One of the most profitable ways to make passive income online is using affiliate marketing.
It is also one of the most challenging, since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
But if you follow the same strategy I used in this affiliate marketing case study, you can make it as I did.
Let’s Begin!
What is Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy in which a business rewards individuals or other businesses (affiliates) for promoting their products or services and driving traffic or sales to their website or platform. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement where the affiliate earns a commission or a percentage of the sales generated through their promotional efforts.
Keep note before we start!
Affiliate marketing is easy. However, you must put in your efforts and use the right strategy to make passive income online.
I will help you to make it happen by only using free services. Sounds great?
Step 1: Register for an affiliate program
If you are a beginner and don’t have any presence on the internet, picking a pre-approved affiliate program is the best way to start it.
There are many programs available like that; in my case, I’ve chosen Cloudways, a web hosting hub specializing in cloud computing services offered by 5 major brands i.e. AWS, Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, Linode and Vultr.
Sign up for a free Cloudways account and get the affiliate referral link.
Head over to the Cloudways website and create a free Cloudways account there. Once your account is ready, you will find “Affiliate” option on primary menu, click on it and fill the form to become an Affiliate, once your application is approved, you are good to go.
Copy the referral link and store it at save place, like on Google Docs or Notepad.
But why have I chosen the Cloudways affiliate program?
The reason is, It’s free to sign up, and you don’t need any technical skills to promote their products online. Plus, they offer something to you and your referred customer as well. Everyone wins!
Step 2: Brand and Track Your Link!
After signing up for its affiliate program and choosing a product or service you want to promote, you must sign up for a free link management system. What do I mean by this?
Well, most of the affiliate programs offer you a unique affiliate URL, you need to promote their products online by using this link. But the link is usually ugly and long, making it very difficult for your customers to remember.
And that’s where L-inked.com comes in.
It’s an online URL / link management tool that helps you to shorten, brand, and track your links easily.
It also provides analytical insights for the performance of your digital marketing campaigns. Most important thing is, it is totally free, you can use it to generate links using your domain.
Getting started is very easy. Create your free account, log in, and you’ll see an empty dashboard ready to be inhabited with your link tracking data.
Step 3: Verify your domain and brand your affiliate link.
Here’s how to do it:
- Log into your L-inked.com account.
- Go to the “Branded Domains” section.
- Click on “Add Domain” to add your domain name there.
- Copy the CNAME records (provided by your domain registrar) there.
- Go to your DNS records.
- Click “Add” to add CNAME records to your subdomain or primary domain that you want to use for tracking.
Remember: Never use your website domain; use a custom domain for link tracking or a subdomain.
Your DNS record should look like this:
To create a branded link, go to your dashboard. Paste your Cloudways referral link in the box, hit the settings icon, and select your custom domain name.
Add your custom alias, such as Cloudways, in this case, and that’s it!
You have successfully created your branded link and added it to your L-inked.com dashboard.
Now, you can use this link to promote Cloudways online and make passive income online.
Step 4: Promote your referral link online
There are many ways to do it. But if you want to follow my strategy in this affiliate marketing case study, start with the methods I’ve used.
- Sell your skills.
- Make tutorials about Cloudways.
- Target relevant keywords.
- Use Quora.
- Advanced Method!
Let’s dive into the details now.
1. Sell your skills.
Freelance sites and online jobs are great sources to make money online, and you can use your affiliate link to create leads for yourself. For example, if you are an expert in web design, digital marketing, programming, or any other skill that could help Cloudways clients, start pitching your services online.
These are some examples of such freelance gigs that will help you promote hosting services like Cloudways.
- Set up a PHP script.
- Build a mailing server.
- Install WordPress on a VPS.
- Migrate your site to VPS.
- Create an affiliate marketing website.
- Make a website like_______ (YouTube).
And the list goes on! But I hope you have followed the idea. You can also earn passive income online with affiliate marketing and freelancing when doing these services for your clients.
2. Make tutorials about Cloudways.
Make online tutorials and other contents that promote Cloudways. For example, create videos showing people how to set up Cloudways on their site or WordPress install.
And then, put your affiliate link in the video description, and all the views will be redirected to that link. I do this on my channel. Here is an example.
You can also create tutorials based on the freelance gigs as well. You can create a tutorial for setting up a PHP script, building a mailing server, migrating the site to VPS, and more. Furthermore, you can create these tutorials on YouTube, your blog, LinkedIn, and Medium.
3. Target relevant keywords.
Another method to promote Cloudways online is by targeting relevant keywords in your marketing campaigns. For example, if you are a web developer, you could use targeted keywords like “how to set up Cloudways on a WordPress site” or “how to migrate your site to Cloudways.”
These are only informational keywords, they are easy to rank for. But ultimately, you want to rank for commercial keywords about the product or service you are promoting.
For example, you could write about the “Main keyword + modifiers and power keywords such as best, cheap, alternative, compare, improve, and so on…
After you come up with these ideas, start creating high-quality content that is engaging and informative. This will help you attract more readers and potential customers to your affiliate link.
4. Use Quora.
You can use online communities like Quora to promote your affiliate URL. Create a profile for yourself and answer questions about Cloudways and online marketing in general, including how you use the services to make passive income online. Follow below steps
- Go to Quora.
- Search for your topic
- Follow the “Most viewed writers.”
- See what questions they are answering.
- Answer those questions.
So the trick is to post answers & questions that the successful Quora users are responding to. You’ll surely get viewership and attract leads for your affiliate links.
Another Quora hack is to use Quora Ads Manager to get into the important metrics based on which you can answer. Here’s how to do it:
- Click on your profile.
- Go to Ads Manager.
- Choose the “New Campaign” option.
- Make the “Conversion Event” “Generic.”
- Set your daily maximum budget (e.g., $5) — we will not use it
- Go to “Questions” under “Choose primary targeting.”
- Click “Bulk add” and search for a relevant topic like “VPS.”
- Analyze weekly views.
And answer the questions with the most weekly views, and you are good to go! You have chosen highly targeted questions to answer that also get substantial traffic.
The key is to:
- Find high-volume questions
- Answer 1–2 questions daily.
- Start adding links after 10 days.
Why add your links after a few days?
Because you want to build credibility on Quora the platform and establish your trust as a thought leader in your niche, once you have done that, your links will be more likely to get clicks from readers and leads for your business.
Important: Never share direct affiliate links on Quora. You will be banned! Use a landing page or a bridge page.
So start by taking these simple steps to promote a great product like Cloudways and generate passive income online today!
5. Advanced Method to Promote Your Affiliate Offer
Very few people are involved in it, but it can be effective. If you want to take your online marketing game to the higher level, consider creating a simple advisor tool that helps users decide on the right product or service.
For example, you can refer customers to buy VPS hosting. Create a page with VPS hosting services provided by top hosting providers that should be best for your customer and recommend it!
The best example I can share with you is Digit Crafter Hosting Guide, which helps users select the best hosting based on their needs.
Create Tools
Another approach is to create a simple tool where people search for something, and the tool will recommend results linked with affiliate products.
For example, I created a tool called yourdomainer.comf, where people can search for available domain names with prices, and all suggestions will be affiliate links.
Above are the best passive income ideas that I through should share with you, please let me know your thoughts about this article in the comment section below.
