When Janesha Moore got a $540 check from Amazon in May 2023 for affiliate commissions, she was astounded. Before that, the 27-year-old had been trying to build up her career as a creator after being laid off that January from a luxury watch company where she worked as a global marketing project manager.
“Seeing that money really woke me up,” the Philadelphia-based creator told Business Insider. “That’s when I seriously started strategizing and started doing a lot of research into affiliate marketing.”
Today, Moore has 197,000 followers on Instagram and 83,500 followers on TikTok, where she posts style, beauty, and self-care content. She’s earned $100,378 through affiliate-marketing programs on Amazon and LTK (formerly LikeToKnowIt) in the 12 months since she was laid off from her corporate job, according to documentation viewed and verified by BI.
Most of her income as a creator has come from affiliate marketing, though she’s also partnered with brands like Warby Parker, Walmart, and Marshalls to create paid, sponsored content.
She’s found affiliate marketing so lucrative that she’s launching a program called The Strategic Influencer Academy, dedicated to closing the pay gap between white and BIPOC creators by educating those from marginalized communities on the exact ways that she grew her income without relying on brand deals or hiring a management team. She said the program, which she plans to charge for, has a waitlist of 5,200 interested people who signed up through the link in her bio.
“From my own experience and conversations with other creators of color, especially Black women, we’re constantly getting overlooked and underpaid by brands,” she said. “Affiliate marketing is such a powerful tool because everyone has the same percentage they make, so it’s really just a matter of the strategies you put into place to make the money work for you.”
Beyoncé’s impact lasted long after Moore attended her first show on the latest tour
Moore first launched her Amazon storefront in May 2021 but didn’t start making serious money until Beyoncé paved the way.
When she went to the mega performer’s first US show in the Renaissance World Tour last summer, she thought others in the “Beyhive,” as the star’s fans are known, might need outfit ideas for attending the highly anticipated concert tour. Moore posted an Instagram reel and a TikTok where she outlined different options — it went viral with over 1.2 million views altogether. At the end of July, she had earned $15,000 in commissions from Amazon from people using her link to buy clothes.
“That’s when I leaned into the strategy of making content around specific events or holidays or things I knew people were searching for,” she said. “I had already been steadily growing online, but that point was when I really took off.”
Moore earned $38,181 in Amazon commissions from July to December.
The creator also earns a commission from LTK, which she started using in late 2022. She said that, at first, she didn’t really understand the platform and wasn’t making much money from it. That changed when she started using Instagram automation, which allows a creator to use third-party software to schedule posts or compile engagement analytics. In 2023, she made $62,196 in sales through the platform.
“If only I had known all this in the beginning,” she said. “Once I was able to study the needs of my audience and understand how much I could link, the sky was the limit.”
One of her goals is to help other creators of color avoid getting lowballed by brands
Late last year, Moore started drawing up plans for The Strategic Influencer Academy, an online program with over 20 modules that aims to teach participants the specific strategies Moore used to build her influencer business, from researching and tapping into affiliate marketing to shifting her mindset around money.
“There’s such a pay disparity within brand partnerships,” she said. “Affiliate marketing really empowers you and equips you with the power to earn as much as you want, so don’t have to worry about the emotional aspect of getting lowballed and feeling like your work isn’t good enough.”
Moore said she still gets offers from brands who offer very little money for the work — the most recent was 15 deliverables, such as posts and calls with the brand, for $2,700. She often thinks about other creators of color who might have to accept those brand deals because they don’t have any other income streams.
Since most of her income is through affiliate marketing, she considers brand partnerships “bonus revenue,” she said.
“Brand partnerships should not be your ultimate goal as a creator, especially if you’re a POC,” she said. “You should strive for consistent income, and there’s so many other ways to do that.”
February 15, 2024, 10:51 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional details and clarifying language.
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