For those who are interested in turning Yoga into a business, here’s an online solution. Ever heard of the Manduka affiliate program? It is a cost effective way to get started without having to build an expensive studio. They offer some very exciting features and in this article, I’ll be walking you through the basic setup process as well as uncovering a few opportunities along the way.
What Is Manduka?
Inspired by the frog pose, Manduka is a premium yoga mat maker that’s created by a passionate yoga community. Since its inception in 1997, the brand has moved on to producing other products such as clothings and props that are sold online and at retail (for studio owners) through wholesaling.
How to Get Into The Program?
Before applying for the affiliate program, you’d need a website with a custom domain because most of the promotion will be done through blogging. When choosing a domain name, avoid using the phrase ‘Manduka’ because that is considered an act of copyright infringement.
Instead, go for something that’s related to a Yoga niche, like ‘Premium Yoga Props’ whereby it makes sense to recommend yoga products. At SiteRubix hosting, this domain can be purchased for $13.99/year and that is inclusive of privacy, email and more.
There are generally two choices to get into the program, the Amazon Associates or Rakuten Linkshare which is an affiliate network. Both generate their own text/banner links that can be used in a blog. So when viewers click on them and make any purchases, you’d earn commissions from the sales.
Here’s an example of how a text link is being used in a product review article.
How Much Can You Make?
Since there are two ways to get into the program, you can also expect two types of sales commissions. In the Amazon marketplace, Yoga is considered a ‘sport’ and this category pays about 4.5% in referral fee.
As for direct affiliation with the official site, the commission is higher at 15%. So for example, if you are promoting the ProLite Thunder in your Yoga blog (retail at $96), you could potentially make $14.40 per sale with Manduka online store, versus $4.30 dollars with Amazon. That’s almost $10 dollars in profit difference.
The Pros
Manduka is more than just a premium brand. If you consider the following factors, it makes sense to start an affiliate business with them.
(1) Their mats are so durable that they are guaranteed to last users a lifetime. This is a huge deal because no one wants to practice on a mat that tears easily or having to change one every year. On top of that, they are made of good quality, biodegradable and toxic free substances that reduce impact on the environment and the consumers.
(2) Unlike some online retails, Manduka ships to many countries which enables more people to buy their premium mats. From a business perspective, this means that you have a wider selection of customers to target.
(3) The company’s dedication to create a good range of products is very much reflected in the customer reviews that you can read from Amazon. Many of them are positive and descriptive which can add a lot of plus points to your product review page.
(4) As mentioned earlier, the commission model is quite lucrative. This is especially true when you are promoting through Amazon because every time the customers add additional items in their shopping cart, which is fairly common, you will earn more commissions from the accumulated sales.
(5) The other interesting fact is that Manduka’s product is starting to get a lot of online presence as more people search for this brand. You can clearly see this in the image trend below.
In fact, these are some of the topics that are commonly searched on Google when it comes to Yoga.
- Is Yoga Good For You
- What Yoga Poses Open The Back of The Body
- Yoga Sets for Beginners
- Can You Lose Weight With Yoga
- Which Is The Best Manduka Yoga Mat
- How to Clean a Manduka Yoga Mat
- Does Thickness of Yoga Mat Matter
- Which Manduka Mat Should I Buy
- Yoga Breathing Exercises for Sleep
- How Can Yoga Help Sciatica
As an affiliate marketer/blogger, you can actually use these as keyphrases for your articles to attract the right audience. That way, you have higher chances of converting them into customers and making more sales.
The Cons
Believe it or not, the Yoga mat market is actually quite huge and if you go to Amazon, there’s easily hundreds of brands to choose from. Some are made from premium quality, but are less expensive. Others offer more funky designs while Manduka’s selection can sometimes look monotonous and somewhat serious.
Those are probably the only cons that I can think of.
Is Manduka Worthy of Your Time?
As a brand, the company reflects quality and value, two factors that will always appeal to the consumers. As for the Manduka affiliate program, it’s fairly easy to apply and get approval as long as you have a proper blog in place. You don’t really need a studio after all to start a yoga business from home.
In summary, I think it’s a reputable merchant to work with. Since Yoga is becoming a hot niche, there are many creative ways to promote their benefits online, either through blogging or video demonstration.
If you like to learn how to create a successful affiliate business in this niche, please visit my recommended training platform for more tools and resources.
Have any thoughts or questions about this topic? Just leave a comment below and I’d be happy to respond.
You may also be interested to read;
6 Exciting Affiliate Programs for Stay at Home Moms
Hi Cathy!
I recently got back into yoga and it’s very enjoyable. Starting a yoga business from home has never occurred to me until now. It’s also interesting to learn about Manduka and their good quality products. This may be something that I could venture into. What is the very first step you have to take to get started?
Well, it depends Rob. If you haven’t got yourself a niche blog, you can create one with WordPress. Using SiteRubix, you can easily connect the domain to hosting in a few simple steps. If you already have a blog, but haven’t quite build the traffic yet, I would do some keywords on popular topics to get some content engagement going and build authority in the niche. After 20 posts or so, you could try applying for the program to see if it gets through.
This is a good information for both who are looking to buy a premium quality yoga mat and to someone wishing to enter into an affiliate program for yoga products. I have heard of Manduka products and it seems they have a good reputation for quality. But the difference in the revenue between an Amazon sale and from Manduka’s store is quite a lot. And to most who are new in affiliate marketing, it makes sense to try selling the mats directly from the official store.
This post is so informative and had definitely caught my attention. What a great idea to make a career out of something you love!
I have been practicing yoga for a while now as I started after I had my son, as a way to relax so this idea is definitely up my street.
I was wondering, is it easy to get approved to be an amazon affiliate? Or would I need to get a huge following for my website each month before they would consider me?
Hi there Colleen, it’s actually quite easy to get approved and become an Amazon Associate. Usually takes about 12 to 24 hours. Most people don’t need a huge following, but it helps to have some established content, reader’s engagement and some good quality traffic going so that you’ve higher chances for sales conversion. If your account is dormant – aka not referring any sales within 180 days (that’s the latest I heard) – Amazon reserves the right to close down your account.
Thanks for the great tips about running a yoga business online.
What about if one who is a non-US person from Asia like Philippines, Indonesia or Malaysia – would that be difficult for them to set up? I do feel that one can sell Manduka easily through Amazon as long as the main audience are from western territories.
Hi there, Manduka offers free shipping to the US and Canada so practically speaking, as long as your targeted audience are from these two countries, you can promote from any part of the world. The only limitation is that the company doesn’t ship to certain countries (like the Philippines and Malaysia) where exclusive distributors are present, so if your audience is from this region, they will most likely purchase from their local outlets instead of going through the official website.
Good sharing of this opportunity. Turning a hobby like yoga into something you can make money as well is always something good. You love the thing you do plus it generates income for you a win-win situation. I like the high commission that you would get if you go with the official affiliate program. It is surely something that one should consider if they are interested with Yoga plus they are looking for opportunities.
Thank you very much for such an informative article. We live in interesting times: any hobby, any interest can be turned into a business with online marketing. Yoga is extremely popular nowadays, and I should do more research on “Manduka”. Where is it manufactured? I really think that this could be a great idea for an affiliate business.
Hi Alla. That’s a great question. A resource points out that these mats are manufactured in Germany and Taiwan, from factories that meet certain level of environmental standards.
Hi Cathy, after reading this post it got me thinking of how many people could be generating income by doing something like yoga. I personally play sports but have hear a lot of my wife’s friends that Yoga helps relax the mind and body.
I have never heard of the term “Manduka”, I guess I would have to read more into Yoga from no on so I would be able to at least provide and opinion about it. Also, thank you for sharing this information as it provides vital information of making extra income through affiliate programs such as this one.
Since my wife has many friends that practice yoga, I will make sure I pass this very good information. Do you know if this is the best paid affiliated program in the market as of now? Or is it the one that performs better? Thanks
Hi there Erick. There are many Yoga products/brands that one can promote, other than Manduka. It’s just the matter of personal preference. Here’s a short list of them.
1/ Jade Yoga – 20%
2/ Yoga Outlet – 8-10%
3/ Gaiam – 10%
4/ Yoloha Yoga – 5%
5/ Barefoot Yoga – 10%
By the way, Manduka refers to the frog pose in the Yoga practice, in case you wish to know 🙂