This week, our Director of Education and practitioner Steve Mattus tackles a topic that a lot of people in our Foundations programs have asked about – how to do affiliate links from a heart-centered place, if at all?
Plus, I love the photo of Connick. So cute! So here’s Steve, and Connick:
Getting Tangled Using Affiliate Links?
This is my sweet Italian Greyhound, Connick Alexander Spoon. He’s wearing his winter giraffe pajamas as it starts to get cold outside. Only trouble is, sometimes his little legs get tangled in his PJ’s and when he’d try to stand up, he’d fall over. No fun being tangled! (I’ve fixed them now.)
As business owners we can get tangled up in things like using affiliate links.
How do you feel about using affiliate links?
Are affiliate links “dirty?” Are they heart-centered? Ethical? Sleazy? Deceitful?
This is a timely discussion because we at Heart of Business just released our own affiliate program. We’ve had many sign up, and many share that they’ve decided to share us without being an affiliate. Either way is okay with us – our hearts are full of appreciation either way.
How can a heart-centered business owner like you use affiliate links in a way that doesn’t get your heart tangled up, and keep you stuck?
The Affiliate Link
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, an affiliate link is a custom link to someone else’s website which, when clicked, will track that you were the referring person. If the person who clicked the link decides to purchase a product or service, you, as the referrer, will get a small percentage of the revenue from the company as a thank you for the referral.
In the United States of America, if you use an affiliate link, you are required by law to disclose that it’s an affiliate link.
Most of you reading this aren’t making a living using affiliate links, yet, some people do. Some have an affiliate link business model where a significant part of their revenue – or all of it – comes from affiliate links. Nothing wrong with that business model.
I often hear from clients and others that affiliate links feel distasteful.
How does it feel to you?
Take a moment with your heart and lean into your relationship with affiliate links. Face the distaste, discomfort or tangled up feeling. What’s going on for you? How does it make you feel?
It’s at this point that I want to say – if you really don’t like affiliate links – then don’t use them. If you can’t get to a place of ease, fun and openness with them – don’t compromise your heart. They’re definitely not required to run a business. It’s totally okay to let them go. Also, later in the article, I’ll give you some language you can use that might be helpful.
But…
What if you really love the products or services that someone you trust and respect offers? Must it be icky to use an affiliate link?
Using Affiliate Links with Love, Trust & Respect
When you really love something – it’s natural to want to share it with others.
Affiliate links are not a part of our business model – we’re not relying on affiliate income to make our business profitable. So, it’s important to understand why we would use an affiliate link at all, versus simply offering a regular link.
Before we recommend anything, we give it time, energy, bandwidth, attention and care. Being heart-centered, we don’t share people or products with you that we don’t really love, trust and respect. We just won’t do that. It’s a matter of integrity to us. If we share something, it’s because we have faith in it. Coming to that conclusion takes time, energy and attention. Sharing it with you takes time, energy, attention and space in our newsletter, blog or email. We could use that time, energy, attention and space in our newsletter to promote our own courses – and so to receive a small thank you in exchange seems really reasonable. It’s good business.
Did you catch that last point?
It’s good business. Why? Because your time, energy, attention and space in your newsletter is valuable. It’s okay to be compensated for these things. It really is. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it’s okay.
As you may have noticed, some times we use an affiliate link, sometimes we don’t. Very often the deciding factor in if we do or don’t is how much of our time, energy, attention and spaciousness in our communications it’s taking up to share it. If it takes up quite a bit of these resources, we may use an affiliate link. If it’s a quick link that didn’t take much for us to share, we often won’t use an affiliate link. A great example is in this blog post where Mark recommends two different folks – one is an affiliate link, the other is not. Can you tell why one is and one isn’t? [hint: one offer requires much more of Mark’s participation.]
So, then, how do you untangle your relationship to affiliate links?
Heart-Centered Affiliate Link Language
To avoid getting tangled up with affiliate links, we find a combination of three key things are important:
- Honesty
- Clarity
- Choice
Honesty – Never hide or minimize the fact that you’re using an affiliate link. Don’t hide it in small, hard to read print. Don’t shy away from it. Be confident in your use of it. In order to be confident, it’s important to have…
Clarity – Describe why you’re using an affiliate link. Share how it factors into your business (or not). Be clear about your relationship with affiliate links and the person/page/product you’re referring to. And, if you care to, offer a…
Choice – When you’re really clear about why you’re using an affiliate link, you’ll feel good about offering a choice – sharing both an affiliate link and a non-affiliate link – and asking your readers to choose the link they prefer.
What does this sound like in real language?
Here’s an example of how I like to share an affiliate link: (Huge hat tip to Tad Hargrave on this general language.)
This link is an affiliate link, which means, if you (sign up, buy, purchase), I’m going to get a small monetary thank you from (person’s name). I’m not sharing the (course, site, product, event) with you because of the money – I make very little income at all from it. I’m sharing it because I really trust (person’s name) and I believe this (course, site, product, event) will help support you. And, the monetary thank you does help my business to be more sustainable, and I’m really grateful for that. However, if it feels funny to your heart, you can use the link below, which is a just a regular link, and I won’t get anything in return. What I really want is for you to get the support you need. [add non-affiliate link here]
I love how that’s worded. It hits all three keys – honesty, clarity and choice. My heart feels open and connected when I read it.
If you received an affiliate link with that kind of language wrapped around it, how does your heart feel?
Remember – it’s okay to decide not to use affiliate links. Nothing wrong with that at all. And… If you do choose to use them, I hope this has helped you to get clear on how to frame it so that you’re heart feels untangled.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below – what’s your relationship with affiliate links?
With kindness,
Steve
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12 Responses
Thank you so much Steve, wow, that’s so helpful for me. That’s what I need to be able to use affiliate marketing in tune with my values. People are able to choose consciously if they like it or not. What a beautiful example, also thank you to Ted Hargrave/Marketing for Hippies. – …and I love Mr. Spoon’s snuggly Giraffe-Outfit, looks so warm and comfy 🙂
Thanks Jutta! Glad the language is so helpful!
Mr. Spoon says hello! 🙂
I want winter giraffe pajamas! But will settle for the smile Connick’s picture brought to me this morning:)
So appreciate this post, Steve–especially how you zero in on honesty, clarity, choice…then offer a fantastic example of how this might look, so far as wording and links.
Though I’m not a “food blogger,” I’ve got a foot in that world because of my holistic, primal eating program. Most of the sites I visit use affiliate links regularly, and sometimes I’ve felt I *should* be doing that too, with all my posts about food, eating, health. Honestly though, seems a huge dispersal of my energy and focus for very little return…and also feels as though it could hurt my credibility somehow…like I might generate suspicion or scepticism among readers who don’t know me well.
That being said, I was genuinely excited to learn about the Heart of Business affiliate program–and am absolutely planning on incorporating it into my website someplace. The language you offered today is super-helpful in this–gave me the tool I was waiting for (and didn’t even know I was waiting for).
My excitement over sharing HoB in this way has made me rethink affiliate links more generally. I certainly don’t plan on using them often and don’t expect notable financial benefits. But when I really, really want to share someone, the method/language you laid out offers a nice addition to doing it the old-fashioned way (which I’ll continue to do as well). Thank you!
Hi Dana! Thank you so much. I’m really appreciating that you’re seeing that there are many different ways to use affiliate links, or none at all, depending on how you’re moved or the context. Brilliant. Allows you to be nimble!
And… thanks so much for sharing Heart of Business too! 🙂
Thank you Steve, I just adore Connick Alexander’s sleepwear. How sweet he is and he’s Italian!!! He is so precious. And, thank you for such a well written article and so much clarity. It also makes my heart feel more at ease. Here is a question because something isn’t clear for me: When you say that the deciding factor of whether you use or do not use an affiliate link depends on how much of your time, energy, attention and spaciousness in your communications it is taking to share. So, I am confused about getting a small financial thank you from people whom we admire and love their work and want to share it with many others and putting up an affiliate link because their work would take much time, energy, attention and spaciousness on my page and so would like to be rewarded a bit financially because of the effort it is taking for me to add their information within my blog, for example. If it helps to clarify my question, it is here where I am not understanding something. You wrote: ‘If it’s a quick link that didn’t take much for us to share, we often won’t use an affiliate link.’ Therefore, I am confused about wanting to spread interest and support of a colleague’s work and receiving a small financial thank you and the amount of effort and writing on my part to explain the reason why I believe my list of people could benefit from their work. I think I am missing something here so I look forward to hearing from you where I am creating confusion in this. 🙂
By the way Steve, to clarify my question further, I did click on the blog post and did see how Mark referred LaShelle’s work which was a small paragraph and did not have an affiliate link and with Jennifer and his course, he did. And you made mention that could we see why he would create an affiliate link for his participation in the video he was offering with Jennifer. It is also here that I am having confusion being that since it involves his participation and so he’s created the aff link and with LaShelle’s even though he highly recommends her course, he has not. Wow, hope I haven’t confused you!!?
Hi Daniela! Yes… Connick is Italian! Connick vi augura una bella giornata, Daniela .
You ask a really good question. Thank you for asking.
You’re right… one of the differences between LaShelle and Jen’s offers is that Mark and Jen were doing a live call as a part of the promotion, which obviously takes much more of Mark’s time. Using an affiliate link helps us make that use of time sustainable.
I talked with Mark more specifically about this particular scenario, and he mentioned that LaShelle didn’t have an affiliate system set up. If she had, we totally could have used an affiliate link… but it wasn’t available. LaShelle has really helped Mark (and all of Heart of Business) to incorporate a culture of Non-Violent Communication into our business and lives, and so we’re happy to share her work without affiliate links. There is a fairly deep relationship there, and so it’s easy for our hearts to simply offer the link. And, we totally could have done a non-affiliate link even if she had an affiliate system, simply because of this relationship. Either way, we love LaShelle and her work and are happy to promote her regardless of affiliate status.
Mark also has a very deep and long-term friendship with Jen Louden. So, the use of an affiliate link with her is no reflection on the relationship, right? It was used because of the time/attention that was required as a part of the promotion.
So, not only can you use time/effort as a point of discernment, you can also factor in relationship with the person who’s asking you to promote their work. Really trust your heart as to when you’ll use an affiliate link, or not.
Does that answer the question? If not, reply below and we’ll continue the dialogue.
That is a wonderful reply and so full of information. I understand now. Thank you!
and buona giornata anche a voi, sia te che Mr. Spoon! 🙂
Intention and being clear are so important for any business (or life!) decision. I’ve been recommending Heart of Business in raving-fan fashion for years. It makes sense to share things with people that are going to make their life better. I’m so glad to be able to have a link for HOB that connects to free content. It will make referring so much easier – and if they choose to buy something, that it is a no pressure situation. I like Tad Hargrave’s approach (which I’ve seen) and I know Heart of Business has long used a similar approach. Honestly, because of those affiliate links I was able to connect to some things that really helped me and my business. We heal the business world, by engaging in our life’s work with love, attention — and spreading the word on things that are worth sharing. I’m really looking forward to spreading something that has helped me so much. BTW, really glad you are bringing Heart of Money back. That is my favorite program! (:
Thank you, Tabitha!
Yes… it’s such a gift of love to spread the word on sincerely heart-centered work. Thank you so much for including us. It feels like such a complete cycle as we all work together to help bring more love into the world. Beautiful symbiosis.
Any time you link to someone else’s product or program, an affiliate link is OK by me. You have invested time and/or money in developing a big, responsive list and you have earned the affiliate money.
I hate when several different people email me the same affiliate link on the same day when each one says in exactly the same wording how they are such close friends with this same program provider. I would never buy from someone like that.
I’m starting to see affiliates who offer more free stuff to buyers than do their competing affiliates. Maybe I’ll warm to the idea over time, but at this point I’m not impressed.
-d
Hi Diana!
I so hear you. I notice the same thing, and it can really begin to lose a sense of heart connection to me too.
Many times, when people are “launching” something, part of the launch strategy is to get a whole bunch of affiliates on board. It can be critical to a successful launch. And part of many affiliate programs is to create sample email and social media content that those affiliates can use. We provide sample content to our affiliates as well. This sometimes helps reduce the time and attention required from them to share our stuff.
However, when you receive the same thing from many people, it can become distasteful. We, here at Heart of Business, don’t usually do that kind of thing, precisely for this reason. We’ll sometimes take some sample content, but Mark – and the rest of the team – have always held a space for putting our own heartfelt comments into it. It’s the connection piece that’s so important – that ‘transmission’ of trust and safety that’s so important when talking about others.
I love that you brought up this point. It feels really good to share something you feel can be valuable, and to do it with heart-centeredness, connection and authenticity is the real difference-maker.