Affiliates for photographers to make more money

3 Unexpected Affiliates for Photographers

Preparing, emailing, texting, shooting, culling, editing, sharing, blogging, choosing, delivering.

As a photographer, there are a lot of steps for each session.  What if you could make some money on some of those steps and not just on the sell?  Well, I’ve got some ideas for you: become an affiliate.

What is affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is when you talk about someone else’s product and then if your audience buys that product with your link, then you get a commission.  It is a really effective way to make money because you use products every day and you are interacting with your audience every day.   Sharing products that you like is natural and easy (and you make some extra cash).

You can read more about affiliates here.

Here are 3 Unexpected Affiliates for Photographers

1. Maskcara Makeup.

Now I know what you are saying, isn’t that an MLM?  Well, yes it is but the way they have it set up is that you don’t have to build a team or sell a million a month to get benefits.  Everyone gets 20% of their sells.  Yes, you can earn more if you build a team or if you sell more, but a 20% affiliate commission is a pretty great base commission.

I visit Utah every summer so I have to leave my makeup artist at home.  Being a Maskcara artist is great because I have every shade and brush I need to get photo ready makeup for my clients.  Then, if my clients like it, then they can buy it and I make a little extra money on my session while pampering my client at the same time.  It is a win.

Ready for my Maskcara makeup before and after?  Here it is and it only took me 5 miutes:

(Not sure what Maskcara is or if it is for you?  Check out my Maskcara Beauty Girl site here.)

(Ready to join my Maskcara team and get FREE business mentoring from me?  Join me here or email me michelle@iammichellegifford.com)

2.  Shop Style Collective

As part of my senior session package, I help my clients create the best outfit for their pictures.  I used to make a Pinterest board with the best looks.  Well, now I’ve gotten a lot smarter.  You can create a board for your clients with outfit ideas with direct links to the actual products through the affiliate program Shop Style Collective.  Think of it.  You send your senior outfit ideas, they love them, click the link, buy and they look great in pictures and you get an affiliate commission.  Your clients will love you for making it extra easy and you get a little bonus.  It is a win.

3. Amazon Associates  

How many times do you get asked by clients and friends about the type of camera or lens they should buy to take better pictures?  Writing a blog post to answer these questions.  Having a blog post will answer all of their questions AND you can use an affiliate links to Amazon for the cameras.

Becoming an Amazon affiliate is simple and free.  You could sign up in five minutes and then you just use your special links when posting about products.  When someone click through and purchases, you get a percentage.  AND if someone clicks through and buys the product you feature and they buy other items in the same checkout, you get a percentage from everything they purchase, not just your one item.

You can also set up an Amazon “store” of your items that you love and put a widget into the sidebar of your site.   This is genius for the photographer.  Just set up a store of your favorite beginning photography items and display it on the sidebar.  This saves you time because you only have to answer the question once and it gives your clients easy access to your top rated items.  It is a win.

Bonus:

Poppy and Dot

I just signed up as a Poppy and Dot Rock Star (which just means that you are an affiliate).  Every week they come out with new line of clothes that are shared only through their Rock Stars and they give you a 10% discount code to pass on to your followers and then you get 10% if they buy.  Because my followers are looking to me for fashion advice, I like this one because you can give them a coupon code.  It’s free to join and I’d jump on this one now because it is super new and it will be harder to get involved later.

There you go my friend!  Affiliates for photographers: how to make more money

Want to save this post for later, pin it now.  Have a friend who needs this article?  Share it.  Have a question?  Ask me in the comments.

Want my free 5 day iPhone photography course?  Click here to get it free.