Wondered how to find the highest paying affiliate programs?  Affiliate marketing is an amazing way to diversify your income no matter if you're an online marketer, coach, or entrepreneur.  There's programs in every niche that you can partner with and refer people to great services and programs.

What Are Affiliate Programs?

Affiliate programs are partnerships that you can create with great brands to recommend their products, services, or programs and receive a commission based on the referral.

It creates a win-win situation with the brand you're promoting as they are able to leverage your traffic and audience without having to pay for the lead and they pay you commissions for referring those people to them.

In a way we all naturally promote stores or products anyway by word of mouth marketing.  

How?

When was the last time someone said "oh my gosh, I love you shoes!  Where did you buy them?"

It's not like you withheld the information from them, right.  You probably told them where you got the shoes. 

Well, what if you could get paid for doing so?

In this post we will cover the highest paying affiliate programs for online entrepreneurs.

The most leveraged income for your time is recurring.

With that being said, some of the affiliate programs made this post just because of the ability to make recurring revenue month after month, after month for the one referral you give them.

Highest Paying Affiliate Programs

1.  Kajabi 

My entire business is built on Kajabi so I'm obviously a fan.  Most of the clients that come to me wanting to build their brand and presence online, I recommend Kajabi because in the big picture of having a blog or website online it is the least expensive option.  It's an all-in-one solution as it gives entrepreneurs a website, online course creation, membership portal, email marketing, sales funnels, sales pages, and the entire business under one roof.  An in-depth review of Kajabi is here on this post, it's my honest review.

On average, affiliates make $60 per month per referral.  One of the best features is that it is recurring revenue as clients build their websites and entire business on the platform and  moving an entire empire isn't likely.  

Kajabi's promise is to give 30% on every referral for life.

You can see from the image below, Kajabi has a really rewarding incentive structure in place for becoming and staying an affiliate.  It's one of the only programs that offer you the ability to make a six-figure income fairly easily just for referring users to their platform.

Kajabi Affiliate Rewards Program

But for this posts purpose, Kajabi is the highest paying affiliate in my business.  You can join their affiliate program by clicking the button below.  

 2.  Convertkit

Convertkit is an email marketing software used to grow your audience and business.  It's more sophisticated than some of the other basic email newsletter providers like Aweber, Active Campaign, or Mailchimp.  All are about the same price, but Convertkit rises above due to the logic and automations available in their campaigns.  The image below demonstrates the visual builder for campaigns.  Since I'm 100% visual learning style, I was loving their service.

Prior to moving my entire business to an all-in-one solution like Kajabi, I was using Convertkit to grow my email list.

As an affiliate with them they offer 30% recurring commissions on a referral.  As we said the goal was to gain income that repeats itself on autopilot (really the way you can build your income while you sleep).

It's easy to join their ambassador program by clicking the link below.  

Also, one of the huge incentives they have right now is that Pat Flynn is teaching an entire course on how he became their highest paid affiliate marketer.  

Pat used to publish his monthly income reports on his blog, Smart Passive Income.  The last income report was 2017 before he discontinued reporting it but you can see Convertkit was over $36,000 for the entire month.

Image:  Smart Passive Income 

3.  Bluehost

Bluehost is a website hosting provider.  Their commissions are up to $65 per qualifying and paying referral.  Prior to using Kajabi for my business, Bluehost was my provider.  Although towards the end of hosting with them my site did run into hacking issues but my suspicion was that it was from a former developer that I had worked with; not the host itself.

You'll notice in the image above under convertkit, it was also one of Pat Flynn's highest source of affiliate income at over $26,000 for the month in 2017 and I'm sure it's so much higher now.

You can join their affiliate program by going to their homepage and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

 4.  Ultimate Bundles

Ultimate bundles offers complete eBook and eCourse collections to learn from anywhere.  They offer a range of courses with titles like:

• Work From Home Bundle
• Self-care Mini Bundle
• Master Your Money Mini Bundle
• The Ultimate Productivity Mini Bundle
• Herbs + Essential Oils Bundle

Affiliates get 40% commissions on most bundles and they have a great tracking platform so you can see which affiliate links are performing the best.

5.  Clickfunnels

 Clickfunnels is infamous for helping entrepreneurs of all skill levels create sales funnels.  If you're just learning online marketing, the term sales funnel may be inundating.  Simplified, it's just a process of getting potential clients interested in your content and through a sales process to buy from you.

The affiliate program is generous, offering 40% commissions on most of their products, services, and even challenges.

Some of the most popular and well-known affiliate offers available are:

• Traffic Secrets
• One Funnel Away
• DotCom Secrets
• Expert Secrets Book
• And 30 Day Expert Summit 

You can join as a Clickfunnels affiliate by clicking the button below.

6.  Ontraport

Ontraport is a sophisticated email management tool that offers subscribers other services like landing pages, forms, and membership sites.  It started off as a CRM or a client management tool that allowed people to segment their email marketing list.  But to stay competitive they added features.

Affiliates earn weekly commissions, earning  25% of the monthly fees from each account you refer, for the lifetime of their subscription.

7.  Thinkific

 Thinkific is a platform that allows course creators to market, host, and sell their online courses.  They offer affiliates up to $1,100 dollars on one referral for the year depending upon the plan the referral chooses.  It's typically 20% recurring commission on each sale but sometimes they email you with special promotions offering you 30% commission on the sale.

If your audience consists of the following then you’d be an ideal partner for Thinkific:

• DIY content creators who want to share their knowledge.
• Entrepreneurs who want to share their expertise.
• Business owners who want to create online courses that cater to their customers.

You probably see a recurring theme here, the email service providers, web host providers, and the course creation sites boast some of the highest paying affiliate programs and they have the added feature of being recurring revenue.

8. Elite Marketing Pro

Elite Marketing is a training platform specifically for Network Marketers.  It's valuable as most people who end up loving a product and becoming an accidental entrepreneur do not have marketing skills.  So it's someplace that marketers can learn all the things sales funnels, email marketing growth, webinars, etc. and create affiliate income at the same time as they learn how to become a marketer.

Some of their programs are just a percentage of the eCourse but some are recurring revenue based on the member subscribing to their training center.  There's also the option of making a certain percentage if someone upgrades for elite, personalized VIP coaching.  EMP offers the ability to profit from someone upgrading.

It's really an intelligent business model as it gives subscribers the ability to learn and earn at the same time.

After you take one of their courses at Elite Marketing Pro, they invite you to become an affiliate, making generous affiliate profits.  Here's a link to the eBook that got me started with them, it's how I created success not only in my Network Marketing company but developed so much understanding of Attraction Marketing for my entire brand.

 9.  WP Engine

 WP Engine provides Wordpress website hosting.  You can receive up to $200 per referral.   When applying for their affiliate program, it's through Shareasale. 

Shareasale is a great place to apply as an affiliate as it has a huge marketplace to partner with larger brands.  No matter what the niche is, they have something to promote.  I highly recommend them.

Not all of Shareasale's affiliate programs are the highest paying, but I would filter to the ones who are and which ones are most aligned with your brand message that you could feel great about promoting to your audience.

10.  Tailwind

Tailwind is exactly the scheduling tool I use to grow my Pinterest.  It helps you connect with other influencers through Tailwind Tribes so content can go viral and be shared with their following.  It also ensures consistency in posting.

They also have an app for posting on Instagram and Instagram marketing is really a hot topic right now with influencers, and entrepreneurs.

As and affiliate they pay out 15% recurring so the opportunity to create a steady stream of income is definitely available.

They are also in the Shareasale marketplace so you can apply for them while you're applying for other affiliate opportunities.

 11.  Lisa Jill Rooney

I saved the best for last :)  Kidding, kidding!

Yes, I have an affiliate program that pays typically 30% on courses and programs. eCourses typically teach how to profit online through Pinterest, Podcasting, Selling Authentically, and even some courses for Network Marketers.  

There are larger services like website design and eCourse done for you services that comes with done for you sales funnels.  It's like a business in a box.  Those services range from $2,500 - $ 5,000 and pay out at 10%.  So just on one sale you could earn $500 commission.

Commissions are paid between 15-30 days of the referral so there aren't any refunds or returns.

You can apply below to see if our brands align, if so I'd love to work with you!

How to Find Affiliate Programs

You'll likely want to find other affiliate programs that align with your brand.  The easiest ways you can find affiliate programs are one of two ways:

1.  Go to the Homepage of the website of the brand you want to affiliate with.  Scroll to the bottom footer of the page and look for the word 'Affiliates.'  Sometimes they also have it under the word 'Partnership.' 

Once you click on these links it will usually lead to their terms and how to apply.  

Let's use Clickfunnels for example.  Currently, as I type this, they have the link at the footer on their homepage:

If they do not have the 'Affiliates' tab on the homepage (many do no by the way), then I just do a google search like this:

If I still can't find it by Google Search, then I will go to the website of the brand I want to partner with and send an email through the contact page.  I simply send an email stating something like this:

Hello,

I'm Lisa Rooney, an online influencer and branding and marketing expert.  It looks like our brands are directly aligned and I would love to promote your brand to my audience. 

Do you have an affiliate  program that I could partner with you?

Warm regards,

Lisa

Which Affiliate Program is the Best

 The best affiliate programs are the best ones for your audience.

That sounds obvious but some people just promote something that will make them a quick buck, which can alienate trust with your ideal audience.

What you really want to do is align with brands that are directly related to what your audience needs.  There are hundreds of other affiliate programs that were not mentioned in this post.  Some pay only between 4-10%  and this post was about the highest paying affiliate programs.  

There's a hierarchy of decision that I have to partner with a brand and here's my decision process:

1. The brand aligns with what my audience needs
2. The brand aligns with my values
3. The brand is worth my effort in promoting (they are a high paying affiliate offer)
4. Recurring revenue is a high motivator for me to put in efforts with because all I have to do is refer the person once and get paid over and over again for the one time.
5. Affiliate companies that pay one time are still considered as it aligns with my brand.

Affiliate Program Etiquette 

Affiliate programs can add so much value to your audience.  But you can also alienate your audience by over-pitching programs and services.  There are some companies doing affiliate marketing in the best of ways that are non-offensive and we can learn from them.

One brand that we all know and love (yes, even if you're a dude, lol) it's Victoria's Secret. You'd think they have a big enough brand that they would NEVER need an affiliate.  They would never have to steer people away from their brand.

What they realized?

That buyers are looking elsewhere.  They are comparing other brands that are similar to their brands.  Instead of losing a customer to a brand that is alike with theirs, they are optimizing marketing and gaining a commission still based on brands they know are alike to theirs.

So on their website now, they have it listed like this:  BRANDS WE LOVE

 This tells you that one of the biggest brands knows the power of affiliate marketing. 

They aren't losing a sale, they are gaining it by partnering with someone that directly aligns with their brand.

Affiliate Marketing Etiquette goes this way:

1. Don't spam your audience
2. Don't pitch something out of alignment with their needs just to promote the offer
3. Don't sell them a program and then require them to purchase an affiliate offer to get the results.

Keeping your clients trust is far more valuable than it is to gain a commission from an affiliate offer.

When done right affiliate marketing can add another six-figures to your business as there's some really high paying affiliate programs that will change your online business, gain more trust with your audience, and give you more time freedom from a provider that is giving the service to the clients you are referring.

I appreciate you for reading this far!

Always in your corner,

xo

Lisa

This post contains many links to affiliates for you to check them out.  You can see our full affiliate disclosure here.