Can someone explain what it means to be an Affiliate?

So I was approached by a company to become an affiliate.  I have a blog that I started in March and its all about the subscription boxes that I get.

What kinds of things do affiliates care about?  What are they looking for?

My blog is only three months old.  I only get about 9k pageviews (this last month I had 3k unique visitors) a month so I don't know if anyone would ever click on an ad on my site if thats what I have to put up.

I would love to be an affiliate but I don't know if I'm actually a good enough.

So I would like to know if I did become an affliate what I would be doing.  What would they expect from me?  What would make them accept me in the first place?

How does it work?  What if no one ever clicks?  Do they get rid of you?

While it would be nice to get things at a discount I'm not really willing to clog up my page with ads.  I've seen those sites and they make my eyes cross.

Is there anyone who has/had a little blog like mine that has anything they'd like to say about affiliate programs and if they're worth it or not?

An affiliate is a person who posts links to a company's site and is paid for any sales generated by the custom link. For example, best example affiliate links are with Amazon, Sephora or any company via Linkshare or Share A Sale. Some smaller companies have their own in-house affiliate links such as Sugarpill and Lime Crime (which recently discontinued their affiliate program). Yes, it can be worth it since any amount earned can help either off set costs for your blog or expenses. I earn enough from my affiliate links to cover Birchbox, Glossybox and previously Ipsy.

A lot of the subscription boxes you are promoting on your site already have affiliate programs available. A few perks of being an affiliate:

You earn a monetary commission when someone signs up through your link as opposed to points or free boxes

Some tell you about the spoilers/upcoming sales before they go public

Some provide you with unique coupon codes for your readers

For some bloggers it is a toss-up however. It looks like you are using your referral links in those posts on your site. You would need to replace those with the affiliate link to earn cash. It is sometimes a matter of preference; money or free product from your referrals. 

Most affiliate programs don't put you under pressure to promote. Most. It is also very rare to be kicked out of one unless you are inactive for a very long time. 

AngieN said:

A lot of the subscription boxes you are promoting on your site already have affiliate programs available. A few perks of being an affiliate:

You earn a monetary commission when someone signs up through your link as opposed to points or free boxes

Some tell you about the spoilers/upcoming sales before they go public

Some provide you with unique coupon codes for your readers

For some bloggers it is a toss-up however. It looks like you are using your referral links in those posts on your site. You would need to replace those with the affiliate link to earn cash. It is sometimes a matter of preference; money or free product from your referrals. 

Most affiliate programs don't put you under pressure to promote. Most. It is also very rare to be kicked out of one unless you are inactive for a very long time. 

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Thank you for this explanation!  I took the plunge and signed up with one company that contacted me.  It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  I still feel like my blog isn't big enough to be a benefit for them but it's still fun even if they decide they don't need me anymore.

It also the difference between referral links and affiliate links didn't really occur to me.  I think I might just be one of those who prefers to just use referral links.

I appreciate your insights, thanks a bunch!

If you don't mind my asking....you mentioned that your blog is only three months old but you have around 9k page views on average did you do any special promoting for your blog? I'm asking because I seem to be having trouble with visiting traffic on my blog.