Finding the Right Affiliate Program for Your Side Hustle
When you first decide to start a side hustle in the affiliate space, one of your earliest and most critical decisions will be picking the right programs or networks to join. The internet is flooded with options, and the path you take can define your entire experience with this online business side hustle.
You're essentially faced with two main choices: partner with a specific company’s affiliate program or join a larger, established affiliate network.
Going Solo vs. Joining a Network
Working directly with a single company's program can be lucrative. If you’re passionate about a specific product or service, you can often earn great rewards by focusing all your energy there. However, this approach has its downsides. Juggling individual programs can get complicated, and it’s often tough to generate a significant income by promoting products from just one source. It's a challenging route for those just setting up a side hustle.
This is why most people lean toward affiliate networks. Think of a network as a marketplace or intermediary that connects you with a huge range of products and services within a particular niche. You can pick what you want to sell and get started almost immediately. Sure, the network takes a small cut for its services, but the convenience is often well worth it. Using a network can save you hundreds of hours you’d otherwise spend finding companies, negotiating for product links, and tracking your own clicks, sales, and other stats. It’s one of the best strategies for side hustles for beginners.
The Big Fish in a Big Pond Problem
Choosing between different programs is a determining factor for your side hustle business. Many people are naturally drawn to the massive, well-known affiliate programs, but that’s not always the best move. These platforms already have thousands of affiliates, which means you’re diving into a sea of fierce competition. Trying to outrank and outsell your competitors for the same products can feel like an uphill battle.
Sometimes, the real jackpot is in the smaller, more niche affiliate programs. Finding a program that isn’t already saturated means you’ll face less competition on search engines for your target keywords. With fewer people selling the same thing, it can be much easier to get ahead. A word of caution, though: many small affiliate programs are just scams selling subpar products. Always do your homework and understand exactly what you’ll be selling before you commit to anything. A successful freelance hustle is built on quality and trust.
Building a Winning Strategy
The great thing about affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to stick with just one program. If you have the patience to test out several options and monitor your success, you can eventually build a portfolio of solid, reliable programs. Once you find partners with great customer service and quality products, you can focus on promoting them while gradually adding new opportunities as they appear. This is how you create scalable side hustles that grow over time.
Realistically, if you're just starting out—especially if you’re starting a side hustle while working full time—you’ll probably begin with a large, reliable network. And that’s a perfectly fine strategy. It allows you to quickly access products and links, saving you valuable time that can be better spent on the real work, like creating landing pages and testing your marketing strategies. This approach can turn your project from a simple side hustle into a real freelance marketing business.
Above all, be vigilant and stay away from questionable schemes. If a program or network offers commissions that seem too good to be true, they probably are. Before joining anything, do a thorough search to see what other people are saying about it. If you find multiple forum threads or reviews calling it a scam or complaining about not getting paid, it’s best to just steer clear. This diligence is what separates side hustles that can become full time from those that fizzle out.
