How to Earn Money on Posts That Don't Sell Anything

If you are an Amazon Affiliate, you know the drill: write a great product review, put in your text link, and hope someone buys. This works well for posts like "The 5 Best Blenders to Buy."

But what about your other great posts?

What about the articles where you share a personal story, a helpful tip, or a huge list of ideas that don't focus on just one product?

Are those posts just wasting your potential income?

Absolutely not.

The pros know how to use a secret tool called Amazon Native Shopping Ads to make money from every single post on their website, even the ones that don't have a direct affiliate link.

This guide will show you how to set up these special ads and why they are the perfect way to monetize your most popular, non-salesy content.

What Are Amazon Native Shopping Ads?

You are probably familiar with Text Links (a simple line of text that is an affiliate link). Native Shopping Ads are different.

They are visual ads—like a clean, organized box of products—that sit right inside your content.

They are designed by Amazon to look "native," meaning they match the look and feel of your website so they don't look like spammy banner ads.

The Main Benefit

Unlike regular banner ads (like Google AdSense) that pay you pennies just for showing up, Native Shopping Ads pay you in the same way as your text links: you earn a commission when someone clicks on the ad and buys a product on Amazon.

This is great for earning money from content that doesn't directly promote a product.

The Three Types of Native Ads

Amazon gives Associates three types of Native Ads. It's helpful to know which ad to use where:

How to Make Money on Posts That Don't Sell

You should never add an obvious affiliate link to a personal story about your family. It ruins the trust with your audience. Native Ads solve this problem.

Here are three examples of how a smart affiliate uses these ads to monetize tricky content:

Case 1: The Personal Story Post

Imagine you wrote a post called, "How I Finally Organized My Garage and Gained My Space Back." This post is valuable, but it's not a review. You don't want to spam it with links.

• The Problem Post: A high-traffic personal story about organization.
• The Native Ad Fix: Place a Recommendation Ad at the very bottom of the article.
• Why it Works: The ad box reads your article's content ("garage," "storage," "shelves") and shows highly relevant products. The reader has just finished a helpful, non-salesy article and is now relaxed and trusting. They see a picture of a great set of storage shelves, click, and buy—and you get the commission.

Case 2: The Step-by-Step How-To Guide

Your post is titled, "Easy Guide to Cleaning Your Grout in 3 Simple Steps." Your goal is to help, not sell.

• The Problem Post: A service-based, "how-to" guide that needs specific tools.
• The Native Ad Fix: Place a Custom Ad in the middle of the article, listing the exact products you mention (grout cleaner, scrub brush, steamer).
• Why it Works: You are not saying, "Buy this!" You are saying, "Here are the tools I used in Step 1 and Step 2." The ad is a service to the reader, making it look like a helpful, organized supply list. This placement often leads to very high conversions because the user has high purchase intent (they already want to do the job).

Case 3: The General Topic/Niche Guide

You run a website about gardening, and you have a general "Gardening Tips" page that gets a lot of traffic.

• The Problem Post: Content is too broad for one single link.
• The Native Ad Fix: Place a Search Ad right below the main image and set the keyword to a high-converting search term like "best garden tools" or "seed starting kit."
• Why it Works: The ad box focuses the reader's attention on a specific product need based on the keyword you chose. Plus, the reader can change the search term if they want, making it a useful, interactive tool that keeps them on your site longer.

Best Tips for Ad Placement and Optimization

Here are some tips to earn the most money with Native Ads:

1. Placement is Key: Amazon's data shows that Native Ads convert best when they are inside the content or right before the conclusion of the article. Avoid putting them in the sidebar, as they usually don't convert well there.
2. Test with Tracking IDs: When you create a new ad unit, make sure you create a unique Tracking ID for it (e.g., blogname-native-bottom). This is how you learn which posts and which ad types are actually earning you money.
3. Use the WordPress Plugin: If you use WordPress, try using the official Amazon Associates Plugin (or a reliable third-party ad inserter plugin). This lets you place the ad code once and automatically show it on all your relevant posts without having to edit every single page manually.
4. Disclose (Even If It’s Not a Link!): You must still place your clear and conspicuous affiliate disclosure statement on the page. Even though it's an ad, it's a monetized link, and transparency is always required.

Moving beyond simple text links and intelligently using Amazon Native Ads can help turn every piece of content on your website into a potential income source. Again, this is one of many ways to leverage existing content while getting the most on the table.