The most traditional way an affiliate makes money is by receiving a certain commission or fee each time their partner receives a click or sale. For example, if a blogger mentions Product X’s company in a post, and Product X receives 1,000 click-throughs from the blogger's site to theirs, then the blogger will make a certain amount of money off each click. The amount the blogger will make is based on their following and perceived credibility in their niche. However, some affiliate marketers will choose to be paid a flat rate for dropping the name into the post.
Passive income eludes most people. Not so with the Pinterest power users making real cash from affiliate sales each and every week. In this guide on how to use Pinterest for affiliate marketing, we spoke with Pinners who consistently drive traffic to their affiliate links—and get paid for it.

Brands and companies want to work with professionals. That’s just natural - anyone would feel calm when they know that their product will be represented by a reputable person.
Alongside your affiliate network, you can utilize an array of tools to help you out with your affiliate marketing career. This includes tools like trackers (RedTrack is a great example), Spy Tools (AdPlexity), and a lot of other tools! While these cost some money, they can make you a lot of money through their service, so it’s more of an investment rather than spending.