Paid advertising — this method requires an effective combination of ad copy, graphics, and a highly-clickable link.[30] Unlike more traditional affiliate marketing strategies, paid advertising (through pay-per-click ads) earn you money regardless of whether a reader buys the product or not. Services like Google's AdSense make this quick and easy for you, and can even supply you with an advertising code.[31]
Affiliate marketing is commonly confused with referral marketing, as both forms of marketing use third parties to drive sales to the retailer. The two forms of marketing are differentiated, however, in how they drive sales, where affiliate marketing relies purely on financial motivations, while referral marketing relies more on trust and personal relationships.[citation needed]
I started a blog which I plan to monetize only through affiliate marketing and my own products, no ads. I’ve been working on building an audience for my blog, for about 1 year and a half, many people think is maybe too much time, but I just want to make sure that I build enough trust with my readers before I start to try to make them buy something.
Firstly, regarding your own benefits, an affiliate email marketing program or virtually any affiliate program should have the potential to generate a stable, or even growing, income stream for you. Even if it is a side income, it should ideally be a decent amount of money that will add to your monthly cash flow and make this venture worth your while.