[00:00:00] On today's episode, I'm going to talk about building an affiliate income pipeline with other people's products. You've probably heard people talk about affiliate income, like it's the easy hack. Slap a link on Instagram, push a random Amazon product, or sign up for someone else's program and hope it sells.
I want you to be real. That's not a business model, that's not a wealth system. That's hustling for scraps. What we're talking about today is something entirely different for the women who are already selling, already closing, already building real results.
This isn't about a side hustle. This is about intentionally curating an income stream that integrates seamlessly into the empire you are building. to really understand why this matters, I wanna take you back to a story I spoke about in podcast episode 0 3 9, where I refer to a story from Rich Dad Poor Dad that has stayed with me all these years.
In the book, there's this [00:01:00] idea of hauling buckets versus building pipelines. Hauling buckets mean you only make money when you're physically carrying water, trading your time for income, but building a pipeline. That's about creating a system that flows even when you're not working. Affiliate income, when done right is your pipeline.
It's not about chasing trends or hawking products. It's about creating a flow of aligned revenue that supports your bigger vision. It's the income that keeps moving even when you step away. And that's what we're diving into today, how to design your own affiliate pipeline, not just someone else's template.
I'm gonna walk you through how to pick the right products for your business, how to position them so they feel effortless and natural, and why time is your biggest ally in building something that lasts. So if you're ready to move beyond hacks and into true pipeline wealth, let's get started.
Intro: I am Christina [00:02:00] Koki, your post of the Effortless Closing Podcast. Born and raised in Silicon Valley. Now bringing the wisdom, wit, and well-oiled business strategies from my new hometown just outside of Nashville, where the pace is slower, but the revenue still runs high. With over two decades building businesses, some wildly successful others, gloriously messy.
Every step has been fueled by a love of real strategy and real results. This isn't about side gigs, and it's definitely not about hustle culture. This is about optimization and building revenue, generating machines designed to make your life and your business feel effortless. After $92 million in sales of the last eight years while raising four little ones and building it all.
Wholepreneur. I've created systems that scale and a business that supports my life, not steals from it. From summers in Europe to road trips across the United States, being present with my family is the greatest win. And everything I've [00:03:00] learned to make that possible is now inside the effortless closing method.
The framework behind this podcast, and here's the best part, you can build the same kind of business, the kind that funds your lifestyle, honors your values, and. Feels like you. This show is for the woman who's already doing well, but is ready to simplify the work, amplify her income, and finally build a business that flows with her life.
Every episode brings sharp strategy, honest insights, and real world tools to help you grow your business and enjoy your life in the process. We don't just grow your business, we optimize it to feel effortless. This is the Effortless Closing podcast.
I wanna start with talking about choosing the right product for your affiliate pipeline. Here's where most people sabotage themselves with affiliate income. They grab whatever's trending or whatever pays the highest commission, but if it doesn't fit into the world you're already building for your clients or your audience.
It's gonna land flat. Think about it. If you are [00:04:00] a health coach and you suddenly start promoting Kajabi, your people are going to look at you sideways. They're not thinking about course platforms. They're thinking about supplements, meal plans, wellness tools, and in that moment you lose your credibility.
But let's flip it. When you choose products that directly support the work you're already doing, that recommendation lands completely differently. Your audience already trusts you in that space, they are primed to listen. So when you say I love Circle because it's where I host my private community and it makes connecting with my clients effortless.
They lean in, they want to know more because they see you living it. And here's the bigger truth. Effortless affiliate income isn't about links. It's about timing, context, and strategy. It's asking, does this product generally make my people's lives easier? Does it deepen the results of already help them get, and if so, [00:05:00] when is the right time to mention it?
That's where the pipeline metaphor comes back. You're not just randomly dumping links in front of people. You're intentionally laying down pipes that connect your clients from where they are to where they want to go. Using products that solve the exact next problem, they'll hit on the journey. And yes, you do need to disclose that it's an affiliate link, but here's the thing.
When you've built that trust and the product is a natural fit, people are actually happy to use your link. They want to support you, and they want to get access to the exact tools you recommend. So before you think about promotion or channels or strategies. Which we'll get to a little later.
You've got to nail this first. Choosing products that are so aligned, so natural to your brand that sharing them feels like it's second nature. That's the foundation of an effortless affiliate pipeline.
So you might be asking, how do I evaluate and filter the right products then? Okay. So let's say you're starting to look at an [00:06:00] affiliate opportunity and you're asking which one belongs in my pipeline.
This is where the filtering process really matters because not every product deserves a spot. Here's the framework I use when evaluating affiliate products. One, alignment with your core work. Ask yourself this. Does this product naturally fit into the transformation of. I already help my people create.
If I never promoted it, would I still recommend it in a conversation with a client? If the answer is no, it doesn't belong. Two credibility and proof. Have you used it? Do you trust it? Because if you wouldn't, put your name or brand or reputation behind it. Do not sell it. Remember, affiliate income is built on trust and credibility is.
Everything. Three audience readiness. Even if a product is great, and trust me, there's a lot of awesome products out there. If your audience is not in the right stage to [00:07:00] actually use it, for example. Recommending a high level CRM might be premature if most of your audience is still validating the first offer.
You want products that meet them where they are at right now. Four. Longevity and stability. Will the company or product still be around in a year? Look, if you are building up all this work on a project and you get it going and it's moving, and the next year it's gone. Whew. That's hard, right? So we wanna make sure it's gonna be around in a year or two years.
You don't want your pipeline built on a trendy app that disappears next quarter. The best affiliate products are the ones that can grow with your people over time. Five commission structure? Yes. Okay. Money does matter, but notice this is the last filter, not the first, because if everything else lines up, alignment, credibility, readiness, longevity, then a strong commission is just the bonus.
Think of it like hosting a dinner party. You don't just invite anybody because they happen to be [00:08:00] outside. You curate the guest list so the conversation flows and everyone gets value from being there. Your affiliate pipeline works the same way. You are curating the right products into the experience your business already creates.
And here's the best part, when you use this filter, you'll notice that sharing your affiliate links becomes second nature. You're not selling, you're simply opening a door and saying, here's the act. Exact tool I use, and here's how it could help you too. That's when affiliate income stops feeling forced and starts becoming an authentic extension of your empire.
Okay, now let's talk about positioning and weaving affiliate products into your content. Now that you have chosen the right products and ran them through a filter, the next question is how do you actually share them? Without feeling like a salesperson, okay? Positioning is everything. You can have the most aligned, most powerful product in your pipeline, but if the way you introduce it feels random or forced, your audience [00:09:00] tunes it out.
Ad - Bioptimizer: Do you wanna optimize your energy and stop feeling drained, stressed, and relying on caffeine just to power through your day? Okay, it's time for a change. I'm Christina Coco's, the Effortless Closing Coach, and if you've been following me, you know I'm all about scaling your business the smart way without burning out.
But here's the truth, no matter how dialed in your strategy is, if your body isn't running at full capacity, your business will suffer. That's why health is a non-negotiable for me and why I've been using BiOptimizers for over four years to keep my energy focused and stress levels in check. Okay? Think about it like this.
Your business is a high performance machine. Would you run it on cheap? Fuel. If you've ever come into one of my ECM courses or heard me talk about it, I talk about the ECM, the Effortless closing machine, and how you cannot put cheap fuel, which is bad leads into the machine 'cause you'll get bad results.
This [00:10:00] is no different for your body. You need the right support to function at your best. So let me break it down if you are feeling bloated or sluggish after meals. You are not digesting your food properly, which means you are not absorbing the nutrients you need for energy. That's where Mass Siam and HCL breakthrough comes in.
These digestive powerhouses help your body break down food efficiently so you get more fuel and fewer crashes. What about struggling with brain fog or midday fatigue? Those are the worst. That could be your gut health holding you back. Probiotics, breakthrough, which used to be P three Om. Keeps your digestion running smoothly, eliminating bloating and support mental clarity so you can stay sharp in every client meeting.
Now what if you feel wired but exhausted at the same time? Did you know that stress and cortisol working havoc on your system? My favorite go-to thing is magnesium breakthrough. It's my secret weapon. [00:11:00] It lowers my cortisol, improves my sleep, and keeps me calm and energized all day long. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a game changer these supplements have been for me.
They've helped me run multiple businesses, raise four kids, and scale my income all without feeling like I was running an empty. So here's the deal. Because I know this can be a life changing shift for you too. I'm hooking you up with a 10% discount off your order. Use my link, which I'm gonna put below in the show notes, and add my coupon code for the 10% off.
You can use it as many times as you want. And here's a pro tip, if you use my coupon. Subscribe to your favorite products and save even more so you never run out. It's an extra bonus for you. Don't just take my word for it. Try them yourself. If you're serious about growing your business without sacrificing your health, this is the next step for you.
And my link will be in the show notes below. And use the code, Christina Coco's tent to start feeling your best today. Now, let's [00:12:00] get back to the show.
So here's the rule of thumb. Your affiliate links should show up in the same places. Your voice already carries authority. Think about your natural platforms. If you run a newsletter, that's a perfect place to share a story about how you used a tool, and then give your audience the link. If you're recording a podcast, bring it up in conversation when you're talking through your own system, if you're on YouTube.
Show it in action during a tutorial. Notice the pattern. You're not inserting the product as a distraction. You're weaving it into the teaching moment. For example, let's say you're walking your audience through how you onboard a new client. You could casually say, by the way, I use Kajabi to manage my contacts, my payments.
My course content, it keeps everything in one place. I'll drop my link in the show notes so you can check it out. If you're looking for a platform, and by the way, I use Kajabi. I do. So those are cool [00:13:00] ways to kind of add it in, and that's effortless. It's authentic, right? It's not like I'm pitching to you saying, you gotta use Kajabi, like sign up for Kajabi, or I'll give you tons of free stuff if you join Kajabi.
It's not that way, right? Instead, it's a peek behind the curtain of how I run my business. The other piece here is timing. You don't want to just blast every link every day. The key is to share a product at the exact moment your audience is thinking, I need that. That's when it sticks. So think of positioning like weaving threads into a.
Fabric. The strong and more natural you weave, the more seamless the whole design looks. That's when your affiliate income pipeline starts feeling less like selling and more like serving. Okay, now I want to talk to you about timing and patience. This season of building look. I know you'll not like what I'm about to say, but you need to hear it.
Affiliate income takes time. This is truly forgotten, and that's why so many people quit [00:14:00] before they. Ever see results because hauling buckets, trading time for money feels faster. It truly does, right? You work, you get paid, you stop working, and the money dries up.
But here's the difference. Buckets keep you busy. Pipelines make you wealthy. Do you want to make money or do you wanna be wealthy? When you're building a pipeline, there's a season where it feels like nothing is happening. You are laying pipe underground, setting up links, creating content, weaving them into your system, showing up constantly, and it feels like no one's noticing, that's the hard part.
That's where most people walk away. I know you know this. You have built a business, you've gotten sales, and now you have consistent sales. But what you really want now is to figure out how to jump income levels without adding more or losing your mind in the process. So here's what separates Empire Builders from dabblers.
The willingness to stay in that season long enough for the water to flow, because once it does, the pressure builds and suddenly [00:15:00] income is coming in. While you are on a plane, at a soccer game or sleeping through the night, that's when you realize all that patience was so worth. The key here is to reframe your timeline.
Affiliate income is not a launch and profit in 30 days play. It's a compounding system. Every email you send, every podcast where you weave in a product, every tutorial you post, it's another section of pipe. And over time. These sections connect into a full blown system that can carry more money than you ever could by yourself.
So don't confuse silence with failure. That quiet season is when you're building the foundation of your pipeline, and when the water finally starts flowing, it doesn't just trickle, it pours. Okay, now as we're wrapping up this episode, I want to talk to you about refinement and focus. It's the million dollar shift.
This is the part no one really talks about. [00:16:00] Starting wide is easy. Staying wide will kill your pipeline. So here's how we look at it. When you first build, sure, load it up. You can find 20, 30 products. Throw them into your system. See what sticks. That's the messy middle. That's part of the process, and you should be doing it.
But the ones who build empires, they don't stay there. They refine, they track what's actually moving the needle. They prune ruthlessly and then. They go all in on the ones that are left and producing. I have a really good friend who's making over $400,000 a year from one affiliate product. Just one. Why?
'Cause he built an entire ecosystem around it. He didn't dabble, he didn't keep pushing dozen of dozens of random links. What he was doing in the beginning, he saw the one that was allowing the income to flow and built a bigger pipe around it. He doubled down, built the courses inside it, built the trending around it, built the trust, and now that one stream [00:17:00] is on track to make him a million dollars a year.
And that's not his only income. By the way. He has the courses he sells, he has an agency he sells. Right. There's other opportunities, but he has one stream of income that's getting close to a million dollars a year, and he doesn't work horribly hard at it. That's not luck. That's refinement. That's focus.
So hear me clearly. Affiliate income isn't about stacking as many links as you can find. It's about sharpening your pipeline until it flows like a fire hose. Start wide. Yes. But as you grow. Eliminate the noise, double down on the ones that work because effortless income isn't built on clutter. It's built on clarity.
And when you master that shift from chasing everything to focusing on what truly converts you stop being a participant in affiliate marketing. You become the. Architect of a pipeline that will fund your empire for years to come. As we wrap up this episode, let's zoom out for a second. In the last [00:18:00] episode, 0 3 9, we talked about how to build your own affiliate program, how to create a system where other people are out there selling your products for you.
That's one pipeline. Today we flipped it around and got a different perspective and talked about how you can build your own affiliate income stream, how to strategically promote other people's products that fits. Seamlessly into your brand. That's pipeline two. And when you put these two together, that's when your income system becomes truly effortless.
You've got money flowing in from people promoting you and money flowing in from you, promoting the right partners. That's not just affiliate marketing. Okay, that's architecture. You are not hauling buckets. You are not chasing scraps. You are building a two-way pipeline system that keeps growing with you, and that's the foundation of an empire.
So if last week was about putting your products in other people's hands, and this week was about putting the right products in your hands, now you have both [00:19:00] sides of the equation. This is a system that allows you to scale without adding more hours to your plate, and that's why I keep coming back to the pipeline metaphor, because this isn't about a side hustle and it's not.
About quick wins. It's about designing wealth systems that flow for years to come. This is the power of a true wealth system. This is the power of the house or Cortes. Get on the wait list if you are interested to see what the house is all about. There's no sales, no pitch. Just an open house to walk you through the rooms and the house rules.
It is very exclusive and you have to request an application to apply. My team reviews all applications to ensure we are building a house with powerful women at. All levels. The house is here to expand and grow with you. It's a place you have never experienced before. Trust me, it's gonna blow your mind.
And if you want a taste of the house, I have created the House of Cortes experience Live in Nashville. This is a highly curated event, again, by application only to ensure that in just one day, we [00:20:00] grow where you are struggling the most by 5% since the thread I weave throughout the house. And this experience is a single thread that is made to be pulled apart and adapted to the person who weaves it.
All of this is a hundred percent customized to you. One link gets you on the list for all of it. Join the wait list for the House of Cortes a the link is in the show notes. The next step is waiting for you as an invite to the open house. I can't wait to see you there.
Thank you for joining me on today's episode. If you have not subscribed to this podcast, wherever you're listening, please do and while you are there, leave me a review. It really helps our growth. Start building your affiliate path, and I will see you next week.
