Last Updated on April 24, 2025 by Jan Barley
Everybody touts that affiliate marketing is the best way to secure a passive income. However, there are a few details that nobody tells you, and it means the difference between people pushing through the challenges of digital and affiliate marketing or giving up altogether.
Here’s the truth:
- Passive income from digital marketing (and affiliate marketing) takes a lot of work
- There are multiple moving parts to master before money rains down from the sky
- It can take considerable time to start earning passive income
I believe integrity must rule when selling information to our audience. We’re dealing with human beings who may be vulnerable, anxious and struggling to pay the bills. They may have zero knowledge about sales and social media marketing, and they trustingly believe the advice of someone making a lot of money online.
Yes, digital and affiliate marketing may be the easiest way to make money online. Still, many people get stuck in the process because the gurus make it challenging to understand that it can be simple.
Indeed, it SHOULD be simple, but that doesn’t mean it is easy.
I come from a direct sales background. Back then, my entire focus was on building relationships with my clients based on trust and integrity, and nothing has changed for me on my digital marketing journey.
I want to do my best for people, not con them into buying expensive courses I haven’t used, purchased, or succeeded with. Yet so many have no problems with that.
Anyhoo, that’s my digital marketing rant over. Now, we’ll focus on how to get started and set yourself up for success so you can start making passive income later down the road.
Step 1
Choose a reputable marketing platform. I use Systeme because you can get started for free. I pay $27 a month and have email campaigns and sales pages set up on there for my digital marketing business. I’m also taking their certified sales funnel building course.
Customer service is excellent, and you can use the marketing tools without the pressure of a monthly subscription. I have just upgraded because I’m building more sales pages and adding more products and custom domains. I love Systeme, its ethos and its quality tools.
Step 2
Decide if you want to:
- Sell other people’s digital products
- Create your own digital products
- Buy PLR products you can edit and make your own
- Buy MRR products to resell for 100%
- Buy a DFU Business
I am doing a mix of options. I ONLY promote programs I use and am happy with, such as Systeme. In addition, it’s best to promote products offering at least 25% commissions.
Step 3
Create a free lead magnet to give away to subscribers. Honestly, don’t offer some crappy PLR that you got for free. Buy a template you can edit so you can add value. Be happy to give away free stuff that offers a transformation for subscribers. Start as you mean to go and build trust with your audience.
Step 4
Create a landing page for your first product. A simple squeeze page and thank you page is acceptable. Systeme has multiple templates to make setting up your first page for free quick and easy.
Step 5
Create an email campaign relative to the free product. For instance, If your freebie is about faceless social media marketing, your email campaign should be relative to providing that information.
Don’t be in a rush to promote products. Warm your subscribers first by leading with value.
Step 6
Choose two or three social media channels to focus on. Pinterest is a fantastic search engine, and TikTok can be a great platform once you build momentum.
YouTube may be slower, but build a long-term content strategy around it because there are endless opportunities for digital and affiliate marketing add-on bonuses, like coaching, brand deals and more. You can build a faceless brand on YouTube and succeed.
Now, here’s the thing. Creating or editing PLR products is time-consuming, but I recommend ALWAYS making them your own, adding your own spin and increasing their value.
Your first sales page might take you several hours. You might fluff up when adding a custom domain or tags or automating the process. That’s absolutely normal. I put off doing my first sales page for over six months. When I finally did it. I felt ashamed and embarrassed because it was easier than I expected.
Conclusion
Setting up to create automated passive income from digital and affiliate marketing takes time and always takes you longer than you think. I’ve been working on my back-end set-up and product creation for over a month and am still not ready to go. I might be slower because I won’t sell mediocre products to my customers.
Everything becomes easier once you have your automated system in place. You can add more products in your own time. Additionally, you can promote your products on other marketplaces like Etsy, Gumroad and Creative Fabrica.
The opportunities are endless.
So, my apologies for my early rant. I hope you see where I’m coming from. Integrity, honesty and authenticity are the most critical aspects of building any relationship, whether a partnership or selling digital products online. I hope you feel the same way.
Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
