Ten years ago the idea of making a career out of blogging would have sounded crazy. Today it is a reality for many creative individuals all over the world. Successful bloggers build an audience by posting interesting content and have the option to make money off of different advertisements utilizing the affiliate space.The affiliate space is a great and easy way for bloggers to make money from the sales that are generated through a banner or link on their page. After a blogger joins an affiliate network (Commision Junction, Ebay Enterprise Affiliate Network, Linkshare, etc), they can be invited to join, or request to join, publishers portal. Upon approval they will have access to pull banners or text links to be used in their blog.From here it is important for the blogger to choose to feature products that their audience is interested in and that aligns with the content of their blog. This helps to make the placement seem less spammy to the reader, while also upping the chance of sales being made. The idea of being able to make money off of these placements sounds great, but it is important to not take it overboard. You will run the risk of your blog turning into a place that has more advertisements and less of your own generated content.In the network the runner of the affiliate program can track and see which blog niches are generating the most sales, and from there start inviting similar bloggers to join their portal.Ultimately, when used correctly, the power is endless with a blogger’s capability to post + promote products on their page.

Hawke Media is full service outsourced CMO and digital advertising agency with clients in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Chicago.