$100/Day on Pinterest: A Simple Guide to Affiliate Marketing on Pinterest

Most people treat Pinterest like it is Instagram with a search bar. They upload a few pretty pins, paste an affiliate link into the description, and wait for commissions that never arrive. The account gets flagged, the links get stripped, and they quit convinced Pinterest does not work. The method that actually works looks nothing like that.

Pinterest is one of the largest search engines in the world, and it also feeds organic traffic directly from Google. When you understand that distinction, a realistic path opens up to $100 per day in affiliate commissions, and with enough consistency, up to $300 per day. This post walks through every step, from picking a niche to automating your pin schedule so the whole thing runs while you sleep.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear picture of why Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform, and why that changes the entire strategy
A keyword research process using AnswerThePublic to find exactly what your audience is already searching for
Step-by-step Canva setup for creating both static and video pins at the correct 1000×1500 format
The one mistake that gets Pinterest accounts shut down, and the right way to route traffic instead
A Tailwind scheduling setup that lets you batch 30 to 60 minutes per month and have pins going out daily on autopilot
A board structure that mirrors how Pinterest’s own algorithm distributes content
An honest look at the timeline: what to expect in weeks versus months, and what consistent effort actually produces
Not sure which platform fits your current skills and schedule? finder.platformproof.com will match you in two minutes

Pinterest Is a Search Engine (and That Changes Everything)

The first mental shift you need to make is this: Pinterest is not Facebook or Instagram. People do not go to Pinterest to scroll and kill time. They go there because they have a problem and they are looking for a solution. That means every person who finds your pin is already in problem-solving mode, already motivated, already ready to click a link and buy something that helps them.

The second, less-obvious piece is the Google connection. Pinterest pins rank in Google search results. Type a how-to question into Google and you will often see Pinterest pins appearing near the top of the page. A single well-optimized pin can pull traffic from Pinterest’s internal search AND from Google, doubling your surface area with no extra work on your part.

If you build a YouTube channel, you are chasing subscribers and algorithm favor. If you build a blog, you are waiting months for SEO to kick in. Pinterest can start delivering organic search traffic from two sources at once from day one, and it keeps delivering long after you upload the pin. That is the structural advantage almost nobody talks about when they pitch this platform.

Most people who fail on Pinterest fail because they treat it like a social media broadcasting platform. They upload content randomly, spray affiliate links across comment sections, and hope someone clicks. That approach does not work because it ignores the way the platform actually functions. Pinterest rewards content that answers specific questions that real people are already typing into search bars. Build your content around that reality and the platform works with you instead of against you.

Step 1: Pick Your Niche

Before you touch Canva or Tailwind, you need to land on a niche. The niche does not have to be exotic. In the video, Alston uses affiliate marketing as the example throughout the entire tutorial because it is straightforward and familiar to his audience. The same process works for personal finance, home organization, fitness, cooking, travel, parenting, or any topic that has a real audience and real affiliate programs behind it.

What matters is that your niche has actual search volume on Pinterest. A niche with no search demand means no traffic, regardless of how many pins you upload. The keyword research step that follows will confirm whether your niche has demand before you invest a single hour creating content. Do not skip that confirmation step. A lot of wasted effort in affiliate marketing comes from building content in niches where people are not actively searching for solutions.

Step 2: Keyword Research with AnswerThePublic

The keyword tool Alston recommends is AnswerThePublic at answerthepublic.com. You can use both the free version and the paid version for this step. Type your niche topic into the search bar and run a search. For the affiliate marketing niche, the tool returned 736 keywords in the tutorial.

These keywords become the headlines and text overlays on your pins. When someone types a question into Pinterest’s search bar and your pin headline matches that question, your pin surfaces in results. When Google indexes that same pin and sees the keyword alignment, it can pull the pin into Google results too. Keywords are not optional window dressing here. They are the mechanism that connects your pin to the people who need it most.

You can also use Pinterest’s own keyword tool inside the Pinterest Ads interface to see what terms have search volume. The combination of AnswerThePublic for broad discovery and Pinterest’s own data for volume confirmation gives you a strong foundation. Once you have your list, export it and download it as a CSV file. You will use it as a reference every time you sit down to create a new batch of pins.

Step 3: Create Pins in Canva

Go to canva.com and search for Pinterest pins. Make sure you select the 1000 by 1500 pixel format. Canva will show you a library of templates. You can start from a blank canvas or customize an existing template. Either approach works.

Pinterest currently favors video pins because the platform is competing with TikTok and YouTube Shorts for short-form video attention. Alston’s own Pinterest profile shows a mix of static and video pins, and his video pins are pulling strong traffic at the time he recorded this tutorial. For video pins, you can use Canva’s built-in video elements. Some are free and some are labeled with a crown icon indicating they require a paid plan. You can build fully functional pins using only the free elements.

When you design a pin, take a keyword from your CSV file and drop it into the headline text on the pin itself. That is the text Pinterest reads to determine what the pin is about. The visual grabs attention and stops the scroll, but the text overlay is what feeds the algorithm. Design matters, but do not let a lack of design confidence slow you down. Alston is upfront in the video that he does not have a natural eye for design. A readable headline on a clean background with a relevant image is enough to get started.

Spend 30 minutes to an hour in a single session creating a batch of pins. Download video pins as MP4 files and static pins as JPG or PNG. When you are done with that batch, you are done creating for a while. The scheduling step that follows automates the distribution so you are not logging into Pinterest every day to upload manually.

Step 4: Never Put Affiliate Links Directly in Your Pins

This is the mistake that destroys accounts before they have a chance to build any momentum. When you upload a Pinterest pin, you set a destination URL in the pin settings. Most beginners paste their ClickBank affiliate link into that field and consider the job done. Pinterest does not like affiliate links in general, and it specifically flags ClickBank links. Accounts that do this regularly get suspended or shut down entirely.

There is also a structural problem that goes beyond account safety. Once you upload a pin and set the URL, you cannot change it. That destination is locked in permanently. If you link directly to an affiliate offer and later find a better program, or get removed from Amazon Associates, or decide to pivot the product you are promoting, that pin is a dead end. The traffic it generates has nowhere useful to go and you have no way to fix it.

What you should do instead is send people to one of three places: your blog, your YouTube channel, or a landing page you control. Alston’s own Pinterest profile sends the large majority of its traffic to one of those three destinations. When your destination is a page you own, you can update the content, swap out the offer, add new affiliate links, and adjust your pitch anytime you want. The pin keeps producing traffic and the destination stays current. That is how you build a Pinterest presence that holds value over time instead of becoming a graveyard of locked-in dead links.

Step 5: Get a Website and Claim It on Pinterest

To get the most out of Pinterest, you need a real hosted website with your own domain. Not a free Wix site. Not a Google Sites page. A proper domain and hosting setup. Alston references Bluehost in the video and mentions that basic hosting costs around $3 per month.

Pinterest allows you to claim your website in your account settings. That claimed-domain status signals credibility to the platform’s algorithm and links your domain to every pin you publish. It shows up visibly on your profile. When a visitor clicks through to your claimed site, Pinterest can attribute that traffic back to your account, which feeds better data into how the algorithm distributes your future pins.

Can you run Pinterest affiliate marketing without a website? Technically yes. Alston acknowledges that in the video. But he is direct about the consequence: skipping the website dramatically reduces your success rate. The $3 per month investment is the cheapest obstacle you will ever clear in this business. Do not let it be the reason your Pinterest strategy underperforms.

Not sure whether Pinterest, YouTube, a blog, or email is the right starting point for you?

Each platform has a different time commitment and a different payout timeline. finder.platformproof.com matches you to the right one based on where you actually are right now.

Step 6: Schedule Everything with Tailwind

Pinterest’s own guidelines recommend posting between 10 and 25 pins per day. If you try to do that manually, you will spend every available hour inside the Pinterest interface. Tailwind at tailwindapp.com solves that problem completely by automating your entire publishing schedule.

Tailwind has a free tier that lets you schedule up to 20 pins per month on one Pinterest account. If you want to hit 10 or more pins per day and stay inside Pinterest’s recommended posting volume, the free plan does not get you there. The math does not work: 20 pins per month at 10 per day is two days of coverage. If you are serious about the method, the paid plan removes that cap. It is not a significant expense relative to the time it saves.

Here is how the workflow looks once you are inside Tailwind. You upload the pins you created in Canva to Tailwind’s media library. Then you go into the drafts section and bulk schedule them. Tailwind recently added a ghostwrite feature that generates pin descriptions automatically based on a keyword you provide. You paste in one of your AnswerThePublic keywords, click generate, review the description, and save it. You then select which boards to publish to, click schedule, and Tailwind handles everything from there. In the video, Alston shows his Tailwind queue already scheduled two to three months in advance. He said the entire process takes about 30 minutes to an hour per month, not per day. That is the automation payoff that makes this method sustainable alongside a regular job or other obligations.

Step 7: Set Up Your Pinterest Boards the Right Way

Pinterest boards function like topic folders. You can have multiple boards, each focused on a specific sub-niche within your broader topic area. For someone building in the affiliate marketing space, Alston recommends setting up at least three boards: one for affiliate marketing, one for make money online, and one for social media marketing. Each board targets a slightly different search query and gives your pins additional places to live and be discovered.

When you schedule a pin through Tailwind, you can select multiple boards and Tailwind sends that pin to each of them according to your schedule. One pin, created once, lands in several board categories and shows up in several different search streams simultaneously. This multiplies your distribution without any extra content creation work. The more relevant boards your pin lives in, the more search queries it can surface for.

The Realistic Timeline: $100 a Day to $300 a Day

Alston gives specific numbers in the video: this method can bring you to $100 per day in affiliate income, and with continued consistent effort, up to $300 per day. He is equally clear about the timeline. It will not happen overnight. Depending on your niche, it can take weeks of consistent posting before the algorithm starts distributing your content broadly. In competitive niches, or niches with thinner search volume, you may not see meaningful income for several months.

That is not a failure of the method. It is how search-based platforms work across the board. You are building a library of indexed content. Each pin you add is another entry point. The more pins you have published and indexed, the more chances someone finds you through Pinterest search or through a Google result that surfaces one of your pins. The income curve tends to be slow at first, then faster, then self-reinforcing as your account age, pin count, and domain authority all grow together.

Honest Drawbacks

This method is real, but it has limits worth understanding before you start.

Pinterest’s rules change. The platform’s stance on affiliate links and external destinations has shifted before and could shift again. Staying within the current rules, which means sending traffic to your own site rather than direct affiliate links, is the safest approach available today. That does not mean it is a permanent guarantee against future policy changes.

Tailwind’s free plan is too limited for the volume Pinterest recommends. If you want to follow Pinterest’s own 10-to-25-pins-per-day guideline and keep it fully automated, you need to invest in the paid Tailwind plan or commit to doing significant manual uploading. There is no workaround that hits that volume for free.

Your niche determines your ceiling. Some niches have large affiliate programs with high commission rates. Others have thin margins and low payouts. The $100-per-day target will arrive faster in some niches than others. The keyword research step at the beginning is not just about finding content ideas. It also tells you whether the traffic volume you need to hit your income goal actually exists in your chosen niche.

Pin URLs are permanent. Because Pinterest locks the destination URL the moment you upload a pin, any pin pointing to a dead affiliate link or a changed page becomes a wasted asset. Sending all traffic to pages you control rather than direct affiliate offers eliminates this risk. It is not just a platform policy issue. It is basic asset protection.

The Complete Step-by-Step Summary

Pick a niche with real search demand on Pinterest
Go to AnswerThePublic, search your niche keyword, and export the keyword list as a CSV file
Open Canva, set dimensions to 1000×1500, and create a batch of static and video pins using your keywords as headline text
Get a hosted website with your own domain, then claim that website in your Pinterest account settings
Set all pin destination URLs to your blog, YouTube channel, or a landing page you control — never a direct affiliate link
Create multiple Pinterest boards organized by sub-niche within your topic area
Upload your pins to Tailwind, use the ghostwrite feature to add keyword-based descriptions, and bulk schedule them across your boards
Repeat the batching session once a month to keep your queue filled months in advance

Find Your X

Pinterest affiliate marketing is one real path to online income. But it works best when it fits your niche, your content creation style, and the time you actually have available. If you are not sure whether Pinterest is the right starting point for your situation, or whether a blog or YouTube channel would produce results faster given your specific skills, finder.platformproof.com can help you figure that out in a couple of minutes. No guessing. No generic advice. Just a clear match based on where you are right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to pay for Tailwind to make this work?

Tailwind has a free plan that allows 20 pins per month on one Pinterest account. Pinterest itself recommends 10 to 25 pins per day, which means the free plan will not cover even two full days of the recommended volume. If you want to follow Pinterest’s own posting guidelines and keep the schedule automated, the paid Tailwind plan is necessary. You can start on the free plan to learn the interface before upgrading.

Can I put ClickBank affiliate links directly in my Pinterest pins?

Alston explicitly warns against this in the video. Pinterest does not like affiliate links in general and specifically flags ClickBank links as a fast way to get your account shut down. The safe approach is to send pin traffic to a blog post, YouTube video, or landing page you control, and let that page contain your affiliate links. Putting ClickBank links directly into the pin’s destination URL field is one of the most reliable ways to lose your Pinterest account.

How long before I start making money with Pinterest affiliate marketing?

Alston is straightforward about this in the video: it can take weeks, and in some niches it takes months. Pinterest is a search-based platform, so your content builds an audience through indexed pins over time rather than through a single viral moment. The more pins you have published and indexed, the more search traffic entry points you have. Consistent posting over a sustained period is what produces the $100-per-day outcome, not a burst of activity in week one.

What size should my Pinterest pins be?

The correct format is 1000 by 1500 pixels. When you search for Pinterest pins in Canva, the template size that matches this format appears as one of the top options. Select it and then either start from a blank canvas or customize an existing template. Both static image pins and video pins use the same 1000×1500 dimensions.

Does Pinterest still work for affiliate marketing?

Pinterest is one of the largest search platforms on the internet and pulls traffic from both its own internal search and from Google. As long as you follow the platform’s current rules — specifically, routing traffic to your own site or content rather than direct affiliate links — the method remains viable. Platform policies can shift over time, so staying current with Pinterest’s terms is part of running this business responsibly.

What is AnswerThePublic and do I need the paid version?

AnswerThePublic is a keyword research tool that shows you the questions and phrases people type into search engines around any topic you enter. It has both a free version and a paid version. Alston demonstrates both in the tutorial. The free version generates enough keyword ideas to build your first several months of pins. The paid version allows unlimited searches and has more robust export options. Starting with the free version is fine for most beginners.

How many Pinterest boards should I have?

Alston’s example in the video uses three boards for the affiliate marketing niche: one for affiliate marketing, one for make money online, and one for social media marketing. These are three distinct sub-niches within the same broader topic. Having multiple boards means a single pin can appear in several different search categories. There is no fixed number of boards required, but at minimum two or three boards covering the main angles of your niche gives Tailwind meaningful distribution options when scheduling your pins.

Can I do Pinterest affiliate marketing without a website?

Alston says yes, technically, but he is direct that skipping the website dramatically reduces your success rate. A claimed domain on Pinterest signals credibility to the algorithm. It also gives you destination URLs you control, so you can update your offers without losing the traffic value of pins you already published. At around $3 per month for basic hosting, a real website is the lowest-cost, highest-impact step in the entire method. Not having one is a choice that costs more in lost results than it saves in monthly fees.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “$100/Day On Pinterest | Simple How To Start Affiliate Marketing On Pinterest In 2023 Tutorial,” YouTube, https://youtu.be/JuqiMn9msm8
AnswerThePublic keyword research tool: answerthepublic.com
Canva pin design tool: canva.com
Tailwind Pinterest scheduling tool: tailwindapp.com