You may have noticed that I have been putting a disclosure in my posts about affiliate links and such.  I’ve always had a disclosure on my sidebar and in the past year, I’ve had the words “affiliate link” in a box when you hover over the links that contain affiliate links, but the FTC has changed their guidelines for bloggers and so I figured now was a great time to explain that change and talk to you about why affiliate links can be a great thing for bloggers.

So, you might be wondering WHY this post is my post for Welcome Home Wednesday.  It is because as homemakers, we often look to the Proverbs 31 woman and wonder what our purple cloth, fields, and merchant ships look like in this day and age.  For some this comes in the form of selling eggs and milk from their farm animals.  For others, it looks like couponing.  For me, it is blogging.

Now, as you can probably tell, my blog is not meant to be a big money-making project.  There are blogs out there that are for the sole purpose of making money for the blogger (I was actually surprised when I heard about this for the first time a few years ago!).  My blog’s primary purpose is to encourage and minister to other women, but I also have the opportunity to use affiliate links of resources I believe in and resources I think could benefit my readers to bring in a bit of supplemental income for our family.

I have to be honest about the new FTC guidelines and say that I really don’t like them, not because I don’t like being upfront and honest about making commissions, but because I really hate how they look in a post.  It interrupts the flow of the post and is a terrible eyesore.  But, I suppose that is because I’m more of a writer than a blogger.  I like how words look and how paragraphs flow, and being required to stick a disclaimer in the middle of it all pains me.  But I will follow the rules, and I hope you, as my readers, are able to look past it.

So, perhaps you have a blog and you would like to know how to use it to bring in a bit of income.  Affiliate links are a great way to do this!  Here’s why…

*You use products every day in your home, homeschool and life!

*Many of those products have affiliate programs!

*You are already passionate about the products you use, why not share with others and make a bit of income from any sales you generate for the company?!

Let me tell you a little bit about some of the affiliate programs I use (and yes, this post contains affiliate links!):

See the Light is an art program I was introduced to a couple of years ago.  We had tried several art programs and I just wasn’t impressed by any of them because they weren’t very user friendly or useful.  See the Light was different and I wanted to share that difference with my readers.  See the Light has an affiliate program and they love having bloggers use that affiliate program because it helps them to advertise and market their products to an audience they could not reach with a brick and mortar storefront.

I want to interject something here…

Homeschool companies need bloggers.  They need our help because it is very hard to reach the homeschooling market.  I am honored to be able to help these companies!

I also love to help other bloggers by promoting their ebooks.  If I hear about an ebook I think would be a good fit for my readers and for our family as well, I look for an affiliate program for that ebook. (like yesterday’s post)

You’ve probably seen my passionate promoting of Sheri Graham’s 12 Week Holiday Planner.

I purchased this ebook after listening in on a webinar with the authors years ago.  I have used it ever since and look forward every year to pulling it out and planning the holidays.  I love it and love the fact that I can share it with you.  I am thankful Sheri has an affiliate platform in place that blesses our family during the holidays.

When it comes to actual affiliate programs, each one is different.  After you sign up, familiarize yourself via the FAQ’s and poking around on the site.  You can always email the company or blogger and ask for help if you can’t figure it out, but most of the time, it is self-explanatory.

So, I want to encourage you that if you have a blog, take a moment to look into the products you use to see if they have an affiliate program you could use to promote their products.  I even have an affiliate program for my ebook The Homemaker’s Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule (if you’re interested ).

Before you check out the links in the link up or add your own, take a moment to let me know your thoughts on affiliate programs and how you’ve seen them used on blogs.  And if you have any questions, feel free to ask, but I also want to tell you a

GREAT BIG AWESOME SECRET!
(ok, it’s not really a secret or I couldn’t tell you, but well…you’ll see…)

**THERE IS A FANTASTIC eBOOK ON BLOGGING COMING OUT VERY SOON!**
and I contributed to it!

If you are the least bit interested in blogging (as an income generator or not), this ebook is going to bless you immensely!  It is huge and full of great content (at a great price!) and I cannot wait until I can give you more info.  So, stay tuned!

And now, for the link up…

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.raisingarrows.net" title="Welcome Home Wednesdays"><img src="http://www.raisingarrows.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Welcome-Home-Button3.jpg" alt="Welcome Home Wednesdays" style="border:none;" /></a></div>