Building Passive Income with Affiliate Marketing
Ever wonder why gardeners talk to their plants?
lol, stick with me. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
Everyone is screaming about “passive income” these days. They show you a screenshot of their Stripe account from a beach in Thailand and tell you that you can do it too… for the low low price of their $997 course. It’s such nonsense and it drives me absolutely nuts.
They sell you the dream of making money while you sleep, which is real, but they conveniently leave out the part where you dont sleep for six months to build the dang thing. Or the many fails you go thru in order to achieve that freedom.
Passive income from affiliate marketing isn’t passive. Not at first. Probably not later also. It just becomes… easier and less hands on.
It’s the most active, front-loaded, pain-in-the-butt income you will ever build. You’re building a machine. And machines dont build themselves. Got it? Good.
The “Passive” Part is a Lie (At First)
Look, anyone telling you this is a get-rich-quick thing is either a liar or an idiot. Or both. Prolly both.
The whole concept of “passive” income is misunderstood. It doesn’t mean you do nothing. It means you do the work ONCE (and still probably have to maintain it a bit), and it continues to pay you over and over again. It’s about unchaining your time from your income.
You’re building an asset, not just trading hours for dollars anymore.
This is NOT about chasing some hot new product that’s gonna be irrelevant in three months (I miss those fidget spinners). That’s a job, not a passive system. Are you kidding me? The goal is to escape that, not create a new version of it.
This is about building something that lasts. Something evergreen.
Evergreen Content is Your Money Tree
Remember the gardener talking to his plants? This is your plant. Your content. And you gotta nurture it before it grows fruit.
Evergreen content is the foundation of REAL passive income with affiliate marketing.
Its content that will be just as relevant in 5 years as it is today.
Think about it. A post titled “10 Best Drones for Beginners in 2024” is NOT evergreen (I’m guilty of this myself, especially on this blog, but then again I don’t write on this to make money or promote a shady course). A post titled “How to Choose Your First Drone: A Complete Buyer’s Guide” IS evergreen. See the difference? One has a death date. The other can be updated for years.
You’re creating the ultimate resource for a specific problem.
Like, the best coffee makers for small apartments. Or a detailed guide on how to fix a leaky faucet. Or a deep dive into the best hiking boots for rocky terrain. This is the stuff that ranks on Google over time and keeps pulling in traffic and clicks long after you’ve hit “publish.” It’s literally the secret sauce to how you make money while you sleep. You write it once, and it works for you 24/7.
This is the work. The hard part. The part nobody wants to do.
But it’s the only part that matters.
Automation – Your Robot Assistant
Okay so you’ve built a library of this amazing evergreen content. It’s getting some traffic. Now what?
You automate the relationship.
This is where things start to feel a little more “passive.” The main tool here is email. I know, I know, email is “dead.” lol yeah right. Email is how you print money.
When someone lands on your epic guide, you offer them something MORE. A checklist, a free mini-course, a calculator… whatever. Something valuable in exchange for their email.
Then, your email autoresponder takes over.
It sends them a series of pre-written emails, automatically. Welcoming them, giving them more value, and then… gently… introducing relevant affiliate offers. This is so powerful. I saw a guy on a marketing forum talking about how his 7-day email sequence for his woodworking blog brings in a consistent $50/day. On autopilot. That’s wild. He wrote those emails two years ago!
You can also automate social media posts using tools to re-share your best evergreen content. But don’t be a robot. People can smell that a mile away. Mix it up.
The point is to build systems that run without you.
The 6-Month “Get Real” Plan
So you want a timeline? Fine. But dont come crying to me if you skip a step. This is a grind, not a vacation. Most people quit by month 3, which is honestly pathetic. Don’t be most people. And if you’re wondering how long it takes to make money blogging, the real answer is: it depends on if you actually do the work.
- Months 1-2: The Foundation & The Grind. This is the boring stuff. Pick a niche. And for the love of everything, dont pick “fitness” or “making money online.” Go smaller. WAY smaller. Like “homebrewing kombucha for beginners” or “training a Shiba Inu puppy.” Something you actually know something about. Then do your keyword research. Find what people are actually searching for. Set up a simple website. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just functional. Write your first 5-10 big, cornerstone evergreen articles. These should be epic. 2,000+ words. The best freaking resource on that topic, period. I know I rant about this tip on my affiliate marketing content post, but you still need some pillar posts (good ones, that help people, not just made for SEO).
Months 3-4: The Content Machine. This is where you put your head down and just WRITE. Or create videos, or whatever your content is. Aim for 2-3 new high-quality pieces of content per week. CONSISTENTLY. This is also when you start promoting. Not by spamming your links everywhere. Gross. You share your content in relevant Facebook groups, on Pinterest, in forums, maybe even try some affiliate marketing without a website tactics on the side to see what sticks. You’re building traffic and authority. You won’t make much money here.
Months 5-6: Analyze & Optimize. Okay, now you should have some data. Pop open Google Analytics (it’s free, no excuses) and see which articles are actually getting traffic. Those are your winners. Go back into those articles. Add more affiliate links. Improve the content. Create a specific email opt-in for that post. Double down on what is ALREADY WORKING. At the same time, start building that email autoresponder sequence. This is when you might see your first $100 month. It feels like a million bucks. trust me.
From here, it’s just rinse and repeat. Find more winners. Build more systems.
What the Forums are Screaming About
If you spend any time on Reddit, like in r/juststart or r/affiliatemarketing, you see the same things over and over.
First, you see the whiners. “I wrote 3 articles and posted 10 affiliate links and I’m not rich yet, what gives??” smh. People have ZERO patience. This is a marathon, not a sprint. The guys who succeed are the ones who are still there a year later.
Second, you see the gold nuggets. People talking about building TRUST. This is so huge. They’re not just plastering “BUY NOW” buttons everywhere. They’re actually helping people. They’re writing honest reviews, showing both the pros and the cons. They’re answering questions in the comments. They’re being human.
People buy from sites they trust. Your job isn’t to be a salesman. Your job is to be the trusted expert friend who gives good recommendations. If you can’t grasp that, you’re gonna fail. Period.
So stop looking for the magic button. It doesnt exist.
The secret is doing the hard, boring work that nobody else wants to do. For a long time. That’s it. That’s the whole game.
Stay hustlin’,
Stephen
