Are you looking for creative ways to make money from home? The Amazon Influencer program can be a really good option! (Looking for more ways to make money? Check out our HUGE list of money making ideas!)
Guest post by Jessica from The Selling Family
How I Stumbled On Amazon Review Videos
As someone who has been earning 100% of his income online for over 12 years, it's hard to make me look twice at an opportunity to make money. I've seen so many different things being touted as the next best thing that I'm always on the lookout for.
When I first heard about people making money reviewing products online as an Amazon Influencer, my interest was definitely piqued.
The timing was also right because I had just closed my six person business to take a much needed break and try the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) lifestyle we were working towards.
I am very familiar with the Amazon platform and have used it to make money in many ways over the years. Knowing that I could at least trust the platform, I decided to start digging further.
In the back of my mind, I've always had this secret desire to be one of those influencers who gets all these fancy things for free – vacations, luxury bags, and more. But I don't really want to put my whole life online (which is more than I do), so I haven't pursued that dream too much. And, I honestly think it's a very small percentage of people who try that can make money doing it.
When I started researching more about becoming an Amazon Influencer, I thought this might scratch the surface a bit and it seemed like fun.
Since there are no upfront costs associated with being an Amazon Influencer, I set up my account and created my first three videos!
Personal Obstacle
Before I got confirmation that I was approved to do commissions, that journey was put on hold for almost a year…because my husband was diagnosed with leukemia three days after I posted my first videos.
We were soon thrown into the world of cancer treatment and spent the next nine months living between hospitals, hotels, and short periods at home. (We thank God every day that the treatment worked, and now she is cancer free!)
Looking back, closing my business had a purpose, just not what I thought! I was able to spend those 9 months completely free from worrying about running a business or making money. It took quite a long time, but our lives finally started to return to normal and stopped revolving around doctor appointments and medications.
Looking for the Perfect Low Stress Side-Hustle
After being home again for a few months and no longer needing to be a caretaker, I was ready to get back on the horse and find a new side hustle – something that wouldn't take much time, I didn't have a bunch. of the costs associated with it, it did not require maintenance of any kind, and it has passive income.
Then I remembered about the story Amazon Influencer Program and log in again to see if my account is still active.
I couldn't believe it! My account was still active and I made about $200 from those three 1-3 minute videos without doing anything. It may not sound like a lot of money, but it proved to me that the system really works and it did.
Plus, it fit right into the lifestyle I wanted to maintain. I didn't have to be the face of the brand (because all my videos are completely faceless) and there's no pressure to meet ratings or deadlines.
I needed a few tools to make high quality videos. And then I can do as much or as little as I want to continue making videos and earning income.
Putting the Amazon Influencer Program to the Test
Since I knew that the Amazon Influencer Program was a viable business and that I wanted to pursue, I decided to test it and see what would happen if I took it seriously.
I started uploading new videos to my creator account and my commissions started going up right away!
Over the next two months, I added 25 videos and my commissions jumped to about $75 a month. So I continued to make videos. In the next two months after that, I got up to 45 videos and to my surprise when I logged in I saw that I had earned over $100 in one day!
That day is what made it for me. It proved to me that I could build this business into a huge amount of income and that it wasn't dependent on me having a lot of followers or being the face of a brand.
My first goal for the program was to make $500 a month (which I finally did)!
I'm not looking to make this a full-time gig (although many people do) since we're technically retired, but I've been really enjoying the process, and it feels good to add another income stream to our portfolio. .
How the Amazon Influencer Program Works
Now that I've shared my personal journey with you, I'd like to show you how Amazon Influencer Program (AIP) actually works so you can see how easy it is to get started yourself!
Technically, AIP has many parts of the program, but for the sake of keeping this post short, I will focus entirely on the ONSITE part of the program.
If you are familiar with affiliate marketing, you know that you find a product that you like, share it with your audience, and then make a commission on the sale if they buy it.
With the onsite program, Amazon actually places dynamic videos on product pages where a customer is already looking to make a purchase. When someone watches a promoter's video and makes a purchase, the promoter makes a commission of between 1-5% of the purchase price.
Crazy right?!?
I mean, Amazon puts us in front of their audience and pays us. That removes a huge hurdle in affiliate/affiliate marketing, getting the right audience for the product you're promoting and looking at your content!
If you head over to Amazon and look at almost any product page, you will see a section titled “Videos” above the “Product Details” section.
In this category there can be a combination of power videos, customer review videos, and videos made by the product itself.
If it's a motivational video it will have a caption/title of the video and the name of their promoter underneath. If you click on one of the videos and see an area directly under their name that says “Earns Commission,” you'll know it's an influential video.
In the example above, if I were to buy these sandals after watching the video, Liz would make a commission on the sale. A commission is awarded to the promoter of the last video viewed as they appear to be the “closer of the sale.”
In the first screenshot you can also see that each of these videos is less than 2 minutes long. Think how many of these short videos you could make in an afternoon when your kids are at school. All you need is your smartphone, good lighting, a tripod, and things you already use and love around the house!
Different Types of Amazon Influencer Videos
One of my favorite things about making these review videos is that I don't have to be in the video myself.
Having built businesses around me as a brand for so many years, I really wanted something where I could be behind – and not worry about my hair being done (because it rarely is) or if my face breaks out.
(I know those things don't really matter, but for me when I have a bad confidence day, it makes putting myself out there so much harder!)
There are 3 styles of dynamic videos we see the most on Amazon:
- Faceless Videos — These are videos where you only show the product and you can see your hands moving the product while explaining what's going on.
- Person In Video — This is when you are sitting/standing while holding the product and explaining the features or showing it.
- Studio Video — These types of videos often have many different shots/angles with many edits. One might start at a desk, then shoot a product in action, then video and products, etc.
You can make videos in whatever style you feel most comfortable with — or a combination of them all if you like!
How to Apply to Become an Amazon Influencer
If you are interested in getting started as an Amazon Influencerthere is a two-part application process for authorization to produce local videos:
- First, you must be approved as an Amazon Influencer by connecting an active/hosted social media account.
- Second, you must be approved by local commissions by submitting three sample videos for Amazon to review and verify that you know how to make the type of videos they want.
This process can take anywhere from a few days to a month or more, depending on where you are with social media right now and how long Amazon takes to review videos. If you are starting from scratch and have to create a new social media account, this takes at least two weeks (or more).
Even if you don't have social media, don't let that stop you completely! You can create an account just for approval and you don't need to continue posting once you get approval for your promoter account.
Learn How to Get Started for FREE!
If you need help getting started, grab mine FREE eBook 7 Steps to Becoming a Successful Amazon Influencer! It has a great overview of all the steps that go into getting started as an Amazon Influencer.
It covers the basic two-part application process and what to expect along the way. It also offers tips for creating videos and managing your influencer storefront.
This free eBook will help you know where you are getting into and if this is the type of side hustle you want to start.
Step by Step Amazon Influencer Mastery Course
If after reading this, you feel like you're ready to jump in, you might as well check out mine Amazon Influencer Mastery Course. This is a step-by-step video tutorial that walks you through the entire process in detail.
If you search online for how to do something like this, there is always a ton of conflicting information and it can take days/weeks to get through it all.
With over 10 years of experience teaching people how to make money on Amazon, I decided to create a step-by-step tutorial that will walk people through the entire Amazon Influencer process in just a few hours.
This main course covers:
- A complete evaluation of the program: how it works, how you get paid, my experience, etc.
- How to get approved for the program, which is a multi-step process.
- Tips on how to get approved so you don't give up and start making money!
- Instructions on how to create videos: all the different types of videos you can make, how to edit them, how to upload them, how to create good captions, etc.
- Frequently Asked Questions and how to manage your account going forward.
This course has everything you need to become a successful Amazon Influencer from step one! I would love to help you succeed, so take your lesson HERE!
You can find Jessica on TikTok @JessicaLarrew or on her site The Selling Family where she shares the Amazon Influencer Program, other hacks, and ways to save money.
