Earn · Digital marketing
Honest Links: affiliate marketing course for beginners (honestly)
Six lessons: how affiliate marketing works and the honest odds, choosing products and programs, disclosure rules, honest reviews with AI, traffic channels and their rules, and the scams that borrow the name. Australia, UK and US. Self-paced, not an accredited qualification.
About this course
affiliate marketing course for beginners (honestly).
Starter · About 1 hour of learning · 6 lessons · 12 quick checks · 1 download
Who it's for
Bloggers, creators and beginners in Australia, the UK, the US and elsewhere considering affiliate marketing.
How it works
6 guided lessons in your browser, with worked examples, exercises and a quick check after each lesson. Progress is saved in this browser only, and you can restart at any time.
Sources we rely on
22 published sources, mostly regulators and official bodies, listed below so you can check the original guidance yourself.
By the end you can
- Explain how affiliate links, tracking and commission work
- Choose products and programs you can recommend honestly
- Write and place disclosures that meet FTC, ASA/CMA and ACCC expectations
- Write reviews that add original value and mark links correctly
- Spot MLM, earnings-claim and AI storefront scams
Downloads
- Affiliate disclosure and program checker .docxProgram terms table, disclosure templates and test, review checklist and scam red flags, with Leo’s example. Rules checked 24 Oct 2026 (volatile).
Rules by country
Learning time
About 1 hour of learning. May count towards your CPD or professional development; check your professional body's rules. Estimated from reading time, exercises, quick checks and downloads.
Sources
Check the originals.
Drafted with AI assistance and run through automated quality and source checks. How these courses are made. Spotted an error or out-of-date rule? Send a correction.
Education only. We make no earnings or income claims: results depend on your skills, effort, market and many other factors, and most new ventures earn little at first. We don't teach investing, crypto trading, network marketing or dropshipping schemes, and we don't use affiliate links.
- Multi-level marketing businesses and pyramid schemes · Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice (US)
- Bogus business opportunities · Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance (US)
- Disclosures 101 for social media influencers · Federal Trade Commission (US)
- Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement · Amazon Associates (vendor terms)
- 16 CFR Part 255: Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising · eCFR, Federal Trade Commission (US)
- FTC’s Endorsement Guides: what people are asking · Federal Trade Commission (US)
- Affiliate marketing (advice online) · Advertising Standards Authority / CAP (UK)
- Social media endorsements: guidance for content creators · Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK
- Social media promotions · ACCC (Australia)
- Spam policies for Google web search · Google Search Central
- Google Search’s guidance about AI-generated content (8 February 2023) · Google Search Central Blog
- Qualify your outbound links to Google · Google Search Central
- Avoid sending spam · Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
- Electronic mail marketing (Guide to PECR) · Information Commissioner’s Office (UK)
- CAN-SPAM Act: a compliance guide for business · Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance (US)
- False or misleading claims · Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Advertising FAQ’s: a guide for small business · Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance (US)
- Google Ads policies · Google Advertising Policies Help
- FTC announces crackdown on deceptive AI claims and schemes (Operation AI Comply, 25 September 2024) · Federal Trade Commission (US)
- Investment scams · Scamwatch, National Anti-Scam Centre (ACCC, Australia)
- Self-employed individuals tax center · Internal Revenue Service (US)
- Report Fraud: the place to report, prevent and learn about cyber crime and fraud · Report Fraud, City of London Police (UK)
Publisher
Who publishes this course.
Published by trainyourself.org, a trading name of Combine TRS Pty Ltd (ABN 42 112 983 678), Brisbane, Australia.
How it's made: drafted with AI assistance from published official, regulator and platform guidance, then run through automated quality checks against our course depth standard and automated source checks that match each rule to its official source, listed above. The course guide is an AI presenter and is labelled as one. Read how these courses are made.
Last updated:
General information, not tax, accounting, legal or professional advice. Spotted an error or an out-of-date rule? Send us a correction.
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