Designers (99 Designs, Zazzle, Designmodo)
Designer Services Screenshots
Media or creative businesses (Media Content Advantage, John Melley Voice Overs & Production, Music Radio Creative)
Content marketing services (Sprout Social, Hootsuite)
Hootsuite Affiliate
Masterminds and membership sites (Serious Bloggers Only, Freelance Writer’s Den, Digital Marketer)
Research or consulting services (Questia, Touchstone Research Store, Snow Consulting)
Accounting, finance, or legal advice (as permitted by law) (Find Legal Forms, Motif Investing, Greatland)
Motif Affiliate Program
Niche specialties – pop culture, travel, tourism, nightlife, crafts/artisans (Pet Care Supplies, zChocolat, Silvercar)
Examples of online/hosted services:
Website platforms (Wix, Squarespace)
Lead generation services (Thrive, Elementor [affiliate link])
Email service providers (AWeber, Constant Contact, ConvertKit [affiliate link])
Email Service Providers - affiliates
Website services (e.g., hosting, anti-spam, security, etc.)
Media (Wistia, Vimeo, Telestream, various WordPress plugins)
Course platforms (Zippy Courses, Ruzuku, Teachable)
Ruzuku - Affiliate
Virtual Assistant or customer service support (Zendesk Partners program, VA Affiliates, TempsASAP)
IT support, cloud-based storage, backup, security or other technical services based on monthly subscriptions
Advantages
It’s easy to become a service affiliate, and it helps your audience manage important tasks that require specific expertise.
There’s likely a higher earning potential than from digital downloads because services are usually offered at a higher price point.
Many hosted services will offer a recurring commission – meaning you’ll get paid for as long as the customers you refer continue to use the service.
Disadvantages
Some of your favorite professional service providers (ones you have experience with) might not have affiliate programs in place.
Affiliate MarketingOur Recommendation?
Do it! Especially if you can find an excellent service provider who can potentially help nearly everyone in your audience at one time or another and who can be a strong, steady income generator.
Option #3: Online Courses
Online courses are an important subset of digital products, especially for bloggers, and the market is huge. They’re so popular that they deserve their own category on this list.
Online courses exist on just about any topic you can think of. They range in price from free to thousands of dollars, with higher-priced programs promising big results for students.
Examples:
My Garden School
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids – How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting
Aha! Parenting affiliate
Suze Orman’s Personal Finance Online Course
Advantages
Courses are one of the best ways to help your audience achieve a goal that’s important to them or move past a roadblock that’s been keeping them stuck. You can deliver incredible value with little effort on your part.
Courses are often offered at a higher price point than other digital products, so your earning potential from each affiliate sale is higher.
Courses are popular. It should be easy to find other influencers in your niche whose courses can help your readers.
Disadvantages
You’ll have to spend time working through and reviewing courses to make sure that they deliver on their promises (to protect your reputation).
