Affiliate marketing can be a good business for Muslims thanks to its simplicity, low overhead costs, and potential for recurring income. But it takes a very long time to see real financial success, as driving consistent traffic to your website may take years of hard work. Be mindful of Islamic principles by avoiding promoting haram products and ensuring transparency in earnings.
I encourage you to read on to learn more.
If you’re looking to make money online, then affiliate marketing is a term you have definitely come across quite often.
Affiliate marketing emulates the traditional referral concept where businesses reward individuals for bringing customers their way.
The concept is simple. You promote a product or service through your unique affiliate link, and when a purchase is made through that link, you earn a commission.
I have had an affiliate marketing business for nearly a year now, so I’m writing this article to give you everything you need to know about making money from this business model.
Near the end of the article, I will talk about possible haram pitfalls to keep in mind so you can avoid what doesn’t comply with Islam.
The Upsides of Affiliate Marketing
Let’s start by talking about the advantages that make affiliate marketing such an appealing business model, especially for beginners.
1. It’s very simple.
One of the main advantages of starting an affiliate marketing business is the simplicity of getting started.
You can immediately launch your business without the delay of product development or inventory logistics. All you need to do is apply to affiliate programs, and then start promoting products and services on your platform of choice.
Most of the time, affiliate marketers have blog websites targeting a specific niche, and that would be the main venue where they do most of the promoting.
2. There are little to no overhead costs.
Then there’s the financial aspect. Perhaps the main reason affiliate marketing is a popular name in the make-money-online arena is that its overhead costs are minimal.
You’re not burdened with the typical expenses of brick-and-mortar operations like rent, utilities, or staffing.
3. The potential for recurring revenue.
What adds considerable appeal to affiliate marketing as a business model is the potential for recurring earnings.
Theoretically, writing one article or product review with affiliate links can bring you earnings for years and years to come. Obviously, this is much easier said than done, but it’s definitely something to appreciate.
4. It can be a source of passive income.
The potential for recurring earnings also means that affiliate marketing can be thought of as a source of passive income.
This is a very attractive idea for pretty much everyone, but particularly us Muslims.
The whole point of making money online is to have more free time — to buy time with money as opposed to the other way round, which is the more typical thing to see.
For Muslims, this is a very attractive idea as it could give us more time to do various good deeds and acts of worship.
For example, most people who have 9-5 jobs cannot find the time to memorize the Quran, so having a source of passive income is a wonderful opportunity to buy back some much-needed time.
5. It’s a great starting point.
Last but not least, affiliate marketing is a great starting point for anyone who wants to venture into the make-money-online world.
In my affiliate marketing journey, I learned so much about how to build and design a website, how to write articles, how to build and establish a brand on social media, how to market my website on external platforms, how to write an eBook, how to build an email list, and so much more.
The great thing is that these skills are all transferable.
Even if you don’t see much financial success with affiliate marketing, these skills will all come in handy when you try all sorts of online wealth generation methods.
For example, in my article about online tutoring, I discussed the importance of having a strong social media presence in order to maintain a steady income stream. Having these skills would help a great deal with that.
The Downsides of Affiliate Marketing
As with anything in this world, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Let’s take a look at the disadvantages of affiliate marketing.
1. It’s a very long game.
Just because affiliate marketing is done online, doesn’t mean it’s easy. The truth is that you need to work hards for months, perhaps even years to start seeing real financial success.
Personally, in my first eight months, I only managed to make around $40!
The biggest challenge in affiliate marketing is driving traffic to your website, because there is so much competition, especially if you want to rely on organic traffic — free traffic from search engines like Google and Bing.
You can give yourself a push if you wisely select a niche that isn’t too competitive, but it doesn’t change what you have to do.
Not only do you need to consistently publish high-quality helpful content, but you also need to establish yourself as an authority in your niche by having an expansive digital footprint.
To promote your website and diversify your traffic, you should ideally be active on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Medium, Quora, Reddit, and other platforms!
If you’re someone who has a budget set aside for their business, you may consider accelerating your progress by investing in advertising, but it still wouldn’t guarantee results.
2. Commissions can be very small.
Different affiliate programs offer different commission rates, but it’s not too uncommon to see programs with rates as low as 5%.
In other words, if a product is worth $50, you would only be making $2.50 per sale. How many sales do you think you would have to make per month to have a full-time income?
But of course, there are programs out there that have high rates reaching up to 50%, so it’s not all dark and gloomy.
Also, you certainly won’t only be promoting a single product on your website. Personally, by the 8 month mark, I was promoting tens and tens of products and services from various affiliate programs.
The Best Place to Learn Affiliate Marketing
In my experience, the best place to learn affiliate marketing is Wealthy Affiliate. It’s a platform that teaches you how to build a successful online business.
It’s not my intention to write a comprehensive review about Wealthy Affiliate, but let me explain briefly why this platform stood out for me.
First, Wealthy Affiliate provides comprehensive training materials. They offer courses that cover everything from the basics of selecting a niche to search engine optimization (SEO).
The teaching is direct and straightforward, so it’s accessible to everyone regardless of their prior knowledge.
The first few classes are free, but you would then need to upgrade to a premium membership to unlock the remainder of the training.
With a premium membership, you can build a business and go live with your own website. In fact, this very website, PiousWealth.com, is currently hosted on Wealthy Affiliate!
Wealthy Affiliate also offers a set of tools that streamline the technical aspects of affiliate marketing — an AI article writer, site support that helps you deal with any bugs or issues you may experience, etc.
Many people will hype up Wealthy Affiliate for these tools, its expert classes, or some other feature, but personally, I would say that the biggest upside of Wealthy Affiliate is the community.
Being immersed in a platform with many like-minded people is a great propellant. You can learn something new every day.
When I first started out, I just followed the training, and all I had was a niche website about chess, one of my favourite hobbies.
I knew nothing about search engine results, social media marketing, email marketing, or any of that. I just followed the training bit by bit.
With time, I started growing my business gradually. I asked many questions, and kept an eye on the Live Chat for useful insights from more experienced affiliates.
Eight months later, I had around 70 articles on my website, a Facebook page, an Instagram page, a Pinterest page, a YouTube channel, and a Quora account. I also had an eBook that was almost ready to publish.
If you’re on the fence as to whether to join Wealthy Affiliate, why not take it for a test drive? Just sign up for a free account, watch the first few lessons, and see how it goes from there.
And if you have any questions along the way, feel free to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help!
Possible Haram Pitfalls to Watch Out For
Now then, let’s talk about potential haram pitfalls you may face in your affiliate marketing endeavour.
We Muslims set an example in our accountability and responsibility, because we firmly believe we will be questioned on the Day of Judgment.
1. Don’t promote anything that is haram.
First and foremost, don’t promote anything that is not permissible in Islam: alcoholic drinks, revealing clothing, gold watches for men, etc.
If you’re unsure whether something is halal or haram, stay on the safe side and don’t promote it.
The reason I ditched my chess website that I referred to earlier is because I came to the realization that it was too risky to make money from anything chess-related.
In Islam, there are varying scholarly opinions on whether chess is permissible. Some scholars say it is halal as long as there are no money prizes involved and it doesn’t distract you from the obligatory prayers, but others say that it’s haram regardless.
For this reason, I decided to let go of it all for the sake of Allah. I’m full of hope that Allah will reward me for that — in this life and the next.
2. Stick to the agreement.
When you apply for an affiliate program, you will usually be asked to sign an agreement form, so make sure you abide by the agreement.
What most programs will ask you to do is to disclose your affiliate status. People typically do this by having an affiliate disclaimer page on their website, but some affiliate programs (like Amazon) insist that you explicitly mention your affiliate status as part of the article in which you’re promoting any Amazon products.
3. Avoid ambiguity.
Before you sign the affiliate agreement, make sure there is no ambiguity regarding the money you’ll be making.
For example, don’t join any program that says the commission is “to be decided” depending on the product you sell, your performance, or anything else.
The good news is that every program I have seen thus far does mention its commission rate as a fixed percentage, so you shouldn’t run into this problem In Shaa Allah, but I just thought I’d put it out there.
Wrapping Up
Affiliate marketing is a promising avenue for Muslims looking to earn money online. Its easy entry point, minimal overhead costs, and the potential for passive income make it a very attractive business model.
But it’s important to understand that you won’t make a fortune overnight, as driving traffic to your website will need consistent work over the course of months, perhaps even years.
Most importantly, always ensure that your affiliate marketing activities align with Islamic guidelines. Avoid promoting haram products, adhere strictly to affiliate agreements, and stay away from ambiguous commission arrangements.
If you have any questions or insights you’d like to share, go ahead and leave a comment. I’d be more than happy to have a chat with you.
Rely on Allah and do your best,
Yusuf