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Today you're going to see, step-by-step, how to transform your Instagram following into a profit churning machine through affiliate marketing.(in 6 months)The best part?You don't need to start with a skizillion followers to do it.In fact, you can generate a considerable income when your posts begin to average a few hundred likes.In this article, I'll show you what to do and what not to do as an Instagram Affiliate Marketer in 2020.Ready?Let's get into the details:What Is Affiliate Marketing?In general, affiliate marketing can be summed up as “selling other people’s products.”A more thorough definition of affiliate marketing is:Definition of Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is the ongoing process of earning money through the promotion of a company's (or brand's) products.The most successful affiliate marketers find products they like and promote it to their followers,getting a commission on each sale that is made.Let’s outline the affiliate marketing process:Why Use Instagram as an Affiliate?You may have heard of influencers using affiliate marketing methods on other platforms,such as:TwitterYouTubeBlogsTumblrWhile these influencers can certainly earn considerable sums through affiliate marketing,those on Instagram can make even more.Because of the activity on Instagram is so high,you can reach much higher levels of performance with affiliate marketing on Instagram.If you specifically wondering how to make money on Instagram in 2020,you might be interested in this guide:Make Money on Instagram (2020 Guide)As an Instagram affiliate marketer, you partner with brands,enabling them to reach a larger audience.Because of your promotion,these brands sell more products,and,in return they’re willing to pay you a pretty penny.Getting Started as an Instagram Affiliate Marketer: Step by Step GuideAffiliate marketing is definitely a way to earn money online, though not as profitable as lead generation.Instagram Affiliate Marketing can put more money in your pocket, but only if you know what you’re doing, and only if you execute your strategy properly.Getting Started as an Affiliate Marketer on InstagramThe first step is simple: generate a sizable online audience.Once you have a decent following, you’re already halfway towards financial success with your affiliate marketing efforts.Affiliate marketing depends heavily on the size of your audience.(The more followers you have, the higher the profit potential.)But with that said, you can still get started with affiliate marketing if you have a relatively small audience.When you use the right methods, you can turn many your followers into paying customers.An influencer who understands how to make the most of their affiliate marketing efforts may end up earning more than an influencer with a larger audience.It all comes down to whether you know what you’re doing.How does Instagram Affiliate Marketing Work?Phase 1: Gathering a FollowingIncrease your following by taking these 3 steps:Posting a few times a weekEngaging with Your FollowersDeveloping a Content StrategyLet’s say you’ve gathered over 10,000 followers.10% of which regularly engage with your posts.(Via likes and comments.)Phase 2: Partnering with a BrandAfter some time,you make a deal with a relevant brand,specifying a set of goals and “deliverables,”and you create posts that promote their products.And somewhere contained in that post,you’ll add a special affiliate link.This link will take customers to the brand’s eCommerce page,where they can purchase the same product that was highlighted in your Instagram post or story.(Answers to Common Questions Below)What is an Affiliate Link?-This url is called an “affiliate link,”(it’s the cornerstone of the affiliate marketing system)With this link, customers are tracked and recorded when they make a purchase.Because of the properties of the link, the brand can trace the source of the customer back to your Instagram page, and credit you with the sale.When the company you’ve partnered with confirms that you were the one who sent the customer to the page, they’ll reward you with a commission fee.Instagram Affiliate Commissions: What Kickback Should You expect?The commission rate can vary dramatically depending on the brand, the affiliate program, and the specific product.You might earn 1% (video game consoles via Amazon Affiliates).Amazon Affiliate Commission Rates for Different Categories (Above)One of the highest commissions that affiliates can achieve is Clickfunnels' 40% commission rate. But that's after the affiliate has 40+ Clickfunnels Subscribers already signed up. (Updated April 2020)The Instagram Affiliate Marketing #1 Ingredient for SuccessNow that you actually understand how affiliate marketing works,let’s talk about the Instagram Affiliate Marketer’s #1 Ingredient for Success:Develop a strong sense of trust and loyalty with your followersSince your entire enterprise depends heavily on trust, you should ensure that your followers believe in you as an influencer before you move heavily into affiliate marketing.You might have a large following,but how do your followers really feel about you as a person?(AKA: Why do they follow you?)Is it because they appreciate you as a person, oris it because of your values your content exemplifies?When you become an affiliate marketer, you’re depending on a more intimate, personal relationship with your followers.Instead of merely viewing your content and becoming entertained, your followers are now being asked to trust your opinion and use that opinion to make a decision to spend their money.Many influencers will work on building this personal relationship with their followers from the very beginning.In this case, it’ll be easy to segway directly into affiliate marketing.But some influencers may need to spend a little more time generating that same level of trust and appreciation with their followers before they dive headfirst into affiliate marketing.Benefits of Instagram Affiliate MarketingWhen Instagram Affiliate Marketing is done well,Everybody involved wins:The customer gets their product,The brand receives more attention and sales,And the influencer earns a slice of the action.It’s truly a symbiotic relationship – which means that all parties are getting something out of the deal, with no loss or disadvantages for either side.(You could even argue that the customer benefits as well.)The Instagram Influencer's "Trust Factor"If you’re a successful Instagram influencer, your followers probably trust your opinion.When you recommend products that are actually effective, you’re building loyalty within your following – and making sure that your followers only choose the very best products.The products of all kinds are designed to solve problems, and these customers are able to find real, vetted items that relieve an issue or satisfy a desire.So, like I said – everyone wins.The Size of Your Instagram FollowingNow, let’s address the elephant in the room:The size of your following.In order to succeed as an affiliate marketer on Instagram,you need to have a certain amount of followers.Notice we didn’t say that you need a large following…You can actually get started in this business with a relatively small audience,and you might be surprised to learn the profit potential with just 5,000 followers.(Remember the Old Adage)Quality over QuantitySo how many followers do you actually need?Like we said, you can begin to monetize your Instagram account with as little as 5,000 followers.2020 Stats about Small Instagram AccountsStatistically, these smaller Instagram accounts have over 2x the engagement rate of accounts with larger brackets of followers. (source)You might not earn an insane amount of money,but it’s enough to get the ball rolling.and when it really gets going,it continues to get bigger,like a snowball that travels down hill.Some followers wait a little longer before becoming affiliate marketers – perhaps they’ll reach a level of 15,000 followers before starting.Case Study: Influencer with >5000 Followers Cashes InThe Guardian featured this Instagram influencer who collected 100 dollars per sponsored post when she had less than 5,000 followers. (source)One of her recent posts:Conclusion:The Real Metric to Determine Profitability:Engagement(Not Followers)It’s interesting to note that many influencers might have massive followings with relatively low engagement.This is especially true if they’re relying on things like bots and automation to gain followers.At the end of the day,these aren’t “real” followers.And since bots can’t buy products,as impressive as your follower count might be,you won’t earn much as an affiliate marketer with a following filled with bots.So even if you have 15,000 followers,you might not be in the right position to start affiliate marketing.Final Takeaway about FollowingRemember, Instagram is all about creating engagement, and your affiliate marketing efforts depend on having a high level of engagement from your followers.A Practical Example of Instagram Affiliate MarketingIn many cases, influencers with a small following of just 5,000 followers have an incredibly close and personal relationship with their followers.Since the following is relatively small, influencers can engage effectively with almost every single follower.This level of trust is essential for affiliate marketing, and you can earn considerable sums even with an audience as small as this.For example, let’s say that you promote a relatively cheap item – maybe it’s a pair of socks or a set of three pens.The price is five dollars – and you earn a 20% commission fee on that item.If you have a close and personal relationship with your following of 5,000 people,it’s not crazy to expect almost every single follower to purchase the product.(After all, it’s only five dollars.)So if you earn a commission rate of 1 dollar on each item,that’s a net income of $4,500… from one single post.Now let’s say that you have an audience of 15,000 followers…(But you don’t have that same personal relationship and level of engagement with them.)Promote that same product, and only 1,000 people might be persuaded to buy the item.This will net you an income of just $1,000…That’s a sum of only 20% of our previous example – even though that influencer had a much smaller following!This is just a very basic example, but it illustrates our point:Sometimes, having a large following isn’t as important as developing a strong relationship with your audience, and promoting a close level of engagement.4 Ways to Increase Increase Instagram FollowingIf you’ve never engaged in affiliate marketing before, your Instagram presence could go through some notable changes as you start investing your time and energy into this monetization method.Here’s 2 Key Questions (Answers Below):So how do you ease into the world of affiliate marketing while keeping the personality of your Instagram presence?2. What are some good tips for making the move into affiliate marketing in a professional and honest way?INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 01: Going Old SchoolThe first thing you need to do is differentiate yourself.(Gotta stand out from the crowd)Many Instagram influencers today have lapsed into using bots to create followers for their profiles, but as an aspiring Instagram affiliate, you know that bots don't buy products,so your main ambition will be to go old school, building your following using sweat equity as opposed to modern automation.Because affiliate marketers depend on engaged audiences,this human touch is always going to be key.Previously, we've emphasized the need for engagement and a “real” relationship with your followers is very important, even as you build your following into huge numbers.So that means that when you try to grow your following as an affiliate marketer, you should definitely steer clear from bots and automation.But if you’re not relying on bots, then how can you grow your following quickly?Well, we’re not going to lie…It takes a lot of hard work and effort.But at the end of the day, it all pays off because you’re building real connections with new audience members, many of whom will support your future affiliate efforts.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 02: Staying Niche FocusedBasically, your goal should be to reach out to Instagram users who are obviously within your niche.Check out other pages that might attract the same kind of followers that you want to have.When you’ve found some good potential followers,don’t be afraid to engage with them.You can do this directly in 2 ways:,1. through instant messages2. and by replying to their comments.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 03: Topically Relevant CommentsOn the other hand, you can draw attention to yourself indirectly by simply commenting on posts that they might be interested in.Say something funny or insightful, and people will take notice.In the most ideal scenario, they’ll click on your name,check out your Instagram page,and follow you.Build Up Your Commenting MusclesYou can work seriously hard on this method if you feel up to the task.Some influencers leave hundreds of comments and replies every single day,often with great results.But if you’re just starting out,you should aim for about 5-10 comments per day on posts that are related to your niche.If you’re feeling up to it,you can send instant messages to people as well.5-10 messages is barely anything,A good goal would be to put out 5-10 comments within 30 minutes each day without much of an issue.Although this method won’t require much effort,the rewards can be quite high.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 04: Incorporating HashtagsHashtags are obviously very important when it comes to Instagram.Pretty much everyone already knows this, so we won’t go into detail about why they’re important.Basically, people can’t really find your posts on Instagram unless you’re using hashtags effectively.Many influencers who are trying to build their following use tons of hashtags on each post,to the point where it hardly even makes sense anymore.They might throw in all kinds of hashtags, even ones that aren’t related to their niche or the post they’ve just published.While this method can certainly make your posts more visible to a wider range of people, it’s probably not going to be effective in the long run.You’ll be attracting attention from people who have no interest in your account.It’s much better to choose hashtags that are directly related to your niche – even if you’re just using a few of them.Consider using less hashtags that are targeted towards your ideal audience.Why Brands Want to Partner with Instagram InfluencersWe’ve already stated how affiliate marketing benefits both the brand and you as an influencer.But zooming out to the 40,000 foot view,why would these big brands even bother with affiliate marketing?If you do the math,these brands are paying serious money in commission fees with this method.Wouldn’t it be more effective if they simply took that budget and invested in a TV commercial or something similar?What kinds of advantages does affiliate marketing have over other,more traditional forms of marketing and advertising?In this section,I show 3 reasons why partnering with an Instagram influencer is often more effective for a brand than other marketing opportunities.Advantage #1 of Instagram Affiliate Partnerships: Direct Consumer EngagementThe main advantage of Instagram is its direct engagement with followers.But what does that even mean?Simply put,users can click directly on the Instagram post which features their product– leading them to the brand’s Instagram page,their other products,and their overall web presence.They can also interact with the post by making comments,asking questions,and speaking with other fans about the products;overall learning more about the product.This direct level of engagement is something you simply don’t get with a TV commercial or another type of traditional advertisement.You can’t “click” on a TV commercial and explore the brand’s other products.You can’t instantly ask questions and interact with other fans.Even if Instagram users don’t actually buy the product,they still might go on to follow the brand’s page.At the very least,the Instagram post generates incredible brand awareness.And remember,brands don’t actually pay Instagram users a single cent unless their followers buy products…Which means that all of this brand awareness and engagement is generated for a grand total of zero dollars.Hopefully now you’re starting to see that affiliate marketing represents an amazing opportunity for all kinds of different brands.But there are many more benefits to consider.Advantage #2 of Instagram Affiliate Partnerships: Consumer TargetingWhen a brand forms a partnership with an Instagram influencer,they’re establishing a strong connection with their audience.And because Instagram influencers often have incredibly loyal audiences,this represents access to an incredibly promising customer base.Which has Better Targeting? Television or Instagram AffiliateWith a TV commercial or a traditional ad,you can’t really target who sees the ad.You’re just putting it out there randomly,and hoping that the right people see it.But when brands choose to partner with specific Instagram influencers,they’re making an extremely calculated move based on that influencer’s niche and their audience.Connecting with their audience also creates a more long-term level of engagement.Brands can grow with influencers as they get more followers and become more important on the platform.Establishing that connection early on in an influencer's career ensures that they’ll always have some level of access to their followers.Many influencers essentially become PR representatives of the brands they partner with over time.Their name and image becomes synonymous with the brands they’ve worked with.Whenever the brand comes out with a new product,the influencer is immediately and eagerly promoting that product.Advantage #3: Instagram Affiliate Partnerships are InexpensiveThis type of relationship is incredibly valuable as a long-term business investment for big brands.Of course, almost all companies are interested in one thing, and one thing alone:increasing their bottom line.If their marketing efforts don’t directly result in increased revenue,then what’s the point?This is obviously a very important consideration when a brand considers investing in affiliate marketing…So how much revenue does affiliate marketing actually generate for big brands?Fortunately, affiliate marketing is proving to be incredibly profitable,All the marketing and brand exposure done by the affiliate is free until one of the followers buys a product,at which point the influencer receives a commission.And Instagram is one of the younger,still exponentially growing,provides a lot of untapped marketing opportunity.So in the end,it really just comes down to viewership.It’s no secret that “traditional” forms of media like television and radio are slowly dying out,gradually being replaced by alternate models like YouTube and Instagram.According to Statistica 2020,Instagram has over 1 billion users.Not a Million, a BILLION!Here’s their year-over-year growth rate:Most of these users access Instagram every single day.Marketing products on Instagram allows brands to access a massive audience.And that means – increased revenue (for both you and the brand).The Triangulate of Trust Present in Long Term Marketing PartnershipsWhen forming a real business partnership,it’s important to communicate what you can bring to the table as an Instagram influencer.At the end of the day,affiliate marketing is built on trust.You need to trust the brand that you’re working with.You should believe in their products,in their ethos,and their general mission as a brand.If you don’t feel passionately about this brand,you won’t be motivated to promote their products.You’ll also find it much easier to promote brands and products that you’re actually interested in.On the other hand, brands also need to trust you as an influencer.Brands need to feel confident that you’re going to represent them well as a company.Remember, you’re essentially acting as a PR rep – especially in more serious affiliate marketing relationships.Brands choose influencers that reflect their company’s goals and image.Obviously, they don’t want to you to make controversial statements or do things that will damage their reputation.And finally, we can’t forget about the customers either.They also need to trust the influencers that they follow to recommend excellent products.Because that’s basically what you’re doing as an affiliate marketer.You’re saying: “Hey guys, this is an amazing product and you should really buy it.”So what happens if your followers that the item is actually terrible?That’s right, their trust in you as an influencer is instantly destroyed.They probably won’t buy any of the products you promote in the future – because they don’t want to get “burned” again.This is why trust is so important in affiliate marketing.Think of it as a triangle of trust.The brand needs to trust the influencer, the influencer needs to trust the brand, and the customer needs to trust the influencer.If trust is broken between any of these three partners, the whole thing falls apart.Find the Right Affiliate PartnerSimply partnering with a brand can destroy your relationship as an influencer.What if the company has been engaging in negative business practices?Perhaps they treat their employees badly,or contribute to pollution or global warming.(younger generations are increasingly concerned about the environment).If you partner with a brand without doing your homework,your followers can become furious with you,and many will stop following you.At the end of the day,both the brand and the influencer need to ensure that they have a positive reputation before going into this business relationship.Key TakeawayDo your due diligence on every brand you are looking to partner with.Your research before partnering with can save your reputation,which,as an Instagram influencer,is your livelihood.How to Land an Affiliate Partnership with a BrandWhat you need to do is put yourself in a position where they’ll desire to form a partnership with you,so being aware of their ambitions is crucial.As an Instagram Affiliate Marketer,This is the intelligence you need:Know the benefits of affiliate marketing allows you to market yourself more effectively to big brands who are looking for trustworthy influencers to partner with.Basically, you need to be able to showcase the idea of affiliate marketing to brands.This is especially true if you’re a relatively small influencer,and you’re trying to get started in the world of affiliate marketing.Why?While it’s true that you can simply sign up for affiliate marketing programs without even communicating with some brands,that’s not always the case.Many influencers choose to reach out directly to brands that they specifically want to work with.If you’re just starting out,these might be smaller, local brands.These brands might not understand the benefits of affiliate marketing.Perhaps they’re a little outdated,and they haven’t kept up with the marketing trends of the last few years.If you understand the benefits of affiliate marketing,you can meet with them and explain how this method only serves to benefit both parties equally.You can also use these skills when working with larger brands.These reputable brands might only want to work with influencers who they truly trust.How To Reach Out To Companies For Affiliate Marketing DealsSo far, we haven’t really covered how to actually get started as an affiliate marketer.How do you form these business partnerships? What’s the best way to get started?By far the easiest way to “dip your feet” in the affiliate marketing world is an affiliate network.For first-time affiliate marketers,you can simply start an account with one of these networks,sign up for a program within your niche, and start earning cash right away.This is a booming industry right now,and there are tons of different affiliate programs to choose from.Affiliate Program 1: ShareASaleShareASale is a great starting point for Instagram affiliate marketers.It’s one of the largest networks in the world,which should give you plenty of options to choose from when choosing products to promote.You’ll get paid reliably every single month,and their system will even show you some of the most profitable deals to choose from.Their recommended deals are chosen based on:earnings per click,commission rates,the average sale amount,and other factors.Affiliate Program 2: FlexoffersFlexoffers is another very well-respected name in the affiliate marketing industry,and this network provides you with tons of features and tools to help you make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.The great thing about Flexoffers is that they cater to all types of content creators,including YouTubers, bloggers, and of course Instagram influencers.So if you have aspirations to expand from Instagram to another platform,Flexoffers offers that “flexibility.”You can choose between thousands of affiliate programs with a wide range of different brands.Crucially,there are plenty of small and medium brands on this network,which might be a better starting point for smaller influencers.Of course, there are also huge brands on this network as well,so you’re really spoilt for choice.Because this network is neatly organized into different categories and sub-categories,it’s very easy to find programs that fit your Instagram account perfectly.Unlike many other affiliate networks, you won’t have to spend hours scrolling through various programs in order to find the right ones.Flexoffers also has its own internal affiliate programs.If you let other influencers know about Flexoffers and they start earning cash with the platform,you can earn a referral commission rate.It’s just another great reason to get started with Flexoffers – and you won’t find this feature with most other networks.Affiliate Program 3: CJ AffiliateCJ Affiliate is an excellent choice if you want to work with major retailers.This massive network has programs from just about every big name you can think of.And with this network,you can quickly and easily compare offers to find the most profitable options.This network gives you tons of different options,which is ideal for Instagram influencers.Not only can you choose from thousands of advertisers,but you can also from many different options for how your affiliate link is displayed.Affilate Program 4: RakutenRakuten is a network that has been around for a very long time,and it has established a firm reputation as one of the best networks out there.Tons of innovative features give you almost limitless options for how you post your affiliate links,and how your advertising methods work on Instagram.Deep linking is just one example of their increased functionality.Some affiliate marketers steer clear of Rakuten because there are only about 1,000 advertisers on the platform.But from those advertisers,you can feel relatively confident that you’re seeing the best of the best.awinSometimes, it’s a really good sign when affiliate networkers are very choosy about who they allow onto their platform.Sometimes, affiliate networks aren’t very good at quality control,and they allow very poor quality products and brands onto their network.So maybe a small number of advertisers on Rakuten isn’t such a bad thing.On the other hand,a slightly unreliable payment scheme is probably a more viable complaint that many influencers have when working with Rakuten.Affiliate Program 5: AWINAWIN is an amazing affiliate network if you want to choose from a seriously wide range of options.This affiliate network works with over 13,000 advertisers,which blows most of the competition right out of the water(at least when it comes to selection).Although AWIN is headquartered in the UK,it operates in over 11 countries.This is a truly global affiliate network.Although you can choose between countless niches,there are a few that this network seems to specialize in.If you run an Instagram page centered around beauty, sports, fashion, or travel, you’ll love this network.There are plenty of deals and products that are focused around these niches.The downside is that you have to pay a fee in order to join the network(similar to Affiliate Institute).If none of the above networks offer what you are looking for,consider taking a look at my library of 2020 Affiliate Programs:See 159 High Paying Affiliate ProgramsSolving the Instagram Affiliate Link IssuePart of the learning curve that Instagram Affiliates face starting off is:"Where to Put Your Affiliate Link on Instagram?"This is what countless influencers have managed to do,and you can use the same methods.As a heads up, solutions 1 & 2 are free,while the 3rd solution costs 120 dollars a year or 15 dollars a month.Solution 1: The Bio StrategyThe first method is to simply post the affiliate link in your bio.You’ve probably seen this before on Instagram – even if you didn’t realize these were affiliate links.Influencers might post a picture,and in the caption they’ll say something like “check the link in my bio.”If you're not familiar with the process,here's a 1 minute video showing how to set up a link in your Instagram Bio:This is an easy and effective way to use affiliate marketing methods with your Instagram presence.A future issue that you'll face if you continue the journey of posting affiliate links in your bio isthat you’ll eventually end up with a bio filled with various affiliate links from various brands and products.Obviously, having a bio that is crowded with affiliate links is spammy,so it's obviously is not ideal.As long as you want to work with only one or two brands,you can keep referring customers back to the same affiliate links in your bio.But if you’re planning to partner with additional brands,you may consider an alternate approach:Solution 2: Operation G.A.You can also make use of something called a Gallery App.What is an Instagram Affiliate Gallery App?An affiliate gallery app is an add-on to your Instagram profile, enabling you have have a lot more affiliate partnerships connected to your profile in a way that looks professional.When it comes to gallery apps,you can either make one (DIY) or rent one (DFU).DIY Method: You can create your own using a WordPress website and set up your own gallery,making clickable pictures that enable your followers to purchase your partners' products.What does a Gallery App do?With this tool, all you need to do is post one link in your bio.When people click this link,they’ll be taken to a page where all of your affiliate links are posted.They can scroll through an image gallery of all your recent posts,find the product they’re interested in,and click the related affiliate link.DFU (Done For You) gallery app services:1. Linkin.bioLinkin.bio offers the ability to have a free account then upgrade as you increase your affiliate offers. It grows with you.2. Like2BuyLike the tool before it, Like2Buy offers multiple plans with different tiers for how many affiliate products you are offering to your Instagram Followers.The Downside to Placing Your Affiliate Link in Your BioWhile gallery app tools makes purchasing your partners' products much more convenient,and many affiliate marketers absolutely love using this tool on Instagram,it's still extra work for your followers (and potential customers),as they need to click to your bio.They might not bother,and you could lose customers because of this one added step.Solution 3: Swipe Up to SellIf you’ve been keeping up with the latest trends on Instagram,you already know that Instagram stories are huge right now.Instagram is moving more towards videos,and influencers need to be aware of these changes.Fortunately, Instagram is making it easier for entrepreneurs to profit from these new trends and changes.For example, you can add a “swipe up link” to your Instagram stories.With this feature,customers are sent to your eCommerce pages with a simple swipe of the finger.This method has massive profit potential,especially as more and more followers focus on stories rather than actual posts.However, there are some notable considerations you need to take with this method:First of all, you can only use this feature if you have a business account or 10,000 followers.This will immediately exclude many influencers – either because they don’t have the followers or they don’t want to upgrade their account.Some influencers also claim that this feature might drive down engagement.When you use this affiliate marketing method with posts rather than stories,you’re basically interacting with your customers in a more effective way.Algorithms might also be less forgiving if you focus entirely on the swipe up feature with your stories.Believe it or not,there are even more ways to include affiliate links.SOLUTION 4: Embed Code in ImageOne way is to actually embed the code directly into your image.Although your viewers won’t be able to click on the link,they can still see it.A Quora member asked this question and Sara Gattoni,a blogger,supplied the answer:SOLUTION 5: Make the Link Short and SweetUse a link shortener,and they can easily take a screenshot and manually enter that URL.This is probably one of the least effective methods,because you’re asking your customers to do tons of work.Link Shortening Tools:BitlyAs of April 2020, Bitly commonly known for its ability to shorten links, but in reality, Bitly can do significantly more than make your urls have fewer characters.Some of the well-loved features of this tool are:MEMORABLE: Customize the URL to Make It Relevant and Easy to RememberINTEGRATABLE: Bitly connects into the flywheel hub of your operations, whether you use SalesForce or another CRM via Zapier.NUMBERS: Total Clicks, Organic Share Clicks and more.RebrandlyIt's one of the best link management platforms with which you can brand, track and share short urls using unique brand namesSome of the well-loved features of this tool are:MULTIPLE DOMAIN NAMES: This tool offers the ability to manage many different domains from the same place.INTEGRATABLE: Rebrandly integrates via Zapier as well as with project management platforms such as Slack and ZohoFlow.COLLABORATIVE: As your organization grows, you can enable different users to manage different domains for you.To learn how Rebrandly compares to Bitly from an affiliate marketer who's used both of them, check out this 5 minute video.SOLUTION 6: Implement a Promo CodeThe last method is to simply use a promo code.This is probably the most convenient,because your customers can easily remember things like BONUS20,rather than a long URL.You can embed this code into your post’s image,and it shouldn’t cause the same level as inconvenience as a URL.With all the various methods available to you,this might seem like overkill.But rest assured,it’s very important to present these affiliate links to your customers in a convenient way.If they get frustrated,they’ll just move on.It’s as simple as that.And remember,they can always just google the name of the brand,and buy it directly from their online store – without going through your link.This is why it’s so important to make your affiliate links convenient.Your followers might want to support you,but they won’t want to jump through dozens of hoops in order to ensure you get your commission fee.This is why promo codes are effective – they actually offer customers an incentive to buy products through you as an affiliate marketer.The Importance of Sticking to Your Instagram Micro-NicheIf you’re already somewhat successful on Instagram,you already know one of the golden rules:Stick to your niche.Picking a niche is one of the most important steps as you start your Instagram account,and it continues to be crucial as you explore affiliate marketing.Staying within your niche ensures that you’re always appealing to your target market.Trying to access a broad market will make your content vague and unfocused.People choose to follow you because you focus on a subject that interests them.Typically, they don’t want a mixture of all kinds of different subjects popping up on their feed from your account.So when you choose to engage in affiliate marketing,you need to choose products and brands that are highly related to your micro-niche.Think about your following when choosing products to promote.What kinds of things would they want to buy?This is an important consideration,because it’ll affect your profit potential.Don’t just choose affiliate marketing programs that seem profitable or easy.Key TakeawayChoose to partner with brands that closely fit your niche.If you start to promote products that seem totally random and unrelated to your niche,your followers will immediately notice.Your attempts to monetize your Instagram account will be obvious,and your followers might even accuse you of being a “money grabber.”But if you choose to promote products that fit in with your account’s focus,your affiliate marketing efforts will seem much more genuine.Because these products fit your account,it’ll seem like you’re genuinely interested in these productsand you’re making actual recommendations based on your own personal preferences.And by the way,you should actually try these products yourself before promoting them.Brands often do Their Due DiligenceIt’s worth pointing out that brands will also choose influencers that fit their niche.They might spend weeks researching your account,looking deeply into your followers,your niche,and the topics that your profile touches.They can use analytics tools to analyze your most trending posts,gaining deep insights about your channel.They might only reach out to influencers who are closely related to their niche.Legal Considerations for Instagram Affiliate MarketersBefore starting your affiliate marketing efforts on Instagram,you might want to research the various legal considerations that surround this practice.The most obvious and important legal consideration is a requirement set forth by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).The FTC states that if you’re posting content for financial gain in digital space,you need to clearly state this fact.As required by law, your audience needs to understand that you’re making money from these posts.Fortunately, you can do this with a simple hashtag.The FTC has stated that including “#ad” in your post is more than enough to fulfill their legal requirements.Just remember that this hashtag should be “clearly noticeable-”which basically means that it can’t be hidden among tons of other obscure hashtags in your post.See the details from the FTC here.Affiliate Marketing is Okay, but Local Lead Generation is better (Here’s Why)The issue with affiliate marketing is the low commission rates (10%ish) on a product that’s like $60 which means you need so much traffic to make decent income with it.Here’s an example:If your product is 60 dollars and you get a 10% commission,you make 6 dollars for every sale.Now, if every follower bought the product,You’d make money quickly,I made my fair share of income with affiliate marketing(see my review of Wealthy Affiliate),but I didn’t make a fraction of what I make now having taken the time to set up my lead generation business.That being said,Here’s a quick introduction to the business model that enabled me to quit my 9-5 in 6 months.Here’s a site that I built and ranked back in 2015:Proof that it's my site:that’s been paying me ever since since then.A tree removal job can be anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000It’s ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.My tree care guy pays me 10% of the job he closes.On a $5,000 tree removal job (average), I make $500.Before long,This site alone started generating me over a thousand dollars a month,And that’s not the only site that brings in monthly money.I have ranked sites in other high-ticket niches out there like roofing, asphalt & concrete paving, limo rental, foundation repair, water damage restoration, sewage repair, etc.Although I make plenty of great income in lower ticket but high volume niches like towing service. $120 for a tow, 10% is $12 but when you generate 300 calls in one month it can quickly add up.The biz owners will pay you like clockwork because you’re the lifeline of their entire operation, providing the customers that pay them.I grew my income from 2k a month to over 52k a month in less than 5 years, what can you do?Take the next step Here:Source: https://ippei.com/best

Today you're going to see, step-by-step, how to transform your Instagram following into a profit churning machine through affiliate marketing.(in 6 months)The best part?You don't need to start with a skizillion followers to do it.In fact, you can generate a considerable income when your posts begin to average a few hundred likes.In this article, I'll show you what to do and what not to do as an Instagram Affiliate Marketer in 2020.Ready?Let's get into the details:What Is Affiliate Marketing?In general, affiliate marketing can be summed up as “selling other people’s products.”Want a more official definition of affiliate marketing?Definition of Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is the ongoing process of earning money through the promotion of a company's (or brand's) products.The most successful affiliate marketers find products they like and promote it to their followers, they also get a sweet little commission in the process.Let’s outline the affiliate marketing process:Why Use Instagram as an Affiliate?You may have heard of influencers using affiliate marketing methods on other platforms,such as:TwitterYouTubeBlogsTumblrWhile these influencers can certainly earn considerable sums through affiliate marketing, those on Instagram can make even more.Because of the activity on Instagram is so high, you can reach much higher levels of performance with affiliate marketing on Instagram.If you specifically wondering how to make money on Instagram in 2020, you might be interested in this guide:Make Money on Instagram (2020 Guide)As an Instagram affiliate marketer, you partner with brands, enabling them to reach a larger audience.Because of your promotion, these brands sell more products,and,in return you’ll get a nice slice of the pie.Even though you can make some pretty good cash with affiliate marketing…it still doesn’t hold a candle to lead generation.Instagram Affiliate Marketing can put more money in your pocket, but only if you know what you’re doing, and only if you execute your strategy properly.Getting Started as an Instagram Affiliate Marketer: Step by Step GuideThe first step is simple: generate a sizable online audience.Once you have a decent following, you’re already halfway towards financial success with your affiliate marketing efforts.One of the most crucial pieces of affiliate marketing is your audiences size.(The more followers you have, the higher the profit potential.)But with that said, you can still get started with affiliate marketing if you have a relatively small audience.When you use the right methods, you can turn many your followers into paying customers.An influencer who understands how to make the most of their affiliate marketing efforts may end up earning more than an influencer with a larger audience.At the end of the day, it just depends on whether or not you really know what you’re doing.How does Instagram Affiliate Marketing Work?Phase 1: Gathering a FollowingIncrease your following by taking these 3 steps:Posting a few times a weekEngaging with Your FollowersDeveloping a Content StrategyLet’s say you’ve gathered over 10,000 followers.10% of which regularly engage with your posts.(Via likes and comments.)Phase 2: Partnering with a BrandAfter a little bit of time, you will make your first deal with a relevant brand, specifying a set of goals and “deliverables”.You’ll create posts that promote their products. And somewhere contained in that post, you’ll add a special affiliate link.This link will take customers to the brand’s eCommerce page,where they can purchase the same product that was highlighted in your Instagram post or story.Answers to Common QuestionsWhat is an Affiliate Link?-This url is called an “affiliate link,”(it’s the cornerstone of the affiliate marketing system)This is the link that customers are tracked with when they make a purchase.Because of the properties of the link, the brand can trace the source of the customer back to your Instagram page, and credit you with the sale.When the company you’ve partnered with confirms that you were the one who sent the customer to the page, they’ll reward you with a commission fee.Instagram Affiliate Commissions: What Kickback Should You expect?If you’re looking for consistency…you might want to look elsewhere. Commission rates are all over the place depending on the program or product.You might earn 1% (video game consoles via Amazon Affiliates).Amazon Affiliate Commission Rates for Different CategoriesOne of the highest commissions that affiliates can achieve is Clickfunnels' 40% commission rate. But that's after the affiliate has 40+ Clickfunnels Subscribers already signed up. (Updated April 2020)The Instagram Affiliate Marketing #1 Ingredient for SuccessNow that you actually understand how affiliate marketing works,let’s talk about the Instagram Affiliate Marketer’s #1 Ingredient for Success:Develop a strong sense of trust and loyalty with your followersSince your entire enterprise depends heavily on trust, you should ensure that your followers believe in you as an influencer before you move heavily into affiliate marketing.You might have a large following, but how do your followers really feel about you as a person?(AKA: Why do they follow you?)Is it because they appreciate you as a person, or is it because of your values your content exemplifies?As soon as you become an affiliate marketer, you will depend on a more personal relationship with your followers.Instead of merely viewing your content and becoming entertained, your followers are now being asked to trust your opinion and use that opinion to make a decision to spend their money.Many influencers will work on building this personal relationship with their followers from the very beginning.In this case, it’ll be easy to segway directly into affiliate marketing.But some influencers may need to spend a little more time generating that same level of trust and appreciation with their followers before they dive headfirst into affiliate marketing.Benefits of Instagram Affiliate MarketingWhen Instagram Affiliate Marketing is done well,Everybody involved wins:The customer gets their product,The brand receives more attention and sales,And the influencer earns a slice of the action.It’s truly a symbiotic relationship – which means that all parties are getting something out of the deal, with no loss or disadvantages for either side.(You could even argue that the customer benefits as well.)The Instagram Influencer's "Trust Factor"If you’re a successful Instagram influencer, your followers probably trust your opinion.When you recommend products that are actually effective, you’re building loyalty within your following – and making sure that your followers only choose the very best products.The products of all kinds are designed to solve problems, and these customers are able to find real, vetted items that relieve an issue or satisfy a desire.So, like I said – everyone wins.The Size of Your Instagram FollowingNow, let’s address the elephant in the room:The size of your following.In order to succeed as an affiliate marketer on Instagram, you need to have a certain amount of followers.Notice how we didn’t say that you need a following of a million people…You can actually get started in this business with a relatively small audience, and you might be surprised to learn the profit potential with just 5,000 followers.(Remember the Old Adage)Quality over QuantitySo how many followers do you actually need?Like we said, you can begin to monetize your Instagram account with as little as 5,000 followers.2020 Stats about Small Instagram AccountsStatistically, these smaller Instagram accounts have over 2x the engagement rate of accounts with larger brackets of followers. (source)You might not earn an insane amount of money, but it’s enough to get the ball rolling.And when it really gets going…It continues to get bigger, like a snowball that travels down hill.Some followers wait a little longer before becoming affiliate marketers – perhaps they’ll reach a level of 15,000 followers before starting.Case Study: Influencer with >5000 Followers Cashes InThe Guardian featured this Instagram influencer who collected 100 dollars per sponsored post when she had less than 5,000 followers. (source)One of her recent posts:Conclusion:The Real Metric to Determine Profitability:Engagement(Not Followers)It’s interesting to note that many influencers might have massive followings with relatively low engagement.This is especially true if they’re relying on things like bots and automation to gain followers.At the end of the day, these aren’t “real” followers.And since bots can’t buy products, as impressive as your follower count might be…you won’t earn much as an affiliate marketer with a following filled with bots.So even if you have 15,000 followers…Affiliate marketing may not be your calling.Final Takeaway about FollowingRemember, Instagram is all about creating engagement, and your affiliate marketing efforts depend on having a high level of engagement from your followers.A Practical Example of Instagram Affiliate MarketingIn many cases, influencers with a small following of just 5,000 followers have an incredibly close and personal relationship with their followers.Since the following is relatively small, influencers can engage effectively with almost every single follower.This level of trust is essential for affiliate marketing, and you can earn considerable sums even with an audience as small as this.For example, let’s say that you promote a relatively cheap item – maybe it’s a pair of socks or a set of three pens.The price is five dollars – and you earn a 20% commission fee on that item.If you have a close and personal relationship with your following of 5,000 people,it’s not crazy to expect almost every single follower to purchase the product.(After all, it’s only five dollars.)So if you earn a commission rate of 1 dollar on each item, that’s a net income of $4,500… from one single post.Now let’s say that you have an audience of 15,000 followers…(But you don’t have that same personal relationship and level of engagement with them.)Promote that same product, and only 1,000 people might be persuaded to buy the item.This will net you an income of just $1,000…That’s a sum of only 20% of our previous example – even though that influencer had a much smaller following!This is just a very basic example, but it illustrates our point:Sometimes, having a large following isn’t as important as developing a strong relationship with your audience, and promoting a close level of engagement.4 Ways to Increase Increase Instagram FollowingIf you’ve never engaged in affiliate marketing before, your Instagram presence could go through some notable changes as you start investing your time and energy into this monetization method.Here’s 2 Key Questions (Answers Below):So how do you ease into the world of affiliate marketing while keeping the personality of your Instagram presence?What are some good tips for making the move into affiliate marketing in a professional and honest way?INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 01: Going Old SchoolThe first thing you need to do is differentiate yourself.(Gotta stand out from the crowd)Many Instagram influencers today have lapsed into using bots to create followers for their profiles, but as an aspiring Instagram affiliate, you know that bots don't buy products,so your main ambition will be to go old school, building your following using sweat equity as opposed to modern automation.Because affiliate marketers depend on engaged audiences,this human touch is always going to be key.Previously, we've emphasized the need for engagement and a “real” relationship with your followers is very important, even as you build your following into huge numbers.So that means that when you try to grow your following as an affiliate marketer, you should definitely steer clear from bots and automation.But if you’re not relying on bots, then how can you grow your following quickly?Well, we’re not going to lie…It takes a lot of hard work and effort.But at the end of the day, it all pays off because you’re building real connections with new audience members, many of whom will support your future affiliate efforts.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 02: Staying Niche FocusedBasically, your goal should be to reach out to Instagram users who are obviously within your niche.Check out other pages that might attract the same kind of followers that you want to have.When you’ve found some good potential followers,don’t be afraid to engage with them.You can do this directly in 2 ways:1. through instant messages2. and by replying to their comments.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 03: Topically Relevant CommentsOn the other hand, you can draw attention to yourself indirectly by simply commenting on posts that they might be interested in.Say something funny or insightful, and people will take notice.In the most ideal scenario, they’ll click on your name…Check out your Instagram page…And follow you.Build Up Your Commenting MusclesYou can work seriously hard on this method if you feel up to the task.Some influencers leave hundreds of comments and replies every single day,often with great results.But if you’re just starting out,you should aim for about 5-10 comments per day on posts that are related to your niche.If you’re feeling up to it, you can send instant messages to people as well.5-10 messages is barely anything,A good goal would be to put out 5-10 comments within 30 minutes each day without much of an issue.Although this method won’t require much effort…the rewards can be quite high.INSTAGRAM GROWTH TACTIC 04: Incorporating HashtagsObviously if you’re using Instagram, you should know how important hashtags are.Pretty much everyone already knows this, so we won’t go into detail about why they’re important.Basically, people can’t really find your posts on Instagram unless you’re using hashtags effectively.Many influencers who are trying to build their following use tons of hashtags on each post,to the point where it hardly even makes sense anymore.They might throw in all kinds of hashtags, even ones that aren’t related to their niche or the post they’ve just published.While this method can certainly make your posts more visible to a wider range of people, it’s probably not going to be effective in the long run.You’ll be attracting attention from people who have no interest in your account.It’s much better to choose hashtags that are directly related to your niche – even if you’re just using a few of them.Consider using less hashtags that are targeted towards your ideal audience.Why Brands Want to Partner with Instagram InfluencersWe’ve already stated how affiliate marketing benefits both the brand and you as an influencer.But zooming out to the 40,000 foot view,why would these big brands even bother with affiliate marketing?If you do the math,these brands are paying serious money in commission fees with this method.Wouldn’t it be more effective if they simply took that budget and invested in a TV commercial or something similar?What kinds of advantages does affiliate marketing have over other,more traditional forms of marketing and advertising?In this section,I show 3 reasons why partnering with an Instagram influencer is often more effective for a brand than other marketing opportunities.Advantage #1 of Instagram Affiliate Partnerships: Direct Consumer EngagementThe main advantage of Instagram is its direct engagement with followers.But what does that even mean?Simply put,users can click directly on the Instagram post which features their product– leading them to the brand’s Instagram page, their other products, and their overall web presence.They can also interact with the post by making comments:asking questionsspeaking with other fans about the productsoverall learning more about the product.This direct level of engagement is something you simply don’t get with a TV commercial or another type of traditional advertisement.You can’t “click” on a TV commercial and explore the brand’s other products.You can’t instantly ask questions and interact with other fans.Even if Instagram users don’t actually buy the product, they still might go on to follow the brand’s page.At the very least,the Instagram post generates incredible brand awareness.And remember,brands don’t actually pay Instagram users a single cent unless their followers buy products…Which means that all of this brand awareness and engagement is generated for a grand total of zero dollars.Hopefully now you’re starting to see that affiliate marketing represents an amazing opportunity for all kinds of different brands.But there are many more benefits to consider.Advantage #2 of Instagram Affiliate Partnerships: Consumer TargetingWhen a brand forms a partnership with an Instagram influencer,they’re establishing a strong connection with their audience.And because Instagram influencers often have incredibly loyal audiences,this represents access to an incredibly promising customer base.Which has Better Targeting? Television or Instagram AffiliateWith a TV commercial or a traditional ad…you can’t really target who sees the ad.You’re just putting it out there randomly and hoping that the right people see it.But when brands choose to partner with specific Instagram influencers,they’re making an extremely calculated move based on that influencer’s niche and their audience.Connecting with their audience also creates a more long-term level of engagement.Brands can grow with influencers as they get more followers and become more important on the platform.Establishing that connection early on in an influencer's career ensures that they’ll always have some level of access to their followers.Many influencers essentially become PR representatives of the brands they partner with over time.Their name and image becomes synonymous with the brands they’ve worked with.Whenever the brand comes out with a new product,the influencer is immediately and eagerly promoting that product.Advantage #3: Instagram Affiliate Partnerships are InexpensiveThis type of relationship is incredibly valuable as a long-term business investment for big brands.Of course, almost all companies are interested in one thing, and one thing alone:increasing their bottom line.If their marketing efforts don’t directly result in increased revenue,then what’s the point?This is obviously a very important consideration when a brand considers investing in affiliate marketing…So how much revenue does affiliate marketing actually generate for big brands?Fortunately, affiliate marketing is proving to be incredibly profitable,All the marketing and brand exposure done by the affiliate is free until one of the followers buys a product,at which point the influencer receives a commission.And Instagram is one of the younger…still exponentially growing…platforms and…provides a lot of untapped marketing opportunity.So at the end of the day…it really just comes down to viewership.It’s no secret that “traditional” forms of media like television and radio are slowly dying out,gradually being replaced by alternate models like YouTube and Instagram.According to Statistica 2020,Instagram has over 1 billion users.Not a Million, a BILLION!Here’s their year-over-year growth rate:Most of these users access Instagram every single day.Marketing products on Instagram allows brands to access a massive audience.And that means – increased revenue (for both you and the brand).The Triangulate of Trust Present in Long Term Marketing PartnershipsWhen forming a real business partnership,it’s important to communicate what you can bring to the table as an Instagram influencer.At the end of the day,affiliate marketing is built on trust.You need to trust the brand that you’re working with.You should believe in their products, in their ethos, and their general mission as a brand.If you don’t feel passionately about this brand, you won’t be motivated to promote their products.You’ll also find it much easier to promote brands and products that you’re actually interested in.On the other hand, brands also need to trust you as an influencer.Brands need to feel confident that you’re going to represent them well as a company.Remember, you’re essentially acting as a PR rep – especially in more serious affiliate marketing relationships.Brands choose influencers that reflect their company’s goals and image.Obviously, they don’t want to you to make controversial statements or do things that will damage their reputation.And finally, we can’t forget about the customers either.They also need to trust the influencers that they follow to recommend excellent products.Because that’s basically what you’re doing as an affiliate marketer.You’re saying: “Hey guys, this is an amazing product and you should really buy it.”So what happens if your followers that the item is actually terrible?That’s right, their trust in you as an influencer is instantly destroyed.They probably won’t buy any of the products you promote in the future – because they don’t want to get “burned” again.This is why trust is so important in affiliate marketing.Think of it as a triangle of trust.The brand needs to trust the influencer, the influencer needs to trust the brand, and the customer needs to trust the influencer.If trust is broken between any of these three partners, the whole thing falls apart.Find the Right Affiliate PartnerSimply partnering with a brand can destroy your relationship as an influencer.What if the company has been engaging in negative business practices?Perhaps they treat their employees badly, or contribute to pollution or global warming.(younger generations are increasingly concerned about the environment).If you partner with a brand without doing your homework, your followers can become furious with you,and many will stop following you.At the end of the day,both the brand and the influencer need to ensure that they have a positive reputation before going into this business relationship.Key TakeawayDo your due diligence on every brand you are looking to partner with.Your research before partnering with can save your reputation…which…as an Instagram influencer…is your livelihood.How to Land an Affiliate Partnership with a BrandWhat you need to do is put yourself in a position where they’ll desire to form a partnership with you,so being aware of their ambitions is crucial.As an Instagram Affiliate Marketer,This is the intelligence you need:Know the benefits of affiliate marketing allows you to market yourself more effectively to big brands who are looking for trustworthy influencers to partner with.Basically, you need to be able to showcase the idea of affiliate marketing to brands.This is especially true if you’re a relatively small influencer,and you’re trying to get started in the world of affiliate marketing.Why?While it’s true that you can simply sign up for affiliate marketing programs without even communicating with some brands,that’s not always the case.Many influencers choose to reach out directly to brands that they specifically want to work with.If you’re just starting out,these might be smaller, local brands.These brands might not understand the benefits of affiliate marketing.Perhaps they’re a little outdated,and they haven’t kept up with the marketing trends of the last few years.If you understand the benefits of affiliate marketing,you can meet with them and explain how this method only serves to benefit both parties equally.You can also use these skills when working with larger brands.These reputable brands might only want to work with influencers who they truly trust.How To Reach Out To Companies For Affiliate Marketing DealsSo far, we haven’t really covered how to actually get started as an affiliate marketer.How do you form these business partnerships? What’s the best way to get started?By far the easiest way to “dip your feet” in the affiliate marketing world is an affiliate network.For first-time affiliate marketers,you can simply start an account with one of these networks,sign up for a program within your niche, and start earning cash right away.This is a booming industry right now,and there are tons of different affiliate programs to choose from.Affiliate Program 1: ShareASaleShareASale is a great starting point for Instagram affiliate marketers.It’s one of the largest networks in the world,which should give you plenty of options to choose from when choosing products to promote.You’ll get paid reliably every single month,and their system will even show you some of the most profitable deals to choose from.Their recommended deals are chosen based on:earnings per clickcommission ratesthe average sale amountand other factorsAffiliate Program 2: FlexoffersFlexoffers is another very well-respected name in the affiliate marketing industry,and this network provides you with tons of features and tools to help you make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.The great thing about Flexoffers is that they cater to all types of content creators,including YouTubers, bloggers, and of course Instagram influencers.So if you have aspirations to expand from Instagram to another platform,Flexoffers offers that “flexibility.”You can choose between thousands of affiliate programs with a wide range of different brands.Crucially,there are plenty of small and medium brands on this network, which might be a better starting point for smaller influencers.Of course, there are also huge brands on this network as well, so you’re really spoilt for choice.Because this network is neatly organized into different categories and sub-categories,it’s very easy to find programs that fit your Instagram account perfectly.Unlike many other affiliate networks, you won’t have to spend hours scrolling through various programs in order to find the right ones.Flexoffers also has its own internal affiliate programs.If you let other influencers know about Flexoffers and they start earning cash with the platform,you can earn a referral commission rate.It’s just another great reason to get started with Flexoffers – and you won’t find this feature with most other networks.Affiliate Program 3: CJ AffiliateCJ Affiliate is an excellent choice if you want to work with major retailers.This massive network has programs from just about every big name you can think of.And with this network…you can quickly and easily compare offers to find the most profitable options.This network gives you tons of different options,which is ideal for Instagram influencers.Not only can you choose from thousands of advertisers, but you can also from many different options for how your affiliate link is displayed.Affilate Program 4: RakutenRakuten is a network that has been around for a very long time,and it has established a firm reputation as one of the best networks out there.Tons of innovative features give you almost limitless options for how you post your affiliate links,and how your advertising methods work on Instagram.Deep linking is just one example of their increased functionality.Some affiliate marketers steer clear of Rakuten because there are only about 1,000 advertisers on the platform.But from those advertisers,you can feel relatively confident that you’re seeing the best of the best.Sometimes, it’s a really good sign when affiliate networkers are very choosy about who they allow onto their platform.Sometimes, affiliate networks aren’t very good at quality control, and they allow very poor quality products and brands onto their network.So maybe a small number of advertisers on Rakuten isn’t such a bad thing.On the other hand…A slightly unreliable payment scheme is probably a more viable complaint that many influencers have when working with Rakuten.Affiliate Program 5: AWINAWIN is an amazing affiliate network if you want to choose from a seriously wide range of options.This affiliate network works with over 13,000 advertisers,which blows most of the competition right out of the water(at least when it comes to selection).Although AWIN is headquartered in the UK,it operates in over 11 countries.This is a truly global affiliate network.Although you can choose between countless niches, there are a few that this network seems to specialize in.If you run an Instagram page centered around beauty, sports, fashion, or travel, you’ll love this network.There are plenty of deals and products that are focused around these niches.The downside is that you have to pay a fee in order to join the network.(similar to Affiliate Institute).If none of the above networks offer what you are looking for,consider taking a look at my library of 2020 Affiliate Programs:See 159 High Paying Affiliate ProgramsSolving the Instagram Affiliate Link IssuePart of the learning curve that Instagram Affiliates face starting off is:"Where to Put Your Affiliate Link on Instagram?"This is what countless influencers have managed to do,and you can use the same methods.As a heads up, solutions 1 & 2 are free,while the 3rd solution costs 120 dollars a year or 15 dollars a month.Solution 1: The Bio StrategyThe first method is to simply post the affiliate link in your bio.You’ve probably seen this before on Instagram – even if you didn’t realize these were affiliate links.Influencers might post a picture,and in the caption they’ll say something like “check the link in my bio.”If you're not familiar with the process,here's a 1 minute video showing how to set up a link in your Instagram Bio:This is an easy and effective way to use affiliate marketing methods with your Instagram presence.A future issue that you'll face if you continue the journey of posting affiliate links in your bio isthat you’ll eventually end up with a bio filled with various affiliate links from various brands and products.Obviously, having a bio that is crowded with affiliate links is spammy,so it's obviously is not ideal.But if you just want to work with one to two brands max…you can keep referring customers back to the same affiliate links in your bio.But if you’re planning to partner with additional brands,you may consider an alternate approach:Solution 2: Operation G.A.You can also make use of something called a Gallery App.What is an Instagram Affiliate Gallery App?An affiliate gallery app is an add-on to your Instagram profile, enabling you have have a lot more affiliate partnerships connected to your profile in a way that looks professional.When it comes to gallery apps,you can either make one (DIY) or rent one (DFU).DIY Method: You can create your own using a WordPress website and set up your own gallery,making clickable pictures that enable your followers to purchase your partners' products.What does a Gallery App do?With this tool, all you need to do is post one link in your bio.When people click this link,they’ll be taken to a page where all of your affiliate links are posted.They can scroll through an image gallery of all your recent posts,find the product they’re interested in,and click the related affiliate link.DFU (Done For You) gallery app services:1. Linkin.bioLinkin.bio offers the ability to have a free account then upgrade as you increase your affiliate offers. It grows with you.2. Like2BuyLike the tool before it, Like2Buy offers multiple plans with different tiers for how many affiliate products you are offering to your Instagram Followers.The Downside to Placing Your Affiliate Link in Your BioWhile gallery app tools makes purchasing your partners' products much more convenient,and many affiliate marketers absolutely love using this tool on Instagram,it's still extra work for your followers (and potential customers),as they need to click to your bio.They might not bother,and you could lose customers because of this one added step.Solution 3: Swipe Up to SellIf you’ve been keeping up with the latest trends on Instagram,you already know that Instagram stories are huge right now.Instagram is moving more towards videos,and influencers need to be aware of these changes.Fortunately, Instagram is making it easier for entrepreneurs to profit from these new trends and changes.For example, you can add a “swipe up link” to your Instagram stories.With this feature,customers are sent to your eCommerce pages with a simple swipe of the finger.This method has massive profit potential…especially as more and more followers focus on stories rather than actual posts.However, there are some notable considerations you need to take with this method:First of all, you can only use this feature if you have a business account or 10,000 followers.This will immediately exclude many influencers – either because they don’t have the followers or they don’t want to upgrade their account.Some influencers also claim that this feature might drive down engagement.When you use this affiliate marketing method with posts rather than stories,you’re basically interacting with your customers in a more effective way.Algorithms might also be less forgiving if you focus entirely on the swipe up feature with your stories.Believe it or not,there are even more ways to include affiliate links.SOLUTION 4: Embed Code in ImageOne way is to actually embed the code directly into your image.Although your viewers won’t be able to click on the link,they can still see it.A Quora member asked this question and Sara Gattoni,a blogger,supplied the answer:SOLUTION 5: Make the Link Short and SweetUse a link shortener,and they can easily take a screenshot and manually enter that URL.This is probably one of the least effective methods,because you’re asking your customers to do tons of work.Link Shortening Tools:BitlyAs of April 2020, Bitly commonly known for its ability to shorten links, but in reality, Bitly can do significantly more than make your urls have fewer characters.Some of the well-loved features of this tool are:MEMORABLE: Customize the URL to Make It Relevant and Easy to RememberINTEGRATABLE: Bitly connects into the flywheel hub of your operations, whether you use SalesForce or another CRM via Zapier.NUMBERS: Total Clicks, Organic Share Clicks and more.RebrandlyIt's one of the best link management platforms with which you can brand, track and share short urls using unique brand namesSome of the well-loved features of this tool are:MULTIPLE DOMAIN NAMES: This tool offers the ability to manage many different domains from the same place.INTEGRATABLE: Rebrandly integrates via Zapier as well as with project management platforms such as Slack and ZohoFlow.COLLABORATIVE: As your organization grows, you can enable different users to manage different domains for you.To learn how Rebrandly compares to Bitly from an affiliate marketer who's used both of them, check out this 5 minute video.SOLUTION 6: Implement a Promo CodeThe last method is to simply use a promo code.This is probably the most convenient,because your customers can easily remember things like BONUS20,rather than a long URL.You can embed this code into your post’s image,and it shouldn’t cause the same level as inconvenience as a URL.With all the various methods available to you,this might seem like overkill.But rest assured,it’s very important to present these affiliate links to your customers in a convenient way.If they get frustrated, they’ll just move on.It’s as simple as that.And remember…they can always just google the name of the brand,and buy it directly from their online store – without going through your link.This is why it’s so important to make your affiliate links convenient.Your followers might want to support you,but they won’t want to jump through dozens of hoops in order to ensure you get your commission fee.This is why promo codes are effective – they actually offer customers an incentive to buy products through you as an affiliate marketer.The Importance of Sticking to Your Instagram Micro-NicheIf you’re already somewhat successful on Instagram,you already know one of the golden rules:Stick to your niche.Picking a niche is one of the most important steps as you start your Instagram account,and it continues to be crucial as you explore affiliate marketing.Staying within your niche ensures that you’re always appealing to your target market.Trying to access a broad market will make your content vague and unfocused.People choose to follow you because you focus on a subject that interests them.Typically, they don’t want a mixture of all kinds of different subjects popping up on their feed from your account.So when you choose to engage in affiliate marketing,you need to choose products and brands that are highly related to your micro-niche.Think about your following when choosing products to promote.What kinds of things would they want to buy?This is an important consideration,because it’ll affect your profit potential.Don’t just choose affiliate marketing programs that seem profitable or easy.Key TakeawayChoose to partner with brands that closely fit your niche.If you start to promote products that seem totally random and unrelated to your niche,your followers will immediately notice.Your attempts to monetize your Instagram account will be obvious,and your followers might even accuse you of being a “money grabber.”But if you choose to promote products that fit in with your account’s focus,your affiliate marketing efforts will seem much more genuine.Because these products fit your account,it’ll seem like you’re genuinely interested in these productsand you’re making actual recommendations based on your own personal preferences.And by the way,you should actually try these products yourself before promoting them.Brands often do their own research on prospective influencers.It’s worth pointing out that brands will also choose influencers that fit their niche.They might spend weeks researching your account,looking deeply into your followers,your niche,and the topics that your profile touches.They can use analytics tools to analyze your most trending posts,gaining deep insights about your channel.They might only reach out to influencers who are closely related to their niche.Legal Considerations for Instagram Affiliate MarketersBefore starting your affiliate marketing efforts on Instagram,you might want to research the various legal considerations that surround this practice.The most obvious and important legal consideration is a requirement set forth by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).The FTC states that if you’re posting content for financial gain in digital space,you need to clearly state this fact.As required by law, your audience needs to understand that you’re making money from these posts.Fortunately, you can do this with a simple hashtag.The FTC has stated that including “#ad” in your post is more than enough to fulfill their legal requirements.Just remember that this hashtag should be “clearly noticeable-”which basically means that it can’t be hidden among tons of other obscure hashtags in your post.See the details from the FTC here.Affiliate Marketing is Okay, but Local Lead Generation is better (Here’s Why)The issue with affiliate marketing is the low commission rates (10%ish) on a product that’s like $60 which means you need so much traffic to make decent income with it.Here’s an example:If your product is 60 dollars and you get a 10% commission,you make 6 dollars for every sale.Now, if every follower bought the product,You’d make money quickly,I made my fair share of income with affiliate marketing(see my review of Wealthy Affiliate),but I didn’t make a fraction of what I make now having taken the time to set up my lead generation business.That being said,Here’s a quick introduction to the business model that enabled me to quit my 9-5 in 6 months.Here’s a site that I built and ranked back in 2015:Proof that it's my site:that’s been paying me ever since since then.A tree removal job can be anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000It’s ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.My tree care guy pays me 10% of the job he closes.On a $5,000 tree removal job (average), I make $500.Before long,This site alone started generating me over a thousand dollars a month,And that’s not the only site that brings in monthly money.I have ranked sites in other high-ticket niches 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This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.I’ll open with a warning: what follows isn’t short, isn’t simple, and isn’t likely to leave anyone feeling entirely satisfied.But it is important. Deeply so.Like many, my first exposure to this story was via Emily Doe’s victim impact statement — an eloquent essay that became a key plank in the scaffolding of the #MeToo movement, itself the most overdue reckoning of our time.Emily referred to her statement as a “tiny fire”. It was anything but. It raged, far and beautifully. Reading it brought back the tears I shed with those I love as they wrestled with their own aftermaths. If you’d asked me in the hours after, I would have signed any petition and joined any march. I was inspired, and angry.That’s the thing about righteous anger: it burns.But once my fire had time to reduce down to coals, I decided to learn more about the judge in question. I wanted to understand why he did it.What I found was unnerving.The Big PictureI’ve invested a lot of time into this case over the past two years. I’ve reviewed all but one of the public trial documents, most of them multiple times. I’ve waded through somewhere around 100 additional articles, transcripts, and recaps. I’ve checked, cross-checked, and re-checked. This is by far the most work I’ve put into a single piece of writing. I wanted to be clear, and sure.My conclusion?Righteous anger blinded us to some really important things.This shouldn’t be surprising. We’re hardwired for clean narratives. We love being presented with binary action options that let us make our stance towards larger issues known. We love to reduce the chaos of the world to simple propositions that let us clearly place ourselves on the right side of the things we hate.Trouble is, Judge Persky’s recall was always more complicated than a simple referendum on how we feel about sexual assault. A vote against him was never a vote for justice or a vote against rape culture. It was a vote for a story. And it so happens that there was far more to this particular story than most of us knew.For a distilled version of my thesis, I’m going to quote (of all things) a random Reddit user:My lawyer friend had this take on it: “Let’s be clear: Brock turner is a piece of sh*t. The justice system failed this woman. But when our jails and criminal courtrooms are still primarily filled with poor / black / brown / undocumented defendants, scaring judges out of showing leniency is not achieving justice. The Brock Turners of the world will not pay for Persky’s recall.”That last line really gets to the heart of it.The Brock Turners of the world will not pay for Persky’s recall.If true, this suggests a crucial question: if the recall won’t hurt Brock or those like him, who will it hurt?That’s what I want to explore in what follows.Just four quick caveats/clarifications before we get into the meat of it:Brock Turner did a terrible thing. I have no interest in exonerating him. What follows is less about him and more about modern journalism, our treatment of Judge Persky, and our ideas of justice more broadly.For the purposes of cutting length, I’ve moved everything not vital to this story into a supplemental post. You’ll find an index of the topics it covers at the end.Some who read this will likely have cast a ballot in favor of Persky’s recall. Please know I have zero desire to confront anyone for their vote. My aim is to deconstruct the popular narratives behind the campaign for going-forward value only.I’m neither a lawyer nor a trained journalist. While I’ve done fairly extensive research into sexual abuse and its prosecution in the course of past roles, I’m not a credentialed expert there either. As such, I’ve gone to lengths to link authoritative sources as I go.That all in mind, let’s dive in.The Story of What HappenedIf you boil down the majority reporting, you get a story something like this:A rich white kid was caught raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, then was let off with a slap on the wrist because his rich white judge was also once a Stanford athlete.Some of the better outlets were a bit more nuanced than that, but they were few.What We KnowAt 12:19am on January 18th, 2015, Emily Doe receives a call from her boyfriend in Philadelphia. She’d just left him a voicemail that he couldn’t make sense of. When she picks up, her speech is heavily slurred. The boyfriend is concerned. He tells Emily to find her sister.Unbeknownst to him, Emily’s sister had left two minutes earlier to take a friend somewhere safe for the night. So when Emily rings her at 12:29am, the sister is still preoccupied. She asks Emily to call her back.When Emily doesn’t, the sister both calls and texts her.She gets no response.At 1:01am, the police are dispatched. Two cyclists had found a young man, later identified as Brock Turner, thrusting atop an unconscious Emily. The cyclists tackle Brock and hold him until the campus police arrive five minutes later.The authorities find Emily out cold, her underwear in a ball next to her, her other clothes in various stages of undress. Brock has his pants on, but seems to be erect underneath.Emily doesn’t wake up for several more hours. Even after the IV drip, she’s at no less than a .22 BAC — blackout territory. When she does wake up at 4:15am, she doesn’t remember anything from after about when her sister left.The police do tests. Emily hasn’t been drugged. But the tests do confirm something else: Emily has been assaulted. No semen, but the abrasions are consistent with aggressive digital penetration. They also find Emily’s DNA on Brock’s right hand.What We Don’t KnowBetween 12:29 and 1:01, Emily Doe moved from the patio of Stanford’s Kappa Alpha house to where the cyclists found her — lying on a slope near a three-sided wooden enclosure often used to store bikes and the frat’s dumpster.No one except perhaps Brock Turner knows how Emily traveled those 116 feet, nor in what state. We do know that it was in the rough direction of his dorm, and that she had no bruises or defensive wounds consistent with a struggle. But as to what motivation drove her from the porch, we have only his word. He says he invited her to his room. She doesn’t remember anything.Some time after his arrest and initial statement, Brock expands his story (which now conflicts in places with his original testimony):They had been kissing and dancing on the porch.She agreed to leave with him.On their way to his dorm, she slipped on the pine needles on the slope.They laughed about it.He leaned in and kissed her.Rather than getting up, he proposed digitally pleasing her then and there.She consented, and rubbed his back as he proceeded.He thought she climaxed.He moved on to dry-humping.He hopped off at some point because he was feeling sick.It was only then that he noticed the cyclists.He doesn’t know when Emily lost consciousness, or her name.Apart from the question of when he got off her relative to the cyclists’ arrival (they both say he dismounted and fled after they announced their presence), Brock alone knows how much of this is true. He was drunk that night, but not so drunk that he’s likely to have forgotten much. His BAC was around .16 at the time of arrest. Drunk enough, but still aware. And culpable.Sadly, we have no help from other witnesses. We know that Brock kissed Emily’s sister earlier and that he was generally acting in a hounding sort of way. The sisters and their friends teased him with a nickname based on how he resembled someone else they knew. But no one saw them together after Emily’s sister left, nor did anyone hear or see any kind of struggle or altercation.At minimum, Brock was caught dry-humping someone no longer conscious. As for how long she’d been in that state or what prior consent she may have given for that or other acts (or in which state she gave it), we have only his testimony, uncompelling as it is.The Anatomy of White PrivilegeLet’s recall the popular framing:A rich white kid was caught raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, then was let off with a slap on the wrist because his rich white judge was also once a Stanford athlete.Well, about that.As it happens, the Turner family isn’t exactly rich. Brock was attending Stanford on a 60% swimming scholarship. His two older siblings weren’t so lucky. All told, the three kids accumulated some $150k in student debt between them. The family wasn’t poor enough for full aid, nor wealthy enough to afford the tuitions outright. Their household income would be significant in context of Dayton, Ohio, but rather modest in context of the average Stanford student or Bay Area resident. In all likelihood, Brock’s case will leave them in or near bankruptcy.[EDIT: Brock’s mom mentions $90k in student debt for his two siblings in her testimony. I can’t recall where I got the $150k figure from, but the delta might be from Brock’s remaining costs after his scholarship.]And if the narrative isn’t quite true with Brock, it’s far less true with Judge Persky. If we look into his record, we find that:He’s a decorated advocate for mental health, AIDS awareness, and civil rights, known for generous pro bono work. His non-profit work included time on the board of the Support Network for Battered Women in Santa Clara.Before becoming a judge, he served for six years as a well-respected prosecutor focused specifically on sexually violent predators.As a judge, he had a thoroughly corroborated and very public history of ruling equally across ethnic lines. He has no record of favoring whites or disfavoring anyone else. (Some claim otherwise. We’ll get to that.)He was one of many Stanford-educated judges serving on a Bay Area court (though he actually got his law degree elsewhere).Prior to the Turner case, he’d never had an official complaint launched against him.Almost everyone who’d ever worked with him (prosecutor or defender) had only positive things to say about his character and judgment. (We’ll get more into this later too.)The entire basis of Turner’s appeal is that Persky was prejudicial against him.In other words, Turner wasn’t an overly privileged kid (apart from his skin, which we have no reason to believe played a role in the courtroom), and Persky had no particular reason to favor him.This isn’t to say that white privilege in courtrooms isn’t a thing. Nearly every study I’ve ever consulted says it is. But Aaron Persky happened to be one of the judges well-known for fighting against that particular problem.[EDIT: The original suggested that Persky’s wife was African-American. I got that wrong. She’s Asian-American. Mea culpa.]To The Left, To The LeftIt’s worth noting that Aaron Persky is, by all accounts, almost stereotypical in his philosophical consistency. Like many Bay Area natives, he seems a dyed-in-the-wool progressive, possibly from the womb.Putting that into practical terms as it concerned his judgeship:He favored restorative over punitive justice (i.e., he worried more about improving the future than correcting the past).He had a fondness for tailored punishments (which data suggests are more likely to produce positive outcomes).He was against prison in general, especially for first-time offenders (unless there was reason to believe that their release would lead to re-offense or some other public harm).Media distortion aside, I think part of our problem with Turner’s sentence has a lot to do with the difficulty of this philosophy. Progressive values are tough. They ask us to accept hard truths about the limits of eye-for-an-eye rulings. They ask us to take a much longer view of things. They give us precious little catharsis.As a consensus of qualified parties later acknowledged (we’ll get to them), most progressive judges would have placed a broadly similar sentence on Turner as Persky did. If we have a problem with that, it’s really with progressivism itself, not with a man who had long been an exemplary and consistent steward of the values he was appointed to uphold.The Day of JudgmentThe jury found Brock Turner guilty of three crimes:unlawful sexual penetration of an intoxicated personunlawful sexual penetration of an unconscious personassault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious personAs he often did, Judge Persky opted to follow the Santa Clara County Probation Department’s recommendation to the letter, sentencing Turner to six months in county jail, three years of probation, a year of mandatory counselling, lifetime sex-offender status, and a handful of non-trivial financial penalties.That’s a lot. But the crux of this particular case is that we have a tendency to over-focus on just one of those punishments. Our diet of scripted crime dramas has tuned us to see prison sentences as the real meat. Everything else feels trivial and insufficient to answer the demands of anything we’d agree upon as full justice.Well, here’s the thing: prison time is not intended to be the real punishment.There’s been a growing consensus in the legal community (particularly in progressive circles) that two things are particularly punitive:The restrictions and stigma that come with a felony conviction.The restrictions and stigma that come with being a registered sex offender.Around a week before Turner’s sentencing, Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District Court of New York dropped whatever the judicial equivalent of a hit record is. Over the course of 42 pages, he artfully outlined what progressive judges have been saying for decades: that the 50,000 or so various legal restrictions applied to felons across the US often produce something quite other than their intended civic effect.Sexual offenders have it even harder, particularly in states like Ohio (where Turner is from, and to where he returned). I get more into the other downsides of sex offender status in the appendix, but suffice it to say that they are many and meaningful. As just one: he’ll have to register in the same category as pedophiles.Being honest, I find it improbable that the accompanying downsides could fail to deter anyone capable of being deterred. Even before his sentence was compounded by the public attention, it’s exceedingly difficult to imagine a scenario in which a would-be rapist could look at the totality of Brock’s punishment and consider it a slap on the wrist worth risking.It’s for this reason that progressive judges tend to eschew prison time unless especially warranted. In their calculus, most facilities are under-funded and over-crowded anyway. And while long sentences might give the illusion of justice, the evidence (see appendix) says they aren’t actually any better at producing rehabilitation or deterrence. As such, adding another prisoner at taxpayer expense only makes sense when the taxpaying public is receiving some extra benefit in return.Put another way, progressives judges tend to use prison as a means of protecting the public, not punishing the perpetrator. It’s just not that useful at the latter.And so, given the cost and diminishing returns of imprisonment, the relatively low risk of re-offence, and the presence of what they felt was sufficient empathy and remorse, two seasoned Santa Clara County probation officials, both of them women, decided there was no compelling public benefit in Brock Turner spending more than six months behind bars.Judge Persky, in turn, found no cause to disagree. He handed down the recommended sentence with detailed commentary as to the mechanics of his thinking. (While the infamous phrases “severe impact on him” and “I take him at his word” do appear in there, the context is other than you may think.)Though Justice Be Thy PleaNow, if a longer sentence does little-to-nothing to improve deterrence, little-to-nothing to reduce recidivism, and eats up costly public resources better spent on increasing conviction rates (which very much do matter), we’re left with a very important question:Who exactly is benefited by Brock Turner being in prison?This returns us to rival definitions of justice. Is it the gut pleasure of evil being overwhelmed with swift retribution? Is it the cold math of reciprocity? Is it maximum possible deterrence? Is it the measured response of a society determined to salvage what they can as best they can? Or, as some wonder, is it the victim getting what they want?Emily’s impact statement was published on June 3rd, 2016, exactly a month after her interview with the probation officer. A good chunk of it is dedicated to revisiting their discussion and how the latter party interpreted it.While we can (and should) be sympathetic to the inadequate amount of time that the two spent together, what Emily said at the time seems pretty clear.Note that last half-line. Then note what Emily says in her letter (emphasis mine):I told the probation officer I do not want Brock to rot away in prison. I did not say he does not deserve to be behind bars.Unless we’re going to quibble about the difference between “need” and “deserve”, there’s a discrepancy there. Is it possible that the probation officer paraphrased incorrectly? If anyone made that claim, I didn’t come across it.[EDIT: I suppose you could read Emily’s comment as “I didn’t say that last half-line from the report in any form”, but that would be a curious way to phrase it. I guess we’ll see if she clarifies in her forthcoming book.]Based on what Emily says in her impact statement, it seems more probable that three other factors played into her shift:The meeting wasn’t long enough for full nuance. The probation officer wasn’t wrong in her transcript. She just got a rushed, incomplete picture.When Emily made her statement, she wasn’t privy to what Brock would say in his. As such, what she suggested was predicated on her assumption of a certain remorse on his end.It wasn’t until she read his statement and the defense’s sentencing memo that it became clear to her that neither she nor the process had reached Brock in the way she’d hoped.To give a quick taste of how Turner framed it:I am the sole proprietor of what happened on the night that these people’s lives were changed forever. […] I can never forgive myself for imposing trauma and pain on [her]. It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair. […] I wish I had the ability to go back in time and never pick up a drink that night, let alone interact with Emily. […] At this point in my life, I never want to have a drop of alcohol again. […] I know I can impact and change people’s attitudes towards the culture surrounded by binge drinking and sexual promiscuity. […] I made a mistake, I drank too much, and my decisions hurt someone.He’s basically saying “everything between us was consensual — I just made a mistake in not recognizing how drunk she was, mostly because I was really drunk myself”.Emily felt this fell short of full honesty and remorse. I’d tend to agree.The trouble is that to expect more was a very bad idea.Defense attorney Nicholas Wooldridge explains it neatly:[The statement that] Brock's victim read during the sentencing hearing underscored the detachment between what victims expect from the criminal justice and what the criminal justice system is designed to deliver. Her victim impact statement was an attack on the system—she wanted a trial where Brock admits his guilt—that's not what happens in an adversarial system. A trial is a contact sport with a binary outcome: guilty or not guilty. The victim expected something from the criminal justice system that it was never designed to provide outside of the movies, at least, so long as fundamental principles such as the presumption of innocence or due process are to have any meaning. The victim is very much entitled and has a right to expect some responsibility, accountability, remorse and perhaps understanding and support from her attacker (by not having put her through the trial process in the first place)—but the criminal justice system is a blunt force tool not designed to provide any of the things that she desires. And, even after conviction, many defendants choose to appeal, so to expect a confession at that point is a non-starter.We can add to that a few comments from Judge Persky at sentencing:And so you have Mr. Turner expressing remorse — which I think, subjectively, is genuine — and [Emily] not seeing that as a genuine expression of remorse because he never says, “I did this. I knew how drunk you were. I knew how out of it you were, and I did it anyway.” And that — I don’t think that bridge will, probably, ever be crossed.Mr. Armstrong [Brock’s attorney] offered an explanation for that disconnect, which is that Mr. Turner, in his state of intoxication, sees the events in a certain way. And if he were to, just for the benefit of a lighter sentence or to pacify the Court or the public, come in at a sentencing hearing or any other time and state otherwise, which I’m sure defendants do all the time, he really would be not honest. I mean, I take him at his word that, subjectively, that’s his version of events. […]Once a jury renders a verdict, everybody is bound by that verdict. Everybody must accept the verdict, including Mr. Turner. But I’m not convinced that his lack of complete acquiescence to the verdict should count against him with respect to an expression of remorse, because I do find that his remorse is genuine.Emily’s counsel should have prepared her for this. From the outside, it seems that Ms. Kianerci may have been more focused on preparing a memo of her own — one meant to match her client’s in tone and effect. But however their discussions went, Emily seems to have come out with expectations sure to disappoint her. Brock didn’t get all the way to Jesus, no. But that was never likely to happen. It just wasn’t a reasonable thing to hope for in context.That said, Brock did get somewhere. In the opinion of the probation department, he demonstrated that he understood that he’d hurt Emily and why and how he needed to change. For them, that was enough.It isn’t that we shouldn’t want more from him. We’d just be unwise to pin our hopes on it. The law is frustrating like that. It almost never gives us the justice we want in our bones.But neither does any alternative we’ve ever come up with.Enter the Den MotherIf you’ve heard of this case, it’s likely because of Emily’s letter.If you have strong feelings against Judge Persky particularly, it’s likely because of Professor Michele Dauber.For those keen to really get into her bio and likely motivations, I recommend this excellent Highline piece. It’s by far the best thing I’ve read about the case in general (though that bar is low enough to be fit for a round of championship-level limbo).But for those who already feel over-invested (you have my empathy), here’s the gist of what Professor Dauber is all about:She had two direct connections to this case: (i) to sexual assault at Stanford, (ii) to Emily personally.In the first case, Dauber was an internal crusader at Stanford. She’d pushed hard to modernize what she felt were backward and antagonistic sexual assault response policies. While this introduced friction with her colleagues, that wasn’t enough to deter her from a cause she believed too just and too needful to ignore. She seems very much the type to dig her heels in when on the side of perceived righteousness.In the second case, Emily was like a daughter to her. One of Dauber’s own daughters was roughly the same age, and the two had been “inseparable” in childhood. Emily had even joined them on at least one family vacation.(As an aside, Dauber has an impressive backstory. She rose from being a homeless teenager working on her GED to a tenured position at one of the most prestigious law schools in the world, all while raising five kids in the process!)In sum, we have a tenacious advocate for women being led to apply that tenacity in the aid of a young woman she loved dearly.On the surface, there’s a lot that’s good and wholesome in this. I’m glad Stanford has her. And I’m glad Emily had someone like that in her corner.The issue is that Professor Dauber didn’t stay in the corner. Despite the obvious concerns about being too close to the case, she decided she was going to enter the ring and go after Persky personally for failing to deliver the justice she felt Emily deserved.But while intimacy clouding judgment was always going to be a concern here, there was something else too. Something more concerning.In this particular war, Professor Dauber had a hard time telling the truth.A Tale of Two SidesAs Professor Dauber’s recall campaign gained steam, the legal community began sorting themselves in two camps.Except, not really.Though much of the reporting would give the impression of arrayed forces on both sides, the ratios here were, well, not very equal.I asked around, reviewed the recall campaign’s website, combed through newspaper archives, and Googled to the best of my ability. From what I could find, precious few legal professionals, active or retired, were inclined to take Dauber’s position. I managed to identify eight in total, at least six of whom either had conspicuous causes of potential bias or a noticeably deficient understanding of the case. Some had both.In no particular order:Stanford Professor Mark Lemley (who found that Persky didn’t commit misconduct, but somehow thought he should be recalled anyway).Brandeis Professor Anita Hill (who, though I think highly of her, has her own well-known history here).California Attorney General Kamala Harris (who was stumping at the time, and spoke of the case as if she hadn’t gone deep on the details).NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (same as Kamala).Retired U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner (who may or may not have actually supported the recall — the article they quote from is paywalled, and the excerpt itself is negative but inconclusive; it’s also unclear from the excerpt how well she understood the details of the case).Georgetown Professor William G. Otis (who wrote a New York Times op-ed which opens with the phrase “it is not disputed” and then carries on to list facts very much still in dispute).Stanford Professor David Palumbo-Liu (whose op-ed in The Guardian made a particularly brittle argument that Persky was racially biased based on a single ill-reasoned point of comparison).Attorney Barbara Spector (who was the plaintiff’s lawyer in the De Anza case and still seems angry at Persky about it, despite his decisions being deemed uncontroversial by nearly everyone else). [EDIT: There’s more about the De Anza case in the appendix. Nearly every article written about it as it concerns Persky omits really important context.]All considered, not exactly a weighty lot.[EDIT: I’ve taken Judge Del Pozzo off the list. The recall campaign quotes his disagreement with the Turner sentence, but fails to mention what he says minutes later in the same podcast interview: “Should he be recalled? Absolutely not.” Del Pozzo also goes on to say of Dauber’s attempt to show a pattern of favoritism in Persky’s past cases: “she fell flat on her face”. So yeah. If there’s a pattern, it’s misrepresentation on her part. See audio from 49:30.]The campaign otherwise rested on quotes from Dauber’s husband, a few politicians, a flock of random celebrities — oh, and one more retired judge.Trouble is, that last judge was LaDoris Cordell, who happens to have been the most vocal voice of the pro-Persky counter-campaign.(Best as I can tell, Dauber had some intern/assistant pull every quote that looked like it could be rhetorically favorable, context and integrity be damned.)While they were happy to quote Cordell about a different trial, they left out this more relevant gem:We did everything we could possibly do to fight the most dishonest campaign I had ever encountered. It was dishonest about who Aaron Persky was on the bench, and dishonest about his record. People were basically ill-informed about him and also about how the court system — and particularly the criminal justice system — works.She went on elsewhere to call Dauber a “bully” and “a smart, relentless, troubled human being”. So, yeah, perhaps not a star witness for the prosecution.As for the anti-recall team, support letters were signed by at least 95 law professors (including 29 from Stanford), the California Judges Association, the Santa Clara Bar Association, and quite a long list of Bay Area public defenders. Supportive op-eds appeared all across the US (and beyond).More narrowly, I was particularly interested in what those connected to the Santa Clara justice system thought. In reading those takes (here, here, here, and here), you’ll notice a common theme. The only person with direct knowledge of Persky that supported the recall seem to be Spector, a woman with a long-standing grievance not shared by her peers. The rest were effusive in their praise and/or defense.But the real kicker is that the recall was also opposed by the last three elected District Attorneys of the Santa Clara County Court — including none other than Jeff Rosen, i.e. the DA that oversaw the prosecution of Brock Turner.[EDIT: Note this quote from Rosen to the New York Times: “Most of the judges in California would have done the same thing as Judge Persky.” Also, see the appendix for more context about Rosen and Persky. The recall campaign played dumb to a great deal of background info that was rather damning to their position.]All said, it seems that the recall effort wasn’t really supported by any legal professionals with significant knowledge of Persky or the case.Which raises the question; why did it pass?History on RepeatAs the media did a decent job of making clear, recalls are extraordinary measures. There’s a reason California hadn’t passed one since 1932.To quote the California Code of Judicial Ethics:An independent judge is one who is able to rule as he or she determines appropriate, without fear of jeopardy or punishment. So long as the judge makes rulings in good faith, and in an effort to follow the law as the judge understands it, the usual safeguard against error or overreaching lies in the adversary system and appellate review.Put simply, there are better means than recall to correct otherwise good judges when they err.Of course, the sticking point here is whether or not Persky ought to be viewed as good. Professor Dauber clearly felt otherwise, pointing to what she claimed was a history of gender and racial favoritism.Well, those concerns were investigated by three bodies:The California Commission on Judicial Performance (report here).The Associated Press (findings here).Local newspaper Palo Alto Online (rundown here).Taken together, they found exactly one case where Persky did something even vaguely objectionable. And that exception concerned a somewhat obscure quirk of an interstate compact that even California’s overseer of said compact suggested was unclear to many judges.(In the interest of fairness, the recall campaign did write up a response to the CJP report. I personally found it poorly-written, misleadingly-framed, and not terribly compelling. But your mileage may vary.)Now, in the absence of any real evidence, one might wonder on what basis someone might still push for a recall?The clearest answer I can give you comes in the form of a editorial from The Mercury News (a Bay Area paper that covered the trial):The decision comes down to this: Voters need to stand up and make a statement on behalf of women and men about the seriousness of sexual assault. Persky’s sentence failed to do so to an extent that he never will again be able to serve as a respected, effective judge. He should be recalled.Bizarrely, the editors went on to concede that the recall team had cherry-picked data and that the CJP had reviewed the relevant cases and found Persky innocent of any misconduct. And yet they supported the recall anyway because…?It may not be fair to Persky, who is a decent man and an able judge. […] But opportunities such as the Turner case to alter longstanding cultural problems are rare. It’s imperative that Santa Clara County lead where Persky failed when given the opportunity.I struggle deeply with that thinking. The idea of offering up innocent sacrifices in the name of progress is Bronze Age thinking. We have a long history of that approach ushering in grotesque unintended consequences. We also have mines of data telling us that increasing social pressure on judges inevitably leads to less overall justice.Even so, the editors hand-waved those concerns away, suggesting that any damage a recall might unleash had already been summoned anyway.Well, here’s the thing: all available evidence suggests that this take is wrong.Paying the PiperDo you know what happens when you make judges afraid of being perceived as soft on crime?To quote the Dean of Law at Berkeley:Efforts to recall judges for light sentences encourage judges to impose maximum penalties out of fear that anything else could cost them their positions. After all, no one has begun a recall when a judge imposed an outrageously high punishment, such as in the first case I argued in the Supreme Court where my client received a sentence of 50 years to life under California’s “three strikes law” for stealing $153 worth of videotapes.Judicial independence is crucial to upholding the rule of law, and history shows that it is lost when judges fear removal for their unpopular decisions. This is not a new realization.Not new indeed. As per a metastudy by the Brennan Center (NYU Law) in 2015, more public pressure on judges invariably leads to longer sentences and more death penalties. This is something we’ve understood for a while.And, as with so many things, this is worse for minorities. Every “tough on crime” push falls heaviest on their shoulders (which statistically has nothing to do with how often they commit crimes). This is cruelty for them.Perhaps most perverse of all, longer sentences can also result in fewer men being held accountable for sexual assault. From my own work with shelters and sexual-assault counsellors, female victims have a tendency to be reluctant to name and charge their assailants when the penalty is perceived as being too severe.So, the net outcome of Persky’s recall?Judge Persky, stripped of his judgeship, had to take the numbers off his house because his address was doxed online.Judges, terrified of being “Perskied”, will now rule more harshly and with less discretion.More bills like Assembly Bill 2888 will introduce new mandatory minimums (again leading to diminished judicial discretion).Fewer men like Brock Turner are going to be prosecuted.Who exactly is winning here?A Better WayMy heart breaks for victims of abuse. I know what it’s like to weep with them. I have an idea of what it takes for them to rebuild, and how difficult it can be for them to relearn how to feel safe and whole. We should have deep empathy.To quote Emily (emphasis my own):I stood [in the shower] examining my body beneath the stream of water and decided I didn’t want it anymore. I was terrified of it. I didn’t know what had been in it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it. I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave it at the hospital with everything else.On that morning, all that I was told was that I had been found behind a dumpster, potentially penetrated by a stranger, and that I should get retested for HIV because results don’t always show up immediately. But for now, I should go home and get back to my normal life. Imagine stepping back into the world with only that information.Imagine that indeed.There’s a lot there to chew on, and a lot we need to fix. But doing so is going to take far more than casting a ballot. These aren’t problems we can abstract or outsource. If we want culture to change, we have to roll up our sleeves and do the messier, much harder work.As a short list of what that might entail:Demand better journalism. Most of the reporting on this case had negative value. Lazily rewriting a trending story for clickshare is how the press dies. Why was the Highline piece the only coverage that helped me really understand the case?Demand increased budgets. Emily said she had a “fifteen minute” conversation with the probation officer, most of which was spent reviewing legal procedures. That isn’t sufficient. If we want victims to feel like justice has been served, the most important factor is making sure they feel (and are) heard.Train and volunteer as crisis counselors. Most sexual assault victims get (at most) a half-dozen sessions with a qualified therapist. They need far more support than that. Every victim should have people they can turn to for help — for as long as it takes.Train and volunteer as youth mentors. Teaching consent is critical. Young men like Brock Turner need to be told by every adult in their various orbits when to stop and why. This message can never be repeated often enough by enough different people. Millions of teens are still unclear on the basics.Watch over our friends. Victim-blaming is a problem. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need more dialogue about responsible partying. Anyone with a BAC 3 to 4 times the legal limit needs to be cared for. Try as we might (and must), we can’t catch and cure all the predators out there. But we can limit the opportunities for them to act (while also reducing the risk of other non-predatorial safety concerns).Support and celebrate wins. The conviction rate for sexual abuse is well under 1%. When it touches those near us, we need to walk alongside them through what can be an enormously draining process. Many won’t pursue charges because they worry about their own ability to get to the other side intact. That’s far more bearable with cheerleaders and warm voices saying over and over again “we will win together”.What happened to Emily should be a spur to all of us — not towards reflexive action, but towards creating a world in which young women like her don’t have to wake up alone in a hospital room wondering what happened, if their body is still their own, and what we’re going to do on their behalf.Covered in the appendix:What else should people know about Judge Persky’s background?Didn’t Judge Persky favor student athletes in the De Anza case?What would a normal sentence be for Turner’s specific crimes?What actually deters would-be offenders from sexual crimes?What’s the basis of Turner’s appeal?What about that letter from Turner’s father?What other motivations may Professor Dauber have had?Does it matter that Professor Dauber was never a lawyer?What impact does being on a sexual offender list have on one’s life?How likely is it that Turner took a picture of the victim?How aware was Turner that what he was doing was criminal?Don’t Turner’s comments about drinking prove that he still doesn’t understand what he did wrong?What’s the real purpose of victim impact statements?EDIT: I published my first draft here on June 18th, 2018, then made some cosmetic edits in the days following. I’ve now returned a year later to give it another once-over. See the edit log for a full list of changes (most for clarity).