Whether you’re just getting started in affiliate marketing, or you’re a seasoned pro, it’s critical to keep your skills sharp and keep your finger on the pulse of industry trends.
After all, online marketers have to wear hats, handling everything from SEO to copywriting, conversion optimization, analytics and more.
Here’s my list of the best books for affiliate marketers. They’ll help you level up your skills, and get the edge against your competitors.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
1. From Nothing – Ian Pribyl
From Nothing is the distilled wisdom of Ian Pribyl, a self-taught marketer who started his own online business at the age of 16. Over more than a decade, he’s grown into one of the most profitable affiliate marketers in the world and built a business empire of his own.
Unlike other books that take a high-level view, From Nothing gives you practical step-by-step instructions on how to build an internet-based business from scratch.
Topics include:
- Branding your online business
- Website setup
- Keyword research, SEO and traffic generatoin
- Converting visitors into sales
- The affiliate sales funnel
- Other online business models
2. Affiliate Marketing for Dummies – Ted Sudol & Paul Mladjenovic
Affiliate Marketing for Dummies is a no-nonsense guide that doesn’t gloss over the basics.
Organized into well-structured, actionable chapters, this book will teach you the ropes of online marketing and entertain you in the process. It’s geared towards beginners, so if you’re already a professional marketer, you can probably skip this one.
Topics include:
- Choosing affiliate products to promote
- Niche selection
- Affiliate marketing strategies
- Keyword research & traffic generation
- Recommended Tools
- Pitfalls to avoid
3. 1-Page Marketing Plan – Allan Dib
1-Page Marketing Plan is the no-nonsense guide to dialing in your marketing strategy. After all, affiliate marketing is, well, marketing.
The core thesis of this book is business and marketing shouldn’t be treated as a one-time transaction, but an ongoing relationship. You should try to nurture your prospect until their ready to buy.
Whether that’s moving them through our content-marketing funnel or keeping them engaged with an email list, this book has you covered.
This book has more than 4,000 five-star reviews and is available to read free with Kindle Unlimited.
4. Content Machine – Dan Norris
Learn: How to generate sales and revenue by scaling your content marketing
In Content Machine, entrepreneur Dan Norris shows you how he scaled his business to 7-figures in annual revenue with almost zero paid advertising.
Dan did it with a digital products business (WordPress plugin) but the skillset of generating organic traffic through content marketing is a perfect match for affiliate marketers.
5. Content Inc. – Joe Pulizzi
Learn: How to optimize and scale your content marketing to generate more affiliate sales with less effort
Content Inc is a practical guide to the business of content marketing, which is one of the most cost-effective marketing channels for affiliate marketers. My entire affiliate business is built around content marketing.
Joe Pulizzi is recognized as a pioneer in the content marketing industry and he guides you through the process of building out a content strategy and process to scale your business and maximize revenue.
Topics:
- Finding pockets of low-competition for high ROI
- Building a content strategy
- Building authority and loyalty with your audience
- Converting prospects into buyers
6. They Ask, You Answer – Marcus Sheridan
Learn: How to scale your business by answering the exact questions your target customer is asking.
They Ask, You Answer is a revolutionary approach to inbound marketing. Instead of writing content you think your audience might like, focus your efforts on answering the questions they already have.
This book is an all-in-one strategy that will show you how to develop a complete marketing strategy around questions and answers. The goal: be the go-to resource for your ideal customer.
This strategy is SEO friendly, can help your grow your traffic, and will build your authority in your industry making it easier to build backlinks and rank for more competitive keywords.
In fact, if you look at top affiliate sites in your niche, I bet many of them are already doing this. And if they’re not, that’s an even bigger opportunity for you.
7. Everybody Writes – Ann Handley
Everybody Writes is a must-read for anyone who creates written content on the internet (or in print). I still write most of the articles across my portfolio of websites, and this book has proven invaluable.
Not only does it contain straightforward instruction on how to improve your writing, it centers around the experience of your reader. Learn to convey information effectively and engagingly to keep users on your site longer, build rapport, and generate more affiliate commissions.
Ann also teaches you how to employ story-based writing and adapt journalistic best-practices for more engaging, authoritative and accurate content. Which is exactly what Google wants.
8. On Writing Well – William Zinsser
On Writing Well is the perfect complement to Everybody Writes for anyone who wants to level-up their writing skills. Good writing is a learnable skill and this timeless classic has been the go-to standard for more than three decades.
In it, Zinsser lays out the principles of good writing, which boil down to simplicity, style, clutter (or lack thereof) and the audience. By perfecting these elements (and learning to edit your own work) you will dramatically improve your writing.
Better writing will help you engage your audience better, be more persuasive (convert more sales) and build a relationship more effectively which promotes trust (again, more sales).
Despite its age, On Writing Well is timeless and perfectly applicable to the digital age of web-based content.
9. Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide – Tim Ash
Learn: How to build high-performing landing pages and convert more sales
Landing Page Optimization is the gold standard for how to built high-converting landing pages. You’ll learn the 7 deadly conversion killers (to avoid) and powerful NLP and neuromarketing techniques to lift your conversion rate.
You’ll also learn the essential components of a trustworthy landing page, and how to structure it for more conversions. If you drive paid traffic to affiliate offers or built ‘best x for y‘ money pages, you need this skillset in your arsenal.
10. Evergreen Affiliate Marketing – Nate McCallister
Evergreen Affiliate Marketing is one of the all-time greatest books on affiliate marketing. Whether you’re just getting started, or looking to push your business to 7-figures, Nate has something for you.
It starts with the absolute basics of the affiliate funnel and selecting offers, but quickly moves into more advanced topics like email marketing, conversion-focused copywriting, traffic generation and SEO.
Nate builds on proven templates and frameworks that have worked for successful marketers in every niche, adding his own spin and explaining them in a way that makes them easy to understand and highly actionable.
If you want to up your affiliate game, pick up a copy. Now.
11. Dotcom Secrets – Russell Brunson
Learn: How to build and scale a sales funnel for your online business
Dotcom Secrets is the first installment of Russell Brunsons marketing trilogy. Russel is the founder of Clickfunnels, multimillionaire marketer, and expert of how to build a sales funnel.
In this book, Russell breaks down his funnel formula with a step-by-step process to build an effective funnel that works for your business (including affiliate sites).
Learn how capture leads at the top of the funnel and nudge your prospects to action with a combination of psychology, nurturing, and irresistible offers. This is a must-read for anyone who has an online business.
12. Traffic Secrets – Russell Brunson
Traffic Secrets is part 3 of Russell’s funnel trilogy, and it teaches you how to drive traffic and keep your funnel full.
You’ll learn the hard-won strategies that have helped Russell build an 8-figure online business, and the exact processes he has refined over more than a decade of optimization.
Learn to build a self-sustaining funnel and drive positive-ROI, targeted traffic to your affiliate offers efficiently, and profitably.
13. The Profitable Content System – Meera Kothand
Learn: How to build and scale a high-ROI content system based around content that actually converts visitors into sales.
If your affiliate business is based around content marketing (like mine is), The Profitable Content System is the perfect fit.
In it, Meera Kothand provides a proven framework to scale your content production efforts, to generate a higher ROI on your efforts, avoid burnout, and step off the ‘content treadmill’.
Most importantly, Meera shows you how to identify and prioritize content that actually generates revenue so that you can focus on high-value, evergreen content and grow your affiliate sales faster than ever.
14. Purple Cow – Seth Godin
Purple Cow isn’t like the other books on this list, and that’s kind of the point.
When you look around the other competitors in your niche, are many of the sites interchangeable cookie cutter versions of each other? Is your website equally generic and replacable?
Seth Godin wants you to be different, and Purple Cow makes a compelling case why uniqueness is the secret to standing out in a crowd. In this book, Seth will help you define what sets your site apart, and how to create remarkable, memorable experiences for your audience.
If you want to hit 7-figures with your business, this is the kind of next-level thinking that can help you make the leap.
15. The Nuclear Effect: The 6 Pillars of Building a 7+ Figure Online Business – Scott Oldford
Learn: How to smash the 7-figure ceiling and scale your business fast.
The Nuclear Effect is a manual on how to break through the ceiling that most online business owners hit after crossing the six-figure mark.
In it, Scott Oldford teaches you how to smash through the 7-figure barrier by scaling your business processes, traffic, and sales funnel.
Scott shares the exact frameworks and principles he has used to scale multiple online businesses to 7-figures and beyond. If you’re hitting the limits of what you can build on your own, this is the book you need.
16. SEO 2022 – Adam Clarke
SEO 2022 by Adam Clarke is one of the best books you can buy on SEO, and it’s written for solopreneurs like me rather than industry experts.
The best part about the book is the fact that it is updated annually, with the latest tips, strategies, and Google algorithm updates. This means you always have the latest, most relevant version.
Adam’s writing is targeted to beginner & intermediate website owners and online businesses, but there are some advanced tactics and strategies as well. He covers everything from Google ranking factors and link building, to winning featured snippets, on-page SEO and keyword research.
Even if you consider yourself an SEO expert, this book is a good refresher and a great way to stay up-to-date with best practices and effective SEO strategies.
17. Amazon Affiliate: Make money with the Amazon Affiliate Program – Armaan Kohli
Amazon Affiliate will teach you everything you need to know to get started promoting Amazon products on your website. Amazon Associates (Amazon’s affiliate program) is the most widely-used affiliate program on earth, and perfect for beginners.
Armaan will guide you through the process of setting up your website, how to feature affiliate products on your site, improving conversions, and how to generate traffic to your offers.
It also touches on important points like required FTC disclosures, Amazon’s program rules, and other pitfalls that beginners should be aware of.
18. Youtube Secrets – Sean Cannell
Youtube Secrets is the perfect primer for growing a Youtube-channel (and business) from scratch. Sean Cannell has built his one channel into a powerhouse with more than 1 Million subscribers to date.
Youtube Secrets goes beyond video creation and channel growth, and approaches Youtube from the perspective of building a sustainable business (as Sean has).
You’ll learn how to build multiple streams of income with Youtube, including Youtube affiliate marketing strategies.
Youtube can be a standalone platform for your affiliate business, or the perfect complement to a growing blog or email list (which is how I use it).
Summary and Next Steps
This list of books should provide both a great introduction to affiliate marketing as well as ongoing education to level up your skillset for better writing, conversions, and funnel-building.
Are there any book we missed?
Share your favorite affiliate marketing and online business books in the comments below!