Stage two · pick a path that fits · 6 min read
Affiliate Marketing the Honest Way
Disclosure, judgement and the short list of rules that keep affiliate income something you would happily explain to the person clicking.
Affiliate income is simply being paid for a recommendation you would have made anyway. Everything that gives it a bad name comes from breaking that sentence — recommending things you have not used, or hiding that you are paid.
Disclose before the link, every time
The rule is plain: the reader should know a link is paid before they click it, in language they understand, near the link — not buried in a footer or at the end of the page. Write it as a normal sentence, not legal text.
If a disclosure needs hiding, the recommendation was the problem.
Only recommend what you have actually used
- You have paid for it, or used it long enough to know where it annoys you
- You can name who it is wrong for, not only who it is right for
- You would recommend it identically if the commission disappeared tomorrow
Never promise someone else's results
Do not repeat income figures, before-and-after claims or timelines you cannot stand behind. Describe what the tool does and who it suits. Results talk is where honest people accidentally become the thing they disliked.
Keep the paperwork boring
- Read each programme's terms — some forbid discount-code pages or paid ads on their brand
- Keep your own record of what you promoted and when
- Treat commission as taxable income from the first payment, not the first big one
The test that keeps you straight
Imagine the reader buys, it is a poor fit, and they email you about it. If you would be comfortable replying with the truth about why you recommended it, publish. If not, delete the link.
Your next step
Take this into the Business Compass, where the four-stage path and the free worksheets live.