Affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable and convenient ways to make money as a blogger. And there are plenty of valuable resources that you can use to pimp out your website, as well as training, tools, apps, and programs to help you! So I’ve put together some of my favorites for you… basically, it’s a list of the BEST tools and resources for new affiliate marketers.
SETTING UP YOUR WEBSITE
DOMAIN NAME AND WEBSITE HOSTING:
Who is the “host(ess) with the mostest” when it comes to WordPress hosting? Siteground! Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about these guys! Their support is extremely knowledgeable, their wait times are short, and they really changed my experience with hosting providers for the better. I highly recommend them if you are looking for an affordable and reliable host with great support.
CHOOSE A BEAUTIFUL, PROFESSIONAL THEME
There are plenty of places you can find WordPress themes, but my three absolute fave places to shop for gorgeous themes are:
(Just a little note here: make sure you go with a theme that is mobile responsive! The majority of users are browsing on a smartphone or tablet, so make it easy for them!)
LEARN WORDPRESS
Are you a complete newbie to WordPress? The WordPress 101 course by Blog Clarity will walk you through all the WordPress basics you need so you can build the perfect blog! You’ll learn:
- the foundational aspects of WordPress – from how to install WordPress to how to create posts and pages;
- how to make your site user-friendly – from how to manage categories and tags to creating menu navigation;
- and how to personalize the “back end” of your site.
LISTS, APPS & PLUGINS
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF 125+ AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR BLOGGERS (IN EVERY NICHE!)
Not sure about which programs to join? This is the list you need – all the hard work has been done for you, to the point where every program listed links directly to the company’s affiliate page. Every niche is covered, from food, to travel, to parenting, to fashion, to tech gadgets, and even blogging!
SCHEDULING PINS
Let me just say… if you’re not using Pinterest to promote your blog, you should be! And once you’re on Pinterest, then using a scheduler is the best and most efficient way to get your content seen, and get traffic back to your blog.
TAILWIND: is an API-approved partner with Pinterest. (Which means, it’s “Pinterest Official”). It has a great graphic interface, and is perfect for visual learners. Your first 100 pins are free, then pricing starts from $9.99 per month (billed annually, or $15 paid monthly).
BOARDBOOSTER: comes in better if you’re on a budget. It’s paid monthly and the price depends on the number of pins in your plan. Basically you pay $5 for every 500 pins per month.
SOCIAL MEDIA
SMARTERQUEUE: Seriously, THE smartest way to do social media. This tool has allowed to streamline my social media posting in a HUGE way. I spend about an hour a week scheduling my Instagram (and Facebook) posts in advance. It’s got everything you need, in one place: content calendar, scheduling, content curation, visual reports, and performance analytics. They have a 14-day free trial, but you can use this link to get a 30-day FREE trial!
MILOTREE: Convert your website visitors into followers, subscribers & customers! The smart MiloTree pop-up is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to grow your social media followers and email list. You would have seen it pop up at the bottom right when you landed on this page.
WORDPRESS PLUGINS
YOAST SEO: Use this to optimize your blog posts for search engines. It provides a handy checklist for each post, and tells you exactly what needs to be changed for Google to like your post more.
AKISMET: Checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. This one’s a must-have!
SUMO: Sumo is a suite of useful tools designed to help you grow your website’s traffic. The tools are easy to install, and there are two versions, free and paid. You can create scroll up boxes, hello bars, pop-ups, welcome mats and social sharing buttons (see those pink squares? At the bottom of your screen if you’re on your smartphone, or on the left of the screen if you’re using a laptop/desktop. They make it super easy for your readers to quickly share your content!) Check it out here!
PRETTY LINKS: This is the one plugin you MUST have to improve your affiliate conversions! When you add affiliate links to your posts, the url tends to be some crazy long mix of characters and numbers that make no sense at all. In a time when identity theft and online fraud are so common, many will question the validity of a url that looks like that, and may not want to make a purchase through it. This plugin allows you to turn any affiliate link into a url that resembles your blog or website url.
NB: Please be sure to read the TOS for each affiliate program that you join – some do not allow “cloaking” of their affiliate links (Amazon is one of them!)
PLANNING & ADMIN
2018 ULTIMATE BLOG PLANNER: This gorgeous, free (yep, absolutely FREE!) 12-page blog planner is designed specifically for bloggers that are determined to increase their blog income and traffic. The pages included will help you brainstorm post ideas, plan your weekly posts, make to-do lists, keep track of usernames and passwords… I love it. And I know you’ll love it. Using The Ultimate Blog Planner is key to blog organization and blogging success!
GLOSSARY OF AFFILIATE MARKETING TERMS: Confused about all those strange affiliate marketing terms and crazy acronyms? (Like, what the heck is a “cookie”, and can I eat it?!) This guide explains them all in plain English.
GDPR COMPLIANCY: Is your blog GDPR compliant? Lucrezia of Tiny Love Bug is a lawyer in Melbourne with a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in International and EU Law. She has put together an amazingly comprehensive e-course that goes into detail for each provision of the General Data Protection Regulation and provides examples, templates and checklists for each action you will need to undertake to ensure full compliance. The course covers all aspects of your compliance, all principles and legal requirements, and all ongoing obligations and responsibilities under the GDPR. Get it here!
LEARN AFFILIATE MARKETING (THE BEST TRAINING FOR BEGINNERS)
MAKE YOUR FIRST AFFILIATE SALE: This is a FREE email course to help you craft a successful affiliate marketing strategy from the beginning, and learn how to make a passive income with your blog. Because it all starts with that first affiliate sale!
BLOGGING AND AFFILIATE MARKETING COURSE FOR BEGINNERS: Learn how to make money blogging with affiliate marketing.
AFFILIATE ACCELERATION: How to make passive income with a small audience.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST AFFILIATE SALE IN 24 HOURS USING PINTEREST: The no-BS, no-fluff, step-by-step guide to making affiliate sales on Pinterest (ebook).
HIGHER AFFILIATE COMMISSION ACADEMY: For those who want to know how to convert with higher paying affiliate programs.
MAKING SENSE OF AFFILIATE MARKETING: How to build a six figure blog without millions of visitors or selling your soul.
You can find out more information about all these programs in this post.
EMAILS & YOUR MAILING LIST
G SUITE BY GOOGLE: Not only can you get a professional email address like chrissy@affiliatemomsquad.com (instead of affiliatemomsquad@gmail.com) for a mere $5 a month, you get all the Google apps for business, Google Calendar, Google Drive for storage, spreadsheets, slide templates, forms, and document creators!
MAILCHIMP: If you have less than 2,000 email subscribers, you can use MailChimp’s most basic plan for free. Perfect for newbies!
CONVERTKIT: ConvertKit makes sending emails to your subscribers easy and fun! You can segment people into different groups and send them emails specific to them and their needs. You can also create epic landing pages and opt-in forms that integrate perfectly with your website.
MAILERLITE: My preferred choice, and what I’m currently using. Mailerlite is super easy to use (drag-and-drop template editor), free for up to 1,000 subscribers, allows automation, auto-resends, segmenting, and you can even create a landing page with it!
CANVA: Oh Canva, how I love thee! Seriously one of the best FREE resources around – one that makes stunning design possible for us mere mortals. I use this for SO many things! Such as… my pinnable images for my blog posts, Facebook page header image, Facebook group header image, FB ads, images for my website, email header, etc.
The reason I’ve included it here (under “emails”) is that it is PERFECT for creating your email list opt-ins: think ebooks, infographics, workbooks, checklists, and more.
IMAGES
BEST SITES FOR FREE STOCK PHOTOS:
IVORY MIX // UNSPLASH // PEXELS // PIXABAY // CANVA
BEST SITES FOR PAID STOCK PHOTOS:
STYLED STOCK SOCIETY // OH TILLY STYLED STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY // CREATIVE MARKET // PIXISTOCK // TWENTY20
RECOMMENDED SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING
INSTAGRAM AUTHORITY: Alex’s courses are by far the best Instagram training I’ve done to date. (And yes, I’m qualified to say that, because I’ve done a LOT of Instagram courses, and used Alex’s methods to grow my previous account to over 15k followers!). This FREE e-course will teach you how to attract followers, increase your engagement and make more sales – this one’s a must!
FACEBOOK ADS BASECAMP (currently being revamped, link updated soon): Do you find Facebook advertising daunting? Or just plain frustrating? I struggled with creating a Facebook ad that actually converted for soooooo long (aka, wasted a lot of money on other courses, paying other people to do it for me, and just ad spend that resulted in big fat nothing) – and then I signed up to this course. Rebecca knows her stuff, and I can’t recommend her highly enough!
PINNING PERFECT: This is an 8-module online course created for bloggers and small biz owners, and it is extremely comprehensive – and what I love most is that you get lifetime access, and it’s always being updated with the latest information regarding Pinterest.
PINTEREST SEO TRAFFIC SECRETS: Start driving tons of traffic to your blog from Pinterest with this smart pinning technique.
MY FAVE READS FOR #GIRLBOSSES
Books every #girlboss and aspiring female entrepreneur should read! Because the best way to build your #girlboss empire is by learning from other badass girl bosses, right? Here are a few of the best inspirational books for female entrepreneurs I’ve read…
PODCASTS FOR BLOGGING BABES
Podcasts are a great way to learn new tips and skills to use on your blog and in marketing, and are THE perfect way to fuel your mind and stay inspired. Here are the podcasts that have changed my life… and they’re all free, of course!
Phew, quite a list, right? You might even be beginning to wonder which of them you could try first! The truth is that these resources are for you as a new affiliate, and you can take advantage of any of them, BUT to avoid getting overwhelmed, start small. If there is a particular tool or resource in the list above that has grabbed your attention, then start out with that.
This list is not the “be-all and end-all”, though, and I will be adding to it over time as I implement new tools here at Affiliate Mom Squad.
In the meantime, what tools, resources or apps do you love? Let me know in the comments below!
Chrissy x
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This was extremely informative, I really like how you broke it all down so simply. I’ve been doing online marketing for some time now, and this is extremely helpful, and will even be helpful for new people just getting started. Well done.
Thanks so much AJ! That’s the whole point of Affiliate Mom Squad – sharing tools and knowledge with those getting started. Glad you liked it!
Hello Chrissy,
You weren’t kidding this is The BEST tools for
New and Professional affiliate marketers… That I have ever seen. I use MailChimp, Canva, I have a blog schedule, but don’t use it. Now I will. I haven’t heard of the Social Warfare plugin but sounds really interesting. Think I’ll try it. I use Pinterest regularly but haven’t linked my blog to it, (lagging). I have tried Facebook Ads… You’re right, it sucks when you have zero clue how to create killer ads, like me. (Sad face), but I will try this Facebook Ads Basecamp. I haven’t used Pretty links, but you make it tempting. I think that, thanks to you, I’m going to be improving my affiliate marketing program progress!
You’re Awesome!!!
Hi Linda! Thanks for the kind words 😘 I’m so glad you found some useful tools in the list!
Lots of awesome and helpful info here. Its inspiring to see you trying to give other moms the power and tools to do this as well.
Thanks Brandon!
What a wonderfully written post! Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s perfect for beginners and for myself with a good amount of knowledge. I will be visiting again! Looking forward to reading more 🙂
Oh, thank you Kim! I’m so glad you found this useful ☺️
I love the goal digger podcast! Thanks for this article, it will be very helpful!
Jenna Kutcher is my secret #girlcrush, lol 😍 It’s a fab podcast, isn’t it?
Hi Chrissy,
Thanks a mil for this, I think I’ve found some gems in there! 🙂 There’s sooo much out in terms of resources, it’s very helpful to be able to follow just the ones that come recommended…
Keep on sharing! 🙂
You are SO welcome Isabel!
Thank you for the comprehensive list! I am still learning..
My pleasure, Deb!
I have been looking for posts on affiliate marketing. I’m new to blogging and don’t know where to start. This post is easy to understand what I need to do to get started. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Martha, I hope that this site will continue to be a source of information (and inspiration!) for you. Thanks for reading 🙂
Great article! A lot of useful information.
Thanks Kelly, so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Chrissy.
Not exactly a mom myself… 😉
But a dad, and an aspiring affiliate marketer, so close enough, right…?
Found your post really inspiring and informative. Especially the social marketing courses are something I need to look into! So thanks for that, and thanks for the inspiration!
Best wishes,
Michael
Haha, yep, close enough! I’m glad you were able to take away some useful tips regardless of your “dad” status 😉
These are some really great tools! Thanks for the roundup.
No problems!
Hi Chrissy, Wow, Thanks for all this very valuable information. I have pinned this article on my Pinterest Board. Am so excited about all your suggestions and help. It isn’t always easy to find the tools one needs. Naturally I absolutely love, love, love Wealthy Affiliate and Canva is super.
Great information on here! I love the affiliate tools and the tips on Sumo, MailerLite, Canva, BoardBooster and others. The books that are your faves is a nice touch. Your website is friendly and inviting. Plus, I love the Podcasters you follow. I have to get on that G Suite. Thanks!
Thanks Virginia, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Definitely jump on G-Suite, it’s awesome, and super affordable!
Thanks for putting all the tips together. This is exactly the advice I was looking for.
You’re welcome, I’m so glad that you’ve found it useful!
Thank you. This is so thorough. Great information.
You’re so welcome, Jenny 🙂
Very useful blogging tools some of which I didn’t even know about. Thanks for sharing these great blogging tips.
Thanks John! Live and learn, right?
Wow thank you so much for this list! Will definitely help to make my blogging life so much easier! You have everything ai could ever need in one list! Thanks again 😊
My pleasure, Karen! I love that it’s been helpful for you 🙂
Wow thank you for this great blogging tips! I would love to try these blogging tools! Thanks for sharing ♥️ ♥️ By any chance you are interested on doing collaborations, you can check out the collaborations portal of Phlanx.com and connect with amazing brands!
Xoxo,
Tiffany
My pleasure, Tiffany! I hope they help you on your blogging journey. Xx