Have you ever bought a product because a friend enthusiastically told you about something? Or do you sometimes click on a link on a comparison site to make a purchase? Then there’s a good chance your order was part of affiliate marketing. But what exactly does that mean?

Simply put: someone shares a link, tip, or referral, and when someone else buys something through that link, the person who shared the link receives a reward. This way, you can easily earn extra money with your network and online channels (website, social media, newsletter), without risks, inventory, or large investments.

Affiliate marketing is therefore actually a digital reward system: you help a company find new customers and receive commission for it. We’ll assume you want to become an affiliate. Below, you’ll first read the most important industry terms and a brief explanation of how affiliate marketing works.

• Affiliate – That’s you
  You share a special link from a company to a product or service through your blog, social media, email, or website.
• Consumer/prospect – The visitor
  Someone from your network clicks on that link and ends up at the company.
• Merchant: The selling party
  The visitor buys something, signs up for a service, or takes another action for which the merchant rewards you.
• Affiliate – You get paid
  For each successful action, you receive a commission: this can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the revenue.

Think of affiliate marketing as a digital “Word-of-Mouth” program: instead of recommending to your friend which restaurant you like, you online guide your followers and readers to a product or service. Every time someone buys something through your link, the merchant rewards you for your recommendation. This way, both beginners without their own webshop and experienced online marketers can earn extra with their network.

How Do I Start with Affiliate Marketing?

Starting with affiliate marketing is easier than you think: with just a few steps, you can get started and immediately earn commission.

1. Choose your niche
   Choose a topic that interests you and that you have knowledge of: think about web hosting, fashion, or travel. This way, you create credible and relevant content. At the same time, you naturally also want to earn. Therefore, look for a balance between passion and potential: preferably choose a niche with higher commissions, such as financial services, tech (software & hosting), health & wellness, e-commerce, or online education & courses.
2. Find an affiliate program
   Search on Google for a “company” + the term “affiliate program” for products or services you want to promote. Sign up for that program (for example, our affiliate program at Hosting.NL). Look for an attractive commission percentage and a reliable payout method.
3. Get your unique link
   Once your account is approved, log into the affiliate dashboard. There you’ll find your personal tracking link(s) linked to your account.
4. Choose your promotion channel
   You choose your promotion channel entirely based on where your target audience is or where you have the most reach, for example social media, a website, or via email.
5. Share your link
   Place your link with a clear call-to-action, for example in your blog article, in an Instagram post, in the description of your YouTube video, or in your newsletter. As soon as someone places an order through your link and pays, you automatically receive the agreed commission from the merchant (the company whose products/services you sell).

That’s all! With these simple steps, you can get started right away and begin earning.

What Does an Affiliate Earn?

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you can build income with relatively little investment. If you’re just starting, you can see your first commission coming in within a few weeks:

• Beginner
  Suppose you’ve just set up a blog or social media profile and manage to bring in five new customers through your links each month. With an average order value of €120 per customer (think as an example of our starter package for WordPress Hosting) with a 60% commission, that means:
  • 5 customers × €120 = €600 revenue
  • 60% × €600 = €360 per month
  • In the first year, this means €4,320 in extra income.
• Intermediate affiliate
  Once you have a larger reach in terms of followers and bring in 20 customers per month, for example, the numbers shift:
  • 20 customers × €120 = €2,400 revenue
  • 60% × €2,400 = €1,440 per month
  • With €17,280 per year, you create a nice side income!
• Top affiliate
  There are affiliates who manage large email lists or multiple popular social media channels. They sometimes manage to bring in 100 to 200 new customers monthly. Do the math yourself:
  • 100 customers × €120 = €12,000 revenue → 60% = €7,200 per month
  • 200 customers × €120 = €24,000 revenue → 60% = €14,400 per month

Of course, this varies greatly per affiliate:

• The quality of your content (a well-written review or a convincing YouTube video) determines how often people click through and convert.
• Channel choice: whether you blog, make videos on YouTube, post on LinkedIn, or email via your newsletter, the right channels can make the difference. Therefore, experiment with multiple options.
• Consistency: those who post regularly and continuously refine their strategy usually see results fastest

Affiliate Marketing with and without your Own Website

So you don’t necessarily need your own website to start with affiliate marketing. There are influencers on social media who successfully earn by promoting products in YouTube videos. Yet it’s often even more effective to combine multiple channels, also called omnichannel marketing. Think, for example, of a YouTube channel combined with an email list, blog, and other social posts. This way, you expand your reach, improve the chance of conversions, and maximize your income.

How Do You Start Affiliate Marketing without your Own Website?

As mentioned, you can also successfully use affiliate marketing without your own blog or site. The key is leveraging existing networks and platforms:

• Social media
  Share your unique link in relevant posts and stories on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Use short, attractive texts that grab attention, for example a tip or mini-review. Place your link in your bio or in the comments on popular topics, and invite followers to find more information or a special offer here.
• Email
  Build (or use) a mailing list with interested people. You can do this through a simple email tool like MailerLite. Send a newsletter with a brief explanation about the service, including your affiliate link and a clear call-to-action. For example: “Discover our hosting from €10 per month here → your link.” Make sure you have a catchy subject line, because that determines whether your email gets opened at all.
• Communities and forums
  Think of Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Discord servers, or niche forums like Tweakers where your target audience is active (for example, a WordPress group or a forum for webshop owners). Respond to questions about the relevant product or service and add your link in a natural way, not as spam, but as a valuable tip for those who ask for it.

How Do You Start Affiliate Marketing with your Own Website?

Do you already have a website or are you planning to set one up? Then you can use it for blog articles or promotional pages to direct visitors to your affiliate offers. Do you find it difficult to build a site yourself or want to save on a web designer? Try our AI website builder: 7 days free, no technical knowledge required, with a working site live in minutes. Even my mother, who barely knows anything about the internet, could easily create a website with this.
But how do you ensure that your blog article or promotional page is found in Google and actually generates visitors? Here are some steps that will help you:

• Research relevant keywords
  Use Google Trends to see what your target audience is searching for.
• Write valuable content
  Dive into the topic and write an article or page that really helps. The more useful your content, the greater the chance that people will click on your affiliate link.
• Use Yoast SEO
  Install the Yoast SEO plugin to optimize your article or page step by step. This also allows you to easily set an attractive meta description, the text that appears under a search result.
• Ask for backlinks
  A backlink is a reference from another website to your content. The more reliable backlinks, the better your position in Google. Share your article in relevant forums or ask colleague websites for a link in exchange for a reference on your site.
• Check statistics and adjust
  Use an analytics tool like Google Analytics or PostHog to see how your blog or page performs. Based on that data, you can further improve your content.

Whether you have your own website or not, there are plenty of ways to bring your affiliate links to attention. Make smart use of social media and email campaigns, and leverage your site for SEO and content, so you can quickly start earning.

Do You Need a Chamber of Commerce Registration for Affiliate Marketing?

Whether you need to register with the Chamber of Commerce depends on the nature and scope of your affiliate activities:

• Incidental or small-scale side income (hobby income)
  If you sporadically earn a few tens per month and it’s really a side activity (not structural and without profit motive), then you usually don’t need a Chamber of Commerce number. As long as it doesn’t meet the criteria for a business (structural, commercial activity, profit and continuity expectation), it remains under the hobby threshold.
• Structural income and business setup
  As soon as you do generate income regularly (monthly), actively promote, and get started as an enterprise, then you officially fall under commercial activity. In that case, you must register a sole proprietorship or other legal form with the Chamber of Commerce. From that moment, you get a Chamber of Commerce number and are considered an entrepreneur.

Want to know if you need to register your business with the Chamber of Commerce? Then read the article: Do you need to register your business with the Chamber of Commerce?

Tax on your Affiliate Income

Affiliate income counts as taxable income. Depending on your situation, you can declare this to the Tax Authority in two ways:

Income from other Work (Result from other Activities)

• Applies if you do earn occasionally, but are not registered as an entrepreneur.
• You pay income tax on your profit after deducting any costs. Report this under box 1 at “income from other work” in your tax return.

Income as Entrepreneur (through Chamber of Commerce Registration)

• Once you are registered as a sole proprietorship (or other legal form), the rules for entrepreneurs apply.
• You keep administration: revenue, costs, invoices, and receipts.
• In your income tax return, you report the profit under “Result from enterprise.”
• You can use entrepreneur deductions (self-employed deduction, starter deduction) if you meet the hours and profit requirements.
• Don’t forget VAT: depending on your services, you may need to calculate VAT and file periodic returns.

More information and useful calculation tools can be found on the Tax Authority website: https://www.belastingdienst.nl/rekenhulpen/zakelijk/

Note that you always check yourself which category your situation falls into and, when in doubt, contact the Tax Authority or an accountant. This way you prevent surprises and keep your affiliate income legally compliant.

Affiliate Program at Hosting.NL

Finally, about our affiliate program: it’s specially developed to let you effortlessly generate extra income with services that every website needs.

Benefits of our Affiliate Program

• 60% commission in the first year
  Receive up to 60% commission in the first 12 months per order, without limit on the number of customers.
• Broad service offering
  Promote popular products like Web Hosting, Email Hosting, VPS Hosting, WordPress Hosting, or Simple Mail Service, so you’ll always find something that fits your target audience.
• Automatic tracking & payout
  As soon as a referral places an order through your link and pays, the commission is automatically added to your account. With an accumulated balance of at least €250, you can directly request the payout.
• No costs, no hassle
  Share your link for free: there are no entry costs or hidden subscriptions. You register once and can get started immediately.

Short Step-By-Step Plan Affiliate Marketing Hosting.NL

1. Sign up
   Go to hosting.nl/affiliateprogramma and choose “Sign up as customer” (if you’re already a customer) or “Sign up as guest” (if you don’t have an account yet).
2. Activate your account
   Log in via mijn.hosting.nl/affiliates.php and click on “Activate affiliate system.”
3. Copy your link
   Look under the service you want to promote (for example Web Hosting or Simple Mail Service) for your unique tracking link and copy it.
4. Share your link
   Place your link in blog posts, social media, emails, or other channels where your target audience is active.
5. Earn 60% in year 1
   As soon as someone places an order through your link and pays, you immediately receive 60% commission on the order for the first twelve months.
6. Check your earned commission
   Click on your profile icon in the top right and select “Earn money” to see what you’ve earned per order.
7. Request payout
   When your commission has reached €250, you simply request your payout through the same dashboard.

Ready to start and earn immediately?
Sign up now for our affiliate program
Share, grow with us, and watch your income increase quickly!