This article about affiliate links has been doing the rounds recently, and honestly it’s a hot take. Much nodding happened while I read this.
But also I also have some thoughts. As a reader, a few undisclosed affiliate links barely crosses my radar. As a content creator, who rarely uses affiliate links, I often forget to disclose when I do. Which is against the law so I should really be better about that. *note to self
Sponsored and gifted content should absolutely be disclosed. It’s very sneaky and illegal not to. But with affiliate links, it’s very obvious you’ve clicked on one because it has a franken-URL full of this bullshit - ?tag=,?ref=, ?affiliate=, ?aid=?utm_source=. To me, that feels like a disclosure in itself but I’m a digital native, so perhaps it’s not so obvious to others.
Putting aside the feral consumerism and horrific environmental impact of it all, I fundamentally don’t have an issue with affiliate links. Personally they’ve never worked for me on a large scale. Except that time I put an affiliate link for glitter poo pills on Facebook and it went viral. I made $1500 and bought a first gen Apple Watch with my takings. 2009 was a wild.
The main reason why affiliates have never worked for me is because most of the brands I like don’t do affiliate links. And the ones that do, I use occasionally if I remember. They barely make any money so I couldn’t be bothered most of the time. I also don’t shop much and neither do my readers so it’s not a revenue stream I’ve dedicated much time or thought to.
Using affiliate links is incredibly tedious. You have to apply to the programs, they kick you out if you don’t use them, they pummel you with annoying comms and most of the time no one clicks on them anyway. Being Australian is also an issue, most of the programs/products are US based so once you slap $30 worth of shipping on anything most Aussie buyers drop off. Fair enough.
It’s the scaling that’s the issue here. In order to make a lot of money from affiliates, you need to be aggressive, consistent and probably give very few fucks about the environment, consumerism and capitalism. The question is at what point do affiliate links become gross?
How do you feel about affiliate links? Do they bother you? How do you feel when content creators don’t disclose them? How do you feel about content creators who don’t use them at all?
* disclose those links ya’ dingus.
Reading
Cher: The Memoir Part 1. I’ve been on the waitlist for a Kobo copy at my library for ages, then I spied a physical copy just sitting on the shelf so I snaffled it. It’s magnificent. Not well written by any means but her life is so extraordinary. Dipping into her 70s Hollywood life is such a treat. Cher is a genuinely good person, her optimism and openness is consistent through out the book. She has beautiful and complicated relationships, especially with Sonny who was abusive to her in so many ways yet she powerfully holds her love for him alongside her fierce boundaries. It’s not an amazing book but it’s an amazing read, like most memoirs. I’m also a massive Cher Stan, so please keep that in mind when reading this rave review and don’t blame me if you hate the book. I love everything she’s ever done including her one woman West Side Story.
Watching
We had a much better watching experience this week, compared with last week. Marty Supreme is great, you have to watch it. I’m going to sound like a perve here but I love the way Timothee Chalamet kisses on screen, it’s horny as hell. There’s a new season of Last One Laughing, also brill. We found a lost little season of British Sewing Bee we hadn’t watched. Good times all around.
Listening
The Quintuplets, the latest episode of Criminal. It’s about the first surviving quintuplets in history in the 1930s and how they were exploited by the Canadian government. Criminal is one of my favourite podcasts but I struggle to recommend it because people think it’s true crime, which it technically is but it’s not gruesome serial killer true crime. It can be really interesting and downright charming. This episode is very clean, so it’s a great place to start if you’ve been too nervous.
Wearing
I actually wore several real person outfits this week, who am I?
From left to right, plasma donation outfit (Alpha 60 pants, Witchery top, Dr Marten shoes, Cleopatra’s Bling necklace), local primary school fundraiser trivia night outfit (theme was Op Shop Jungle - dress from Depop, shoes from Joanne Mercer, necklace from a shop I can’t remember and my vintage KJL double tiger head bangle I haven’t worn in years), bestie’s b’day lunch outfit (I was stalking this jumpsuit on Elk for ages but it was like $399 which just felt ludicrous but I found it on Depop for $50. Bargain.)
None of these links are affiliate because a) most of these brands don’t do affiliates and b) I seriously couldn’t be stuffed.
Spot my big kid’s head above. Little cutie.
Doing
Major clean outs of our house, room by room. We’re slowly exiting our little kid life (sob!) and no longer need baby wipes in every drawer, kids bowls, Sudocrem - all that stuff that just accumulates when you have babies. Both of our bathrooms are done, we’re hanging shelves and building cupboards. Feels like a new era.
That’s it for this week!
Have a good one year?
Carly
xxx
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