Stupid Simple Way To Start Affiliate Marketing In 2023

Most affiliate marketing advice tells you to pick a niche, build a brand, grow an audience, and then eventually start making money. That process works, but it takes years. What if there was a faster on-ramp? Not a shortcut, but a more targeted starting point that plants you right in front of people who are already ready to buy?

That’s what this strategy is. It’s built around a single word: under. YouTube channels with as few as 10,000 subscribers and websites with a domain rating of 26 are using this exact approach to rank for thousands of buyer-intent keywords and collect affiliate commissions every month. Here’s the full breakdown of how it works and how you can copy it.

What You’ll Walk Out With

Why the word “under” signals buyer intent and where it fits in the purchase funnel
Real view counts and channel sizes from YouTube that prove small accounts can win this game
A look at what the keyword volume actually is — 1.3 million monthly searches across 244,000 keywords
How to research and recommend products without buying any of them
Where to publish your content for maximum reach (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, blog)
An honest look at the timeline and what “consistent” actually means for this model
Not sure which platform fits your current skills? Find out at finder.platformproof.com

The Buyer’s Funnel and Why “Under” Is a Power Word

Picture an inverted pyramid. At the very top, people are asking broad, basic questions. Things like “how do I start a YouTube channel” or “how do I stream” or “how do I record myself making content.” These are awareness questions. The people asking them are nowhere near a purchase decision. They’re just starting to learn.

As they move down the funnel, they start asking better questions. They’ve done some research, they know roughly what they need, and now they want it to fit their budget. That’s where the word “under” comes in.

“Best YouTube microphone under $200.” “Best lighting under $50.” “Best laptop under $500.” These searches are not from curious beginners. These are people who know what they want. They have a credit card nearby. They are looking for someone to help them make the final decision. That person can be you.

This is roughly the third level from the bottom of the funnel, which is the spot where intent turns into action. It’s not the very bottom of the funnel (that would be searching for a specific product by name with “buy now” attached), but it’s close enough that the people you’re reaching are genuinely ready to spend money. They’re not researching anymore. They’re deciding.

That’s the insight behind this entire strategy. You’re not creating content to educate people who are years away from buying. You’re creating content that meets buyers at the moment they pull out their wallet. Those two types of content feel similar to make, but they produce very different affiliate income outcomes.

What the Real Numbers Look Like

One keyword research tool pulled up the word “under” combined with price points of $100, $200, $300, $400, and $600. The result: 1.3 million monthly searches and more than 244,000 individual keywords. That’s not one niche. That’s an entire universe of buyer-intent content waiting to be created, across every product category you can think of.

To make this real, look at what channels are already doing with “best watches under $100” on YouTube. The top result had 68,000 views and had been live for one month. The second result had 227,000 views. The third result had 55,000 views and came from a channel with only 10,000 subscribers. In the world of YouTube, 10,000 subscribers is considered small. But small accounts can rack up tens of thousands of views when they target buyer-intent searches, because the search itself sends the right viewer to the video.

On the blog side, one website with a domain rating of just 26 ranks for 7,000 keywords. The estimated paid traffic value of that traffic is around $503 a month, but that number doesn’t matter for this purpose. They’re affiliate marketers, not ad publishers. Their income comes from the products they recommend, not from what any traffic estimator assigns to their clicks. A DR 26 site ranking for 7,000 keywords tells you the barrier to entry here is lower than traditional SEO would suggest.

The specific keywords that site ranks for include gaming chairs under $100, loudest Bluetooth speaker under $100, best 65-inch TV under $800, and best ultra-wide monitor under $300. All buyer-intent. All top-10 rankings for a website that most traditional SEO practitioners would call weak. That’s the opportunity the “under” strategy opens up.

Electric bikes under $300 is another example from the video. That search on YouTube pulls up a video from a channel with 1,600 subscribers that has 915 views. Another result from a channel with 41,000 subscribers has 153,000 views. And a third, from a channel with just 1,900 subscribers, has 19,000 views. Smaller channels can compete here because the niche is specific enough that large, generalist channels haven’t bothered to dominate it.

The “Best X Under Y” Content Formula

The formula is this: pick a product category, pick a price point, and create a “best [category] under $[price]” piece of content. Then do it again. And again. That’s the whole thing.

You could build an entire YouTube channel around this concept. Every video is a “best X under Y” comparison. You could build an entire blog the same way, where every post is a list of the five or ten best options in a category organized by budget. You could take that same content and post short clips on TikTok or YouTube Shorts, as long as you include a call to action that points viewers somewhere they can actually make a purchase.

On TikTok, a video about the best electric bike under $300 pulled 646,000 views. That’s a single piece of content, on a short-form platform, targeting a buyer-intent keyword, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. Not every video will hit those numbers, but the potential is real because TikTok users actively use the platform as a search engine, just like they do on YouTube.

The key is that the search term does the distribution work for you. When someone types “best gaming chair under $100” into YouTube or Google, they are specifically looking for what you made. You don’t need a massive subscriber base or a high domain rating. You need to show up for the right search at the right moment, with content that actually answers the question.

If you look at the broader keyword data, the combinations people search for are essentially endless. Cheap deep freezer under $100. Shop drone under $100. Electric bikes under $300. Loudest Bluetooth speakers under $100. Gaming chairs under $100. These are real examples from the keyword tool, and each one represents a buyer who already knows what category they want and is just looking for the best option in their price range. That’s the easiest sale in affiliate marketing.

How to Research Products Without Buying Them

The most common question about this model is fair: “How do I recommend products I’ve never actually used?” The answer is aggregated research, and being transparent about it.

Start with Amazon. Type in your target product and sort the results by customer reviews. Then filter to show only the highest-rated items. You now have a ranked list of products that real buyers have tested and rated across thousands of purchases. That’s your starting point, not your opinion, but the collective opinion of people who bought the thing.

Then go to ChatGPT and ask it the same question. “What are the best electric bikes under $300?” Use the AI output as a cross-reference, not as your sole source. Don’t use ChatGPT as your only data point. Cross-reference what it says. If ChatGPT and the Amazon reviews agree on the same two or three models, that convergence is meaningful. If they diverge, keep digging.

Then do a blog search. Look at what existing review sites say about the same category. If multiple independent blogs are pointing to the same products, you have evidence that those recommendations have held up across different reviewers with different testing methods.

When you create your content, be upfront about this process. Tell your audience that you scoured Amazon reviews, cross-referenced AI tools, and read through multiple blog posts to find the most consistently recommended options in the price range. That kind of transparency actually builds trust because you’re doing the work of aggregating information that would take your viewer hours to collect on their own. Saving people that time is a genuinely useful service. Own that framing.

Where to Publish Your “Under” Content

The more places you publish, the higher the chances that something finds an audience. A single piece of content, say a five-minute video comparing the best electric bikes under $300, can go in multiple places at once.

Start with YouTube. It’s the second largest search engine in the world and buyer-intent searches come with built-in commercial intent. Upload the video with the keyword in the title, description, and tags. That’s your primary channel.

Then cut a short version for TikTok. Or film a separate short clip for TikTok specifically. TikTok users search for product recommendations, and the algorithm surfaces content based on viewer interests, which means your video can reach buyers who weren’t actively searching for it but match the profile of someone who would.

Put the same clip on Instagram Reels and LinkedIn if it fits the audience. LinkedIn may seem like an odd choice for product content, but professionals search for tools and equipment within budget ranges too, particularly in categories like home office gear, electronics, and productivity tools.

Attach the content to a blog post. The written version lets you capture organic Google search traffic in addition to the YouTube and social traffic. A blog post about the best ultra-wide monitors under $300 can rank on Google and pull in readers who prefer text over video. That’s a separate traffic stream from the same underlying content.

You do not need a website to start. You can do this 100 percent free using your phone and a free YouTube channel. The website adds to the strategy over time and extends your reach, but it’s not a requirement to begin. The point is to start with what you have and build from there.

Not sure which platform or product category fits your situation right now?

Take the short quiz at finder.platformproof.com and get a recommendation based on your current skills and available time.

Honest Drawbacks

This model works. The numbers in the video are real. The channels and websites profiting from this approach are real. But there are important things to understand before you start.

It will not work if you do it once. This is the most important honest thing to say about this entire strategy. Creating one video about the best gaming chair under $100 will almost certainly not generate any affiliate income. The model requires volume and consistency. Multiple videos. Multiple posts. Sustained output over months. The people who see real results from this are the ones who show up every single day and keep adding to their content library.

Results take time. Realistically, depending on how often you upload and how consistent you are, you might start to see meaningful affiliate income somewhere around the six-month mark. It could be sooner if you hit a topic that takes off. It will likely be longer if you upload infrequently or give up during the early months when views are low and income is zero.

Some categories are already competitive. If you search for “best laptop under $500” on YouTube right now, you’ll find channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Starting there is harder. Start with the less obvious niches. Cheap deep freezers. Loudest Bluetooth speakers. Specific subcategories of electric bikes. The competition is thinner in the corners of the market, and that’s exactly where smaller channels have the most room to rank.

Your income is downstream from your traffic. This is not passive income from day one. You build traffic first, and income follows. Traffic builds slowly at first, then starts to compound as more videos and posts accumulate over time. Think of it like a savings account where interest compounds. The first several months feel like nothing is happening. A year or two in, the compounding starts to feel real.

A Simple Starting Framework

Here’s a straightforward way to start without overthinking the whole thing:

Pick one product category you find genuinely interesting or have some existing knowledge about
Choose three to five price points that make sense for that category (under $100, under $200, under $300)
Do your research: Amazon reviews sorted by rating, a ChatGPT query as a cross-reference, and a quick scan of existing blog posts in the category
Create your first “best X under $Y” piece of content — the five best options, clearly explained, with your affiliate links in the description or post
Publish it on YouTube as your primary platform, then repost or adapt it for TikTok and any other platform you already use
Sign up for the relevant affiliate program (Amazon Associates works for almost any physical product category and is the most universal starting point)
Repeat with the next price point or next subcategory and keep building the library one piece at a time

That’s the whole system. The difficulty is not in the strategy itself. The difficulty is in the execution, specifically in staying consistent when early views are low and income is zero. The strategy is straightforward. The commitment is the hard part.

Find Your X

The “best X under Y” strategy works across dozens of product categories, and there are more than 244,000 keywords to work with. The hard part isn’t finding keywords. The hard part is knowing which category actually fits your situation, your interests, and the time you realistically have to create content each week. If you want a faster way to figure that out, go to finder.platformproof.com and take the short quiz. It matches your current skills and situation to the right starting point so you’re not just picking randomly from a giant list of buyer-intent keywords.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to have personally used or owned the products I recommend?

No. The approach described here relies on aggregating research from Amazon reviews, AI tools like ChatGPT, and existing blog posts. You’re doing the work of cross-referencing multiple sources and presenting the most consistently recommended options in one place. Be transparent with your audience about how you researched the picks. That transparency is an honest representation of what you actually did, and it tends to build credibility rather than undermine it.

Which affiliate program should I start with for this type of content?

Amazon Associates is the most universal starting point because Amazon sells almost everything. Commission rates vary by product category, but the platform’s conversion rate tends to be high because buyers already trust Amazon and have their payment information saved there. For specific categories like electronics or outdoor gear, brand-specific affiliate programs sometimes pay higher commission rates, so it’s worth checking what’s available in your niche once you’ve settled on a category.

Can I really do this without a website?

Yes. A YouTube channel is enough to start and it costs nothing. You can film content with your phone, upload it for free, and place affiliate links in your video descriptions. A website extends your reach by capturing Google search traffic alongside YouTube traffic, but it’s not a requirement to begin. Many people start with YouTube only and add a blog later once they have a better sense of which content topics are working for them.

How much content do I need to create before I see any affiliate income?

There’s no fixed number, but the six-month mark is a realistic expectation if you’re publishing on a consistent schedule. Volume and frequency matter more than polish. A channel with 50 buyer-intent videos will generally outperform a channel with 5 highly produced ones because there are simply more opportunities for a video to rank and be found by a buyer. Start consistent, stay consistent, and let the library build.

How do I find keyword ideas beyond the examples shown in the video?

Type the word “under” into YouTube’s search bar and see what the autocomplete suggests. Do the same thing in Google. Browse Amazon categories and look for products where the price range matters to buyers, which is most physical product categories. Any product that people buy at specific budget points is a potential keyword. Categories that tend to work well are ones where the gap between budget and premium options is large enough that buyers genuinely need help choosing.

Can a small YouTube channel actually rank for these searches?

Yes. The examples in the video show channels with 1,600 and 1,900 subscribers generating thousands to tens of thousands of views on buyer-intent searches. YouTube’s algorithm surfaces content based on relevance and watch time, not just channel size. A well-targeted, genuinely useful video from a small channel will outrank a vague or lazy video from a larger channel when the topic is specific enough. Specificity is your competitive advantage as a smaller creator.

Is TikTok worth using for this strategy?

Yes. TikTok functions as a search engine, and users actively search for product recommendations on the platform. The video example shows a TikTok about electric bikes under $300 reaching 646,000 views. Short-form content works for buyer-intent topics because people looking for a quick recommendation want a fast answer, not a lengthy breakdown. Keep it punchy, lead with the top pick, and include a call to action pointing to your affiliate link or a longer piece of content.

What if someone has already made content about my chosen category?

Existing content in a category is evidence that the category has search demand, not a reason to avoid it. The key is finding the less saturated corners of the category. If “best laptop under $500” is competitive, try “best laptop under $400 for college students” or “best laptop under $500 for video editing.” Specificity reduces competition and often increases buyer intent at the same time, because the searcher has already narrowed down exactly what they need. More specific searches tend to convert better too.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “Stupid Simple Way To Start Affiliate Marketing In 2023,” YouTube (youtu.be/BCf3O_frj9M)
Amazon product search methodology demonstrated in source video: sort by customer reviews, filter by top-rated
Keyword research data cited in video: 1.3 million monthly searches, 244,000+ keywords for “under” plus price combinations ($100, $200, $300, $400, $600)
YouTube search examples cited in video: best watches under $100, electric bikes under $300 — view counts and subscriber figures as recorded at time of video production
TikTok search example cited in video: best electric bike under $300, 646,000 views

Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.