Affiliate Marketing — The Start-Up Guide for Teachers

We field thousands of questions online here at SimpleK12, through our live webinars and events, and of course inside the Teacher Learning Community.

Although we focus primarily on teacher professional development, one of the most common questions we receive is about how teachers can go about creating extra income for themselves, especially online and on the side.

Consequently, a few weeks back, we started creating articles and resources about just that — extra teacher income.

Soon we'll be creating a series of stories about teachers with side gigs — things they're doing on the side to create a little extra teacher income.

One of the most common and easiest ways to get started with earning extra income, if you already have a website or an email list of people who're interested in what you do, is affiliate marketing.

With affiliate marketing, you find a supplier or merchant who offers products or services that would appeal to the people who visit your website or who are on your email list. You then place a link (could be in the form of an image) on your site that takes your viewer/reader to the merchant's site. Then, if your viewer later end up purchasing something, you will receive a commission fromthe merchant.  The price the buyer pays is the same whether they go to the merchant directly or purchase through your link.

Amazon.com is the real granddaddy of the affiliate marketing process as they essentially invented the process — today they have hundreds of thousands of people and companies acting as their online sales force (their affiliates).

There are thousands of companies with affiliate marketing programs.

SimpleK12's affiliate program focuses on teachers and teacher professional development. Check it out if that's your niche.

This form of marketing is so popular that, over the years, intermediary companies have sprung up to match up merchants and affiliates.  There are dozens of these affiliate networks, and one we like and use is ShareASale. You'll find hundreds of merchants there who are looking for affiliates.

NEXT STEP:  For loads more information and resources about teacher affiliate marketing as well as other extra teacher income ideas, check out Extra Income Resources for Teachers and Other Smart People.