Affiliate Disclosure
Smart Staff Room · smartstaffroom.com · Last updated: March 2026
hello@smartstaffroom.com
| ⚖️ FTC COMPLIANCE NOTICE In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, Smart Staff Room is required to disclose any relationship we have with companies whose products or services we recommend. This page fulfils that requirement. |
| Our Commitment to Transparency We believe in being completely open and honest with our readers. This page explains exactly how Smart Staff Room earns money, how affiliate relationships work, and our promise to you that our recommendations are always genuine and never influenced by commercial relationships. |
1. What Is an Affiliate Link?
An affiliate link is a special tracking link that lets a company know that a visitor came to their website from Smart Staff Room. If that visitor goes on to make a purchase, Smart Staff Room earns a small commission — at absolutely no extra cost to you.
Think of it like a referral fee. The price you pay is exactly the same whether you click our affiliate link or go directly to the company’s website. The commission comes from the company’s marketing budget, not your pocket.
| Affiliate commissions are one of the primary ways Smart Staff Room is able to operate as a free resource for teachers. Your support — simply by clicking our links when you decide to purchase a tool — helps us continue creating honest, in-depth reviews and free resources for educators worldwide. |
2. Affiliate Programs We Participate In
Smart Staff Room participates in various affiliate marketing programs including but not limited to Amazon Associates and other EdTech, software, and educational resource affiliate networks. This means that some links on this website may be affiliate links, and we may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Individual posts containing affiliate links will always include a clear disclosure at the top of that post. Our list of affiliate partnerships is not exhaustively maintained on this page as relationships are reviewed and updated regularly — however our commitment to transparency and honest recommendations remains constant regardless of which programs we participate in at any given time.
3. Our Promise to You
We understand that trust is everything — especially in a community of educators who rely on honest information to make decisions about their classrooms. Here is our commitment to you:
| 🧪 Personally Tested We only recommend tools we have personally used and tested. We never write reviews based on press releases or product descriptions alone. | 💬 Honest Opinions We include genuine pros AND cons in every review. If a tool has significant weaknesses, we say so — even if it pays a high commission. |
| 🚫 Never Paid for Positive Reviews No company can pay us to write a positive review. Our editorial opinions are entirely our own and are never for sale. | 🏆 Teacher-First Recommendations If a tool is not genuinely useful for teachers, we will not recommend it — regardless of the commission rate offered. |
| Our Editorial Independence Guarantee Smart Staff Room has turned down affiliate partnerships with tools we did not believe in. A higher commission rate will never cause us to recommend a product we would not use ourselves or recommend to a fellow teacher. |
4. How Affiliate Links Are Disclosed on This Site
We disclose affiliate relationships in the following ways across Smart Staff Room:
At the top of blog posts
Any blog post containing affiliate links includes a disclosure notice near the top of the post so you know before you read. Here is an example of what that looks like:
| EXAMPLE POST DISCLOSURE “This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, Smart Staff Room may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we have personally tested and genuinely believe in.” |
Next to individual affiliate links
Where practical, individual affiliate links are labelled or accompanied by a note such as “affiliate link” or marked with an asterisk (*) with a note at the bottom of the post.
Using Pretty Links
We use the Pretty Links plugin to manage and cloak affiliate links. This means affiliate links may appear in the format smartstaffroom.com/go/toolname rather than showing the full affiliate tracking URL. This is standard practice and does not change the nature of the link.
5. Sponsored Content
Occasionally Smart Staff Room may publish content that has been sponsored or paid for by a brand. This is different from affiliate marketing — in sponsored content, we receive a flat fee to create content about a product or service.
All sponsored content on Smart Staff Room will be clearly labelled with a disclosure such as “Sponsored Post” or “This post was created in partnership with [Brand Name]” at the very top of the content. We will never publish sponsored content without this disclosure.
Even in sponsored content, we maintain our editorial standards. We will only accept sponsored partnerships for products and services that are genuinely relevant and useful to our teacher audience.
6. Amazon Associates Disclosure
Smart Staff Room is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon affiliate links are clearly disclosed within posts and are used primarily for book recommendations, classroom supplies, and relevant educational resources.
7. No Extra Cost to You
| We want to be crystal clear about this: using our affiliate links costs you nothing extra. The price you pay for any product or service is identical whether you click our affiliate link or navigate to the company’s website directly. In fact, we sometimes share exclusive discount codes or special offers for our readers that can save you money. |
8. Questions About Our Affiliate Relationships
We believe in complete transparency. If you ever have a question about whether a specific recommendation on Smart Staff Room is influenced by an affiliate relationship, please ask us directly. We will always answer honestly.
If you would prefer to support Smart Staff Room without using affiliate links, you are always welcome to navigate directly to a tool’s website and purchase from there. We appreciate your readership regardless.
| Questions About This Disclosure? Transparency is one of our core values at Smart Staff Room. If you have any questions about our affiliate relationships, sponsorships, or how we make money, please reach out — we are always happy to discuss it openly. 📧 hello@smartstaffroom.com 🌐 smartstaffroom.com/contact |