Let’s be real here. I knew going into this whole “blogging” thing that I likely would not make any sort of income for at least 6 months to a year. Of course I hoped to be one of those lucky few that made it big quick but I knew that was very unlikely (still have hope though). That being said, I was completely shocked when I made my first affiliate sale only 1 week after launch of my blog!
The first week was so exciting but discouraging too. My list of to do’s kept growing and my window of time to work on my blog seemed to be shrinking. Page views were slow and promoting my blog was a whole new level of confusing.
But that didn’t stop me. I kept pushing on and learning new things.
So how did I make my first affiliate sale only 1 week after launch? Well I can’t give you an exact answer because there is no way to pin point what caused the sale. It is probably a variety of factors and maybe a little luck. However, I can tell you what I did so hopefully the same thing can work for you!
So here is how I made my first affiliate sale only 1 week after launch.
This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase a product through my link I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information you can read my disclosure here.
First things first, I spent over two months building my blog before I launched.
You can check out the steps I took to create my blog here.
During those two months, I completed the following 4 crucial steps:
1. Build up social media profiles
I already had a Pinterest account so I switched it to a business account and began regularly pinning every day. I started with 284 monthly viewers and on the day my blog launched I was at 20k monthly viewers.
Building up my Pinterest before launch was HUGE. This probably was the number one factor (in my opinion) why I was able to make an affiliate sale so quickly.
People were already viewing my pins (of other peoples content) so when I threw in my own content they saw those too!
Looking to join a group board? Join my here.
I created a new account for Instagram so I did not have much to work with on this social media platform. My goal was to get on a regualar posting schedule so I would already have several posts before promoting my blog.
Instagram was also useful for creating “Coming Soon” posts for my blog. This helped drive traffic to my blog on the day of launch.
You can check out my Instagram here.
2. Create “good” Pins
You may be able to generate a ton of Pinterest traffic but at the end of the day if you do not have “good” pins few people are going to click on them.
What makes a pin “good?”
- High quality picture
- Bright & Colorful
- Easy to read
- 600 x 900 pixels (or 2:3 ratio)
Take the pin picture for this post for example.
How to make your first Affiliate sale
3. Insert links properly
You want to show people where to click by saying “Check out this product here” and link to the word “here.”
In addition, you could say “click here” or check out “this” product.
This not only shows the reader where to click but it intices them to see what product you are talking about.
It also is important to limit the amount of times you link something. Having too many links or linking multiple words for the same product could turn readers away.
4. Write quality content
Finally, the most important part is to simply write quality content.
Building trust with your readers is important. No one will want to buy a product you recommend if your post does not sound genuine or has several spelling and grammatical errors.
I can guarantee 99% of successful bloggers will tell you that creating quality content is key.
These four factors all contributed to making my first affiliate sale only 1 week after launch.
Now I am sure you are wondering what my first affiliate sale was and how much did I make.
I want to point out that I am writing these posts about blogging to document my blogging journey so I do not want to hold information from you.
I too was in your shoes looking for any kind of information on how much you can really make from blogging.
My official first affiliate sale was from a product from Amazon that I recommend in this post.
The pin for this post was also my best performing one so far.
I made a total of $0.96 cents.
Not even a dollar but I was not planning on making anything my first month so this is definitely a win in my book! And now I know that I CAN make money with affiliate income and what I have done so far has not been for nothing.
If you would like to continue to follow along with my blog that I launched on January 1, 2020 subscribe below!
Well there you have it. I hope my experience with making my first affiliate sale will help you on your blogging journey.
You may also like “8 steps to complete after launching your blog.“
This was very informative. I am learning all about affiliate marketing right now.
There is so much to learn! I’ve been focusing a lot on affiliate marketing as well.
Prior preparation makes all the difference. Congratulations on your first affiliate sale!
Thank you! When initially starting on my blog I set a launch date and completed everything I could in that 2 month timeframe. There was so much more I felt I could have done but you reach a point where you just need to go for it.
wow, amazing! thank you for sharing it with us, it took me much longer to do it.
Thank you! I enjoyed reading about other new bloggers blogging journey so I felt I should share my experience as well.
Great behind the scenes advice for someone wanting to start a blog! There is so much preparation behind it!
Thanks Lynn! There is so much you can do with blogging which can be overwhelming but setting goals and focusing on a few things each month makes a huge difference.
It’s always exciting when you make a sale through an affiliate link, especially the first time! Great tips for first time bloggers and influencers!
It was so exciting and even though it’s not much it is very motivating to continue on my blogging journey!
wowo that is great. I didnt earn that quickly but this is a great post for those that are getting started.
Thanks Kelly! I enjoyed reading realistic blog reports from new bloggers so I hope my story can help and motivate others too.
Yay for you! I’ve been blogging for three years and YES- quality content is king.
Hi Tamara, developing content that I’m proud of is always at the top of my list!
Congrats on your first sale. Hopefully you’ll have many more!
Thank you Krystal! I hope so too.
I haven’t been good at pushing affiliate sales. Thanks so much for sharing your step by step process. It’s definitely inspired me to get moving more.
Hi Leah, I’m so glad you found my post inspiring!
That’s so awesome. I’ve been blogging for a while now and haven’t made a single sale and barely have people click on my links. It kind of sucks.
Hi Maria, don’t give up! Blogging can get discouraging at times but if you keep with it and work hard it will pay off in the long run. Time is definitely a bloggers best friend!
Wow, you go girl! That is phenomenal! It took me months to do this!
Thank you Shayla! I hope my tips can help others make their first affiliate sale.
That is great that you had success with affiliate sales. I have always found this to be a challenge. Thanks for the tips!
You’re Welcome Marysa! My goal for sharing my blogging journey is to both inspire and provide my tips to create a successful blog.
What great info!! That’s almost unheard of in affiliate sales… you go girl!!
Thanks Tiffani!
These are really helpful tips. I just started with affiliate marketing and definitely love to try these. I have a lot to learn with pinterest. I have an account but it is not really helping me drive traffic to my blog.
Hi Clarice, Pinterest is all about consistency so keep at it and traffic will come. Also I suggest reading as much as you can about Pinterest. That is what I did and now I’m looking to take a few courses on it as well.
Thank you for this. I found you through Pinterest so it means that your strategy works ☺️ I am still learning ☺️
Hi Lisa, I am so glad you found this helpful! There is so much to learn in the blogging world that it can get overwhelming at times so when I discover something that works for me I enjoy sharing it with others.
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