Course description

You already recommend things to your readers: the boots that kept your feet dry, the book you reach for, the kit that made a hobby click. This course shows UK bloggers, newsletter writers, creators and small publishers how to earn a commission from those recommendations fairly and carefully, without hype and without losing readers' trust.

You start with how affiliate links, cookies, commission and payment thresholds really work, and a realistic look at expectations: many affiliate sites earn little, and the course says so plainly. Then you choose a niche from what you know, find programmes that fit your readers, read their terms, and write reviews, comparisons and guides that genuinely help. You learn search basics for review content, how to use newsletters and social channels, how to label ads the way the ASA and CAP describe, what the CMA says about fake reviews, what the ICO says about cookies, and how affiliate income fits with the trading allowance and Self Assessment.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. Each lesson has a worked example, common slips, questions people often ask and a short exercise to try, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Nevra, a part-time pharmacy technician in Bridlington who writes a birdwatching blog for beginners, from her first niche scorecard to her six-month review, mistakes included. In the final lessons you plan the launch month of a made-up composting site, with full worked answers. Every section has a practice pack with exercise sheets, answer keys and cheat sheets, plus a glossary, a niche scorecard, a programme comparison spreadsheet, post outlines, disclosure wording examples, a content calendar spreadsheet, an earnings and click tracker with made-up figures, a records sheet, checklists and final project files.

What you'll learn

• How affiliate marketing works: the four parties in a sale, links, cookies and tracking in plain words, commission models, cookie windows, payment thresholds and realistic expectations.
• Choosing a niche: a focused subject from what you know and use, readers' real questions, a simple niche scorecard and choosing a blog, newsletter or social channel.
• Joining programmes: affiliate networks and direct programmes, finding programmes that fit your readers, applying truthfully, reading the terms and what gets affiliates removed.
• Content that helps readers: helpful and thin content, fair reviews with real drawbacks, comparison posts, buying guides, how-to posts, resource pages and careful link placement.
• Search basics: how search treats buying questions, keywords that show what readers want, titles and headings, showing first-hand experience and marking paid links.
• Newsletters and social channels: growing a newsletter fairly, links in emails, links and labels on social channels, short videos and live streams, and planning across channels.
• Disclosure and the law: why affiliate content is advertising, labelling it the ASA and CAP way, not misleading readers, fake reviews and the CMA, and cookies and privacy notices.
• Trust and ethics: recommending only what you'd use, saying when something isn't right, free products and offers, staying independent of commission rates and a recommendations policy.
• Tracking, tax and records: clicks, conversions and earnings per 100 clicks, a simple tracking spreadsheet, affiliate income and the trading allowance, records and Self Assessment.
• Growing and your launch plan: reviewing your first months, spreading the risk, link checks and backups, and a final project: a one-month launch plan for a made-up niche site, with worked answers.

Who it's for

Bloggers, newsletter writers, people with a social channel and small publishers in the UK who want to earn fairly from recommendations. No marketing or technical experience is needed: just a subject you know, somewhere to publish and a few hours a week.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a practical beginner course. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, and it makes no promises about income. It gives no typical earnings, commission rates or traffic figures: every figure is made up for the story or for practice, and labelled as such. The rules come from official pages on GOV.UK and the ASA, CAP, CMA and ICO websites, read on 2 November 2026. Rules and tax figures change, often each April, so check the official pages before you rely on a detail. Networks, sellers, platforms and tools are described by type, never by brand. Nevra and every other person, site and business in the course are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Explain how affiliate links, cookies, commission models, cookie windows and payment thresholds work, and set realistic expectations
• Choose a niche from what you know and what readers ask, using a simple scorecard with evidence
• Find, compare and join affiliate programmes that fit your readers, and read their terms before you sign up
• Write fair reviews, comparison posts, buying guides, how-to posts and resource pages that genuinely help readers
• Apply search basics to review and comparison content, showing first-hand experience and marking paid links
• Use a newsletter and social channels for recommendations, within each programme's and platform's rules
• Label affiliate content clearly in line with ASA and CAP guidance, avoid misleading claims and fake reviews, and handle cookies and privacy notices
• Keep your independence with a recommendations policy, fair handling of free products and a simple independence check
• Track clicks, conversions and commission in a simple spreadsheet, and keep the records UK tax rules ask for
• Plan a one-month launch for a niche site with programme shortlists, content briefs, a disclosure statement and a tracking sheet

Frequently asked questions