Off and on, readers comment or e-mail me asking for links to things I mention on the blog. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a walking billboard for clothing and makeup.
(Belle was watching the trailer for Netflix’s new Little House on the Prairie over the weekend, so I asked her how it looked. Her immediate response: Well, they dress like you do. Which is a reference to the dress below, an Old Navy hand-me-down from a friend, which Belle refers to as my Laura Ingalls dress.)
I wash my face with a cloth and water. That is literally it… and I bought the cloth at a dollar store. A few times a week, I might smear on some coconut oil as a moisturizer. Or, if I’m feeling fancy, I use a little squirt of the €3 night cream I bought in Vienna. (I know retinol is likely in my future, but I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.)
Still, I enjoy hearing about other bloggers’ favourite things, and I’m happy to talk about products I particularly like. Historically, I’ve been too lazy to include links. It feels like one extra step, so I skip it.
About a year ago, after learning that a few blog friends belonged to the program, I applied to become an Amazon Affiliate. I was accepted, set everything up… and then did absolutely nothing. I didn’t share a single link! If you don’t use the program within 180 days, the account goes dormant.
Which is exactly what happened.
Recently, I’ve been reading a series of Substack posts about blogging, and they prompted me to revisit the idea.
I do not have grand illusions that affiliate links will become an enormous income stream. Amazon commissions are not especially high, and I’m not a “stuff” person.
I’ve been using the same $4 lipstick as blush for an entire year. I shave my legs with 99-cent Ivory bar soap and buy disposable razors from Dollarama (I use each one for months).
I am quite happy not to be a poster child for consumerism. If you’ve been here for any length of time, you know I tend toward minimalism and, whenever possible, buy second-hand. That is not going to change.
I will not suddenly start buying random things so I can link to them. What I will do is occasionally link to products I already own, use, and genuinely like.
Some of those things won’t have been purchased from Amazon originally. For example, we have an Amazon-brand expandable duffel bag that has been amazing. This very second it’s tucked under a bunk bed at Belle’s summer camp. But we didn’t buy it from Amazon because John found it brand-new at a thrift store for $10. That said, if someone is curious about the bag, it makes sense to link to the actual product.
Similarly, I bought my beloved Maybelline Lifter Stick and NYX The Face Glue primer at Shoppers Drug Mart. (On sale, obviously.) But most of my readers don’t have access to a Canadian pharmacy, so linking to a widely available retailer is more useful.
When I link to a product, it will be because I use it, like it, or think it’s relevant—not because I’m trying to convince you that your life will be magically transformed by owning it!
How affiliate links work
If I link to something and you click through and buy it, I may receive a small commission. The price does not change for you.
You can use the link to look at the product and then buy it elsewhere, wait for a sale, find it second-hand, or decide that owning one more thing sounds exhausting.
I support all of these choices!
Because most of my readership is in the United States, I’ll primarily link to Amazon.com. I’ve also set up something called OneLink, which theoretically redirects some international readers—including those in Canada and the UK—to their local Amazon storefront.
Whenever a post contains affiliate links, I’ll include a clear note near the top. (There are no affiliate links in this post, by the way!) I want everything to feel transparent and aboveboard and I never want anyone to feel tricked into clicking a link.
I was also accepted into ShopMy, which I may experiment with; between you and me, I suspect I am not exactly their target member. A lot of ShopMy content seems to feature $600 dresses and $1,000 pairs of shoes. Take two zeros off each of those numbers and you’re much closer to my thrift-store price range.
I’m treating this as a little experiment. If it brings in a few extra dollars to help support the time I spend writing this blog, wonderful. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too. In the latter case, I will probably go back to being lazy and not linking anything.
Either way, I’ll still be writing about ordinary life, books, travel, optimism, parenting, thrifted treasures, blah, blah, blah.
A few days ago Belle asked me, “What do you even blog about when you aren’t writing about Europe? We have nothing interesting in our life.“
I found this hilarious and texted the exchange to some bloggy friends. Nicole responded: “Tell her I wrote 1500 words about people at the dog park and a guy at Superstore.” SHE GETS ME! I can write a lot of words about just about any topic.
Thanks for being here to read about “nothing interesting,” and for being the kind of community where I feel comfortable explaining these things openly.
Header photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I think you hit on something important, Elisabeth: people don’t come to your blog because they need a shopping list. They come because you can turn everyday moments into stories that make people smile. A thrift store find, a funny conversation with Belle, or a random everyday observation can be even more entertaining than a big adventure.
I hope the affiliate links work out as a little bonus for all the time and effort you put into your blog. And if they don’t, well… we’ll still be here for the “blah, blah, blah” posts. 😉 I’m pretty sure those are often the best ones!
I love “blah, blah, blah” posts, too.
I am NOT a big shopper. In fact, I mostly hate shopping.
I do use Amazon ( a lot!) . So I’ll try to click through your links occasionally. As I don’t even use makeup or retinol, it won’t be those types, though!
Oh, Belle, don’t tell me you haven’t spent hours talking to friends about Starbucks or Harry Potter or an ugly nail polish color. Life’s not all about European vacations, cool as they are.
Awww. Well, thanks. I don’t feel like I use Amazon a lot, but living where I do, some things are just not feasible to get any other way!
Ha. She spends a lot of time talking about all those sorts of things. I didn’t take her comments too seriously, but they did make me laugh.
what i love about this blog community is about sharing real life, daily musing, and “boring”days because it’s real, authentic, and we can relate so much more than the full time influencers.
Yes! Boring can be the most interesting. And, most of life is made up of routine moments!
I agree with all of this! You’re only linking to products that you use anyway, and the result will either be a few cents or a decent revenue stream. The only way to know is to try it.
Birchie, I feel like I need to give you the official title of Elisabeth’s Encourager. You are always so positive and supportive. THANK YOU <3
I only link books on my blog, and every three to four months I get ten dollars or so. 🤓
Hey, I’d take $10! It’s better than nothing, as my father would say.
Ha! The weeks where I am like “what will I write about” end up being enormous diatribes about the most ridiculous small things!
I’ve sometimes thought I should do something like this but…I probably won’t! Hashtag being lazy.
Nicole, you influence me on beauty products BIG time. I will click all over your affiliate links if they come 🙂 But, yes, it’s a bit of work and not necessarily something that will have much financial reward. We shall see.
I love your diatribes. They’re amazing.
Boo! You need to do a link to a mop/vacuum. The things are amazing. You need one! 😝😆
Ha! I know, I know. I have two robovacuums and a beloved manual mop… but I need to talk with you about what you have again, because I know you love it <3
I dislike Jeff Bezos and try to not shop Amazon for that reason, so if you can get money FROM the guy, I’m all for it.
Belle will realize one day that the ‘nothing interesting’ is what makes up 99% of life, and that is why such little details are interesting to us.
Is she watching ‘Little House’? I may write a review on my blog…we’ve got two episodes to go. So far it’s fine. Not great, not crummy. Fine.
Hahaha. I will do my best to drain Bezos’ pockets dry with my $10 makeup products 🙂
YES! Exactly. Life is mostly made up of everyday moments and I find those things endlessly fascinating. Day in the Life posts are some of my favourite because we ALL LIVE LIFE. Every day. And we all have to eat and shower and get to places and make phone calls and go to appointments, etc.
She’s not watching Little House, she just enjoyed making pointed comments about my fashion sense 🙂 I don’t think I’ll watch it? I have such fond memories of the original show and I feel like it would make me a bit sad to see the updated version, especially based on some of the feedback I’ve heard so far? But I will wait until I read your review because I love when you review shows/movies/books, so you might sway me one way or the other.
I’m all for it! I actually like when there are affiliate links. It’s fun to click through and do a little imaginary shopping. I don’t buy a lot, but I do shop on Amazon for some things (sigh).
Ha, I’m laughing at Belle’s comment about your clothing- “they dress like you do.” Maybe you have a new career as a tradwife influencer!
I have to admit I like links too, even though I almost never buy anything!!
A tradwife influencer… hahaha. I think I need to learn how to make bread, and I also feel like chickens are required (a HARD pass from me), and I’d also have to life early mornings which is also a NO. I think I’d fail pretty quickly. (Though I did really like Yesteryear.)
You are low maintenance–me too! I believe we are happier this way! I love your dress by the way.
Thank you. That dress is so comfortable and I like it in the summer because the longer sleeves make me feel more protected from the sun but there’s still lots of air flow! Belle does NOT agree 🙂 That’s okay. I mostly find it funny and continue to wear the dresses I like. I’ll be curious to see what her style is like in a decade or two.
Well, yes! It makes sense to have affiliate links, and when it’s stuff you actually use and like, it can be really helpful to your readers to have the links. Who wants to go look it up? I loved the Europe adventure posts, but I also love your every day posts. I think it’s your writing style and your personality that make your blog so enjoyable no matter what the topic is.
Michelle, you are THE sweetest <3
I feel like everyday posts are the easiest to write because we ALL live life... every day. There is endless fodder. There is a natural curiosity, too, about how people spend their days.
It will take a while to get used to linking, but I wanted to make sure all my regular readers had a heads up!
I don’t do much online shopping. Like you, I go second hand whenever I can. But I had to chime in on Belle saying you dress like Little House On The Prairie. That gave me my laugh for the day lol. (Btw, that dress is really cute!)
She does NOT approve of most of my style choices. I didn’t agree with my mother’s either, so I suppose it’s fair 🙂
I also dislike Jeff Bezos, but I might still peak!
Belle’s comment made me laugh so hard, my kids could have said that.
Talking about cleaning products, are you looking at a OneUp yet? You don’t even need a bucket anymore to mop. If I didn’t already have a steamer (bought to combat fleas eewwwwww) I totally would get one.
I just looked it up; I’d never even heard of OneUp but now I am VERY CURIOUS!!!!
I have a wringer mop that I love, but this is tempting. And a friend has a mop/vacuum combo that she loves and she’s trying to convince me to try it. That might be next!
Oh Belle – she’s a riot! That dress is lovely! I appreciate that you think so carefully how to balance keeping your blog true to you and who you are with the potential for getting some financial rewards from all the effort you put in. Does an affiliate link have to be something you have bought? Like what if I wanted to buy something from Amazon and told you what it was, could you then generate an affiliate link for me and I could use it and you would get some money back? Hmmm… I feel like Amazon is too smart and stingy for this to be the case but you never know!
She does NOT hesitate to speak her mind.
Hmm. I don’t think affiliate links have to be something that I’ve actually purchased, but that feels like a slippery slope I do NOT want to get on.
I feel like what you’re suggesting would work, but I have zero idea about the ethics behind it! It hadn’t even crossed my mind before!
Your dress reminds me of the “prairie style” in the mid-’80s, which I LOVED LOVED LOVED! Why did it never return?
I tried the affiliate link thing with Amazon for a short time but like you, I don’t consume a ton of stuff, and don’t want to trash up my blog with advertising. I earned nothing, and it is already time-consuming enough to include links to friends’ sites.
It is the every day blahblahblah that keeps me coming back to this blog. Influencer types feel like phony balonies to me, all that rah-rah perfection and gushing. . . . no thanks! You keep it real. Authentic. Welcoming. Perfect!
Authentic and welcoming—I couldn’t ask for higher praise <3
Maybe I'll manage to bring the trend back? Not if Belle has anything to do with it.
I am laughing at Belle’s comment about your outfit (girl, harsh!) and her comment about writing. Nicole’s response is hilarious! Thanks for making me giggle.
I signed up for the Amazon affiliate thing years ago, and I was just as horrible about actually doing anything with it. Like you, I’m not trying to sell anything or encourage consumerism.
We’re here because you are you, and that’s it.
Suz, TWO people have commented that same dress this very week. TWO PEOPLE. Take that, Belle. Right? And one of them was YOUNG and HIP and she complimented my dress.
Aww. You’re too sweet <3
I love the blah blah stuff, and it took me a while to remember that I *can* write about the every day. Not everything has to be a big deep and meaningful post.
All that to say I’m totally here for your blah blah posts.
Also I should look into the Amazon affiliate thing too. Not that I want to make a buck, but I’m forever sharing what random purchases I’ve made whenever I think something was cool (case in point – I blogged about a folding keyboard the other week).
You’re pretty great at being transparent and honest, so I think it would be pretty obvious if you suddenly started trying to plug a lot of stuff. But from the comments it seems like everyone knows you well enough that that’s not something you’d ever do anyway. So have at it – tell us the cool things you find!