Do you want to make more money as a musician? Consider learning about affiliate marketing for beginners.
Affiliate marketing is an amazing way to earn some extra cash online. Keep reading to learn how it works for music businesses.
But first, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
Overview of Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn a bit of extra money. It’s where you share a trackable link to a product or service. When someone clicks the link and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission.
Depending on your existing music business, affiliate programs may fit in super well. For example, a teacher who always recommends music books could use affiliate links to earn a commission when their students get new materials.
Once you earn enough in commissions, the affiliate program will send you a check or deposit the money right in your bank account. Over time, affiliate marketing can become somewhat passive, so you can earn more without working more.
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
If you’re starting a music business or want to expand your current one, affiliate marketing is a great choice. It’s one of the easiest income streams to set up.
Consider some specific advantages of this income stream.
Diversify Your Income
Most of us musicians are freelancers, so we can do a lot of things to make money. But adding more streams can feel stressful. Luckily, affiliate marketing is relatively flexible.
That makes it a great choice if you want to diversify your income streams. So if your teaching income drops, for example, you can focus more on your affiliate links to make enough to pay your bills.
I’ve been pretty reliant on client work in my biz. While that’s nice, I’ve been working on building my affiliate income. That way, I can have more control and flexibility due to the extra revenue.
Earn Semi-Passive Income
Aside from inheritance or investment dividends, I don’t believe there’s a true passive income source. However, affiliate marketing can become semi-passive or scalable.
That means you can make more money without necessarily having to work more hours or raise your teaching or gigging rates. You can make this happen with programs that offer recurring commissions.
Another way to do this is to publish content on your website to get more traffic. As you get more traffic, you can convert those extra visitors into customers of your favorite affiliate products.
Easy to Start
I’m still learning all about affiliate marketing, so I’m not an expert. But you don’t have to be an expert to start. It’s super easy to sign up to a few affiliate programs and share your links.
Some affiliate programs have website traffic requirements. However, others let you sign up without sharing your numbers. That makes it a great choice if you just started a website or even a social media account.
Amazon Associates is a popular choice for beginners. You can apply and all you need is a website. The traffic doesn’t matter, so you can start sharing affiliate links right away.
Get Compensated for Helping Students
If you’re a private teacher, you probably spend hours helping your students find sheet music, instruments, and accessories. And a lot of this time is unpaid, which really stinks.
Fortunately, you can use affiliate marketing to change that. As long as your students buy stuff through your links, you can get a commission. That way, the time will be more worth it for you financially.
There are a lot of affiliate programs that cover musical instruments. And since instruments are high-ticket items, you can make a decent amount per sale that you generate. Just make sure you focus on helping your students rather than making a quick buck.
Best Affiliate Marketing Programs and Networks
One of the hardest parts of affiliate marketing for beginners is knowing what programs or networks to join. There are tons of options, but not all of them are related to music.
Here are some programs and networks that I’ve joined and would recommend to other music business owners.
Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is one of the easiest programs to join. You don’t need to have a set number of monthly page views to your website. However, you will need to get at least three sales within the first 180 days to stay in the program.
You’ll also have to follow a lot of strict rules. Amazon doesn’t let you send their links in emails or private messages, for example. But you can get around this by creating a resource page on your website for your students.
Here’s what my resources page looks like if you want an example.
I love how you can link to almost anything on Amazon. While it may not be the best place to buy an instrument, there are some reputable third-party sellers on there.
You can also use it to promote sheet music and accessories. Plus, Amazon tracks the entire sale, not just what you link to. So if a student clicks on a link to some sheet music but then buys a coffee maker, you’ll still earn a commission.
eBay
I know eBay also isn’t the best place to buy instruments, but it has a decent affiliate program. You can use it to promote new and used instruments that people are selling.
The program is easy to join, so it’s great for affiliate marketing beginners. And you can use it to promote more than just music stuff.
If you have a second business in another industry, you can use the same account to make money with affiliate marketing. That can be nice if you want to start businesses that cover all of your passions.
Impact
Impact is an affiliate network, which means you can join multiple programs and manage them all from one dashboard. When it comes to music businesses, you can become an affiliate for shops like WWBW and Guitar Center.
You can apply to those programs from the store websites. Another option is to join the Impact marketplace. But to join the marketplace, you have to have at least one website, and you have to copy and paste code into the header to prove you own the site.
I recently applied to the marketplace and got in. It took a couple of days to hear back. But now I have access to apply to as many affiliate programs as I want.
Plus, the network combines the commissions into one. That means you don’t have to meet a minimum payout threshold for each one before you start to make money.
Sheet Music Plus
Sheet Music Plus is one of the largest online sheet music stores. They sell both print and digital files, so you can promote a ton of different products. And as you make more sales, your commission rate will increase.
This program is particularly appealing if you’re a composer or arranger who uses ArrangeMe. Since ArrangeMe distributes your music on SMP, you can increase your earnings.
If someone buys your music through your affiliate link, you’ll get the ArrangeMe commission and the affiliate commission.
Sheet Music Direct
A similar program to join is the affiliate program for Sheet Music Direct. It’s a sheet music store that focuses on digital files. Like SMP, SMD is part of ArrangeMe distribution.
So if you sell sheet music through there, you can make commissions on the music and being an affiliate. Unfortunately, this program doesn’t have an online dashboard, and they only provide quarterly updates on your earnings.
That means you could go a few months thinking your links are doing well but not making any sales. I probably wouldn’t make this a pivotal part of my affiliate strategy, but it doesn’t hurt to add it since it’s easy to join.
4 Ways to Promote Affiliate Products
So you’ve gotten into at least one affiliate program. The next step is to implement a strategy to promote your affiliate links and generate sales.
Here are some of my favorite ways to market my affiliate links.
1. Start a Blog
I can’t talk about affiliate marketing for beginners and not mention the importance of having a blog. You can use your blog for a lot of things, including sharing affiliate links.
One of the best ways to do this is to write product reviews or roundups. For example, you could start by reviewing your own instrument. Then, you can get an affiliate link to the product and share it in the post.
A product roundup is a list of similar products, such as the best flute models. You link to each model you cover, so you have even more chances to generate clicks and sales.
Even if you write a more informational post, you can include links when you mention given products. Then, people can click on those links and buy something, earning you a bit of money.
If you use SEO in your blog posts, you can get organic traffic. That can help you get more clicks and sales to increase your affiliate earnings.
2. Use Social Media
Social media is another great place to start affiliate marketing. You can include your links in your social media bio or specific posts. If you use Instagram, you can share the links in your stories or DMs (not Amazon links).
Be sure to post good content to attract your ideal audience. You can then connect with people and start to build relationships. As people learn to trust you, they may be more likely to click on your affiliate links.
Just make sure you review the program policies of whatever links you want to use. That way, you’ll know whether or not you can link to a product or if you should take another route.
3. Create a Resources Page
A great way to get around link restrictions is to add all of your top affiliate links to a resources page on your website. Then, you can link to that page on all of your social media accounts or in your emails.
I have a resources page on each of my blogs with relevant affiliate links. So if someone needs to quickly find a product, they can do so. This is also nice if you don’t have a ton of blog posts yet.
If you want to promote a product, you can link to this page. Then, you can swap that out for a full product review if you eventually publish one.
4. Post YouTube Videos
If you don’t mind being on camera, consider starting a YouTube channel. You can then use the description box of your videos to share your affiliate links.
In the video, mention you have affiliate links below. Encourage your viewers to click on those links to buy whatever it is you’re talking about in the video.
This is a great option for musicians. If you’re a performer, you can post videos of you playing, and you can link to your instrument and the tech you used to record the video.
Or if you’re a teacher, you can publish educational content. Then, you can link to products that people need to follow your tutorials.
Affiliate Marketing Best Practices
Before you start affiliate marketing, beginners need to consider how to do it right. At best, doing it wrong will keep you from making more commissions. But at worst, you could face legal trouble.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when incorporating affiliate marketing into your music biz.
Disclose Your Affiliate Links
If you or any of your followers live in the US, you have to add a disclosure to any piece of content with affiliate links. This isn’t a program requirement from Amazon or WWBW. No, it’s required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
You must tell people that you could earn a commission if they make a purchase through your link. Not disclosing your links is deceitful, and it could get you in trouble with the government.
The disclaimer doesn’t have to be super long. You can include one sentence in the content and link to a privacy policy with more details. Just include something telling people about your relationship with the brands you promote.
Review Program Rules
Some affiliate programs, such as Amazon, have super strict rules. You can’t use your affiliate links just anywhere. And if you want to use buttons, you can only use Amazon branded buttons.
Be sure you review the rules of any affiliate program you join. You should also watch your email for program updates. Review the updates for any changes to the rules regarding where and how you can use your links.
The last thing you want is to use your link where you’re not supposed to, get a commission from it, and get kicked out of the program. It can happen, and you could lose out on a lot of money in the future.
Promote Products You Trust
In many industries, you should only promote products you’ve used. Now, in the music world, I’d say it’s a bit different. I’ve promoted instruments that I haven’t played, but I’ve stuck to brands I know are trustworthy.
Promoting products that are scammy might generate you a few sales. But your audience will catch on. You could lose the trust of your followers, and they won’t want to buy anything else you promote in the future.
It’s not worth a few extra sales to share something from an unknown brand, even if the commission rate is high. Stick to products and brands you know are worth the money so that you can build and maintain a loyal following.
Final Thoughts
Affiliate marketing for beginners can be a great way to expand your earning potential. You can also help your students or readers find the products they need to become better musicians.
Be sure to follow program rules and general best practices. That way, you can slowly start to grow this new income stream.
If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, I’ve been loving the Affiliate Marketing Superstars course!
Leave a Reply