Monetizing your online presence is a way to not only generate further income, but through commercialization, you also help to highlight your presence as a legitimate business activity.  If you are making money from your site, that means you have a bank account and are implicitly gaining the trust and acceptance of other people.  This status is a signal in the minds of your potential customers that you must be “ok”. 

There are clearly limitations to this approach (you wouldn’t want to be advertising casino or illicit viewing – being associated with these advertisers would give your business a negative view by your customers, unless that is your business). 

Drop shipping and affiliates can be effective ways to generate income as well as generating online views and expanding your audience.  They are separate activities which will be described in further detail below, however as monetization efforts to expand your online revenue, these activities go together well. 

Drop shipping to Expand Product Sales

The steps to getting started in drop shipping are straightforward.  The main focus to start is on what types of products would complement your existing business activities, and to find the supplier/partner. 

Can you find a niche product?  If there is something you can sell that is hard to find but that your audience would find interesting, or which is highly unique or innovative, these characteristics provide a good entry point for a drop shipped offer.  Select a specific niche or product category to focus on, and rather than thinking about macro analysis or product trends (as is recommended by so many drop-shipping startup manuals), orient your product decisioning around which one can you build a story around, and which one complements your existing approach to social media marketing.  This consideration will go much farther in helping you find a niche in which you have a driving interest, rather than mere academic considerations about market sizing and potential.

Finding reliable suppliers who offer dropshipping services is key.  Popular platforms for finding suppliers include AliExpress, SaleHoo, and Oberlo (integrated with Shopify).  These and other similar platforms provide their own instructions and account management guidance, and that will not be covered here in detail.  In addition to establishing the supplier relationship, you will also need to set up a secure and efficient payment processing system.  Fortunately you do not need to rely solely on PayPal.  Other systems that are gaining broad acceptance include Stripe and Square.  Automate every step of the process as much as you can.

With respect to your own platform management, you can help to optimize product listings with clear descriptions, high-quality images, and competitive pricing. Consider offering unique value propositions like bundled products or exclusive deals.

When it comes to marketing and promotion, the key is to integrate the drop ship order form link into your existing communication.  Your marketing strategy will need to be modified to drive traffic to your drop ship product page, and you may use a combination of paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads), social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and influencer partnerships.  These are likely already part of your business marketing efforts. 

To integrate the drop ship offer, use a combination of both direct appeals and more subtle/indirect appeals.  In this case, that is to say, advertise your product directly on occasion, but otherwise, slip the link into the posting with only a subtle reference, ie., without featuring it.  That is enough to remind customers that you have a product offer for them to consider, but without keeping it front and center.  Keep your regular content focused on audience engagement and expansion, providing good quality content on topics relevant for your business. 

Drop shipping also requires an operational aspect, which is in the form of customer service.  Your business brand and reputation are now in part associated with the product you are promoting.  Provide excellent customer service to build trust and credibility, and respond promptly to customer inquiries, address concerns, and process orders efficiently.

As you gain experience and see growth, expand the scale of your product sales operation.  Invest in more expansive marketing efforts, and explore additional sales channels (e.g., Amazon, eBay) to help grow your dropshipping business.

There are also regulatory and compliance considerations you will need to make, however those are not addressed here, as they are unique to your product sales, what sort of business license you have, and of course, location/geography. 

Affiliate Marketing to Monetize your Audience

Making money through affiliate marketing on your website involves promoting products or services from other companies and earning a commission for each sale or action generated through your referral.  

Similar to the drop shipping approach (where you are selling your chosen product or products directly with the support of a back-end supplier), with affiliate marketing you will still need to choose a niche or topic that aligns with your website’s content and target audience. This will make it easier to find relevant affiliate programs and products to promote.

Integrate into your website or social media platforms relevant content which is valuable to consumers of the chosen niche area.  Your regular social media marketing efforts can include blog posts, product reviews, tutorials, and guides to attract and retain visitors – as you would do, with or without an affiliate monetization strategy.  The difference is in the focus or emphasis of your content.  Will you optimize to expand your affiliate-sourced revenue, or keep that as a side activity?

Reputable affiliate programs are not difficult to find, and include networks like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, and ClickBank.  Sign up for the affiliate programs you’ve identified, and provide information about your website and how you plan to promote the products or services.  Some programs have specific requirements for approval.  There will also be requirements to include unique affiliate tracking links for the products or services you want to promote.  These links are how the affiliate program tracks sales or actions generated through your referrals.

Incorporate affiliate links naturally within your published content . Avoid overloading your content with links, as this can deter readers.  Instead, place links where they are relevant and provide value to your audience.  Be transparent with your audience by disclosing that you use affiliate links. This transparency builds trust with your readers.  Beyond your website, you can integrate affiliate promotion on social media, email newsletters, and other relevant platforms. Be cautious not to spam or excessively promote products.

If you see potential in growing the affiliate revenue stream, continue diversifying your product offer and sign up for multiple affiliate programs.  Other monetization opportunities may emerge, such as sponsored content or selling your own products or services.

Success in drop shipping and affiliate marketing takes time and effort, similarly to the time it takes to build your social media audience.  The foundation to a successful monetization strategy remains the same as to your core business activities:  build trust with your audience and providing genuine, valuable content.  Be patient and continuously refine your strategy as you learn more about what works for your specific niche and audience.