Why I Don’t Take Affiliate Commissions

Recently, my accounting software, which is based in Canada, stopped serving European customers, so I had to find a replacement. I started googling and came across loads of articles with titles like “The 10 Best Accounting Tools for Small Businesses.”

Just what I need, but after reading a few, I realised they all cover mainly the same products. Why are there no startup contenders or products with a range of price points?

The answer. Affiliate marketing.

The Difficulty With Research Today

If you’ve tried researching a product or service online, you know how exhausting it is. You wade through dozens of articles, comparison posts, and “honest reviews,” and half the time you walk away more confused than when you started.

When a writer earns a commission every time you buy something through their link, their recommendations come with an asterisk. They might genuinely love the product, but they also might love the £50 they get every time someone signs up through their site.

You have no real way to know which one it is.

And that’s the part that bothers me. I want to be clear that affiliate marketing is a completely legitimate business practice. No shade! I have many friends who earn part of their living from it. But my own choice about how I want to share information is simple: I never want clients or readers to wonder about my motives.

Trust Matters More Than Commissions

When I recommend a tool, a service, or an approach, I want you to take it at face value. I want you to read what I write and think, “This person is telling me this because they actually believe it’s useful for my business.” Full stop. No second-guessing.

Because you’re busy running your business. The last thing I want is for you to spend even a second wondering, “But why are you really a fan of this product?” That mental energy is better spent elsewhere.

At the end of the day, this comes down to trust. I want the business owners I work with to get straightforward, reliable guidance. If I compromise that by accepting affiliate commissions, I’m putting a price tag on your trust, which is not for me.

So when I tell you I like a particular tool, it’s because I like it. When I tell you to skip something, it’s because I think you should skip it. There’s no hidden incentive.

Sometimes my choices change

Markets and products evolve, and so do I. If I discover better tools or systems, I'll make the switch and share what I’ve learned along the way. This is easy to do because I’m not tied to any affiliate programme, nervous about lost revenue.

I love evaluating the design and usefulness of new apps — sometimes they turn out to be genuine game-changers. Years ago, I was a beta tester for Notion, which I now use every day to keep my life and business organised.

Before that, I was a devoted Evernote user. But Notion was simply better for my workflow, and I happily jumped ship. That’s my approach: when a better product comes along, or a tool outlives its usefulness, I move on.

The key takeaway

In a world where truth is questioned and everyone seems to have an angle, I’m planting my flag for non-affiliate content.

Meaning I’ll never earn affiliate fees from what I write or recommend to my clients. When I talk about any product or service, it’s simply to inform or support an idea, not to earn a few quid from clicks.