The Best Place for Busy Moms to Start Affiliate Marketing (LTK vs ShopMy vs Amazon Influencer)
Heads up: this post contains affiliate and referral links, which means I may earn a small commission or bonus if you sign up through them — at zero extra cost to you. I only ever point you toward stuff I actually use. 💛
Let me guess how you got here.
It's late. You worked all day, ran the dinner-bath-books-bed marathon, and the kids are finally down. You should be sleeping. Instead you're lying in the dark doing the thing we all do — doomscrolling. Half-watching other moms casually mention their "commissions," thinking I already recommend products to everyone I know for free… so why am I not getting paid for this?
Same. That was me a year ago — scrolling every night after my 9-to-5, wondering if there was a way to make a little extra without signing up for a literal second job.
Here's the thing nobody tells you when you start researching affiliate and influencer marketing: the hardest part isn't making content. It's figuring out which platform to actually sign up for without falling down a 3-hour rabbit hole (with a teething baby on your hip) only to end up more confused than when you started.
So consider this me pulling you aside and telling you everything I wish someone had told me. I've been creating content online for almost 8 years, I've been on LTK for 5, and I actively use all three of the big platforms every mom creator hears about — LTK, ShopMy, and Amazon Influencer. This isn't me reading you a spec sheet off a website; it's me telling you what each one is actually like to use, in plain English, and exactly where I'd tell you to start if you were sitting across from me with a glass of wine. Because I promise you this: if I can do it in the cracks of a full-time-job-plus-kids life, you absolutely can too.
The quick answer (because you have 40 minutes, not 4 hours)
If you're just starting out, start with ShopMy. It has the lowest barrier to entry, the highest commission rates of the three, and it pays you every single week. LTK is fantastic — but it gatekeeps at 5,000 followers. Amazon is easy but pays pennies on most everyday products. For a new or small mom creator, ShopMy is the "start here" answer. Use my referral link below to skip the waitlist and start today!
Want the why behind that? Keep reading — I'll show you all three so you can decide for yourself.
First, what even is affiliate marketing? (No jargon, promise)
Affiliate marketing just means: you share a product you love with a special link, someone buys it through that link, and you earn a percentage of the sale. The customer pays the exact same price. You just get a little thank-you cut for being the reason they found it.
Influencer marketing is the same idea plus brand partnerships — where a company pays you directly to feature their product.
You don't need a warehouse. You don't need to make anything. You don't need 100,000 followers. You need an audience that trusts your recommendations — and mama, if people already text you asking "where'd you get that?", you have one.
The only real decision is which platform hosts your links. Let's meet the three.
ShopMy: the best-kept secret for small creators
ShopMy is the platform creators have been quietly migrating to, and once you understand it, you'll get why.
You build a little curated storefront, drop in any product you love, and ShopMy automatically turns it into a link that earns you money. Commissions typically run 10–30% — noticeably higher than the others — and here's the part that matters when you're funding daycare or diapers: it pays you every Friday. Not "net-60." Not "monthly." Weekly, straight to PayPal or Stripe, with just a $25 minimum.
The barrier to entry is low, too. You don't need 5,000 followers — around 1,000 and consistent content will do. Case in point: it took me just 3 months to earn my first ShopMy commission, versus over a year on LTK before my first one came through. And it's completely free for creators.
Honestly, though, my favorite thing about ShopMy is how easy it makes the day-to-day. Connecting with and working with brands is refreshingly simple, and — this is the part my type-A heart loves — their collections and shelves make it so easy to organize the products I share with my audience. Instead of a chaotic pile of random links, I've got tidy little shoppable shelves my followers can actually browse, like a mini boutique.
Why I recommend it as your starting line:
Faster first commission: 3 months on ShopMy vs. 1+ year on LTK for me personally
Highest commission range of the three
Weekly payouts (huge for actual budgeting)
Low follower requirement — micro-creators welcome
Genuinely easy to connect and work with brands
Collections and shelves keep your links organized and browsable
You can link almost anything, even brands that aren't officially partnered
Free, with a real path from "links" to actual brand deals
One insider tip: when you sign up through another creator's referral link (mine is linked below), you skip the application process and get auto-approved. That's the single easiest way in — no waiting, no wondering if you're "big enough."
LTK: my longtime home base
LTK (you might know it as LIKEtoKNOW.it) is the OG, and it's where I've lived for five years now — so I'm biased in the best way. It's a full creator-commerce platform with its own shopping app, so millions of shoppers open LTK specifically to buy what creators recommend. Commissions typically run 10–25%.
Here's what's kept me around all these years: it's a long-standing platform with real prestige, and it works with a huge range of brands, so almost anything I want to link, I can. They run special sale events — big shopping moments — that genuinely boost creator earnings, and this next part is underrated: they actually invest in their creators with education and networking events. I've learned so much and met so many other moms doing this because of LTK.
The one honest catch for a beginner: it's selective. You generally need around 5,000 followers, a polished, curated feed, and you have to apply and wait for approval. And it pays monthly, not weekly.
So here's my real-friend advice: LTK is 100% worth growing toward — I'd never leave it. But if you're just starting and don't have 5K followers yet, getting turned away at that velvet rope early can crush your momentum before you even build any. Start somewhere that says yes to you right now, grow your confidence and your audience, and work your way up to LTK. (I'll tell you exactly where in a sec.)
Amazon Influencer: the quiet workhorse
Amazon Influencer gives you your own storefront on Amazon where you curate your favorite finds, plus shoppable photos and videos. The magic here is trust and convenience — your followers are already logged into Amazon, so they convert like crazy.
What I love about it: there's honestly so much opportunity to earn, and you can typically start making money without buying a single new thing — just link the stuff you already own and love. And here's the sleeper feature most people miss — Amazon's onsite commission model means you can earn from shoppers browsing Amazon itself, not only from your own followers. Translation: it can make you money even on the days you don't post, so you're not 100% reliant on your own community showing up.
The tradeoff is the math. Amazon pays 1–20% depending on the category, and most everyday, mom-niche products sit at the low end. And you typically wait about 60 days to get paid.
My take: Amazon is a fantastic piece of the puzzle — I'd absolutely set up a storefront — but because the rates are lower and the payout is slower, I wouldn't lean on it as your only foundation when you're just starting out.
The whole comparison, at a glance
So where should you start?
I use all three of these platforms, so I'm not picking a favorite from the outside — this is me telling you where I'd start if I were beginning again today, knowing everything I know now.
If you're a mom creator who's just beginning — working full time, building an audience in the margins, and wanting to see real income soon so you actually stay motivated — the answer is ShopMy.
It's the only one of the three that says yes to small creators, pays the most per sale, and pays you weekly, so you get that little "wait, I actually did this" deposit while your motivation is still high. LTK and Amazon are absolutely worth adding as you grow (I run all three) — but as a starting line, ShopMy wins, hands down. And listen: the fact that you've read this far means you're already more serious about this than you're giving yourself credit for. You can do this. Let me show you how easy step one is.
How to start on ShopMy in 4 nap-length steps
Sign up through a referral link so you skip the application and get instant access. (Use mine below — it genuinely helps your approval and costs you nothing.)
Set up your shop — profile photo, a one-line bio, and your first collection of products you already love and use.
Add links to your go-to products. Start with the stuff you already recommend for free — baby gear, your daily makeup, the viral cleaning thing.
Share your links wherever your people already are — your stories, your link-in-bio, and your blog.
The best part? It keeps working after you clock out
Here's what makes this different from picking up a second job: you're not trading hours for dollars. You set up your shop and add your links once, and that storefront stays open 24/7 — earning while you're at your day job, on the daycare run, or finally asleep.
A product you linked last month can still be paying you this month. That's the whole appeal for those of us building this in the margins of a full life: it's not one more thing you have to constantly show up for. It quietly works in the background while you actually live your life.
Mom creator FAQ
Do I need a huge following to start affiliate marketing?
No. You do not need to be famous. ShopMy accepts creators with around 1,000 followers, and signing up through a referral link skips the application entirely. What matters more than follower count is an audience that trusts your recommendations.
Which affiliate platform pays the most?
For most small and mid-size creators, ShopMy offers the highest typical commission range (about 10–30%), compared to LTK (about 10–25%) and Amazon Influencer (1–20%, with most everyday products at the low end).
Is ShopMy free?
Yes. ShopMy is free for creators — no monthly fees and no cut taken beyond the standard commission split that's already built into the rates.
Can I use more than one platform?
Absolutely, and eventually you probably will. Most creators run ShopMy plus an Amazon storefront, and add LTK once they hit the follower threshold. Start with one so you don't overwhelm yourself — then stack.
How often does ShopMy pay?
Weekly — every Friday, via PayPal or Stripe, with a $25 minimum.
Trade the doomscroll for something that actually pays you
Real talk: you're going to scroll tonight anyway. We all do — it's the one quiet pocket of the day that's yours. But this scroll can be the one that's actually different.
Instead of closing the app feeling a little more drained than when you opened it, imagine spending that same 20 minutes setting up something that pays you — on top of your 9-to-5, with no commute, no boss, and no second shift away from your kids. Not "someday when life slows down" (spoiler: it won't). Tonight. From your bed. In the exact pocket of time you were about to spend doomscrolling anyway.
You already put in a full day at work and a full night with your family. You've earned the right to build something that's just for you — and to get paid for the recommendations you're already handing out for free.
Ready to actually start?
If you've been sitting on the "someday I'll monetize this" dream, this is your someday. You already do the hard part — you recommend things people trust. ShopMy is just the easiest, highest-paying, fastest-paying place to finally get credit for it.
Sign up through my link, skip the application, and build your little shop this week. Future-you (and future-you's bank account) will be so glad you did. 🌊
Save this post for later, and follow along for more real-mom ways to make the 9-to-5-plus-baby life a little lighter.