How to Start Affiliate Marketing in 2026 Step by Step – Sara Finance

I make over $50,000 a month with affiliate marketing and I’m going to be revealing the entire strategy I followed so that you can do the same. This does not require you to have any money or experience. All you need is your phone or laptop to make this work. So, if you’re interested in starting your own affiliate marketing business so that you don’t have to work 40 hours a week in a job you hate, feel trapped in a cycle of debt, or miss out on overseas holidays, then this could be the most important video that you watch all year because I’m about to walk you through my 11-step process that helped my students and I make thousands of dollars in affiliate commissions every single month. Now, let’s get right into it. Okay, before I break down my full strategy, let me show you how much I actually made in the last 30 days from affiliate marketing. Here’s a look at my first Impact account. I brought in $40,000 in just 30 days and from my second Impact account, another $24,000. This was actually one of my highest earning months ever and it all happened because I made one simple shift. I stopped thinking just like an affiliate marketer and started thinking like a content creator. A content creator is simply someone who builds a personal or faceless brand by posting content on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest because let’s be real, it doesn’t matter how many affiliate links you have if no one’s clicking them and the only way to drive traffic and conversions is by creating great content that actually gets people to take action. That’s why your main focus should be mastering content creation and you’ll be promoting your affiliate links through video content, simple images, blog posts, and your email list using a tool called Omnisend. So, go ahead and create your free Omnisend account right now using the link in the description. I’ll show you how to use it later in the video. Now, let me walk you through the 11-step process I followed and now teach my students to grow content-driven affiliate marketing business from scratch. Starting with the first step of the strategy, which is to decide whether you’re going to build a personal brand or faceless brand. Now, you can definitely start a faceless brand if you’re not ready to show your face online. But, I personally recommend you build a personal brand. And the reason is that people are going to be more likely to trust you, which is important in making affiliate sales. But, either way, you can make great money with both. The next step is to pick a niche, and here’s how to find the perfect one. First, start by brainstorming topics you’re passionate about or have experience with. Think of things like fitness, personal finance, cooking, or gaming. Write them down in a Google Doc or notebook so you can visualize your options. Next, you want to make sure your niche addresses a specific problem or fulfills a need for your audience. For example, helping busy professionals meal prep healthy recipes for the week is a focused and valuable idea. People are always looking for solutions to save time and eat well. So, a niche like this has a built-in audience eager for your content and products. Next step is to find the right affiliate links to promote. The top three websites to start with are impact.com, clickbank.com, and Amazon Associates. These platforms are some of the best for discovering a wide range of affiliate programs. I suggest you look for affiliate programs that pay at least $30 to $50 per referral or more. High-paying links can boost your income, especially as you scale your content. I love promoting affiliate links for platforms like Robinhood, Coinbase, Fiverr, ConvertKit, and a few e-commerce tools. These are all in the business niche, and by focusing on these, I was able to earn over $50,000 last month alone. Now, can you copy this strategy? Absolutely. If the business niche resonates with you, these programs are a great place to start. But, remember, you’re not limited to business-related links. For example, the travel and fitness niche offer fantastic affiliate programs that pay upwards of 50 per referral. The key is to find affiliate programs that align with your content and audience while maximizing your earning potential. On to the next step, which is starting marketing on social media. As I said earlier, in order to To a successful affiliate marketer, you must also be a content creator. Promoting your affiliate links will be simple as long as you can create good content, which I’ll show you how to do step-by-step. The first step is to create a TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube account. Make sure you have the same username, profile picture, and bio for all your accounts. As a content creator, it’s important you establish yourself and build a loyal following on all platforms. TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest are all pretty similar as you create more simple, attention-grabbing content like short videos. However, YouTube is a whole different game where you can create long-form videos that provide deep value and attract a more loyal audience that will buy into whatever you sell. Now, the next step is to come up with the right content ideas, which can be challenging, but I’ve got a few methods to make it easier. First, start by studying successful creators in your niche. See which of their videos are performing the best and use those as inspiration to put your own unique twist on the idea. This is one of the main ways I generate ideas even now as a bigger content creator. There are likely thousands of creators in your niche, so take advantage of that. I also recommend you create a Google Doc with 50 to 100 links to viral videos in your niche. This gives you a pool of proven ideas to remake whenever you need inspiration. Another way you can come up with content ideas is to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. For example, I asked ChatGPT, “Can you give me some YouTube content ideas similar to Mr. Beast’s channel?” And I got a list of amazing ideas in seconds. I also suggest you browse the comments on your competitors’ videos or check platforms like Reddit and Quora. Look for, you know, questions or pain points people in your niche are talking about. Then, create content that directly answers those questions. If your content solves your audience’s problems, you’ll build trust, grow your audience, and open the door to make a lot of money with affiliate marketing. Now, I’ve shared a lot of information with you, and there is more to come, but you might be wondering, “How can I ensure this works for me and I actually become successful? Well, if you’re serious about building a successful content creator business, I recommend joining my coaching program. I genuinely believe it’s the best program if you want to go from zero to making $10,000 a month or more with affiliate marketing. Just imagine where you could be in 90 days from now if you had the exact strategies and systems I use to make over $150,000 per month as a content creator, one-on-one support from me and my team throughout the entire process, access to community of like-minded individuals to support and inspire you. Honestly, the amount of value here is unreal. Of course, I can’t coach everyone and this offer is very exclusive. I’m only working with serious individuals that want to scale to $10,000 a month or more. So, if that’s you, click the first link in the description and fill out the application and I’ll see you inside. Now, let’s move on to the next step, which is creating your content starting with short-form videos for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. First, I want to explain how to create faceless content and a great way to do this is by using the software InVideo AI. So, the first thing you need to do is sign up for an account with InVideo AI, which I’ll link in the description. Now, we can use the software to create a short video. So, here you want to give a very detailed prompt on the video you’d like and it’ll make it for you. Remember before how I said to save a bunch of viral videos on a Google Doc? Well, now’s the time to go back and look at those for some inspiration and potentially get InVideo AI to remake one of those videos. For example, I could say create a YouTube Short that is motivational and shows what life is like after becoming financially free. Make it very inspiring and use a young female’s voice. Make this video 30 seconds long. Now, I’m going to generate the video and it will just take some time to analyze information and once your video’s done, you can review it and if you don’t like something or you want to change something, you can do so in this box here. You can make it shorter, maybe delete certain parts of the video, change the voice, even maybe change stock footage. Honestly, anything you want to just make the video exactly how you like. Then, once your video is done, you can just go ahead and download it and then post it to Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. Now, another way you can make faceless content is by using tools like CapCut or iMovie that let you edit videos with stock footage or your own content. Many successful faceless creators also film their own content while keeping their identity hidden. Here’s an example of an Instagram page that has gone viral, but the creator stays anonymous. I feel like this is a great approach because even though it’s technically still a faceless account, you know they’re still a human creating the content and so it makes it feel a lot more trustworthy. Now, let’s move on to creating content. If you’re planning to start personal brand and actually show your face, first start by recording Tik Toks or Instagram Reels on your phone. This is exactly how I began in 2020 and it still works. Honestly, you just need to film content of yourself, whether it’s talking directly to the camera or using, you know, B-roll footage and edit with apps like CapCut or the built-in tools on Tik Tok and Instagram. I recommend for your first 30 uploads, focus on remaking a viral videos from your competitors so you can use the Google Docs of 50 to 100 viral videos you’ve compiled and put your own twist on them. This strategy is a proven way to grow quickly while learning the ropes. Now, let’s move on to creating content for Pinterest. Here you’ll post images that link to your websites and affiliate links and creating these images for Pinterest is pretty simple. You can just use templates from Canva. Here’s an image I created for my Pinterest account. Literally took than 2 minutes and you can get all your content ideas from your competitors on Pinterest. I do have a full Pinterest affiliate marketing tutorial if you are interested in learning more about that, which will be linked in the description. Now, I will say short-form content is a great start, but many creators wonder if they need to post long videos on YouTube. The answer is no, it is optional. Start with short videos if that feels more manageable and then you can transition to longer content later. If you do want to create long-form videos, here’s what’s involved. You have to first come up with a strong video idea and a catchy title. Then you have to create a script for the video. Then you have to film the video and then have like a proper setup with good lighting, a microphone, and camera. And lastly, you have to edit the video with softwares like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro. But then, once you want to upload the video, of course, you have to have a nice, eye-catching thumbnail. And then you have to pretty much track the performance and monitor how the video is doing after you upload it. I know this sounds like a lot, and it is, but to make it easier for you, I’ve made a full YouTube tutorial that walks you through every step you need to create long YouTube videos. So, I’ll link that in the description if you want to check it out. Unfortunately, I have seen so many new creators with loads of potential that eventually fail because they didn’t post regularly and didn’t get the results they hoped for. So, what’s a good posting schedule? Well, it depends on what type of content you want to post. If you decide to start with platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, I suggest posting at least one to three short pieces of content per day. Now, I know that sounds like a lot, but this is important in the beginning to get traction on your account. Then once you’ve got momentum, you can cut back down to something like five to seven posts per week. Now, for YouTube long-form, I’ll be honest, if you can do one a week, that would be perfect. However, these videos can take a while to make, and there’s so many moving parts when it comes to this, so even two months that are high quality is a good starting point. Now, like I said, I know this might sound a little overwhelming, but I’ve actually developed a content creation routine that allows me to come up with ideas, record my videos, and post on multiple platforms all in just a few hours of work. There’s a whole section of my coaching program where I break down exactly how you can do this. So, again, if you’re interested, then make sure you apply for the coaching program, which is linked in the description. Now, let’s move on to the next step, which is to create a custom affiliate marketing website that can showcase all your affiliate links. Having a custom website is extremely important because without it, you won’t be able to build trust with your audience, properly promote your affiliate products, or capture emails for your email newsletter. Now, in order to create your affiliate marketing website, I recommend you use Hostinger, an all-in-one solution for all things needed to get your website up and running. It’s my go-to for a variety of reasons. One, their affordability, less than $4 a month. You don’t need any coding skills, and you can get a free domain name for the first year and a professional email. The best part is you can use their WordPress AI website builder to create your entire website for you in under 1 minute. Here’s a website it made for me, which looks amazing. Now, in order to build your affiliate site with the WordPress AI website builder, click the link in the description to access Hostinger or go to hostinger.com/sarafinance. Once you’re here, scroll down and choose a plan. If you want to get all the AI tools and other features I mentioned, you need to get the business plan, and honestly, this is the best value. So, choose the plan and then here you can just use the code Sara to receive an additional 10% off, which is amazing. Now, if you choose the 48-month plan, it’s the best deal as you pay under $4 a month, and with the current sale going on, it’ll give you a few months for free, which is amazing. But, the 24- and 12-month plan is also pretty good, so just choose whatever works best for you, then continue and just add in your payment details. Once you make the payment, it’ll bring you here and ask you a few questions, so I’m going to pick the first choice here. Next, create a website, click WordPress, and your login information. Here, pick blog or affiliate marketing site as both are similar. Then, create a WordPress website with AI. Building a WordPress website with AI is honestly a game-changer. It eliminates the stress of designing by handling all the heavy lifting for you with just a few clicks. You’ll have a stunning, fully functioning website featuring personalized layouts, matching color schemes, compelling content, and lightning-fast performance. Plus, it’s super easy to tweak and update so your website can grow and change right along with you. Now, moving on, here just add what you want your website URL to be. Mine will be businesswithsara.store. The domain is free when purchasing a plan for the first time, which is awesome. Now, it’s asking what your website is about, so make sure you select affiliate site or blog and explain your site. I recommend you put something similar to what I put here, and now just wait for it to create the website. This is so cool because all I have to do is give some info on what I wanted my website to look like, and then the WordPress AI website builder will now create it for me in under 1 minute, which is pretty convenient. Perfect, and now redirects me to the website it created. So, click on confirm and edit. I’m honestly shocked. I think it looks pretty good. Now, feel free to edit your website however you like with their drag and drop feature. You can also use the AI writer to create unique content fast for product descriptions, blog posts, and landing pages. One thing I suggest you do as well is add all your affiliate links on the resource page. I only added one affiliate link here on the resource page to show you how it’ll look once it’s done. But, once you add all your affiliate links, it can look something amazing like this. Now, customize your website however you like again with their drag and drop feature and take your time making it look pretty. Now, moving on to the next step, which is essential to running your affiliate marketing business, which is to start an email newsletter. An email newsletter is a powerful tool that helps you stay directly connected with your audience, even outside of social media, of course. It’s a simple way to constantly provide value, build trust, and promote your products or services, including affiliate offers. Every week, you can send out helpful content, tips, or updates, and naturally include affiliate links for products you recommend. Since your email list is full of people who choose to hear from you, they’re more likely to trust your suggestions. For example, if you had 10,000 engaged subscribers and even just 1% of them clicked your affiliate link and made a purchase, that’s 100 sales from one email. And over time, this obviously adds up. I make well over $10,000 a month just from my email list. And the best part is, unlike social media, you own your email list. No algorithm can take that away from you. So, as you grow your audience, growing your email list should be a top priority. A great platform where you can host your email newsletter is Omnisend. It’s easy to use, and you can connect it to your Hostinger WordPress website. Let me show you how that works. So, click on Omnisend in the description of this video, then click start free. Here, you can sign up with your email, then it’ll prompt you to put in all your information. And once you do, you’ll be brought to the dashboard page. Here, you want to connect your store, then scroll down and select WordPress. Then, just ensure to complete the steps here to have Omnisend connect to your website. Once you’re done, you’ll be brought to the dashboard, which gives you a clear view of your campaigns, automations, and performance. Here, it’ll prompt you to complete a few steps, which I recommend you do straight away. You can honestly use ChatGPT to help you write email newsletters. Now, anytime you want to send a new email audience, you just click up here on campaigns, and you’ll be able to create an email to send. Their drag-and-drop email builder is really intuitive, and you can add product blocks, coupon codes, and even dynamic content like personalized product recommendations. Now, you’re probably wondering, how are you going to be collecting emails? Well, on your website at the bottom, you can have this email sign up form, which is one way you can do it. So, anyone who clicks on your website may sign up if they’re interested to get more value from you. Another way is by creating a pop-up form. So, click on the form section, then click this button, and you’ll now be able to customize a pop-up form that appears on your website for every person. And the goal is to get them to add their email, of course. For example, here, I could say, “Get free affiliate marketing strategies every week.” And if that’s something they’re interested in, they’ll put their email in. So, the goal is to get as many email subscribers as possible and send out two to three valuable emails to your audience every single week. One of the best things about Omnisend is its automation. If you’re not familiar, automation’s let you automatically send messages to your customers based on their actions. So, once you’ve collected all these subscribers, you can even add follow-ups offering discounts or showcasing related products. This all runs in the background working for you. I’ve added a link in the description where you can try Omnisend yourself. If you’re serious about scaling your business, this is a tool you’ll want on your side. Now, I know this video is specifically for anyone who wants to make money with affiliate marketing. However, as a content creator, you can also make money by selling your own digital products, which could be a course or notebook, journal, PDF file, or you can make money through sponsorships and YouTube AdSense. I think affiliate marketing is great, but if you do build up your following and gain a loyal audience, then you might as well make money through other avenues, too. And you can check out my YouTube tutorial on becoming a content creator to learn more about this, which is linked in the description. I know all this can feel pretty overwhelming, especially if you’re just starting from scratch, but that’s exactly why I created my coaching program to guide you step-by-step in building a successful content creator business and make thousands of dollars every single month. I’ve poured my heart into this program over the past year, and I’m beyond excited to share it with you. Inside, you’ll find the exact blueprint I’ve used to scale my content creator business to over $150,000 a month. Plus, you’ll have my personal support and guidance every step of the way. My goal, honestly, is to help you hit consistent $10,000 months and then scale from there. This is a rare opportunity to work closely with me and fast-track your success. If you’re ready to join, click the first link in the description, and I look forward to seeing you inside.