Last updated on June 6th, 2020 at 06:00 am
One of the easiest ways to make money online is to refer friends and family to products and services you love. Today, I thought I would share some tips on how to get paid for referrals and over 10 sites you can sign up for today.
As you know I am a huge fan of affiliate marketing. But I totally understand that it isn’t always easy to make money with affiliate links in every niche.
As an affiliate marketer, you don’t receive a commission unless someone buys something. This is what can make it challenging to earn profits.
Pay per lead or referral marketing can convert at a higher rate because there is no cost for the user to sign up. People are more willing to sign up if they don’t have to pay anything upfront.
A lot of these programs offer some type of incentive to sign up, which make it more appealing. Some companies even offer you recurring commissions. If you’re struggling to make money with affiliate marketing, I’m going to show you how to start getting paid per referral.
6 Steps to Make Money With Referral Programs
It’s totally possible to refer people and get paid and I’ll be sharing over 15 companies that you can sign up with. But first I’m going to provide the simple steps you need to take to get started.
I’ll also share 2 of the companies that I recommend signing up with because I continue to make money with them every week.
Let’s get started.
#1 Create A Website
Most affiliate and referral companies will not approve your application unless you have a website or blog of your own. If you’re reading this, then you’re on my blog and that’s what I recommend you start.
With a blog, you can promote the unique referral links that will make you money. If you don’t have a blog set up yet, here’s a step-by-step tutorial that will help you get your blog set up in minutes.
#2 Use Content Marketing
Once you have your blog set up, it’s time to start creating helpful content. Depending on the niche you choose, you’ll want to create content based on your chosen topic.
Your number one goal should be to make your content useful and helpful for your readers. Make sure that you’re doing your keyword research writing content based around keywords without a lot of competition.
Your goal should be to write 30-50 blog posts. You don’t have to write them all in one day and they don’t have to be perfect.
They do however have to be good articles that will help your readers and will eventually start to rank on Google.
#3 Sign Up For Programs
Next, you want to sign up for a few of the pay per lead programs that fit perfectly with your blog topic.
I’ve created a huge list of the best referral programs below to help you save time. As I find new programs, I’ll be sure to add them below.
#4 Grab Your Unique Referral Link
Most of the programs will approve you instantly, so you can log in and grab your unique referral link.
This is the link that you’ll need to add to your website to ensure that you get credit for the referral.
I treat all my referral links just like affiliate links. You’ll want to cloak them with Pretty Links or Thirsty Affiliates.
Related: How to Cloak Affiliate Links In WordPress and Why You Should
#5 Promote Your Link
Now it’s time to start promoting your link. I love promoting via my blog because once I write the content, those links are being promoted 24/7. It takes time to see organic traffic.
While you’re waiting on your SEO traffic to grow, you can promote your blog via social media, email and etc.
The most important thing is to keep getting your links out there in front of your targetted audience.
It takes a little bit of time to earn money, but if you keep working on your promotion, you will eventually start to make an income.
#6 Start Getting Paid
Don’t forget to set up your payment details before you start promoting the programs. Most of the programs will pay via PayPal, so you’ll want to make sure that you get an account set up.
Oh, be sure that you read if the program has a minimum threshold before you get your earnings. Every program is different so, make sure that you read their terms page before getting started.
How I Get Paid for Referrals With Proof
Okay, now let me show you some programs that I use to make money by just referring people to the network.
Remember, you’re not selling anything all you’re doing is just sending people to the website and if it resonates with them, there’s a good chance that they will sign up.
Fomo Referral Program
I signed up with Fomo Ads back in November. They are a better alternative than Adsense for new bloggers. The best part is you make money even if people don’t click on your ads.
If you still haven’t reached the Mediavine threshold, then it can be a great alternative to monetize your blog.
Well, I decided to write a review, you can check it out here. Since writing that review, I’ve received two $10 commissions which equals a $20 referral commission.
The cool thing is that I’ve written that article once and promoted it via Pinterest. That’s all I’ve done to promote it.
Now as people run into that blog post via the search engines, I have no doubt that I’ll continue to make more commissions without me lifting a finger.
This is also known as passive income. You do the work once and get paid over and over.
AWIN Referral Program
Another great program that pays high referral commissions is AWIN (Affiliate Window). This program pays you $30 for every successful signup.
The difference with this referral program is that people do have to pay a $5 signup fee, they get that reimbursed as soon as they are approved.
Again, all I did was create an AWIN walkthrough post and this post continues to make me money on a regular basis.
The downside to this program is that you won’t get paid for your referrals until your referred publisher receives their first payment.
That’s something that you want to keep in mind when you’re signing up for different referral programs. Personally, I love the ones that pay out instantly or don’t require your referrers to make sales.
These are just a few of the programs that earn money on a regular basis.
Hopefully, this will give you an idea of what type of content you can write to help you convert into referrals.
Referral Programs for Bloggers
These programs are perfect for anyone who has a blog. These programs will require you to have an online presence to be approved. If you still haven’t started your blog, check out this post.
Shareasale – Affiliate network that pays $1.00 per referral.
Linkshare – Network that is similar to Commission Junction and pays $1.50 per referral.
Fomo – Earn money by displaying ads on your content, this company pays per impression. When your referrer gets approved to the program, you’ll earn $10 and get paid at the next payout.
VigLink – Premier performance network that pays 10% of your referrals earnings for the first year.
Ezoic – Website intelligence platform for publishers that allows you to earn 3% of a publisher’s “Ezoic Earnings” for the lifetime earnings as long as they use the Ezoic system.
Survey Sites With Referral Programs
Swagbucks – One of the most popular rewards sites. Their program pays you 10% of your referrals earnings and offers a $5.00 sign up bonus.
Inbox Dollars – Whenever someone signs up via your link, you’ll earn 10% of their lifetime earnings and they get a $5 sign up bonus.
Vindale Research – You’ll earn $5 for every friend referral and the user gets a $2 sign up bonus.
Earn Cash and Gift Cards for Referring Friends
Ebates – The refer a friend program pays you $5 for every newly qualified signup. (get a $10 Cash Bonus when you sign up this month).
ibotta – Get $5 for signing up and $1 for every person you refer.
Google Apps: Earn $15 per referral.
Groupon – Refer a friend and earn $10 in Groupon Bucks.
Walmart Grocery – Both you and your referrer will earn $10 for groceries when they sign up for their grocery online pickup and delivery service.
Airbnb – Refer a friend and earn $20 when they spend $75 or more on their first trip.
Decluttr – An online platform that allows people to purge their old media (CD’s, DVD,s, tablets and etc.) Earn 10% of your referrals first order.
Your Next Step
These are some of the programs that I’ve found and promoted myself.
If you don’t see something that you want to promote, go to Google and type in “earn money with referrals.”
You’ll see more companies that you can choose from. I’ve done my best to bring you the best programs that are legit and are worth your time.
Start writing content that helps your audience and don’t forget to add these links when they make sense.
Make sure that you’re disclosing your links and letting your readers know that you’re being compensated for promoting a specific product or service. You don’t want to get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.
The great thing is that once you create your affiliate disclosure, you can use it everytime you’re promoting any type of link you’ll be compensated for.
Where Can I Share My Referral Links?
Most of these refer a friend program will allow you to share via social media without having to write content. You can share inside of Facebook groups, just make sure that you’re not spamming your link everywhere.
Also, don’t forget about creating a pin for Pinterest. They allow you to link directly to affiliate links, here’s what you need to know.
Write a blog post that shares your opinion or reviews the product. Write an article that shares your experience with a specific product or program. Don’t forget to include images and videos if you have any.
Add your unique referral link at least 3 times in your blog post. Preferably, in the beginning, middle and the end of the article.
The cool thing about content marketing is that you do it once and that article has the potential to keep earning years later.
How Much Can I Earn Through Referrals?
It’s just like using affiliate marketing with your blog. The more effort that you put into writing content and promoting your links, the more you’ll stand to make.
If you’re only promoting programs that pay $1.00 per sign up. It will take you a lot longer than someone who is promoting programs that pay $10 or $80 per lead.
Regardless of whether you only earned a $1.00 or $5.00, just remember, every penny adds up.
I still get excited when I see emails like this.
I personally love waking up to those types of emails letting me know that I made money while I slept.
Remember, your goal is to diversify your income. As your blog grows, eventually, you’ll be earning through ads, affiliate income, referrals, your own products and etc.
You NEVER want to just use rely on one income. When you diversify your income, you’ll eventually start making money from several places and it all adds up.
Final Take Away
Referral marketing can be more lucrative than affiliate marketing. Don’t expect to start seeing results right away.
It takes time to earn money online. Regardless of what anyone tells you, success doesn’t happen overnight.
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Are you making money with referral programs? If so let me know how you’re doing it and what method you prefer using to promote those links.
