If you’re looking for a way to make money from home, Amazon’s affiliate program, Amazon Associates, could be the answer. Since its inception, it has been one of the most popular programs for affiliate marketers, and thousands of Amazon Associates make a part-time (and even full-time) living on the platform. If you’re ready to learn how to become an Amazon affiliate, read on for step-by-step instructions.
What Is the Amazon Associates Program?
There are a couple of different ways to make money on Amazon. One is through Amazon’s Seller Central platform. This program is for people who want to source products and resell them on Amazon. However, the Amazon Associates program is for people who would like to make a commission referring people to specific Amazon products.
With the Associate’s program, you don’t need to find a supplier, carry an inventory, or deal with shipping. Instead, all of the work takes place online, making it one of the best work-from-home jobs for single parents, students, and anyone who needs a flexible schedule.
How Do You Make Money as an Amazon Associate?
The Amazon Associate Program is an affiliate marketing model. With affiliate marketing, companies and brands reward individuals for generating leads and traffic to their products or services. Many such programs exist—and you can be an affiliate marketer for many retailers. However, Amazon is one of the biggest and easiest programs to get started with.
With the Amazon Associates program, you can earn money just for promoting different products on Amazon. And the primary way to do this is through your blog or website. Here’s how it works:
Suppose you have a site focusing on arts and crafts. Amazon sells thousands of craft supplies. As an Amazon Associate, you can place small ads or links in your posts to products you use in your art projects. When a visitor clicks on one of those links, it will take them to a specific listing on Amazon. And if they end up making a purchase, you get a commission.
Let’s say I write an article or make a video for my blog about making candles. I place special Amazon affiliate links within my content, so my visitors know where to purchase the candle-making supplies. For example, I might write something like, “You can click here to see the candle-making kit I’m using right now.”
If your reader clicks on the link, a unique code is generated so that Amazon knows to attribute the sale to you.
How Much Money Can You Make as an Amazon Associate?
Naturally, you want to know how much money you can make as an affiliate for Amazon. That depends a lot on how many people you send to Amazon (also called “traffic”)and how much those people buy.
For example, if you have a brand new craft blog with only 100 visitors a week, you’ll make less than someone who has one that is five years old and gets 10,000 visitors a week.
Making money as an affiliate marketer is something that requires patience, determination, and some time for your website to grow. However, if you stick with it, it can pay off BIG!
You’ll want to check the exact commission rates for each Amazon category since they vary depending on the product. However, here’s a simple table of some current rates as of this writing:
| Product Category | Affiliate Rate |
| Amazon Games | 20% |
| Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Explore | 10% |
| Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos | 5% |
| Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive | 4.5% |
| Televisions, Digital Video Games | 2% |
| Physical Video Games & Video Game Consoles, Grocery, Health & Personal Care | 1% |
| Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Luxury Stores Fashion, Apparel | 4% |
How Do I Sign Up for the Amazon Associates Program?
Signing up to be an Amazon affiliate through the Amazon Associates program is relatively easy, but you need a blog or website to join. If you’re still in the early stages of building a blog, check out our article, How To Start a Blog and Make Money From It.
And if you’re having trouble getting things off the ground because you can’t afford it, consider another side gig to help fund your new endeavor. For example, you could walk dogs, deliver food, do some tutoring, or even take surveys for money.
Step 1: Sign Up
Once you feel confident that you’re ready to start working as an Amazon Associate, you can sign up for the program. All you need to do is visit the home page, click the button, and sign up. This part of the process will only take a few minutes.
Step 2. Provide Account Information
Next, you’ll need to share some information such as your full name, address, phone number, etc. You’ll also need to enter a store ID, which is usually the name of your blog or website. Then you’ll indicate the primary goal of your website. This will help you determine what types of products and services might be best for your affiliate strategy.
Step 3. Tell Amazon About Your Website
Step three involves sharing all the information you can about the websites you will use for the Amazon Associate program. You’ll provide the URL to your website (or websites, if you plan to promote on more than one.) You will also be asked how you plan to get traffic to your site.
Additionally, you should have a general idea of how you plan to bring visitors to your blog. Will you draw them in with articles, blog posts, or videos? How often will you update your content? Do you use social networks? The more information you can provide, the more likely you will be approved for the program.
Step 4: Choose Your Payment Method
This step is pretty self-explanatory—it’s the sole reason you would want to be an Amazon affiliate in the first place. Getting paid is the goal. So now, you will tell Amazon how you want to get paid. In this step, you’ll need to share more information, such as your personal identification.
Step 5: Create Your Links
Remember the cable-making link above? You’re going to begin creating links like that so you can send your audience to Amazon to make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, you’ll get full instructions on doing this and a dashboard to help you track your performance.
Step 6: Create Content and Promote Products
Lastly, you will start creating content with your links and (hopefully) bring in some cash. Be patient! It takes a while to get the ball rolling. You’ll have the best chance at making money if you create interesting, unique content that people want to read. Better content equals better conversion, so put in as much effort as possible with your articles, posts, and videos. You may also want to check out more resources for writing for the web.
Final Thoughts: Playing by the Rules
When you’re just starting out as an affiliate for Amazon, it can be a little confusing. As a result, you’ll want to stay informed about the site’s rules for associates. Read them carefully so you go into your project with a solid understanding of precisely what you should and should not do. Amazon can terminate your account at any time if they determine you are not opening within their guidelines.
The Amazon Associates program is one of the most popular affiliate marketing programs out there. It’s a fantastic side-gig you can use to bring in an income year after year.
Finally, for those who are more interested in making money as an online influencer, the retailer recently introduced the Amazon Influencer Program, an exciting new initiative for those who already have a solid social media following.
