Affiliate has the worst PR in the creator economy.

👋 Welcome back to Content to Commas, your weekly playbook for creators, entrepreneurs, and content pros who want to turn content into consistent cash flow.

It's been a while since we've chatted money.

So this week, I want to talk about a simple way to earn money without much effort, and why you might already have the opportunity to do it.

Affiliates.

Fair warning upfront … volume matters and cash on hand is better, but this is something that just runs in the background that I know most of you are not thinking about.

📌 In this issue:

Let’s get to work.

— Brandon

_{a message from our friends @ Blomma}

The VP gets the executive coach. The director gets the leadership program. The senior IC gets a mentor circle. Everyone else gets Reddit and a group chat.

I had a group chat, then a mentor, then a leadership program, then executive coaching, but that's only possible if your company splits the bill. 

I also had access to real career coaches at a few inflection points in my career, and the clarity from those conversations made a big difference. That's why I'm trying to be a trusted partner with Blomma, a team committed to improving career disparity, at a time when the world of professional development is evolving faster than ever. 

Blomma is a career coach powered by AI, built alongside real career coaches.

What you get:

If you’re at a place in your career where you’re ready to define your own path, let Blomma be your starting point. 

You can sign up for Blomma and bypass the waitlist by using the code “BRANDON”.

Every month, I get the same notification email.

Another referral credit. Another free month of software. Another payment issued. Some even give you a 50% cut.

I asked Claude to check my numbers, and in the last 12 months, I made $1,819.05 from affiliate earnings.

Not enough money to quit your job or pay New York City rent, but enough to cover ride shares or a dinner date each month.

here's why this excites me … this is just year one.

When I began this newsletter, I also started working with affiliates. This was in the midst of me planning my exit strategy and figuring out my monetization playbook.

With the tough part done, I just need to maintain my business while this continues to operate in the background.

I expect that number to double or triple in the next 12 months.

I'll show you how to get started and build these pipelines yourself.

People often ask about the tools I use, what office chair I have, and what camera lens I use.

The simplest thing you can do is create a list of your recommendations.

^{quick note: Using my affiliate links to sign up for any tools supports me and keeps this newsletter free.}

Think about the last five tools you recommended to someone via DM or a reply to "what do you use for...".

Did you get paid for any of those recommendations? Probably not.

Most tools have referral or affiliate programs and the list is longer than you think. You're already driving signups for these companies every time you talk about them.

The first step, open your notes app and list every tool you pay for or use weekly.

Don't overthink either. Even apps on your phone.

That list is your inventory. Now let's find out which items on it are paying people and not you.

Now, signing up for all these programs is the tedious & annoying part but I did it the lazy smart way.

Option 1: Search for "[tool name] affiliate program" on Google and apply to each one individually.

Option 2: Use Claude Cowork to apply to over 50 affiliate programs in one afternoon. I provided my channel details, audience size, a short bio, and a description of how I use each tool in a doc. Then, using the Claude Chrome extension, it applied to all the sites for me. (recommendation)

[ this is how I imagine your face right now … 🤯 ]

That one afternoon is now paying me every month.

The effort it takes shouldn't be why you're not getting paid.

The goal here is to keep this fairly low key.

If you talk to any creator or founder, they'll likely mention that affiliate income makes up just a tiny slice of their earnings.

That's why I don't recommend deals that only involve affiliates. However, I think it's fine to have affiliate deals as an additional benefit.

The key is to naturally weave in tools you talk about into your content or workflow.

The rule: lead with the use case, not the link. Show how the tool fits into your actual workflow. Explain the result it gets you.

The referral link lives at the bottom … it's the footnote, not the headline.

Affiliate income solo won't replace your salary. It's not supposed to.

But here's the math: 10 tool referrals a month at $15–25 average = $150–250 you stop spending on your software stack every single month.

That's your Notion, Manychat, your email platform, your design tools, or your meeting notes app … all covered.

The biggest benefit is the long-term play. (aka chess, not checkers)

More content → more mentions → more referrals. The YouTube video you posted six months ago is still earning. The podcast you posted last year is still sending clicks.

You're already recommending tools for free. The only difference between you and someone earning affiliate income is a sign-up form.

Affiliate marketing has a reputation problem.

People believe that brands don't want to pay, and you don't want to advertise for free.

The reality is you already use tools every day. Some of those tools will pay you when other people start using them too. No pitch. No funnel. Just a referral link and honest usage.

You should earn more each year. There will be ups and downs, but the goal is to double year one.

There will be ups and downs, but the aim for next year is to make at least twice as much as you did in the first year. Then, keep repeating this process.

Each week, I share simple plays on branding, monetization, and growth strategies, plus tools I actually use that you might've missed. Catch up in minutes.

These hit hard the first time. Worth the re-read.

Yes, these are affiliates, but I really use them.

Thanks for reading!
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