The Affiliate Guy with Matt McWilliams: Marketing Tips, Affiliate Management, & More

The easiest way to lose momentum with your affiliates is to disappear on them. Whether you run an evergreen program, a few big promotions a year, or something in between, your affiliates need to hear from you consistently. In this episode, I'm showing you how to build an affiliate communication plan that keeps partners active without overwhelming them. I'll walk through what to send, how often to send it, when to ramp up communication around a promotion, and how to use training, updates, success stories, contests, DMs, and even physical mail to keep your program top of mind. Links Mentioned in this Episode Get the Sample Affiliate Training + Slides Here Get the Weekend Email Template Here How to Close Sales on Cart Close Day AffiliateHQ

Getting an affiliate to say yes is only the beginning. If they sign up and then spend the next week hunting for links, swipe copy, graphics, dates, commission details, or even a way to contact you, there's a good chance they'll never promote. In this episode, I'm showing you how to onboard new affiliates so they can get started quickly, including what to send them right away, how to learn how they prefer to communicate, what to include in a quick-start guide, how to create a simple promotion plan with them, and how to help them get that first sale as fast as possible. The goal is to remove as much friction as you can and turn a new affiliate into an active promoter while they're still excited to work with you. Links Mentioned in this Episode Weekend Email Template Sample Affiliate Promo Plan How to Write Swipe Copy for Your Affiliates How to Warm Up Affiliates Before a Launch AffiliateHQ

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when growing an affiliate program is trying to recruit every type of affiliate at the same time. That's not how we took one program from about $15 million a year to more than $300 million. We focused on one type of affiliate, built momentum there, then moved to the next. In this episode, I'm showing you how to scale an affiliate program by focusing on the right affiliates, then stacking better communication, consistent training, smarter analytics, more promotion opportunities, and evergreen traffic on top of that foundation. These strategies helped us grow from a few thousand affiliates to well over 100,000 and turn the program into one of the biggest revenue drivers in the company. Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Training Templates and Scripts Promo Strategy Call Template Resources Page Guide AffiliateHQ

Your affiliate commission has to work for two people: you and the affiliate. Pay too little and great affiliates won't bother. Pay too much and you can wipe out your margins. In this episode, I'm showing you how to set affiliate commissions that attract better partners by looking at your price, your costs, your time, what you need to make, and what competing programs are paying. I'll also share ways to make your offer more attractive without simply raising commissions, including tiered payouts, bonuses, free-trial bounties, better conversions, exclusive offers, training, and other perks that can make affiliates want to promote you Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Program Email Template Podcast Episode – How to Negotiate Affiliate Deals That Benefit Everyone What Affiliates Need to be Successful AffiliateHQ

If your affiliate program isn't growing, the answer usually isn't "work harder." You need to figure out where the program is breaking down. Maybe your expectations are off, your onboarding is weak, your commissions aren't competitive, your tracking is shaky, you don't have enough affiliates, or you're not giving the ones you have enough reasons to stay engaged. In this episode, I'm showing you how to turn around an affiliate program that isn't growing by identifying the most common problems I see, fixing the basics first, and building a clear plan to get the program moving again. Links Mentioned in this Episode How I Built a $1 Million a Month Affiliate Program In Only Two Years Without Any Connections or Credentials Find Your First 100 Affiliates Get Our Sample Affiliate Training AffiliateHQ

Some of the best affiliates in your niche are already promoting offers like yours. That's good news, because you don't have to start from scratch. You can find the affiliates who are already active, already proven, and already looking for programs that treat them better. In this episode, I'm showing you how to recruit affiliates from your competition's program without being shady, trashing the other company, or making promises you can't keep. I'll share the story of how one competitor's acquisition helped us go from about $100,000 a month to more than half a million, why the right angle matters more than a slightly higher commission, and how to give proven affiliates a real reason to try your program. Links Mentioned in this Episode How I Built a $1 Million a Month Affiliate Program In Only Two Years Without Any Connections or Credentials Find Your First 100 Affiliates AffiliateHQ

Affiliate swipe copy should make it easier for partners to promote, but too often it turns into a copy-and-paste mess where every affiliate sends the same email with the same subject line. That doesn't help them, and it doesn't help your program. In this episode, I'm showing you how to create affiliate emails, images, and social swipe your partners can actually use, including why you probably shouldn't write the copy yourself, how to give affiliates images that make their emails better, why you need different versions for different audiences, and how to make swipe copy a guide instead of a script. I'll also share why social swipe gets overlooked, even though a real chunk of opt-ins can come from social media. Links Mentioned in this Episode How to Use Swipe Copy as an Affiliate Ultimate Affiliate Swipe File AffiliateHQ

Your affiliate agreement shouldn't read like it was written by a committee of attorneys trying to win a boredom contest. It needs to protect your program, but it also needs to be clear enough that affiliates know what they can do, what they can't do, and what happens if they break the rules. In this episode, I'm walking through how to build affiliate terms and conditions that affiliates can understand, including what to include in your preamble, definitions, approval policy, link rules, website restrictions, domain rules, advertising policies, FTC disclosures, coupon rules, PPC guidelines, and reversal policy. You don't need to speak legalese, but you do need an agreement that sets expectations, protects the good affiliates, and gives you something clear to point back to when problems show up. Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Terms & Conditions Template What the 2023 FTC Updates Mean for Affiliate Marketing How to Identify and Stop Affiliate Fraud AffiliateHQ

Legal stuff might not be the most exciting part of running an affiliate program, but it's one of the areas you can't afford to just wing. If your affiliates are making false claims, skipping disclosures, spamming people, mishandling data, or breaking your terms, that can come back on you. In this episode, I'm walking through what every affiliate manager needs to know about legal stuff, including FTC disclosures, email rules, privacy and data protection, fraud monitoring, tax records, cookie consent, and why your affiliate agreement needs to be clear before problems show up. This isn't legal advice, but it will help you know what to watch, what to document, and when to get professional help so your program stays protected. Links Mentioned in this Episode   What the 2023 FTC Updates Mean for Affiliate Marketing How to Identify and Stop Affiliate Fraud How to Write a Review Post that Ranks and Converts AffiliateHQ

Affiliates stick around when they know you're not treating them like a name on a spreadsheet. Strong relationships are what keep partners engaged, responsive, and willing to promote again, even when another program comes along with a bigger commission or a flashier offer. In this episode, I'm showing you how to create affiliate relationships that last, whether you're working with experienced partners, brand-new affiliates, or people who haven't promoted in a while. You'll learn where to start, what to focus on, and how to build the kind of trust that turns affiliates into long-term partners instead of one-time promoters. Links Mentioned in this Episode Sample Affiliate Training