A Developer's Guide to Affiliate Marketing Without the Sleaze

I used to cringe every time I saw another "BEST coding bootcamp EVER!!!" post with sketchy affiliate links plastered everywhere. The whole affiliate marketing space felt gross and scammy—exactly the opposite of how I wanted to build my online presence as a developer. But here's the thing: done right, affiliate marketing can actually be helpful. When I recommend a book that genuinely changed how I think about system design, or share a tool that saves me hours each week, that's valuable content. The affiliate commission is just a nice bonus. After three years of doing this the right way, I've learned there's a massive difference between helpful recommendations and pushy sales tactics. Let me show you how to do affiliate marketing as a developer without compromising your integrity or annoying your audience. Start With Content You'd Create Anyway The biggest mistake I see developers make is choosing affiliate products first, then trying to create content around them. This backwards approac