Earlier this year, I posted a YouTube video that, somewhat surprisingly, started to gain traction. I quickly optimized the video to get the most out of it. Since then, I’ve earned hundreds of new email leads and earned thousands of dollars in commission. In this episode, I’ll share what I did, and how you can make money with affiliate links, too!

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Make Money with Affiliate Links

In the past few months, I was surprised to learn that I’ve accrued over $6,000 from one of my affiliate partnerships. On top of that, the commission I earned is recurring, so I will continue to bring in money as users renew their subscriptions. 

How It Happened

From this experience, I learned a lot about how to make money with affiliate links, so I thought it would be fun to talk through how this happened! Truthfully, I have not shared about this program a lot yet. It happened very organically in my business. Hopefully, there are some nuggets here that you can apply to your affiliate strategy!

From September to November of 2023, I earned over $6,000 in affiliate commissions from Manychat. Manychat is a program that helps you create automations for your business. It’s particularly popular on Instagram.

Where It Began

To backtrack a little, I did create a YouTube video about how to set up an automation during the summer of 2023. I noticed the video earned views more rapidly than others on my channel. Quickly, I ensured it was optimized. First, I double-checked that my affiliate link was included. Then, I created a Manychat template freebie. Lastly, I linked that template in the video description and included an opt-in to my email list with it.

There is a delay between the time someone signs up and the time affiliates are paid. Because of this, I initially did not realize how lucrative that affiliate link was for my business. Once I saw how much Manychat was bringing into my business, I knew that I wanted to emphasize it even more going forward.

My Initial Strategy

First, I want to point out why I created a video about Manychat in the first place. Manychat was becoming a popular topic in my niche. I noticed there was not a lot of YouTube content about it at the time. The videos I did find were years old, and I knew an updated tutorial would be a good, searchable resource. On top of that, my own audience was asking for help, and I needed a good resource to point them to.

Trend-Hacking

This is where I’ve seen the most YouTube growth: Finding trending topics in my niche that do not have a lot of videos yet, topics that are new, or seasonal topics and creating videos based on that. This is something that I cover in depth in my new YouTube course, which will launch on January 15, 2024. Be watching for more information on the launch, as well as on the free class I will host the week prior!

After about three months, I saw 664 subscribers opt-in to the freebie we made available on my Manychat YouTube video. The amazing part about that is that I do not mention the freebie in the actual video – only in the description and comments section.

YouTube Results

Often, when I share successful results from YouTube, I hear, “But you’ve been doing this for a while and you already have an audience.” I want to argue that the people viewing this particular video are NOT already in my audience. In my analytics, I can see that people find this video in search or in recommended content. YouTube has changed in that subscribers do not matter like they once did. Since introducing Shorts, the wall has broken down. It’s easier to be discovered organically and get your content to new audiences.

As business owners, we use YouTube differently than vloggers or typical “YouTubers.” While their goal might be to climb in subscribers, ours is to get in front of OUR target audience and get those people onto our email list.

YouTube as a Business Strategy

YouTube is the second largest search engine, owned by the first largest search engine (Google). It’s a powerful platform for getting in front of new people. Plus, your content is evergreen, meaning it can be searched for months or years. You do not have to share your content over and over again.

Once I noticed how significant the results were from that one Manychat video, I thought, “I’m going to become the Manychat expert.” That might be a little dramatic, but the idea is there! I want to become the go-to person for Manychat and share about it everywhere.

I have already created more YouTube videos about it, and I have tons of ideas about how to share it on various platforms. Plus, I’ll get more serious about sharing our Manychat templates in more places. It’s great for list growth and affiliate income at the same time!

YouTube Bonus Tip

YouTube loves it when you create multiple videos centered around one topic. If someone finds your video, they can binge that topic on your channel. This will keep them on the app even longer. It also helps your views and your reach. Again, I cover this topic in depth in the YouTube course launching in January!

Resources!

By the way, if you want to watch the video on my channel that gained so much traction, you can watch it here! Plus, you can grab the Manychat reels template here and start using Manychat for your own business right away!

Thanks for hanging out! We’ll see you in next week’s episode on Thursday at 8 AM!