People have been earning money online through affiliate marketing for years, and with the Bitcoin-revolution currently taking place, it’s no surprise that Bitcoin-based affiliate campaigns have appeared as well.
Bitcoin affiliate programs are programs that incentivize promoting a good or service in exchange for revenue share in Bitcoin. Some companies pay up to 50% of revenue from customers you refer. If you’ve got a website or blog, or if you have rich friends, this is the best option for you.
Most Bitcoin affiliate programs work by generating you a unique URL to share, which is tied to your account. Once you get a link, you can go ahead and promote it anywhere you’d like (within reason), and purchases made by people who click it will earn you a tasty commission.
Sometimes, revenue is paid through a CPA (cost-per-action) model, but I prefer the revenue share models as it feels more transparent. Currently, most of the Bitcoin affiliate programs pay their affiliates in BTC, yet there are also a few which pay out fiat — choosing the right site depends on your financial preferences (I strongly recommend choosing a program which pays out in BTC).
Driving traffic through affiliate programs is really simple. For example, if you have a blog and have shared your affiliate link, you’ll either get a percentage of all sales made by the people you have referred, or a fixed payment, depending on the programs that you are collaborating with.
Perhaps the greatest thing about affiliate programs is that once you refer somebody, you get a lifetime commission from every single purchase they make. Somebody could follow you link, make an account but never purchase anything — years later, they’ll return and you’ll still get a cut. This means that your affiliate revenue should keep increasing as you build up more customers, and it will create a permanent stream of passive income so long as the business doesn’t shut down.