will be in-stride on this new adventure!

No pressure to use Bluehost or to use my link, but if you research further and decide Bluehost is the way to go and you find any of my information helpful, I'd appreciate if you used my referral link– it's no extra cost to you!

Otherwise, for now I’m turning back to focus on content development. Some things are important to set up all at once, like your domain, hosting and social media links. Others are a steeper learning curve with heightened requirements. They will be okay to push to stage two.

Goal: Do not worry about monetization. Continue to generate quality content and edit your current post drafts.