More and more people are looking for ways to earn online without creating their own products, without investments, and without the need to handle orders daily. This is why affiliate marketing is attracting attention – because it offers the opportunity for income through promoting other companies’ products. But before you post your first link on a blog or describe a course on social media, it’s good to understand how it works. If you’re wondering how to start affiliate marketing, what you need to prepare, and where to promote products, this post will guide you through the essential stages. 

How to start in affiliate marketing? Here’s what you need to know about affiliation before taking the first step

Before you start promoting anything, you need to understand the basics of an affiliate program. In short: your task will be recommending products or services of a specific company in exchange for a commission, if someone uses your link and buys something, signs up, or takes another “valuable” action for the company. 

You don’t need to own a company to start, but it’s good if you have at least a small audience – on a blog, Instagram, TikTok, or in a newsletter. Actually, affiliation is a three-way relationship – you as the promoter, the customer as the recipient, and the company as the product supplier. Your task is just to “tie it all up communicatively”, i.e., present the offer in a way that is genuinely useful to someone. If someone is looking for how to start affiliate programs, this is it – from understanding the mechanism and the responsibility you take on, even informally.

How to start in affiliate programs? Find a niche that works – how to choose a topic that earns and won’t burn you out in a week

Earning from affiliation sounds great, but if you promote everything and nothing, you won’t build trust. That’s why the first step should be narrowing down the topic – preferably to something you genuinely care about. You can write about photography equipment, psychological books, natural cosmetics, software for small businesses – the important thing is that you feel like doing it longer than a few days. Choosing a niche is not just a matter of passion, but also reason – check if there are reasonable affiliate programs available, how much they pay, and if you can build content around them. It’s also good to check Google Trends or keyword planners to see if the topic has potential at all. If you really want to know how to start affiliate marketing, start by asking yourself: what interests me and what might interest others?

Do you have a blog, YouTube, or maybe just Instagram? Find out where it’s worth promoting links

Affiliate promotion doesn’t have to start with an advanced blog and a well-positioned site. In practice, any platform where you have an audience and create valuable content can work. Do you have TikTok and talk about beauty? Great – you can promote products with discount codes. Do you create videos on YouTube? Just describe the product and place a link in the description. Do you run a newsletter? Add a recommendation with context that matches your style. It’s worth testing different formats – articles, posts, short videos – and checking what gets the most clicks. In the long run, however, it’s useful to have your own site or blog, because it’s a place you have full control over. Affiliate marketing on the internet works better the more it is embedded in your communication style – you don’t have to be an expert at everything, just be specific and consistent in what you do.

Affiliate programs are not equal – how to choose ones that make sense and pay?

Choosing an affiliate program is not only about “how much they pay per click”. Yes, a high commission matters, but the quality of promotional materials, fairness of the rules, and affiliate support also count. Check if the program has clearly described terms, if you need a business license, how long the cookie lasts, and if the links work without issues. It’s also worth checking reviews of affiliate networks such as Admitad, TradeTracker, or Convertiser – sometimes it’s better to join a larger network that aggregates many offers and provides more analysis tools. The basics of an affiliate program aren’t just signing up and getting a link – it’s understanding how the system tracks your recommendations and when you actually get paid. If something seems unclear or too good to be true – better look further.

Without meaningful content, nothing works – what to write and how to make people actually click

If you think that just pasting a link and waiting for things to happen will work – unfortunately, it doesn’t. Working in affiliate marketing is about building context and value. You need to make the recipient feel that your link will be useful. How to do this? Focus on specifics. Instead of writing: “this cream is great”, write: “after 7 days, I noticed less skin redness – and it’s the only cream that actually worked for my eczema.” People respond to honesty, comparisons, specific benefits. Comparisons work well too, like “5 invoice programs for freelancers”, where each has a link and a clear description. Create as if you’re telling a friend – not like an advertising brochure. Affiliate sales rely on trust, and trust is built not through banners, but through the value you provide in your content.

Content is one thing, but promotion is another – how to reach people without an ad budget?

Creating good content is half the success. The other half is showing it to people. If you don’t have a budget for ads (and you probably don’t at first), you need to rely on organic reach. In practice, this means engaging in social media, being present on forums, and active in topic-specific groups. Guest posts work well too – like publishing an article with your affiliate link on a friendly site. Think long-term – for example, prepare evergreen content that will work for months or even years. If you ask how to start affiliate marketing without investment, the answer is simple: content and systematically showcasing it where your audience is. Sounds tedious? Maybe a little. But it’s this consistency that makes a difference over time.

How to start affiliation and what to do to earn more than 15 PLN a day – techniques that actually increase income!

If you want to move beyond the “one commission a month” stage, you need to start seeing affiliation as a process. Start with tracking data – what gets clicked, what converts, what doesn’t work. Most affiliate networks offer basic stats, but it’s also worth using UTM links, click analytics shorteners, or Google Analytics. The next thing is testing – different headlines, different post formats, changing the link location. Sometimes a small tweak increases conversion by 20%. And don’t forget about upselling – promoting more expensive products or add-ons for which you earn a higher commission. A good affiliate doesn’t just throw random links around but thinks strategically – what’s worth promoting at the moment, what can be tied to a trend, how to embed a link in a way that doesn’t look pushy. That’s when the results come.

Not everything will go smoothly – the most common affiliate mistakes and how to avoid them

Finally, it’s worth stating directly – affiliate marketing is not magic, it’s long-term work. And like in any job, mistakes happen. The most common? Promoting anything and everything just to get a commission – it’s a quick way to lose trust and achieve zero results. Another problem is lack of patience – people quit after a week because “nobody clicked.” Meanwhile, many contents work only after some time, when they get positioned or start being shared. Often affiliates forget about compliance with regulations – for example, promoting links where it’s prohibited (SEM, unsolicited mailing). And most importantly? Don’t recommend something you wouldn’t buy yourself. In affiliation, the rule always applies: quality > quantity. It’s better to promote less but sensibly than to flood recipients with spam that serves no one.

RefSpace – when you want to earn like in an affiliation but have more control and higher profits

Affiliation is a good start, but if you want to earn more than a dozen PLN a day and have more control over sales – it’s worth checking out RefSpace. It’s a platform that works on similar principles (you earn from recommendations), but instead of posting affiliate links, you build your own Space – like a free online store where you add videos, descriptions, and products from other brands. All order handling, payments, and shipping are managed by the suppliers, and you receive a commission from every transaction. It looks like, for example, and works for Leszkomoto TV:

• Shop on RefSpace: refspace.com/leszkomototv/shop,
• Creator’s Space: refspace.com/leszkomototv.

The biggest advantage? RefSpace is much more “secure” than classic affiliation – sales are attributed to you without the risk of cookies expiring or ad blockers blocking something. Every transaction is visible in your dashboard, so you don’t miss anything. Additionally, you can promote your products and recommendations from the video level – with a buy now button right below the video, and if you have YouTube, products from your Space can appear directly below your materials. For example: youtube.com/@leszkomototv It’s the combination of store, video, and affiliation – but with better results and full transparency.