Last updated on April 28th, 2019 at 09:40 am
Which high paying affiliate programs are actually worth your time? Affiliate marketing is not as easy as linking to the product. If you want to make money, you need to get good with affiliate marketing. That’s why I wanted to share 13 high ticket programs you can join today.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
It’s nothing more than being the middle person for a product. When you become an affiliate for a specific product, you’ll be given a unique URL. Whenever someone makes a purchase through your link, you are credited with the sale.
Several bloggers have made a living promoting both digital products, managed WordPress hosting services, and email marketing services via their blog and using email marketing. If you’re unsure of how to get started, check out the best affiliate marketing courses for beginners.
It can be a great way to earn money from your blog. Just remember, that it takes time to learn how to create a successful online business that actually earns you a profit.
When Do I Get Paid?
Many of the affiliate programs have a grace period. This grace period allows sufficient time for the refunds or cancelations of the products. After the grace period is over, you’ll be credited with the sale and the money will be paid on the payment method you signed up when applying as an affiliate.
How Do I Get Started?
Now that you have a basic understanding of what affiliate marketing is, you’re probably ready to get started. That’s why I wanted to share 13 programs that you should consider joining.
Most new bloggers will want to create an affiliate business that only promotes products with a high commission rate. You don’t want to do that.
It’s important to have a variety of products that will help you earn any type of commission. Remember every cent adds up quickly.
That’s why I recommend new bloggers also sign up with the Amazon Associates program because it’s so easy to make sales.
High Paying Hosting Affiliate Programs
#1 WP Engine
WP Engine is a hosting company that specializes in hosting WordPress sites. They have amazing customer service and I’ve personally never had an issue with them.
They have a very lucrative affiliate program that pays you $200 for every new customer that joins through your link.
Plans start at $35 – $290 per month. Regardless of which plan they choose, you’ll make $200. You’ll also get an incentive bonus when you hit 5 sales per month.
There’s absolutely no reason not to promote WP Engine if you’re blog is about blogging tips. Liquid Web is another one of the popular web hosting companies that is used by several bloggers. (so make sure that you look into their program)
Did I mention that you get paid $50 when you refer an affiliate and they make a sale? Talk about a win-win situation, you can sign up through the ShareASale affiliate network.
#2 SiteGround
I currently use SiteGround to host this blog and I love it. They also have a great affiliate program that pays you $50 for every customer that signs up through your unique link.
As a new blogger, we don’t want to overpay on our hosting services. Their plans are extremely affordable and at the time of this writing start at $3.95 per month.
They have great customer support and great uptime. Personally, I think it’s a great hosting service for new bloggers to start their blogs.
If someone buys through your affiliate link, you’ll be paid $50 per customer. Once you start making more sales, you’ll get more money. This is what the commission payout looks like for the SiteGround affiliate program.
- 1 – 5 sales per month: $50
- 6 – 10 sales per month: $75
- 11 – 20 sales per month: $100
- 21 sales monthly: $125
The more sales you make, the more money you make. It’s definitely nice when a company rewards you for your hard work. Maybe you’ve thought about joining the GoDaddy Affiliate Program? Regardless of where you host your site, you definitely want to consider joining their referral program.
#3 Bluehost
While I don’t recommend Bluehost for a hosting service, a lot of bloggers love them. They have a high paying affiliate program that will reward you nicely if someone pays for hosting through your unique affiliate link.
Many big bloggers promote this company and that’s why I think that so many new bloggers start with them. They do have reasonable rates.
At the time of this writing, you can get started with Bluehost for just $3.95. (although if you’re looking to host a site, I recommend SiteGround)
As an affiliate, you’ll be paid $65 for every visitor who clicks through your link and signs up.
Related: ShareASale Review A Complete WalkThrough of How to Use It
If you think that you want to start promoting Bluehost then I recommend you sign up. It doesn’t take long to get approved.
The Downside of Promoting Hosting Companies
One of the things that I’ve noticed when promoting hosting companies, is that not all of the commissions will be paid out. Just because someone signs up, doesn’t mean that you’ll be paid.
Many people who sign up through your link, will cancel during the grace period. Don’t expect all the commissions to be paid when you get a notification that you’ve made a sale.
However, I do recommend promoting a hosting service through your blog. It’s a great way to add a passive income stream to your blog.
High Paying Email Autoresponder Affiliate Programs
#4 GetResponse
Anyone who runs a website or a blog know the importance of building an email list. GetResponse offers a lucrative 33% commission for their affiliates.
You’ll get 33% commission for the lifetime of the customer. Yup, you work hard once and you can be expected to be paid for every month that customer continues their subscription.
Affiliate marketing is challenging and you definitely should consider the lifetime affiliate programs to help you grow your blog income.
Business owners understand the importance of building their email list. The cool thing is that this service offers a free trial which makes it an easy sell.
#5 ConvertKit
If you’re a blogger, then you know this email autoresponder service is extremely popular. While I didn’t choose to use this service when I started this blog.
Many bloggers swear up and down that ConvertKit is responsible for their email list growth. Their plans range from $29 – $3999 per month.
As an affiliate, you can expect to make $30 per sale. You’ll also be paid monthly recurring commission for the life of the customer.
#6 MailerLite
This is another email autoresponder that I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers joining. Start a blog is not expensive. However, once you start paying for the tools that help you turn your blog into a profitable business can start adding up.
This is one of the reasons that MailerLite has become so popular among new bloggers. They have a ton of features that too good to be true for a free autoresponder service.
The best part is that you can use this autoresponder to build your email list. You won’t pay a dime until you reach 1,001 subscribers.
You’ll pay just $10 per month for up to 2500 subscribers. This is a great deal considering that most of the reputable email autoresponders charge a lot more. If you’re looking for an affordable email autoresponder, you can sign up here.
Why You Should Promote These Programs
If you’re new to affiliate marketing, the one thing you’re going to notice is that it’s not as easy as everyone says it is. It takes time to build trust with your readers before people start buying through your links.
One of the best things you can do is promote products that offer you recurring commissions. You do the hard work once and you get paid for the life of the customer.
High Paying SEO Affiliate Programs
#7 LongTailPro
We all know the importance of keyword research if you want to give your blog a chance to rank on Google. This tool will help you find long tail keywords that you can use to rank your blog.
You’ll be able to use the tool to check how many backlinks and social signals your competitor has. This will help you determine whether or not you’ll be able to rank your blog for those particular keywords.
As an affiliate, you’ll get paid 30% commissions from the monthly and annual plans. This is another great recurring affiliate program that will continue to pay you for the life of the customer.
#8 BeRush the Affiliate Program of SEMRush
Search engine optimization is extremely important for all bloggers. This tool is an all-in-one SEO tool that will help you gain those high rankings that you desire.
While I personally don’t pay for this tool right now. I’ve considered using it to help me improve my SEO. At one point, I’ll start using it for this blog.
However, it is a very expensive tool. If you do sign up as a customer, you want to make sure that you have the time to make to make full use of it. At the time of this writing, prices begin at $99.95 per month.
For most new bloggers, this is a little high. However, many people who use this tool swear that it’s worth the price. When and if I do decide to give it a spin, I’ll definitely write a review.
As an affiliate, you can expect to make to make 40% recurring commissions for the life of the customer. If you do the math, then you can expect to make around $39.98 per month for every person who signs up through your affiliate link. (be sure to check my math as I don’t claim to be a math expert)
High Paying Webmaster Tools & WordPress Themes Affiliate Programs
#9 StudioPress
An SEO optimized theme and framework that many bloggers use and trust. This blog currently uses the Genesis Framework and I love it.
They offer tons of themes, hosting and pay their affiliates based on the products they sell. For instance, you can expect to make 35% on every Genesis Framework or theme that people buy through your link.
If someone signs up for the StudioPress site, which is their hosting service, you’ll make $75 on the sale. Once you start referring more sales every month, they will offer you a bonus incentive.
You can’t go wrong with promoting StudioPress on your blog. After all, every blogger wants a that looks amazing and helps them build a brand.
#10 Thrive Themes
The Thrive products consist of blogging tools that range from $39 – $147. They are a highly reputable company that many bloggers love.
As an affiliate, you get 50% commissions on a purchase. If someone signs up for a subscription through your link, you’ll make a 25% percent monthly recurring commission.
The cool thing is that there is no payment threshold before you get paid. As soon as your commissions reach $20 USD you’ll get paid.
#11 Bluchic Genesis Themes
Amazing feminine WordPress themes that will make your blog look amazing. They will provide you with affiliate banners and unique links that you can add to your blog.
Whenever someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link, you’ll get paid 25% commissions. Payments are processed through PayPal.
#12 Elegant Themes
Many new bloggers are looking for easy to use themes that they can use without any coding or learning skills. Enter Divi the popular drag and drop builder from Elegant Themes.
This affiliate program pays you 50% on every sale you make. If someone signs up for a yearly subscription through your affiliate link, you’ll get recurring commissions when their yearly renewal fees come around.
You definitely can’t go wrong with promoting the Elegant Themes program.
#13 PicMonkey
With the growing use of images on our blog posts, every blogger needs to learn how to use design tools that will help them create amazing images.
The cool thing is that you don’t have to be a designer, so it’s perfect if your blog caters to all bloggers. The PicMonkey affiliate program pays a 50% commission for the initial purchase, even if someone purchases the Supremium subscription.
The pricing options for this design tool starts at $7.99 per month or $47.88 per year. You will need to sign up for a ShareASale account to grab your unique affiliate link.
Can You Make Money As An Affiliate Marketer
Yes, you can but just remember that it takes time. Don’t expect to just add banners and links to your blog posts and sit back and watch the money start coming in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
Sure you might make a sale or two. But just like anything else, you need to have an affiliate marketing strategy in place.
Best Affiliate Marketing Course for Beginners
If you’re new to affiliate marketing and want to make sure that you get started on the right foot. I recommend signing up for the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
Michelle currently makes over $100,000 per month and a lot of her income comes from affiliate marketing. She shares tips that she has used to help her grow her affiliate income.
If you want to know more about this course, I recommend checking out the course page to read about it. Oh, and you’ll also get access to her Facebook page where you can get in touch with her to ask her questions.
In my opinion, this is well worth the cost of admission. I mean how many six-figure bloggers can you actually get in touch with and ask them for feedback and advice on your blog?
Do High Paying Affiliate Programs Really Pay?
I know what you’re thinking. If I put in all the hard work, will I actually get paid? From my personal experience, I have never had any issues getting paid when I make sales.
As I mentioned when you do make sales, you just have to take into consideration the grace period for your payout. But once you reach that payout as long as your tax information and payment information is on file, you should get paid without any issues.
How Do I Start Making Sales?
One of the most important things to keep in mind if you want to make affiliate sales, is you need to build traffic to your blog. Without traffic, you’ll never make any sales or create a profitable blog.
If you’re a brand new blog, put your focus on growing your blog traffic. You can start adding affiliate links from day one if you want.
Just don’t expect to make any money on a consistent basis. Not until you learn how to get blog traffic. Without blog traffic, you won’t have anyone clicking on your links or buying your products.
Do everything that you can to grow your blog traffic. It does take time to grow a blog. But imagine what your bank account will look like after you’ve been blogging for 3-4 years.
Related: Pinterest for Bloggers: How to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Why You Shouldn’t Just Promote High Paying Affiliate Programs
It’s exciting to see those high-paying commissions once your blog starts becoming profitable. While I do recommend promoting a mixture of the top paying affiliate programs and some affiliate products with a lower commission.
The truth is that you don’t only want to promote these types of programs. Give your visitors a choice between high paying products and some lesser or free products as well.
Not everyone is going to want to spend hundreds of dollars to run their business. Heck, some new bloggers don’t want to pay anything to run their blog.
If you want your blog to make money, you need to promote a different variety of products. Look at it like this, every penny that your blog makes is good.
Yes you want those high commissions, but you also don’t want to leave money on the table.
Make Sure You Cloak Your Affiliate Links
One of the most important things to remember as an affiliate marketer is to make sure that you take the time to cloak all your affiliate links.
Yes, you can do it by hand by adding the nofollow attribute. But between you and I, that’s just too much work. If you’re not sure what the nofollow link is, you can read this article.
That’s why I recommend using a link cloaking plugin like Pretty Link or ThirstyAffiliates to automatically cloak your links.
Plus if an affiliate link changes, later on, you can easily go into one place and change out the old link and replace it with the new link.
Without an affiliate link cloaking plugin, you’ll have to go into each blog post individually and change out the links with the new link.
Need Extra Help Succeeding?
Online marketing success is not as easy as many people make it seem. Yes, you can earn an affiliate commission by using social media platforms like Pinterest to earn money.
However, if you really want to build a business using this method, I recommend investing in the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. It’s a great course for beginners that will teach you what you need to know.
You will learn things like how to monetize your top pages to make sure that they are working hard for you. Plus you will be exposed on where to find affiliate products to promote.
Other High Paying Programs for Niche Marketers
Credit Repair Affiliate Programs
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Are you using affiliate marketing as an income stream for your blog? If so do you promote any of these programs? If so let us know about your experience with them.
Hi Susan,
What a great list of affiliate programs to give a try!
The bad thing about affiliate programs is some people are more into making that almighty dollar than actually promoting a service or product that is good quality. For instance, I’m happy to hear you don’t promote Bluehost. I am an affiliate because it does have a higher payout than some of the others, although I don’t promote it. Why? Because after using Bluehost for years, it’s service is quite lacking.
I strongly encourage people to do their research before signing up with a service, especially a web host service, because that lack of quality can cost us a lot more in the long run, right?
Thanks for sharing these others. I am an affiliate for a few and may check a few others out.
Have a great week ahead!
B
Hi Bren,
I’ve used Bluehost back in the day and never had any issues. Although, now it seems like all I do is read horror stories about it. That’s why I don’t actually recommend it.
Like you, I am an affiliate for it. But I always recommend SiteGround as a good hosting company for beginners. I have been using them for over a year and am really happy with them.
You’re right, you can’t just promote a product just because of the commission.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hey Susan!
First, I want to point out that I was able to Pin your blog post to one of my Pinterest boards! The pinning error has been fixed, it looks like!
Affiliate marketing is a beautiful way of making money online. I really love it. But, if you want to make the sales you have to put it all together right.
It is important to note that you can’t just drive any type of traffic to these affiliate programs, you need Targeted traffic. If you work a lot on the targeted traffic then your conversion rates should go up and that means more money for you.
What I like to do is review a tool and show the benefits of having such tool and then just tell people to get it. Another good tactic with affiliate marketing is offering Bonuses if people buy through your link. I have done this before and it really works.
What you might want to do is add some of your own products as a bonus if someone buys a tool through your link. Try it out and see how it goes!
Thank you for sharing your tips on this topic here!
Best regards! 😀
Hi Freddy,
Yup, the Pinterest issue has been taken care of.
I love affiliate marketing, but you’re right it takes a lot more than just adding your links to the content.
Thanks for sharing the tips.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan