If you haven’t done the things in Chapters 1 to 6, this chapter is a waste of your time. Don’t skip to it. You’ll probably make some money, but nothing like what you’d make with the foundation underneath it — and you’ll work harder for less. Remember the list we’re building. There’s hidden money in there.
7.1 What affiliate marketing actually is
You recommend someone else’s product. Someone buys through your link. You get a commission. No product to make, no stock to hold, no staff, no shipping, no refunds to process.
You’re already doing the recommending part for free. This is just getting paid for it.
I’ve got a UE Boom speaker. Had it for years, take it everywhere, it’s one of the first things I pack. So people hear it and say “wow Poida, that thing can pump out some sound.” And I say — go and grab one, they’re cheap and they’ll deliver it anywhere.
Took me two minutes. And here’s the kicker: that bloke didn’t buy the speaker. He got onto Amazon, found a whole home entertainment package, and bought that instead. The cookie from my link told Amazon it was me who sent him. I got the commission on the lot.
One minute you’re stressing about bills, next minute — boom, money in the account.
7.2 Amazon Associates — and its rules
Amazon Associates lets you earn commission on products already listed on Amazon, which is basically everything. Different from selling on Amazon, where you list your own product — we don’t do that at the School of Bogans, but we do use Associates.
Signing up takes some time. If you don’t have a website you can use your Facebook page and your other socials — but you must list them during signup and only use links on the properties you listed.
- Links only go on the sites you registered. Not in emails. Not in texts or DMs. Not in PDFs or ebooks. Not on printed material. The old edition of this book told you to email and text your links — that breaches the Operating Agreement and it’s one of the fastest ways to lose the account. I got that wrong; it’s fixed here.
- Three qualifying sales in 180 days or Amazon closes your account. The clock starts at signup, so don’t register until you actually have somewhere to put links.
- The cookie is 24 hours. Not forever. If they add to cart within those 24 hours you’re covered for up to 89 days on that cart, but otherwise you get one day. Plan for volume, not for one perfect referral.
- You must disclose. Amazon requires it and so does Australian law. See 7.5.
- No paid search ads straight to your affiliate links.
- Don’t state the price in your own text — it changes constantly and stale prices breach the agreement. Let the link show it.
- Never buy through your own link. Instant ban, no appeal.
Commission rates are modest and Amazon has cut them more than once — most categories sit between 1% and 4%, with a few higher. Nobody’s retiring on Amazon commissions alone. What Amazon gives you is a trusted checkout that converts, on basically any product you could mention. Treat it as the starter, not the goal.
Australian readers buying from you should go to amazon.com.au. Sign up at the Australian Associates program so your commissions come from local purchases. You can join multiple regions if your audience is spread.
7.3 Beyond Amazon — where the real commissions are
Amazon pays a few percent. Digital products pay 30% to 75%, because there’s no manufacturing, no shipping and no stock.
Guess which ones Bogans like to chase. Lots of little fish or one big fish? Go back to the first Bogan secret… yeah, we want it all.
| Network | What’s on it | Typical commission |
|---|---|---|
| ClickBank | Digital products, courses, supplements. US-based | 30–75% |
| Commission Factory | The big Australian network — local retail brands | 2–15% |
| Awin / ShareASale | Huge global merchant list, now one company | Varies wildly |
| Impact | Bigger brands, software, travel | Varies |
| CJ Affiliate | Long-established, big retail | Varies |
| JVZoo / WarriorPlus | Internet marketing products. Tread carefully — plenty of junk | 50%+ |
| Direct with the brand | Best rates. Just ask them — most say yes | Negotiable |
The previous edition promoted ClickBank University 2.0. That product was retired — ClickBank brought training in-house and replaced it with Spark by ClickBank. If you see anyone still selling CBU 2.0 access in 2026, that’s a red flag on them, not a bargain for you.
ClickBank the marketplace is very much alive and still worth your time. It’s the training product that changed.
Reading a ClickBank listing
- Gravity — roughly how many affiliates have made a sale recently. Very high means it converts but it’s saturated; very low means unproven. Somewhere in the middle is usually the sweet spot.
- Average $/conversion — what you actually take home per sale, including upsells.
- Recurring? This is the one that matters. A $30/month product paying 40% recurring beats a $200 one-off within a year, and it keeps paying while you sleep.
- Refund rate — high refunds mean the sales page oversells. Promote it and your audience blames you, not the vendor.
Only promote things you’ve used, or would happily use. Your list took months to build and one dud recommendation burns it. The commission on a rubbish product is never worth what it costs you.
7.4 How to actually get the sale
Don’t post links. Solve problems, and let the link be the answer.
The four formats that work
- The comparison. “I tried three of these, here’s which one I kept and why.” Highest-converting format there is.
- The tutorial. Teach the thing. Mention the tool you used to do it.
- The honest review. Including what’s wrong with it. Naming a genuine flaw makes everything else you say believable.
- The answer. Someone asks what to buy. You tell them, because you actually know.
Talk about things that interest you. Give value to your community. Keep growing the list. The advantage of affiliate work is there’s no upfront cost — you can start earning now.
7.5 Disclosure — not optional, and now enforced
The ACCC requires you to clearly disclose any commercial relationship when you promote a product — affiliate links, sponsorships, paid partnerships, and free products you were given. This is Australian Consumer Law, not a guideline, and enforcement stepped up hard through 2025 and 2026. Businesses have been hit with infringement notices running to tens of thousands of dollars, including one for instructing influencers not to disclose.
Labels that work: #Ad, Advertisement, Paid Partnership, Paid Promotion, Branded Content, or a plain-English line.
Labels that don’t: #sp, #spon, “Collab”, “Affiliate”, “thanks to…”, “gifted”, or burying it in a wall of hashtags.
Put it where people see it before they click — top of the post, start of the video, above the link. Not at the bottom of a page nobody scrolls to.
“Heads up — some links in here are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only ever recommend gear I actually use.”
That’s honest, it’s compliant, and in my experience it makes people more likely to use your link, not less. People are happy to send a few dollars your way when you’ve helped them and been straight about it.
7.6 The long game
Amazon Associates makes money, for sure. But the School of Bogans looks at exponential growth — finding ways to earn over and over from work you did once. No ceiling caps.
That means passive income that keeps coming in for my life, my family’s life, and hopefully our children’s children. Keeping up with trends, concentrating on what works, rinse and repeat.
Affiliate income is slow to start and then compounds. Most people who make it work see meaningful commissions somewhere around the six-month mark — not week two. The ones who fail almost always quit in month three, right before it turns.
Build it alongside the service income from Chapter 5. That way the bills are covered while the slow money matures.
Your affiliate starting line
- List five things you already own and genuinely recommend to people.
- Find the affiliate program for each. Start with Amazon Australia and Commission Factory.
- Write one honest comparison or review post. Publish it on your site.
- Add the disclosure line at the top. Before you publish, not after.
- Share it to your two chosen platforms and email it to your list.