Affiliate marketing is a way to make money online through commissions on qualifying purchases. Compare programmes and networks, and learn how useful recommendations can generate sales.
Affiliate marketing means recommending a company’s products or services using a special tracking link. If a reader follows that link and completes a qualifying purchase or action, the programme can credit you with commission. You help someone choose. The merchant handles the product and order, while you create the recommendation and attract the audience.
You publish a comparison of three desk lamps for small workspaces and include your affiliate links. A reader buys an eligible lamp through one link. In a hypothetical programme paying 5% on a qualifying ₱1,000 purchase, the commission would be ₱50 before tax. Cancellations or excluded purchases can change the credited amount.
A topic you understand, a place to publish useful content and an audience interested in that topic. This might be a website, social account or video channel. Check which channels the programme accepts before applying.
Find a buying question you can help people answer.
Get approved and create your tracking links.
Explain the product and disclose your affiliate relationship.
A reader uses your link and completes an eligible action.
Validated referrals become payable under the programme’s rules.
Affiliate income comes from approved purchases or other qualifying actions. Retail orders often pay small amounts per sale, while some software programmes pay recurring commissions.
One hundred approved ₱1,000 purchases at an assumed 3% rate produce ₱3,000 before content costs and tax. Two hundred purchases at that same rate would produce ₱6,000. Clicks alone produce no commission in this sales-based example.
Twenty active US$50 subscriptions paying an assumed 20% recurring commission yield US$200 in a month. Rewards may last for a limited term and stop when a customer cancels. These are sample programme inputs, not a network-wide rate.
US-dollar examples use ₱62.485 per US$1, the BSP reference for 30 September 2026.
A programme is a company’s referral arrangement. A network connects publishers with programmes from several companies and provides shared tools. A merchant can operate its programme through a network. You still need to follow that merchant’s own rules.
Start here when your audience mainly shops with one company, such as Shopee or Lazada. You learn one programme’s links, campaigns and reporting.
Trade-off: Working directly with several companies can mean separate accounts, payment thresholds and reports. Direct does not automatically mean a higher commission.
Choose a network when you want to compare multiple merchants or find programmes that fit a specialist audience. You can manage several relationships from one platform.
Trade-off: Each advertiser can still require approval and set different rates, permitted channels and payment timing. Joining the network does not unlock every offer.
Check where your readers live, whether they can buy the product, which action earns commission, how referrals are attributed and which promotion methods are allowed. Then compare validation times, payout thresholds, fees and currency conversion. Choose something you can explain honestly and usefully.
Usually the merchant supplies and delivers the product. Your work is creating useful recommendations and referring readers. If you also sell your own products, keep that business and its responsibilities separate.
Some programmes accept social or video channels, while others assess a website or particular media. Check the application requirements and register the channels you actually use. Choose a format you can maintain consistently.
It is a programme-generated link that identifies the referral. Use the approved link rather than copying only the ordinary product URL. The link must retain the tracking information for the programme to identify your referral.
A click and an eligible conversion are different events. Read what the programme pays for, such as a completed qualifying sale. Check excluded products, cancellations and how purchases are attributed to a referral.
Attribution is the rule used to decide which referral gets credit. A programme may consider the link clicked, timing and other conditions. Read those rules before spending money to promote a link.
Start with a problem you can explain, such as choosing a headset for online lessons. Compare the features that matter to that user. A focused question makes the recommendation easier to research and keep current.
Explain the buyer’s need, compare a few suitable options and describe meaningful differences. Separate your own testing from specifications you researched. State who each option suits and include clear affiliate disclosure.
Compare product suitability, price, merchant reliability and the programme’s terms. A high percentage is less useful if the item does not fit your audience or many transactions are excluded.
Programmes may validate purchases and account for cancellations before releasing commission. A recorded order may not become payable if it is returned or excluded. Track pending, confirmed and paid amounts separately.
Expect research, content production, publishing and audience building before conversions. Start with a small set of useful articles or videos and review reader questions. Keep content costs within a budget you can sustain.
Put a short, clear explanation near the recommendation, such as: I may earn a commission if you buy through this link. Make it easy to notice before someone clicks. For video, include a clear disclosure in the content as well as alongside the links.
Check that each link reaches the intended product and that the merchant serves your readers. Then review whether the content answers a real buying question and explains price, suitability and drawbacks. Compare results across several pieces before paying for more traffic.
Often yes, subject to each agreement. Keep a record of which programme generated each link. Compare attribution, exclusions and payout terms before moving a merchant’s links between a direct programme and a network.
No. Publisher location and customer location are separate checks. Confirm that the merchant serves your audience’s country and that referrals from that country qualify for commission.
Compare the qualifying purchase value, fixed or percentage reward, attribution window, exclusions, refund rules and payout costs. A recurring software commission may apply only while a customer remains eligible. Use confirmed income after costs when evaluating results.
At ₱50 per approved order, you need 100 approved orders. If an assumed 2% of link clicks turn into approved orders, that requires 5,000 clicks. At 1%, it requires 10,000. These are planning assumptions. Measure your own conversion rate and exclude returned orders before paying to attract more traffic.
Learn about the skills, earning examples and training for these roles.