How to get started with Amazon affiliates
Creating an Amazon Affiliate Account
1. Go to Amazon.com and sign up for an affiliate account here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/login/login.html
You can sign up with your regular Amazon.com email address and password.
2. Become an Amazon Associate Seller: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/apply/main.html
a. You will need to enter the name of the website or the blog that is being monetized. (I do not know if we can all enter the Rocunited.org/ouraffiliatecityname to open the account). If you have a different blog you work with, enter that name (It will not prevent you from creating links or stores on other sites and getting credit for those sales on this account).
b. Answer all the questions (Rocunited uses wordpress as a host and interface for the question, “how do you usually build links”).
c. Your account should be set up once you fill out these questions (you will need to enter information for a bank account in order to get paid the referral fees).
Creating Links
3. The Amazon Associates home page has 6 tabs. The first tab we will look at is links and banners. This is how we can link people to the book we are selling and track sales. There are a couple of ways we can link the book ‘Behind The Kitchen Door’.
We can do so as an inline text link like this. ‘Buy ‘Behind The Kitchen Door’ by Saru Jayaraman now.
Or we can do it as a graphic, like this
The graphic will look a lot better once the cover of the book is added onto Amazon.com. Also, people who have an adblocker on their computers will not see the graphic. So I would recommend having both types of links in your post.
Notice that when you click on either link you are taken to the Amazon.com page for ‘Behind The Kitchen Door’. Look at the domain name, you will see that part of the domain includes the words “tag=offtheshe”. This is how Amazon.com knows that I sent you to the site. Any items that you buy on the site after clicking on my link will result in me getting a referral fee (I will discuss tracking later).
So how to link via inline text
1. Go to Links & Banners
2. Go to Product Links
3. Enter the Name of the Product
4. Right-click the name of the product you want and you will be taken to the page. Copy that domain name as it will have your tag in it and then just hyperlink any text you want to send your buyers to the page. It could be as simple as this:
If you want to buy Saru Jayaraman’s book ‘Behind The Kitchen Door’ to support ROC, click here.
5. NOTE: These links can be used in any medium. Facebook post. Email. On a blog. Tweet. Anytime you talk about and link the book, make sure to use your amazon affiliate link to the book.
How to create a widget graphic
1. This is even easier. Once you have go to product links and searched for the book, just click get link. Go to step 3 where it says ‘Highlight HTML’ and then copy that code.
2. Login to your blog and create a new post. You will likely have 2 options to enter it as visual or HTML. Make sure to click on the HTML tab and enter the code. Write whatever wonderful words you want to include with the post and then publish.
‘Behind The Kitchen Door’ by Saru Jayaraman is an excellent book that exposes the working conditions of those in the restaurant industry. To find out more of the shocking secrets that go on behind the kitchen door and to support ROC United please order a copy of the book below.Pre-orders are being accepted now!
WOOT WOOT! So now you know how to create links! 
(If you are still having issues feel free to email or call me).
Now let’s start tracking those sales and meet our goals.
Every time someone clicks on your link Amazon records it. Every time someone makes purchases from your links, Amazon records it and so you can track your orders and earnings very easily. Look below from an example from my Amazon affiliate account. Click on the image to see it clearer.
As you can see this tracks my sales from August. However, you can change the parameters to track sales for whatever time period you want. Items shipped is the box that you will care most about because that is how you will know how many copies people have bought through your links. The more books you sell, the higher your referral fee cut. The amount of money you get for each sale is listed under advertising fees (that is the money you will get at the end of the month). Also notice, all the random books and items I got credit for. I did not link people to these items but because they did click one of my links for something I was referring, I got credit for everything else that they bought as well.
This way we can track our numbers per affiliate as best as possible and help to raise a little extra money for our offices as well. Please note that if you make over $600 from referral fees you will be sent a tax form from Amazon at the end of the year and the amount you earn will have to be included in your taxes.
Happy Selling!
P.S If you want to create a separate blog around the book and create an online bookstore for it you can as well. Feel free to ask me any questions.
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