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When you first start out with affiliate marketing, your goal might be to start monetising a blog or to add a 2nd income stream to your online business to supplement your income from selling digital offers, services, coaching or from display ads.
So usually when we think about affiliate marketing wins, we think about income.
But affiliate marketing has been a surprising journey from me and has resulted in so much more than just extra money in the bank. In this affiliate case study, I want to show you how affiliate marketing not only helped me build two completely different successful online businesses but also how it resulted in the most surprising bonuses and ‘pinch me’ moments!
Affiliate Marketing B2C Case Study One – 2 Weeks in Sri Lanka
When I first started my travel blog back in 2017, I struggled to make much money.
I was trying to do all the things. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, email marketing, sponsorships, ads… The list goes on.
But I was starting to experience burn out in my career as a doctor and I desperately needed a way to regain my work-life balance. Turning my blog into a profitable business felt like a way out.
So I did some experimenting.
I stopped doing all the things people told me I ‘had’ to do that didn’t bring me joy – Instagram, Twitter and pitching for sponsors for starters.
Instead I learned SEO and went all in on affiliate marketing – specifically focussing on one travel brand whom I had a lot of experience with as a customer.
The result?
I became one of G Adventures top affiliates generating them over £413,000 in revenue. (That’s around $550K)
But I’m jumping ahead a little.
Initially it was a trickle of sales that slowly built. But when I’d generated them around £20K, I bumped into the marketing manager at a travel conference. I slipped it into conversation that I was loving the affiliate program and was keen to keep promoting them.
She asked me to drop her an email and then next day I did. But I heard crickets.
Around 3 months later, I was up to £60K in revenue for them (which translated to $3600 in commissions – not bad in just a few months.)
I made a spontaneous decision to book a 2 country trip to Borneo and then Sri Lanka leaving in 6 days time.
I booked up the Borneo part of my trip and with only a few days to prepare, only turned my attention to Sri Lanka as I sat in the airport waiting for my flight.
I suddenly remembered I had the marketing managers contact number on her business card so I decided to be brave and give her a call.
I gave her my stats, explained I wanted to create more G Adventures content which would drive more sales and pointed out that there was a trip taking place in 2 weeks time that still had spaces available.
30 minutes later she called me back – it was all booked! A fully paid for 2 week trip around Sri Lanka in return for a blog post which I knew would generate me more affiliate income!
And it paid off for them as I generated multiple 6 figures in revenue for them via their affiliate program.
It was one of those moments where I remember thinking, ‘I’m really onto something here.’ A few months later, a GP practice where I was doing some locum shifts encouraged me to interview for the role of GP partner. It was tempting but I just felt in my gut that my travel blog could be my full time role so I turned it down.
A few months later, my travel blog had replaced my doctor income.
But then the pandemic hit and travel grinded to a halt.
A few months before, some travel blogging friends had talked me into starting a new business teaching my strategies and Passive Income Superstars was born.
So during the pandemic, I went all in on my new business and despite it being a weird, unsettling time for everyone worldwide, I scaled my new business to 6 figures in under 2 years.
Affiliate marketing was a big part of that – especially as I built my digital offer portfolio.
Affiliate Marketing B2B Case Study Two – winning ERAS Platinum VIP tickets and a business mastermind!
One day I opened an email titled ‘marketing magic + Taylor Swift’ from a friend Menekse.
Menekse had built this fantastic tool that was saving online business owners hours every week and changing how we used AI in our businesses.
The email explained she had created a free trial version of the app and in return for promoting it, there was a chance of winning a ticket to the ERAS Taylor Swift Tour.
‘How fun,’ I thought but to be honest, I would have promoted the app anyway. I believed in it, my audience loved it, I had people thanking me for telling them about it. It was a no-brainer.
So I started crafting an email campaign.
I offered a fun bonus when people purchased via my affiliate link. (Credit towards my offers.)
I gave practical examples of how it could be used.
I showed how I was personally benefiting from the app.
I sent multiple emails because not everyone would read each email or be in the position to stop what they were doing and register for it so I made sure they had more than one opportunity.
I addressed objections within my emails directly – knowing AI was still a new concept at the time and there was a lot of resistance to it.
The result? I won myself a ticket!
But what I hadn’t even realised at the time I was crafting my promotion was that these were no ordinary tickets! They were Platinum VIP tickets which came with a fancy 3 course meal, lots of fun merchandise and brilliant seats close to all the action!
And it didn’t stop there. The tickets were just part of the prize! We were also treated to a weeklong business mastermind (where I got to meet some of the online business coaches I most admired and now get to call friends.) There was also a trip on the London Eye and tickets to see the Lion King in the West End.
I can hands down say this was my biggest career highlight to date. And yep, Taylor Swift was totally awesome to see live – I’m still listening to her playlist on repeat a year later!
Other Affiliate Marketing Wins (for me and my students)
Affiliate marketing has had a huge impact on both my businesses and I have earned multiple 6 figures via affiliate marketing.
Here are a few of my favourite personal achievements
The ERAS tour & the Sri Lanka trip of course!
Replacing my doctor income with affiliate income from my travel blog and being able to quit the job that was causing me burnout.
Still earning regular affiliate income from the travel blog I have barely touched since 2020! (I think I’ve written about 5 articles in 5 years!) Between balancing my primary business and being a Mum, there’s very little time for travel writing these days! One day…
Becoming one of the top affiliates for a prominent travel brand.
Being invited to speak about my success at a travel writers conference and then being invited to speak at the closing panel, being interviewed by BBC’s Gavin Ramjaun.
Taking an off grid trip to the middle of nowhere where I stayed in a boogie treehouse with zero internet signal, only to return the next day to $1K commissions made overnight from an affiliate funnel I set up a few weeks months back.
Building my B2B business to 6 figures in 2 years.
Being regularly featured on affiliate leaderboards – and the best part – often alongside my Affiliate Marketing Superstars students!
Seeing my students go on to have amazing success following the same strategies I used myself!
And even more importantly, here are a few of the wins from some of my Affiliate Marketing Superstars students…
Aisha updated one blog post and overnight earned $200 commissions! A few months later she told me she was making $15K a month and around $6K came from affiliates
Michelle told me her affiliate revenue went from 10% total income to 25% in one year plus she makes sales every time she published content or sends an email!
Roshni told me she wanted to pay her utility bills with affiliate income but last time we spoke she was on her way to 6 figures.
Sharon gained the confidence to retire and instead focus on her blog.
I hope these affiliate marketing case studies from both my businesses and from my students shows you the potential affiliate marketing has regardless of your niche!
Whether you want to start earning some money from a blog or you want to scale an online business by diversifying your revenue streams, I can’t wait to celebrate your next affiliate marketing wins with you!
So keep me in the loop, yeah?!
