Affiliate Links

There’s been  lot of discussion on Facebook and elsewhere on affiliate marketing for massage therapists.  This has led a lot of you to ask:

What is affiliate marketing, what can it do for me, and how do I use it?

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the practice of getting paid as an affiliate (or partner, or associate, etc.) for referring customers to another merchant.  This is a paid endorsement.  If I read a book, I might recommend that you read it too.  If you want to buy it, I can tell you where to go to, say Amazon.com, and give you a direct link to the book that you can click on.  If I am an Amazon affiliate (I am), embedded in that link is my affiliate code.  If you purchase the book, I make a small amount of money from Amazon.

The price is the same to the purchaser whether they buy through the affiliate link or not. Amazon, in this case, is paying me to promote the book.

Why would Amazon, or any company for that matter, pay an affiliate for a referral?  Because it is effective advertising.  Amazon is only paying for advertising that sells product.  Wouldn’t you love it if you only paid for advertising that directly led to a sale?

What can affiliate marketing do for you?

It’s passive income.  Passive income is income made with no direct labor on your part.  That affiliate link is active 24/7.  It can make money for you when you sleep, travel, eat, go on vacation.  Passive income can help you balance out swings in income between the busy season and the slow season.  It can help balance income when you go on vacation or tend to a sick child.

How do you use an affiliate plan?

There are 3 things to consider when doing affiliate marketing

1. What are the legal requirements
2. What are the ethical concerns
3. When and where is it appropriate

Legal requirements of affiliate marketing

If you are based in the US, you must notify your readers of affiliate marketing links.  This is a recent legal requirement from the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, and was put into place to protect consumers.  This declaration can be made by putting the declaration in parenthesis next to the product.  Most often this looks like Great Product (affiliate link).  You can also accomplish this with a site-wide disclaimer.  I have one in my “About” page.  Go check it.  I also include the declaration with the link, but in case I forget, it’s on the site disclaimer, so I’m covered.

When recommending products to clients, make sure that doing so will not cause problems with your liability insurance.

Ethical issues with affiliate marketing

Probably the biggest ethical issue is endorsing a product you yourself would not use or buy.  Example:  If you are marketing a pain relief gel that you know doesn’t work or can cause harm, that’s unethical.  Make sure that you believe in the products you recommend.

There is some debate as to whether you should have an affiliate link to a product your are giving a negative review for.  “I tried Product X (affiliate link) and found it to be ineffective” can lead to mixed messages.  If it’s clear that you are not endorsing the product but that it will not actually hurt anyone, it’s a rather grey area whether an affiliate link is proper.

The other big ethical concern is recommending products that are outside your scope of practice.  As a massage therapist, you are not allowed to recommend dietary supplements or prescription medications.  An affiliate program that includes links to these products could be construed as practicing outside your scope of practice and put your license and liability insurance in jeopardy.

Another ethical concern is the purchaser’s ability to use the product.  Are you recommending professional massage products to your clients who are untrained in their proper use?  This goes to whether the product can cause harm.

Appropriate affiliate marketing

The audience for your affiliate marketing is very important.  First, it is a question of effectiveness.  Marketing massage tables to your clients is not going to lead to much, if any, income.  Your clients are the wrong audience for professional massage products or clinical texts.

Second, when you market a product to the wrong audience, you lose credibility.  Your endorsement affects your reputation to your audience.  Consider how you would look to a potential client if you are recommending that they purchase a hot stone set or a text on ethics.

Third, is the potential customer qualified to use the product?  If you are providing links to massage tools to your clients, are you also training them in the proper use?  A massage tool, when used improperly, can physically harm someone.  As massage therapists, we are taught about sites of caution and contraindications for certain techniques.  Your clients are not and certain products are inappropriate for certain people.

Effective affiliate marketing links

So we’ve covered where and when you shouldn’t use affiliate marketing and I’m sure you’re eager to see how to use it effectively.

Marketing to clients

If you have a website for your practice or clinic, products that will work well in affiliate marketing are:

• Music CD’s that you use for relaxation.
• Informative books on issues like stress reduction, fibromyalgia, and arthritis that are written by credible medical experts and are written for the non-medical expert.

I would use caution with items like Biofreeze or essential oils which are best when you can talk directly to the client about their proper use.

Marketing to colleagues

If, like me, you have a website geared for other massage or business colleagues, products that work well are:

• Textbooks
• Music CD’s your clients really enjoy
• Professional products, such as oils, lotions, tables, linens, and tools
• Continuing Education courses
• Professional services such as web design, online scheduling, software.

Keep in mind that your clients can, and will, be reading your professional site.  So make sure that that if you are marketing a product that requires training to use, you mention that in your text.  Most therapists would like to know that kind of information, also.

I hope that I’ve given you some interesting things to consider and some possible passive income ideas.  Don’t be afraid to market to your clients, they are often looking for these products. If, like me, you don’t do retail sales, affiliate links are a handy way of showing your clients where to purchase that awesome relaxation CD they love.  Just direct them to your website when they ask and they can follow the link from there.

Are you planning on trying affiliate marketing?  Do you have any questions you’d like to see answered?  Let me know in your comments below.