I think we need to reframe the question around what audience do you want to serve? Who do you want to help? Focus on building the best possible resource to solve a certain problem, and trust that the money will follow. One affiliate example I often point to is TripAdvisor. They didn't set out to "become an affiliate and build a website." They set out to build an authoritative brand in the travel space, and now earn a ton of money from flight and hotel bookings as an affiliate. They solve a specific problem (with my limited travel budget, what are my best options?) and found a way to monetize that.