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TL;DR – Quick Answer
- Best overall for bloggers who already have a site: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
- Best for building a brand-new SEO/authority site from scratch: Authority Site System
- Best for beginners wanting multiple traffic methods: Savage Affiliates
- Best low-cost, content-first introduction: Pat Flynn’s affiliate marketing training (Smart Passive Income)
- Best for combining traffic-building + monetization long-term: Income School’s Project 24
- Price and format vary significantly — match the course to where you actually are in your blogging journey, not just the price tag.
If you’re a blogger trying to figure out how to actually make money from your content, affiliate marketing is one of the most realistic paths — but the course you pick should match your specific situation. Here’s an honest breakdown of 5 popular options.
How I Compared These Courses
I looked at four things for each course: who it’s actually built for, what format it teaches in (text vs video), price, and what makes it different from the others. I’ve personally gone through Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing myself — read my full review here — and researched the others based on publicly available course information, which I recommend you verify directly on each course’s official page before buying, since pricing and curriculum can change.
1. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Best for: Bloggers who already have a website and want a clear, affordable roadmap for adding affiliate income specifically.
Created by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents, this course is mostly text-based, with 6 modules and 30+ lessons covering everything from finding affiliate programs to compliance to conversion strategy, including a Pinterest-specific module.
- Price: $236.40 one-time, or 2 payments of $126 (confirm current pricing)
- Format: Text-based, worksheets, private Facebook group
- Strength: Directly focused on affiliate marketing for existing blogs, not a broader “build a business” course
- Limitation: Not video-heavy, and doesn’t teach SEO/traffic generation as a core module
2. Authority Site System (by Authority Hacker)
Best for: Someone building a brand-new SEO-focused authority site from the ground up, rather than someone who already has an existing blog to monetize.
This course goes deeper into technical SEO and site-building than Michelle’s course, making it a better fit if your main gap is traffic generation rather than affiliate monetization specifically.
- Format: Video-heavy, more advanced
- Strength: Strong technical SEO training
- Limitation: Steeper learning curve and higher price point, less beginner-friendly if you’re not ready for technical SEO work yet
3. Savage Affiliates
Best for: Complete beginners who want exposure to multiple traffic methods (SEO, email marketing, sales funnels) beyond just blogging.
- Price: Roughly $197-297 (confirm current pricing)
- Format: Video-based
- Strength: Broader traffic-method coverage than blog-specific courses
- Limitation: Less blog-specific depth than Michelle’s course if blogging is your only platform
4. Pat Flynn’s Affiliate Marketing Training (Smart Passive Income)
Best for: Bloggers who want a content-first, trust-based introduction to affiliate marketing at a lower cost, from someone known for transparent income reporting.
Pat Flynn has been one of the most well-known voices in affiliate marketing and passive income for over a decade, and his training tends to emphasize genuine audience trust over aggressive sales tactics.
- Format: Mix of free content and broader paid programs covering online business generally — not a single dedicated affiliate-marketing curriculum
- Strength: Strong emphasis on ethics, audience trust, and long-term thinking
- Limitation: Less structured/comprehensive than a dedicated paid course like Michelle’s or Authority Site System
5. Income School’s Project 24
Best for: Bloggers who want one program covering both traffic generation and monetization together, with a long-term (24-month) mindset.
- Format: Videos, articles, members-only podcast, community access
- Strength: Combines SEO/traffic strategy with monetization in one place, useful if you don’t want to piece together a separate SEO course and affiliate course
- Limitation: Requires patience — it’s explicitly built around a longer timeline, not quick wins
How to Choose Between Them
- Already have a blog with some content? → Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is the most direct fit
- Starting completely from scratch and want to build an SEO-first site? → Authority Site System
- Want to learn multiple traffic sources, not just blogging? → Savage Affiliates
- Want a lower-cost, trust-first introduction from a known name? → Pat Flynn’s training
- Want traffic-building and monetization combined into one long-term program? → Income School’s Project 24
Final Thoughts
There’s no single “best” affiliate marketing course — there’s the one that matches where you actually are right now. If you’re unsure, start with the one that matches your current setup (existing blog vs. starting fresh) rather than the one with the most hype around it.
FAQs
No — but a structured course can shorten your learning curve significantly compared to piecing information together yourself.
If you already have a blog, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is the most direct. If you’re starting from scratch, Savage Affiliates or Authority Site System may fit better depending on your budget and technical comfort.
That depends on whether you implement what you learn. A course only pays off if you act on it — see my honest experience with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing here.
Related Articles
– Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course Review
– Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It in 2026?
– Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers: Strategy That Works
Sources
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