5 Tips for Making More Affiliate Income in Your Business in 2024

It’s still a “pinch me” moment that I get to host Honeybook’s Independent Business Podcast! I get to interview absolutely INCREDIBLE entrepreneurs (across industries!), but today, I want to highlight one person in particular: Candice Coppola. She’s actually the TOP affiliate income earner with Honeybook, and she’s made over half a million dollars over the last three years. That’s a LOT of cash! And the most surprising of all? She definitely doesn’t have the biggest audience across our affiliate team. That’s so inspiring to me.

For this episode, I had the chance to interview her live last month (at HoneyBook’s Partner summit!), and it was such a rush. It was a huge milestone for the podcast to be able to interview her live! Today, I want to share the top 5 tips for making more affiliate income in your business in 2024!

Want to tune into the interview? Watch the whole thing here!

 

 

1. There is Power in a Niche Audience

During my interview with Candice, she shared how when she got started, she didn’t have a huge audience. Even now, she doesn’t consider her following to be huge by conventional standards – with around 300 subscribers on their YouTube channel and about 20,000 followers on Instagram. What stood out in her story, though, was the emphasis on the QUALITY of their audience over sheer numbers. She has built an engaged and supportive community, which has been huge in her business, both with growing her affiliate income and with everything else she does!

 

2. Become a Decision Maker For People

Have you ever worried about being too salesy? Yeah – you and everybody else. One of my favorite mic drop moments (and affiliate income tips) was when Candice shared that she defined her role not just as a business coach offering various services like courses, memberships, masterminds, and digital products, but as a “decision maker” for her audience. She views her content as a tool to help her audience make informed decisions, especially when recommending platforms like HoneyBook.

Personally, I loved how she shared how she uses her content to give a personal spin on things, helping folks figure out if something like HoneyBook is truly a good fit for them. In that way, it’s more like giving a friend advice than a sales pitch.

 

3. When Making Affiliate Income a Bigger Part Of Your Strategy, Start With What You Know

When Candice shared her journey to taking affiliate income more seriously, she talked about revisiting the basics of lead generation. After all, you’re getting started – do what’s already working for you! For her, it’s been blogging – a skill honed since the early days of Live Journal and when WordPress was the only blog option. Her extensive experience in blogging, coupled with a deep understanding of SEO and keyword research, has been instrumental in the pursuit of growing her affiliate income to more than half a million dollars from HoneyBook alone.

During COVID especially, she created relevant blog posts filled with timely content. She also chose to lean into partners like HoneyBook, which was exceptional in rallying around their community to support entrepreneurs during uncertain times (her words – not mine!). While she did talk about the power of SEO (and why it’s absolutely fantastic for lead generation!), she also stressed that you should start with what you know before adding onto other platforms.

A little bonus stat for you? 68% of affiliates at HoneyBook consider SEO their top traffic source.

 

4. Email Marketing is Where Sales Happen

One thing I loved about interviewing Candice was just how relatable she is. She shared how it can be pretty disheartening to work hard on an Instagram post or campaign, only to get likes from your mom, business coach, and maybe a few close friends, but not much else. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you’re looking for wider engagement and to make sales!

Email marketing on the other hand? It’s a whole different ballgame. Unlike social media, email marketing, combined with good old blogging and SEO, has been a secret sauce for her success, especially in affiliate marketing. It’s all about building that trust with your audience, which isn’t always easy on social media. Email marketing helps speed up the process of getting people to not just know you, but also like and trust you. Think of it like making new friends – they’ve got to get to know you first, then like you, and finally trust you enough to buy into what you’re offering.

She also mentioned how she tailors her emails to match where her customers are at in their business journey. Whether someone’s just dreaming up a business idea or looking to sell their established company, she’s got content and advice for each stage. And often that advice is leading to something she sells or an affiliate link!

 

It’s Easier to Get People to Know-Like-Trust You Now More Than Ever

I might be a little biased as a storytelling strategist, but I believe it’s easier than ever to get people to know-like-trust you. Candice joked about having a house full of stuff they bought because of TikTok recommendations – you know, those “Amazon finds” that everyone seems to be talking about. She made a great point about how sometimes, we’re just looking for someone to give us the green light to buy things we already want.

Like I said earlier, Candice views herself as a decision maker for her audience. It’s her job to guide people in making choices, whether it’s about what to buy or which direction to take. And fortunately, it’s easier than ever to get people to know-like-trust you because we are all actively looking for those connections!

 

5. Simplify What You’re Doing + Amplify What’s Working

Candice is brilliant, and she plays to her strengths, focusing on what she’s good at (like blogging and SEO), combined with platforms that really work for her, like Pinterest and email marketing. She’s not trying to be everywhere at once, which is a trap a lot of us fall into. Instead, she picks a few key areas and really nails them. This makes her marketing game not just easier to handle but also way more effective.

One of my favorite takeaways from this interview on increasing affiliate income, is when I asked her what she plans to do in 2024. Her response? MORE of what’s already working. She’s not looking to add new tactics to her plate, or jump on the latest shiny object trend for the sake of doing more. Instead, she’s staying focused, leaning into a FEW key partnerships, and doing more of what’s already working for her.

 

Looking to Grow Your Affiliate Income This Year? Make Sure to Track the Data

I hope these five tips will help you grow your affiliate income this year (and consider HoneyBook one of YOUR key partners). The last thing I want to share from this incredible interview is the importance of tracking your data and setting goals as you do! Candice talks about how setting clear, measurable goals can be a significant motivator and a north star for business strategies. I couldn’t agree more! If you’re looking to learn more, make sure to head here to tune into the entire interview (and subscribe to the podcast!).