How to Earn an Income Online in 2025 with Affiliate Marketing (Even as a Beginner!)
In this article, I’ll explain affiliate marketing and why it’s the perfect way for a beginner to earn an income online. Even better, I’ll show you exactly how to get started today.
No more overthinking, no more procrastinating. It’s time to take that first small step toward the life you’ve always dreamed of—the life you deserve but may have barely dared to imagine… until now.
Approximately two years ago, I started making money online. Despite having a stable career and a decent salary, it just wasn’t enough. I’d wanted to leave my job for years, but as I reached my mid-forties, I felt time slipping away. With my children becoming more independent and more free time on my hands, I realized it was the perfect moment to start a new chapter in my life. Taking that step was the best decision I’ve ever made.
But first - Let's go through the basics of affiliate marketing and why it's the best way to earn an income online in 2025.
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How does affiliate marketing work?
Think of affiliate marketing as being a matchmaker for products. You partner with a company that sells products or services, and they give you a special link to share. Whenever someone clicks your link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission—a “thank you” for connecting them with a customer.
It’s a bit like the new pair of glasses I just bought (Tom Ford... I love them! 😍). As I left the shop, they included a note in my bag saying, “If you like us, refer us to a friend! If they buy, you’ll get $10 off your next purchase.” That’s essentially affiliate marketing. The difference is, instead of getting a discount, you earn a commission—a piece of the cake—when your referral makes a purchase.
And the best part is that you don’t need to create your own product, manage inventory, or handle customer service. Your role is simply to recommend products you genuinely like or believe in. For example, if you love a particular pair of running shoes, you could share your affiliate link in a blog post, on social media, or even in a YouTube video. When someone buys the shoes through your link, you get paid!
This is how big the affiliate marketing industry is:
Affiliate marketing is no small game—it’s a powerhouse in the online business world. Valued at over $17 billion globally, it drives 16% of all online sales in the U.S. and is used by over 80% of brands to expand their reach and boost revenue. This isn’t just a side hustle; it’s a serious, thriving business model with endless opportunities for those ready to jump in and build their future.
Here are the best parts about affiliate marketing...
With affiliate marketing, and in particular high-ticket affiliate marketing (which you'll lern more about further down) you have the possibility to earn high commissions from few sales. Here are some other benefits:
- Low Start-Up Costs
Affiliate marketing doesn’t require you to create or stock products, saving you the hefty upfront costs of traditional businesses. With just a website, some basic tools, and a willingness to learn, you can get started almost immediately. It’s a cost-effective way to dip your toes into the world of online business. - Flexibility and Freedom
You can work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection—whether it’s your cozy kitchen table or a beachside café. You also get to choose when and how much you work, giving you complete control over your schedule. This freedom is especially appealing for anyone looking to escape the rigid 9-to-5 grind. - Scalability
Affiliate marketing allows you to scale your income without proportionately increasing your workload. Once your systems—like your website or email funnels—are set up, they can generate passive income while you focus on growing your audience. It’s a business model that rewards effort over time. - Diverse Opportunities
You can choose from countless niches and products to promote, letting you align your business with your passions. From travel to fitness to tech, there’s no shortage of industries where affiliate marketing thrives. This makes it easy to build a business that feels exciting and meaningful.
...and the not so good
While we seldom like to discuss the negative aspects (especially when we're eager to get started), it's important to be realistic. Affiliate marketing, like all business models, has its downsides, but if we're aware of the challenges, the likelihood of following through even in tougher times is much higher. So, here are some aspects that you'll need to know about.
- High Competition
With its low entry barriers, affiliate marketing attracts many people, making some niches highly competitive. Standing out can require time, creativity, and a unique approach. Success often depends on building trust with your audience, which doesn’t happen overnight. - Income Isn’t Immediate
Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme; it takes time to see results. You’ll need to invest effort in building an audience, creating content, and learning marketing strategies before the money starts rolling in. Patience and persistence are key. - Reliance on Third Parties
As an affiliate, you depend on the companies whose products you promote. If they change their commission structures, discontinue programs, or go out of business, it can impact your income. Diversifying your partnerships is crucial to reduce risk. - Requires Consistent Effort
While it’s true that affiliate marketing can lead to passive income, it still requires ongoing effort to maintain and grow. Regular content creation, SEO optimization, and audience engagement are crucial for continued success. If you stop promoting, your earnings can quickly drop.
High-Ticket vs. Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing
- Promoting Expensive or Cheap products?
If you want to succeed in affiliate marketing, you need to think strategically. That’s where the concepts of high-ticket and low-ticket affiliate marketing come in—and understanding the difference can be a game-changer.
What’s the Difference?
- Low-Ticket Affiliate Marketing: This involves promoting lower-priced products, like $20 books, $30 gadgets, or $50 accessories. While these products are easier to sell because of their price point, the commissions are relatively small. For example, with a 20% commission on a $20 product, you’d only earn $4 per sale. To make $2,000, you’d need to sell 500 products.
- High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing: Here, you’re promoting premium, high-value products—like luxury travel packages, advanced online courses, or high-end tech gear. These products are more expensive, but the commissions are much larger. For instance, promoting a $2,000 product with a 20% commission earns you $400 from just one sale. To make $2,000, you’d only need to sell 5 products.
Why High-Ticket Is a Game-Changer
With high-ticket affiliate marketing, you’re focusing on quality over quantity. Instead of chasing hundreds of sales, you can achieve your income goals with just a few. This allows you to spend more time building genuine connections with buyers who see the value in premium products.
Here’s a simple comparison:
- Low-Ticket Example: Sell 200 products at $50 each (20% commission) → You make $2,000.
- High-Ticket Example: Sell 5 products at $2,000 each (20% commission) → You also make $2,000.
Which would you prefer—hustling to convince 200 people or focusing on giving true value to 5?
High-ticket affiliate marketing lets you work smarter, not harder. It’s about targeting the right audience and promoting products that offer substantial value, both to your customers and to yourself.
Starting an affiliate marketing business in mid-life
Now, let me tell you a bit more about myself.
I’m Stina, a mom of two teenagers, and I'm already nearing my fifties. I’ve spent most of my adult life working at a university, surrounded by test tubes and germs. While that might sound thrilling to some 😆, the reality was far from it. I had been at the same job for over a decade. It was a good job—stable, with decent pay and benefits. But deep down, I was unfulfilled, and I was stressed out with constant migraines and high blood pressure. And to be honest, when I started my education at a young age, I didn't know what I valued in life. I made choices that I thought would please my parents and what I thought defined "success."
Well, I am far from alone in having second thoughts about career choices (but many people never do anything about it).
Did you know that a recent Gallup study revealed 85% of people are unhappy with their jobs, leaving just 15% satisfied? Poor management, lack of growth opportunities, work-life imbalance, and unfulfilling work are common reasons behind this dissatisfaction. It’s easy to imagine many also regretting their career choices.
This morning, I read an article about dealing with life regrets. A psychologist shared an insightful perspective, urging us to rethink how we view them.
Regrets, she explained, often come with self-blame for not making the “right” choices. But this blame is usually based on a distorted view of the past. When reflecting on decisions, we often forget the circumstances—economic pressures, health issues, or personal relationships—that shaped them.
Instead of seeing regrets as failures, she suggested viewing them as reflections of the resources or conditions we wished we had at the time. These feelings can serve as signals of a desire for change rather than mistakes to dwell on.
Sometimes, dissatisfaction with past choices simply means we’ve outgrown a phase of life. Perhaps it’s time to revisit dreams we’ve put on hold and explore new possibilities.
The Wake-Up Call
I'll never forget the moment when I realized I had outgrown the phase in life I was in. I had a chance to accompany my husband on a three-month sabbatical in Fiji. As you can imagine, those three months were incredible—everything you’d dream a trip to Fiji would be. And YES - that's me in the picture below, snorkeling with thousands of beautiful fishes in crystal clear 30C/86F degree water!
But returning home was a shock. My migraines worsened, and I fell into a deeper funk. One morning, as I lay in bed feeling miserable yet again, I realized that it really didn’t have to be this way. I was fighting to get up from bed each morning, my closest colleagues had moved on to other jobs, and I had to take on work tasks that I hated. Endless meetings on things I didn't care about drained my energy completely. Why?
I had spent ten years longing for something else, and it was not until now that I understood that I needed to start moving if I wanted a change. Nobody else was going to do it for me.
So, I decided to get started...
I found myself in a situation that might feel very familiar to you right now—endlessly browsing the internet, searching for ways to start fresh. The thought of applying for yet another job felt pointless. What I needed wasn’t just a new job; I needed a new way of living—freedom to do what I love, rediscover my passion for life, and escape the monotony of being told what to do by another employer.
At midlife, with no prior experience earning an income online, it all felt overwhelming, like standing at the base of an enormous mountain with no clear path forward. But after some research, I discovered affiliate marketing—a business model that seemed like a great fit for me. It was flexible, scalable, and aligned with my goals.
No need to make a big change to start earning
A massive upside to earning your living online through affiliate marketing is that you don’t need to quit your job right away. There is no need to turn in that resignation, going "public" with your dreams and new adventures in life. You don't have to phase the dream-killing sceptics and explain why you must change your life to feel fulfilled and passionate again.
You can ease into it, taking small steps while managing your current responsibilities. Instead of an all-or-nothing commitment, you can build your online income at your own pace, learning along the way and gradually creating a path toward more freedom.
A World-Class Online Education
I quickly realized that starting an affiliate marketing business (that would give me more than a couple of extra bucks a month) would require finding someone who knew what and how and could give me hands-on advice and guidance. So, I invested in an education that took me through the phases that allow you to start your dream online business, a real business, not just an affiliate account. And if you'd rather prefer to make an income online through selling physical products or courses, you could learn that as well. In short - you can learn how to set up any online income stream you like. I'm talking about the phases: Prepare, Launch, and Grow.
Taking the First Step Toward a More Flexible, Fulfilling Life
I know that stepping into something new—especially going online if you're entirely new to it—can feel overwhelming. But imagine the freedom of working on your own terms, building something meaningful, and creating income without sacrificing your family time.
That’s exactly why I’m sharing a free video intro course that walks you through the same steps I took to start earning an income online. Here, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how affiliate marketing and selling physical products online work and how you can start earning from home—at your own pace, with the right support every step of the way.
Inside the Free Training, You’ll Discover:
🔹 How to Work Smarter, Not Harder – Learn about ‘Authority Marketing’, a strategy that helps you create a strong online presence and automate your sales—so you can reach people anytime, anywhere while freeing up more of your time.
🔹 Why Affiliate Marketing is the Perfect Fit for Midlife Parents – This flexible, low-risk business model allows you to work from anywhere, set your own schedule, and build an income around your priorities—whether that’s family, travel, or simply more time for yourself.
🔹 How to Find Profitable Products That Practically Sell Themselves – Discover how to source in-demand products that people are already searching for, so you can earn without needing to create anything from scratch.
🔹 A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Training That Changed My Life – I’ll take you inside the exact program I used to build my business, so you can see how it works and decide if it’s right for you.
These free intro videos will give you a clear roadmap to affiliate marketing and an overview of other ways to earn an income online—without the fluff or overwhelm. Even if you’re just exploring, this training will open your eyes to what’s possible and how to make your living online and create a lifestyle that truly fits your dreams.
Click the button below to get instant access. Enter your name and email, and I’ll send everything straight to your inbox.
While this free intro course will give you some excellent insights into how to start making an income online, I want to be straight and completely honest from the start. You'll unlikely manage to be profitable online from a free intro course. That's why you'll also be introduced to a 7-day fast start course after receiving the free training.
Over the course of seven days (or at your convenience), you’ll follow a step-by-step Fast Start Guide to launch your online adventure. You’ll learn how to use authority marketing to build a strong online presence and automate your sales, making it easier to generate income without working around the clock. Plus, you’ll get expert mentorship and access to a supportive community (I'll be there, too!), ensuring you never have to figure things out alone.
This guided training is designed to help you start and build an income online with confidence, even if you have no idea where to start, no tech skills or previous knowledge. It’s perfect for midlife parents looking for flexibility, financial freedom, and a fresh start.
Is It Possible for a 45+ Parent to Succeed Online?
Absolutely, 100% YES!
If you’ve been browsing the internet looking for ways to start an online business, you’ve likely come across countless ads and articles claiming to show you how to make money online. While they often give you a vague sense of the steps involved, very few truly explain how to get started—especially if you’re a complete newbie.
The good news is that these days, the technical side of things is more beginner-friendly than ever. With the right guidance and support, even someone with zero experience can build an online business from scratch. Trust me—I’ve been there (and done it)! 😊 I will not claim that I never struggled and felt confused and overwhelmed sometimes - it is a lot to learn if you're new. But as I surrounded myself with people who had already done what I was going to and followed a blueprint with actionable steps, I could work myself through it.
To show you exactly how achievable this is, here’s a timeline of what I managed to accomplish and how quickly things unfolded:
Late April: I signed up for a free video course that introduced me to online business basics. I learned how affiliate marketing works, explored e-commerce, and realized just how many opportunities exist online. Encouraged, I took the next step: a 7-day course diving deeper into building an online business.
Early May: I decided to invest in a comprehensive, affordable online business course. Like most people, I couldn’t quit my job to focus on this full-time. But by replacing mindless scrolling and Netflix binges with focused learning, I built my business step by step in my free time. The course’s clear, step-by-step instructions made the process manageable (watch, pause, execute, repeat).
June: I launched my website—a big milestone! It showcased my branding and a niche I felt passionate about. Around this time, I began learning the marketing side of running an online business.
July: I kept learning while taking a well-deserved vacation.
August: I started running ads and focused on affiliate marketing. I steadily grew my email list (something you'll master on your own journey).
September: I made my first sale! 🎉
Let’s recap: In just five months, I went from a complete beginner—knowing nothing about affiliate marketing, sales funnels, or email lists—to having a website, an automated sales funnel, marketing strategies, and my first sales.
If that’s not proof of what’s possible with focused effort and a step-by-step approach, I don’t know what is.
What If You Don’t Know What Kind of Business to Start?
This is an incredibly common question—and a very important one. Let’s revisit something I touched on earlier in this article: if you’ve spent years in a job you dislike without seriously considering what you’d rather be doing, it can be tough to pinpoint what type of business might truly resonate with you. Sometimes, all you have is a profound feeling that you need “something else.”
Finding clarity about your goals and values—what you really want—can feel like a daunting task, especially if you’ve been stuck in autopilot for years. But it’s also a necessary step toward creating an online business you’ll genuinely love.
Over the years, I’ve encountered so many people in the same boat. They aren’t necessarily unhappy with their lives—they often have loving families and children who brighten their days. But they long for something more. They want to find that elusive “it”—the thing that gives their lives a deeper sense of meaning and fulfillment.
For some, the motivation comes from a practical place: they lack a secure retirement plan and want to build something that will provide safety and joy in their later years. Others feel a creative spark inside them—a need to express themselves—but they’re unsure how to channel that creativity or turn it into a source of income.
So, how do you start making sense of these dreams and desires?
This is where the online business education I enrolled in truly stood out. It wasn’t just about learning affiliate marketing or building a specific type of business. It was about discovering what business was right for me. The program offered guidance on a wide range of possibilities: setting up an e-commerce store, launching a clothing brand through print-on-demand, creating a coaching business, or diving into high-ticket affiliate marketing.
But what truly made it unique was the comprehensive support system. There were workshops, mentors, training, and tools designed to assist with every aspect of the journey—from navigating technical challenges to uncovering your personal values and passions. The goal wasn’t just to teach you how to build a business but to help you build your business, one that aligns with your aspirations and feels meaningful.
You don’t need to have all the answers when you start. You just need to take that first step.
The Importance of Getting Started (No Matter How Slowly)
Building a business is a lot like assembling IKEA furniture: at first, it’s hard to see how all the parts will come together. But as you progress step by step, the framework begins to take shape, and everything starts making sense.
One thing that kept me motivated was keeping a video journal to document my progress. Recently, I watched an early entry where I said something that still resonates deeply:
"Even though I haven’t reached my business goals yet, I feel so much more content with life than before. That’s because I know I’m actively doing something to change my future, rather than staying stuck and wishing things were different. For ten years, I was caught in that cycle—always wanting something more but never taking action. Now, I’m finally doing it, and I’m confident I’ll achieve my goals as long as I keep moving forward."
Looking back, I couldn’t have been more right. Small, consistent steps have led me to the milestones I once only dreamed of. And now, I’m setting new goals because the journey itself—building something meaningful and exciting—is where the real joy lies. (Of course, the financial rewards don’t hurt and make the journey even more enjoyable! 😉)
"You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."
– Zig Ziglar
I'd love to hear your thoughts about this - drop me a comment below!
x Stina