Back in 2005, I was convinced I’d found the golden ticket.
Someone in an internet marketing forum swore by this “revolutionary” product. The commission was massive—50% of a $297 product. I’d never used it. Didn’t need it. Had no clue if it actually worked.
But the math looked good.
So I promoted it. Sent an email to my tiny list. Made exactly zero sales. But worse than that? I got three unsubscribes and one reply that still haunts me: “I thought you only recommended things you actually used.”
That stung.
Here’s the thing—I came to affiliate marketing through a simple Google search in 2003: “how to make money online.” Within four months, I’d made my first commission. It felt legitimate. It felt like building something real.
But then I got distracted.
Solo ads. Dropshipping. T-shirt businesses. Every shiny object that promised quick money, I chased. Some burned me. Some taught me expensive lessons. Most left me wondering why I’d walked away from something that actually worked.
So I came back to affiliate marketing. But this time, I did it differently.
And that difference? It’s the reason I now earn consistent commissions from my blogs, podcasts, and emails without feeling like I need a shower afterward.
Why Most Affiliate Marketing Advice Makes You Feel Sleazy
Let me guess what you’ve heard about affiliate marketing:
“Promote high-ticket items for bigger commissions!”
“You need at least 10 affiliate links in every blog post!”
“Join 47 affiliate programs so you always have something to sell!”
It’s exhausting. And if you spent years in corporate, building your professional reputation carefully, this approach feels… wrong.
Because it is wrong.
The traditional affiliate marketing playbook treats your audience like walking wallets. It’s commission-first thinking disguised as business strategy. Promote everything, hope something sticks, count the clicks, optimize the conversions.
Your audience becomes a number. Your content becomes a vehicle for links. Your recommendations lose all meaning.
I learned this the hard way during my “chase every shiny object” phase. I promoted products I’d never touched. Services I’d never tried. Courses I’d never taken. The commission percentages looked beautiful in my spreadsheet.
The unsubscribe notifications?
Not so much.
Here’s what nobody tells you: In the corporate world, your reputation took years to build. One bad recommendation to your boss, one failed project you championed, one vendor relationship that went south—these things stuck with you.
The internet works the same way. Except faster.
Promote the wrong product once, and you’re “that person who just wants to make a quick buck.” Promote random products consistently, and you’re not a trusted voice anymore. You’re just noise.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth for those of us who left corporate or got laid off: your credibility is the only unfair advantage you have left.
The Philosophy That Changed Everything
After burning through various “opportunities” and coming back to affiliate marketing, I made myself a promise.
I would only promote what I’d recommend anyway.
Not “what I could probably recommend if someone really needed it.”
Not “what seems okay based on the sales page.”
What I’d recommend to a friend over coffee. Without the affiliate commission.
This sounds obvious. Maybe even naive. But it’s the single philosophy that transformed affiliate marketing from something that felt gross into something that actually works.
Let me break down why this matters:
When you only promote products you genuinely use and believe in, something magical happens—you stop selling and start sharing. The language changes. The energy changes. Your audience feels it.
I promote podcast hosting services because I’ve used them for 700+ episodes. I recommend specific microphones because I bought them, tested them, and kept using them. I suggest courses because I took them and got results.
The affiliate commission? That’s a bonus for sharing what I was going to share anyway.
But here’s the part that took me years to understand: This approach makes you more money, not less.
Fewer promotions. Higher trust. Better conversions.
I have blog posts with a single affiliate link that convert better than posts I used to write with ten links sprinkled throughout. Why? Because when I recommend something once or twice a year, my audience pays attention.
When you promote everything, you’re screaming in a crowded room. When you promote selectively, you’re the person everyone leans in to hear.
Your reputation becomes your moat. Nobody can copy that.
The Vetting Framework: How to Choose What to Promote
So how do you actually decide what’s worth promoting?
After two decades of doing this, here’s my personal framework. I ask myself five questions before I agree to any affiliate partnership:
1. Have I personally used this product or service for at least 30 days?
Not a free trial. Not a “quick look.” Real usage. Real results.
If I haven’t used it, I don’t promote it. No exceptions. I don’t care if the commission is $500 per sale.
2. Would I recommend this to my audience even without an affiliate program?
This is the litmus test. If the affiliate program disappeared tomorrow, would this still make it into my content? If the answer is no, that tells you everything.
3. Does this solve a specific problem my audience actually has?
Not a problem you think they should have. Not a problem the product creator claims they have. A real problem you’ve seen them struggle with repeatedly.
I promote podcast hosting because aspiring podcasters ask me about hosting every single week. I don’t promote obscure SEO tools because my audience isn’t asking about them.
Match the solution to the actual pain point.
4. Can I explain exactly how to use this and what results to expect?
If you can’t create a detailed tutorial or case study about the product, you don’t know it well enough to promote it.
I can walk someone through setting up their podcast hosting account, choosing their plan, uploading their first episode, and submitting to directories. That’s the level of knowledge you need.
Anything less is guessing. Your audience deserves better than guesses.
5. Am I comfortable if this person buys it and it doesn’t work for them?
Products fail. Services disappoint. Results vary. That’s reality.
But here’s the question: If someone bought based on your recommendation and came back angry, could you look them in the eye and explain why you recommended it?
If not, don’t promote it.
Red flags that mean “absolutely not”:
→ The vendor pushes you to promote before you’ve used the product
→ The sales page promises results that seem unrealistic
→ You can’t find genuine reviews from real users
→ The commission structure is the main selling point
→ Something feels off, even if you can’t explain why
Trust your gut. After 17 years in corporate and two decades online, your instincts are probably right.
The Multi-Platform Affiliate Marketing Strategy: Your Unfair Advantage
Here’s where it gets interesting.
I don’t just do affiliate marketing on one platform. I promote across my blogs, podcasts, and email list. But I do it differently on each.
This isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about building compound trust.
On my blog:
I create detailed, evergreen content. “How to Start a Podcast” posts with step-by-step instructions. Comparison articles between hosting platforms. Gear guides based on actual testing.
The affiliate links sit naturally in the content. I’m not selling; I’m teaching. The links are there for people who want to take action.
These posts work for years. Someone finds them through Google search, reads the entire guide, sees I’ve clearly used everything I’m recommending, and clicks through.
Conversion rate? Higher than any promotional email I’ve ever sent.
On my podcast:
I mention products when they’re relevant to the conversation. If I’m talking about efficiency and I mention the tool that saves me three hours a week, that’s not a sales pitch. That’s context.
I do dedicated sponsor reads, but only for products I use. My audience knows this. They’ve heard me turn down sponsors. That credibility matters.
The key? I tell stories about how I use these products. Not features and benefits—actual experiences. The time it saved me. The problem it solved. The result it created.
People don’t remember specs. They remember stories.
In my emails:
This is where relationships live. My email list hears from me regularly. They know my voice. They trust me because I’ve provided value consistently without asking for anything.
When I recommend something via email, it’s personal. It’s timely. It’s usually because multiple people have asked me about it.
I don’t send “promotional emails.” I send helpful emails that happen to include a product I use.
The difference? Everything.
The synergy effect nobody talks about:
When someone reads your blog post about podcast hosting, then hears you mention the same hosting platform on your podcast, then gets an email with a specific use case—that’s not repetition. That’s reinforcement.
They see you’re not just promoting for commission. You actually use this. You talk about it naturally across platforms. Your recommendation isn’t a campaign; it’s a consistent truth.
That compounds over time in ways single-platform affiliate marketing never does.
What “Success” Actually Looks Like
Let’s talk numbers. Real ones.
I didn’t make serious affiliate income in my first year. Or my second. Even after learning the basics in those first three months back in 2003, building something sustainable took time.
Here’s what actually happened:
Months 1-6: Learned how affiliate marketing worked. Set up tracking. Made maybe $200 total. Mostly from promoting things I shouldn’t have.
Year 1-2: Started focusing on products I actually used. Created better content. Saw sporadic sales but nothing consistent. Maybe $100-300 per month on average.
Year 3-4: The blog posts started ranking. The podcast built an audience. The email list grew. Commissions became more predictable. $500-1000 per month felt achievable.
Year 5+: Compound effect kicked in. Old blog posts kept converting. Podcast episodes brought in passive referrals. Email recommendations had higher open rates because trust was established. Income varied but averaged $2000-3000 monthly from affiliate commissions alone.
This isn’t a “I made $50k in my first month” story. Those stories are either lies or unsustainable sprints.
This is the reality: It took years. But it worked. And it’s still working.
Current state:
I spend maybe 2-3 hours per month on affiliate marketing specifically. I’m not chasing new programs. I’m not constantly promoting. I’m creating valuable content, and the affiliate income happens as a byproduct.
The maintenance required:
→ Checking that links still work (platforms change, programs end)
→ Updating blog posts when products evolve
→ Occasionally creating new content about tools I’ve started using
→ Responding to questions from people considering products I recommend
That’s it. No complicated funnels. No aggressive promotion schedules. No feeling like a used car salesman.
But here’s what I want you to understand: This only works because I put in the years of building trust first.
The “passive” affiliate income you hear about? It’s built on sacrifice. Years of creating content without immediate payoff. Turning down high-commission products that didn’t align. Building an audience slowly instead of buying traffic.
Does that mean you need to wait five years to see results?
Not really.
If you already have an audience—even a small one—and you start promoting the right way today, you can see results faster. But you still need consistency. You still need patience. You still need to resist the urge to promote everything.
There’s no shortcut. But there’s a path that works.
The Affiliate Marketing Path That Preserves Your Integrity
Look, I chased the shiny objects. I tried the “quick money” schemes. I promoted products I shouldn’t have.
And I came back to the simple truth I learned in those first four months back in 2003: Affiliate marketing works when it’s based on genuine recommendations.
Not perfect products. Not products you’re paid to love. Products you’d tell your friend about even if there wasn’t a commission attached.
That’s the standard.
Everything else is noise that damages your reputation and makes you feel like you need to apologize for your business model.
You spent years building professional credibility. Don’t throw it away for a 40% commission on a product you’ve never touched.
Your audience—whether it’s ten people or ten thousand—deserves your honest opinion. They can tell the difference between a recommendation and a sales pitch. They always can.
So before you join another affiliate program or add another link to your content, ask yourself: Would I recommend this anyway?
If yes, promote it proudly. Share your experience. Help people make informed decisions. Earn the commission you deserve for providing value.
If no, walk away. There will be other opportunities. Better opportunities. Ones that align with who you are and what you’re building.
Because at the end of the day, affiliate marketing isn’t about maximizing commissions.
It’s about building a business you don’t have to hide from.
What’s your biggest hesitation about affiliate marketing?
Is it finding the right products to promote, or is it something else holding you back?
Comment below and let me know—I read every response.
