‘Sign up to be an Amazon affiliate’ is the ultimate guide that will take you through a step-by-step process on how to create an Amazon affiliate account.
Who does not want the convenience of working from anywhere and having a passive source of income without investing anything? Well, affiliate marketing is a way to generate a passive income by recommending products or services that you don’t own.
If you want to create a passive source of income online, the Amazon Affiliate Program can be a great way to monetize your blog by providing readers with detailed information about valuable products that can be purchased on Amazon through affiliate links on your website. Then, in exchange for referring to the sale, you’ll collect a commission of anywhere from 1% to 10% of the sale price for the items your readers purchase.
How to earn from the Amazon affiliate program
Who doesn’t know what Amazon is? It is a huge platform in the world of eCommerce and its popularity is increasing day by day. If you’ve ever talked about products that could potentially be for sale somewhere on Amazon, it makes sense for you to join the Amazon Affiliate Program. And start collecting (a small though decent) commission on the products people buy by clicking on your Amazon Affiliate Links.
Who can Sign up to be an Amazon Affiliate?
The Amazon Associates Affiliate Program is free to use for any type of creator. As a blogger, YouTuber, or any other content creator, you can get affiliate links for your favourite products by joining the program. You do not need to be a big influencer to earn some money from the Amazon Affiliate Program.
The Amazon Associates Program is one of the largest affiliate networks in the world that helps content creators, publishers and website owners monetize their traffic. With millions of products to choose from on Amazon.com, Amazon Associates use easy-to-use link-building tools to direct their readers to products and monetize qualified purchases.
Affiliates not only earn commission on products that are related to their traffic, but they can also earn on other products their readers can buy on Amazon. As an affiliate, you’ll have full access to a suite of reporting tools to help you figure out what’s best for your readers.
Content creators of any size (regardless of their audience size and readership) can make some extra cash by creating engaging work within their content and inserting affiliate links into it. Just make sure the products look irresistible in the information you’re providing to your readers.
About Amazon Affiliate Program
Amazon Associates is one of the most trusted affiliate marketing platforms where one can start an online income stream from the comfort of working from anywhere they want. All you need is a Gmail account and a free online platform (either a YouTube channel or a free website that you can create right away if you don’t have one).
So, without any further delay, let’s see the complete process of how you can sign up to become an Amazon affiliate and start earning money today. Once you understand the basics, it’s relatively easy to give your readers a reason why they should listen to you and click your affiliate link to purchase a product on Amazon. Ok? Let’s get started.
Click here to head over to Amazon Associates
Here’s what it looks like when you click on the Amazon Associates link above with an easy-to-use dashboard where you can start the signup process.
Creating Your Amazon Account
To sign in (if you already have an Amazon account) or create a new one, simply click the yellow ‘Sign Up’ button and get started with the most important step. But before that make sure that you have a bank account of your own in your name.
You can sign in using your email address or phone number at your convenience but I would recommend you to opt for the first option as it is not a good practice to disclose your personal number everywhere online.
If you don’t have one you can easily create a new Amazon account here using your current email address. To do so, simply enter your name, your current email address and a strong password in the fields provided as shown in the screenshot above.
To verify now, enter the OTP sent to your mobile or mail inbox and press ‘Create your Amazon account’ to complete the signup process. Yes, It is that simple.
Creating Your Amazon Associates Account
Creating your Amazon account allows you to log in to your Amazon Dashboard where you can buy the products you want. Now it’s time to start creating your Amazon Associate account in 5 easy steps.
Step #1: Fill in Your Personal Details
After logging in to your existing account or creating a new Amazon account, you will be taken to the next page to fill in your personal details like the recipient name, address and phone number as you can see in the screenshot here.
On pressing ‘Next’ after filling in all the required fields, you will be taken to the next page to choose a platform on which you want to display your exclusive links from Amazon.
Step #2: Provide a Channel or a Platform
You will need a place or a forum to post these affiliate links, so create a blog or a media channel that you think can build an audience. It doesn’t need to be very fancy. Just have somewhere you can publish content and connect with your audience.
Here you can provide a URL to your blog, website or media channel. If you do not have a channel, you can easily create one by going to blogger or youtube.com.
Step #3: Complete Your Profile
You need a plan for how you will market the products you want to earn a commission. That’s why you will be asked for this information while filling in your account details. The questions are relevant for the purpose of outlining your marketing strategies.
So, try to answer these as accurately as possible to increase your chances of approval. And so, after entering a valid URL and pressing the Next button, you will reach the Profile section where you need to complete your profile by providing the applicable details as shown in the screenshot below.
Make sure to enter details related to the content of your chosen blog, website or YouTube channel. If you don’t have an audience or readers then there is nothing to worry about. And don’t forget to agree to the terms and conditions of Amazon’s Partner Program before hitting the yellow ‘Finish’ button.
Once you’ve set up your account basics, you’re about to move on to the Payments section. Here, you enter information about how you want to receive payment. If you’re not interested in doing it now, you can choose to set it up ‘Later’ simply by skipping this section and proceeding with account setup. However, I recommend doing it immediately so that you can start earning money as soon as your account is approved.
Step #4: Complete Your Payment Method
Clicking on ‘Next’ will take you to a page where you can view your payment details. Select ‘Pay me by NEFT’ and enter payment details correctly before clicking on ‘Submit and continue with tax information.’
Done?
Wow, it’s time to celebrate a little.
You have successfully created an account with the Amazon Affiliate Program. The next time you log in, your Amazon Associate site bar will appear at the top where you can find links to your selected products (by pressing the ‘Text’ button) that can be displayed on your blog, website or channel.
Step #5: Start Using Associate Central
Once your account is approved, you can go to the dashboard and get affiliate links for the products you love and start promoting your links officially. Share them on social media, invite your friends to buy your favourite products through your links, and most importantly, create engaging content to find new users and sell them products.
Things to Consider Before Joining the Amazon Affiliate Program
Whereas today everyone is in a hurry. The sooner they start a blog or website, they start brainstorming on how they can start earning income from their platform right away.
Although Amazon gives them easy access to get started with the process, there are a few things to consider before proceeding straight ahead. I have outlined a few points that I think you should consider before jumping into the Amazon Affiliate Program.
1. Be sure to promote products within your niche
The Amazon Associates program operates on a commission basis, but not all commissions (also known as “referral fees”) are of the same amount.
Official Amazon Associates page created pay scale table below
It showcases luxury items like designer watches, bags and perfumes, which get a commission of 10 per cent. Meanwhile, toys, furniture, commercial supplies, musical instruments and other lifestyle items pay a 3 per cent commission.
As you can see in the screenshot above, the earnings are somewhere between 1 to 9% depending on your products. However, you shouldn’t be tempted to sell products with high commissions that go beyond your niche.
For example, if you run a website where you talk about health and hygiene, but throw away a link to electronic goods. In this case, your audience may start to doubt you and leave without making a purchase. This will definitely undermine your brand value in the long run.
If you can find high-commission products within your niche, that’s great! If not, small amounts add up and will determine the long-term success of your marketing career. People looking for your content want relevant products, regardless of price. What do you think are they more likely to buy unrelated items or items that fit naturally with your content?
2. You must disclose affiliate income
It can be tempting to hide links in your content and earn referral fees without informing your audience—after all, no one wants to look too professional. However, this is not only unethical but is also opposed by Amazon. Perhaps more importantly, it is a requirement of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which states: that creators must specify whether links on the page earn them revenue.
3. You can not promote controversial products or make false claims
While you can use affiliate links with almost any Amazon product, there are some limitations. For example, you may not promote obscene, violent or illegal products. Make sure everything you promote is legit before adding a link. You may also not make deceptive, overly promising or false claims in your Content.
This is especially important when recommending health and beauty products. Avoid exaggerating enough information about benefits and side effects and other warnings and don’t promote things you don’t believe. If you leave a customer second-guessing what you’re offering, especially if the shortcomings are apparent, you could potentially lose a customer.
Benefits of Using the Amazon Associates Program
There are many benefits of using Amazon Associates as compared to other affiliate programs. Here’s why you should consider using this platform.
1. Amazon: Biggest Brand
Amazon has a huge network of buyers, and many of them are regular customers. You can take advantage of this by using Amazon affiliate links to recommend trending or relevant products from this mega-popular e-commerce site.
2. Huge range of variety of products
Amazon is estimated to sell over 12 million products, so you have plenty of options to choose from. Whether you’re a nomadic content creator or a freelancer, you can find products that best fit your content and audience’s interests.
3. Easy to sign up and promote
If you love recommending new products to your social media friends, you will enjoy working with the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program. You earn referral fees only for recommending products that you already like or know your readers will like.
4. No fixed eligibility criteria to get started
Most programs have minimum eligibility criteria for using affiliate links, but the Amazon Associates affiliate program has no minimum requirements. You can apply for Amazon Associates directly and earn a commission regardless of your current audience, readers or web traffic.
Drawbacks of Using the Amazon Associates Program
Do you think Amazon Associates is an affiliate program that would be suitable for you? Here are some of the drawbacks to keep in mind before joining this program.
1. Amazon Associates offers low commission rates
While the program is easy to join, it does offer comparatively low commission rates. You cannot expect to generate a decent income and make a living from affiliate marketing alone anyway. It is even more challenging at these rates than other programs in the market.
2. No commission rule after 24 hours
Sometimes users may like the product you suggest. Maybe they go to Amazon and check the item, but don’t buy it right away.
Unfortunately, this becomes a problem for content creators using Amazon Affiliate Links. A user who clicks on your affiliate link must purchase the product within 24 hours to qualify for the referral fee. If they buy it later, you won’t make any money, even if they put it in their cart via your link.
3. Does not support PayPal payment
Many creators use a PayPal account for their online activities. Unfortunately, the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program does not send money through PayPal. This distinguishes a large user base that is dependent on PayPal to receive foreign currency into their local accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the requirements to become an Amazon Affiliate?
They do not have minimum followers or traffic requirements to set up an account. Instead, for your sake, you must have a bank account in your name and follow some of their basic rules such as adding an affiliate disclosure to your website and not promoting prohibited products.
Do I need to pay to join the Amazon Affiliate Program?
Opening an Amazon Associates account is absolutely free and you do not have to pay a single penny to join the Amazon Affiliate Program. Not only that, but you can also create your own blog (if you don’t have one) using some free-to-use platforms like WordPress, Tumblr or Medium.com. You just need to be skilled enough to create great content for your readers and provide them with the right information they are looking for.
How can I get traffic to promote Amazon products?
Amazon Associate users get traffic by creating great content to attract readers. They generate interest through posts shared on social media, newsletters, or guest blog posts, and they promote their content through a variety of mediums and networking events.
Can I Promote Amazon Affiliate Links on Facebook?
Yes. The policies of both Amazon and Facebook allow users to use affiliate links on Facebook, even if the case is not the same with all media platforms. Therefore, you can add Amazon affiliate links to your content posts on your feed for interested readers that you’ve already engaged with.
All at a Glance
It is easy to sign up to become an Amazon Affiliate and earn from the Amazon Affiliate Program where one can join from anywhere with few geographical and financial restrictions.
Users can start a home-based business at zero cost by using a free blog and a free Amazon Associates account. This makes this program a valuable option for creators who are on a tight budget but have the skills to create great content and the willingness to put in all the necessary effort.
Amazon has structured its affiliate program to make it as simple as possible, so even beginners can get started with the program with little or no help. Even if you get stuck somewhere, you have access to a large community of users who have gone through the process and are probably ready to help.
Whether you’ve been creating content for years or are new to the world of earning income through online content, you can set up an account and start earning some extra money. Just make sure your content is consistently excellent and work hard to build your audience.
Remember that viewers don’t just show up, no matter how good your content is. With some extra effort, you can earn enough passive income to continue building a successful online business through this program.
Head over to Amazon now to find out the features and prices of your favourite products.
