When men try to start an online business, they follow outdated advice. Making Amazon Affiliate blogs, building AdSense sites, and finding a “mirconiche” hasn’t been relevant for at least seven or eight years.

Even in their prime, many of these business models weren’t all that great. For example, Amazon’s affiliate program pays out between four and eight percent commission. If you sell $1,000 worth of products, you get $70 or $80.

To earn the same as a minimum wage worker, you’d need to sell about $16,000 worth of products every month. How many sites can do that?

I run a boatload of sites. 30 Days To X is the only one that uses Amazon’s Affiliates. The others all make money off of programs that are far more lucrative. I get huge commissions (ranging between 20% to 75%), prizes for selling a certain number of orders, and all kinds of other cool rewards.

Today I’m going to share my own affiliate marketing strategies with you.

How Much Can You Make?

Right now I don’t do anything with paid traffic or advertising campaigns. My traffic comes from search engines, forums, and word of mouth. While I could make more off Facebook ads, I’m pretty content with what I’m doing right now.

(One sale from my least profitable blog)

Each site I run earns about as much as a rental property. My least profitable site still rakes in around $100 a week, that’s $400 a month which is what you’d earn from renting out a spare bedroom on Airbnb. My other sites earn a lot more.

While people oversimplify how much you can make online, a mediocre writer with a basic grasp on SEO and marketing can still earn a living-wage without too much effort. There’s a steep learning curve, but after that the process is incredibly easy.

If you’re willing to put in the effort and create a site that meets actual needs (i.e. not f*cking around and making some motivational life advice blog) you can do quite well for yourself.

Learn To Write How-To Articles

You will not make money hiring a ghost writer to churn out 500 word articles like “Best Coffee Pots” or “Top Dog houses.” There are too many of those articles already, plus nobody actually reads them. If you want to sell something, you need to explain its benefits. And the best way to do this is with a “how-to” article.

Mike Cernovich has an excellent article on this subject. Go read it. In the meantime, the basic formula for writing a how-to article is this:

1. Here is a problem or concern you have

2. Here is a solution I found

3. Here are the end results you can expect.

If you follow this formula you can sell almost anything.

Provide Real Services (A Few Affiliate Programs I Suggest)

Many Internet gurus will suggest making a blog and filling it full of links to sh*tty overpriced eBooks. This is stupid. My two most profitable sites sell zero eBooks. Everything I affiliate market is an actual service or physical product.

Trying to market some $39.99 PDF eBook from ClickBank is not going to work well. In fact, when most people hear the word “eBook” they automatically associate it with being a scam product. Sell something that provides value instead.

Below are a few affiliate programs that I use. All of them offer great commissions, have low competition, and are legitimate products that buyers can benefit from.

While there are all kinds of programs out there, and you can affiliate market anything from software to clothing, I wanted to show you two offers that anyone with a male-oriented website can easily take advantage of: one is about business, the other is about dating.

Rocket Lawyer

If you have a blog, write eBooks, or own a business, you’re going to run into legal issues. While you can (and should) hire a lawyer for big events, many smaller situations can be dealt with on your own.

However, in order to save yourself time and money, it’s a good idea to use ready-made legal forms. This way you don’t make any mistakes and your legal documents are air-tight.

For example, I recently had a to file a cease and desist letter after someone started stealing my articles and repackaging them as eBooks. Rather than spending $300 for an attorney, I used Rocket Lawyer. For $10 I got the letter I needed in the exact format required. And the whole process took me less than five minutes.

You can easily use Rocket Lawyer to take care of some simple service, join the affiliate program, and write an article about your experience. I’ll even give you a few free ideas for posts:

• How To Create A Freelance Writer Contract
• How To Write A Bill of Sale
• How To Issue Demand For Money Owed

These posts are all pretty straightforward and they provide quality information while also promoting a worthwhile service.

Undercover Condoms

The condoms you buy are probably garbage. Brands sold at most major American retailers suck. The best condoms are Okamoto Crowns. And the best place to buy these is online. While you can buy condoms from Amazon, the quality control seems to be lacking. Some packages might be from 2013, others are knock-offs, the problems are endless.

The best place, in my opinion, to shop for protection is Undercover Condoms. Why? Because you can then join their awesome affiliate program. Aside from paying you a 25% commission on every item sold, they also give out all sorts of prizes and rewards. In fact, here are just a few of the benefits that you’ll receive from being an affiliate:

• $5 payment just for posting two affiliate links to your site (no sales required)
• $10 bonus payment for making two sales
• $100 bonus for making 20 sales

On top of earning a commission on all items you sell, you also get all kinds of bonuses for simply doing your job. It’s a pretty cool system.

While I don’t write about dating much on this site, I do use the program for one of my other blogs. The products basically sell themselves (many men are embarrassed to buy condoms at the store) and it’s pretty easy to get some decent search traffic to your posts. Article ideas you can use include:

• Does Undercover Condoms Offer Discreet Shipping?
• Best Japanese Condoms
• Thinnest Condoms For Sale

While these may not sound like “how-to” or information articles, they are. There’s a problem (the reader is nervous the packaging won’t be discreet) and you have the solution (a solid answer on what their order will look like when the order arrives).

The other two posts can be handled in a similar manner.

Closing Thoughts

If you want to be mediocre, do what everyone else does. Make an Amazon Affiliate site, load your webpages full of ads, and follow advice that hasn’t been relevant since George Bush was president.

When you want to make money, be a rebel. Find an affiliate program that pays out well, I’ve given you two examples, and write articles that provide the reader with real value. Otherwise you’re just wasting your time.