Look, i'll be honest with you — when I first started sharing AI tools in my Discord, I had zero intention of turning it into anything income-related. I just wanted a place where indie hackers, devs, and curious tech folks could talk shop without the noise you find on Twitter. But somewhere between answering the same "which API should I use?" questions for the hundredth time and watching people actually thank me for pointing them in the right direction, a little side income started showing up. And then it stuck around. Month after month.
That's what this piece is about. Not some polished blueprint for hustling. It's about how I accidentally built a recurring revenue stream by doing the one thing most people skip: actually giving a damn about the people in my community.

Why Community Trust Beats Every Other Strategy

Here's something I've learned running my Discord for the last few years: people don't buy because you have the best deal. They buy because they trust the person pointing them at it. I've watched members in my server ignore cheaper alternatives because the person recommending them felt shady. I've also watched members happily pay a premium because someone they respected vouched for the product.
That's the entire game. Trust. Community trust is the currency that makes everything else work.
When I first stumbled across Global API, it wasn't through some aggressive marketing campaign. A friend in another developer community mentioned it casually. "Hey, have you tried this? The access is clean, the model selection is solid, and the affiliate terms actually pay out." That was it. No flashy pitch. No "10x your income" nonsense. Just a genuine recommendation from someone I trusted.
I checked it out, kicked the tires, and realised this could be something I naturally share with my community. Not as a sales pitch — as a helpful resource. Because it genuinely helped me solve problems for people in my server who kept asking how to access a wide range of models without juggling a dozen different accounts.

How I Started Earning Without Feeling Like a Sleazy Affiliate

The first rule I set for myself: I will only recommend things I would use myself, regardless of commission. That's it. That's the whole philosophy.
When I looked at the Global API affiliate terms — 15% on first orders, 8% recurring on renewals, and a 10% premium tier for higher volume — I was pleasantly surprised. Most programs offer a one-time bounty and forget you exist. This one had a recurring structure, which means the income compounds over time as more people stick around.
But here's the thing I want you to understand: the commission structure matters less than the fact that the product actually delivers. If I'd started shilling something broken to my Discord, I would've lost community trust faster than you can say "discord ban." The recurring 8% only matters if people stay subscribed, and people only stay subscribed if the product works.
I made my first recommendation in a thread where someone was struggling to consolidate their AI workflow. I shared my experience, mentioned the platform, dropped my affiliate link, and moved on. No pressure. No "BUY NOW" energy. Just a real answer to a real question.
That single thread probably generated four signups in the first week. And because those people actually found value, they kept paying. Which means I kept earning. Month after month.

7 Real Conversations That Turned Into Real Income

Let me walk you through how this actually plays out in practice. These aren't hypotheticals — they're real exchanges from my Discord, with the identifying details changed.

1. The "I Just Want One Dashboard" Crowd

Almost daily, someone pops into my server asking: "How do you manage all these different AI services?" They're juggling OpenAI for one project, Anthropic for another, some image generation tool for a third. The friction is real.
When I first started, I tried to help them navigate each platform individually. That got old fast. Then I found a platform that offered access to 150+ models through a single API key. Game changer. Now I have a canned response for this question, and it points people toward a solution that genuinely simplifies their workflow.
The recurring commission on those referrals is small per person, but it adds up. And more importantly, those people stick around in my Discord because I keep helping them.

2. The "Which One Should I Actually Use?" Conversations

This is probably the most common thread in my server. Someone is building their first AI-powered product and has no idea where to start. They don't want a technical comparison — they want someone to point at a thing and say "this one."
I used to agonize over these. I'd write out massive breakdowns, weighing pros and cons. Now I just tell them what I use and why. Sometimes I link to a platform that gives them access to 150+ models so they can experiment without committing to any single provider. That flexibility is what makes the recommendation easy to make — I'm not locking anyone in. I'm giving them options.

3. The Indie Hacker Trying to Bootstrap

This is my favorite group to help. Solo founders, scrappy teams, people maxing out credit cards to get their MVP off the ground. They need AI capabilities but can't afford to pay enterprise rates or hire an AI specialist.
For these folks, I share how I think about margins. If a platform offers me 15% on first orders and 8% recurring, I can either pocket that or pass some of it along through special pricing. I usually do a mix — keep enough to make it worth my time, but offer my community rates that are genuinely better than they could find on their own.
That mutual value exchange is what community building is all about.

4. The Lurkers Who Convert Six Months Later

Here's something nobody tells you about community-based income: the conversion timeline is longer, but the retention is way better.
I have members in my Discord who lurked for months before finally signing up through my link. They were watching. Reading my takes. Seeing how I responded to other people's questions. By the time they pulled the trigger, they were already sold on me — not the product, but me as the recommender.
That delayed conversion only happens when you've built genuine community trust. And it only happens when the recurring commission structure rewards you for long-term relationships rather than one-time grabs.

5. The "Thanks for the Recommendation" DMs

I'll never get tired of these. Someone tries a platform I recommended, comes back to the Discord, and says "Hey, just wanted to say thanks — that recommendation saved me hours of setup."
Those moments are worth more than any commission check. But the nice thing is, you can have both. When your community genuinely appreciates your recommendations, the income is a byproduct of doing the right thing.

6. The Referral Chains That Surprise You

One of the most interesting things I've noticed is how recommendations cascade. Person A signs up through my link, loves it, tells their friend Person B. Person B signs up. Person B tells their colleague Person C.
Did all of those people sign up through my affiliate link? No. But the community trust I built with Person A created an environment where the platform spread organically. That's word-of-mouth in action, and it's something no ad campaign can replicate.

7. The Premium Tier That Rewards Loyalty

Once I hit a certain volume of referrals, I unlocked a 10% premium commission tier. I didn't even know that existed when I started. It just showed up because I'd been consistent for a few months.
This is the part where I want to be careful with my advice. Don't chase the premium tier. Don't optimize for it. Just keep recommending good products to people who need them. The tier is a reward for consistency, not a goal to optimize toward.

The Real Numbers From My Own Experience

Since I'm the kind of person who loves sharing actual numbers, let me give you a sense of what this looks like in practice.
In my first month, I think I earned something like $47. Nothing to write home about. But it was recurring — those people kept paying their subscription, and I kept earning my 8%.
By month three, I was at a couple hundred bucks a month. Not life-changing money, but meaningful side income for something I was already doing (helping people in my Discord).
Now, after about a year of consistent community building and genuine recommendations, I'm at a point where the recurring income covers my entire Discord server hosting costs, my domain renewals, and then some. It funds the giveaways I run. It lets me buy courses and tools that I then share with my community.
The income compounds. That's the beauty of recurring commission structures. You're not constantly hunting for new signups. The people who signed up six months ago are still paying you.

Why Most People Fail at This (And How to Avoid It)

I see the same mistakes over and over in other communities. Let me save you some pain.
First, don't spam your affiliate link everywhere. If your Discord is just an endless stream of "sign up using my link!" messages, people will mute you and leave. I know this seems obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people do exactly this.
Second, don't recommend garbage. I cannot stress this enough. Your community trust is the most valuable thing you own. Every time you recommend something, you're putting a small piece of that trust on the line. If the product is bad, you'll lose that trust faster than you can rebuild it.
Third, don't pretend you're not affiliated. Be upfront. When I recommend something and I earn from it, I say so. That transparency actually increases trust rather than decreasing it. People respect honesty.
Fourth, focus on relationships, not transactions. The people in my Discord aren't "affiliate clicks" to me. They're humans I'm genuinely trying to help. When you lead with that mindset, the income follows naturally.

How to Actually Get Started in Your Own Community

If you're reading this and thinking "okay, but I don't have a community yet," here's what I'd suggest.
Start small. Find a niche you actually care about. Join existing communities first — not to shill anything, but to genuinely help people. Build a reputation. Then, when you've earned enough trust that people seek out your recommendations, you can naturally start sharing resources.
Don't build a Discord with the goal of monetizing it. Build a Discord because you want a place to have great conversations with like-minded people. The monetization will follow when it's ready.
And when you do start recommending products, start with the ones you'd use even without a commission. That filter alone will keep you from ruining your reputation.

Where I'd Point You If You're Starting Today

I've tried a lot of different affiliate programs over the years. Most of them are forgettable. A few are decent. And a rare few actually treat affiliates like partners rather than marketing channels.
Global API sits in that rare few category for me. The reason is simple: the recurring commission structure (15% on first orders, 8% on renewals, with a 10% premium tier at higher volumes) means they want me to succeed long-term, not just generate one-time clicks. And the platform itself gives me access to 150+ models, which means I can confidently recommend it for almost any use case someone in my Discord might have.
I share my link when it's relevant. I don't push it when it's not. And the income keeps showing up month after month from signups I generated months — sometimes over a year — ago.
If you want to check out the affiliate program yourself, head over to https://global-apis.com/affiliate?ref=devto-ai-api-reseller-business-complete-guide. Take a look at the terms, see if it fits your community, and start slow. No need to go all-in on day one. Just give it a try with a genuine recommendation to one person who needs it, and see how it feels.

The Long Game Is the Only Game Worth Playing

I want to leave you with one final thought. Building recurring income through community recommendations isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. It's not going to make you a millionaire overnight. What it will do, if you do it right, is create a small but reliable revenue stream that grows alongside your community.
The people who succeed at this are the ones who genuinely care about their community members. Who take the time to answer questions thoroughly. Who recommend products because they're actually good, not because the commission is high. Who build relationships that last longer than any single transaction.
That's the path. It's slower than paid advertising. It's less predictable than launching a product. But it's also more sustainable, more enjoyable, and infinitely more rewarding.
My Discord isn't the biggest in the world. It doesn't have to be. It's just a place where people trust each other, learn from each other, and occasionally click on a link someone shared because they respect the person who shared it.
And somehow, that turned into recurring income that keeps showing up every single month.
That's the real secret. There is no secret. Just show up for your community, recommend good things honestly, and let the compounding do its thing.