Build the machine
After this track you can
Tracking is provably working, commissions are designed from the affiliate side, and the program rules are set before a single affiliate is recruited.
The technical installation takes most teams under 30 minutes. This track takes two weeks, because the installation is the smallest part of it. What takes the time is proving the tracking fired, designing a commission from the affiliate's side of the table, and setting the handful of rules that decide who applies to your program and what they do once they are in.
Do these five lessons in order and before you invite anyone. Every one of them is far cheaper to get right now than to fix after the first affiliate has published something.
Syllabus
Lessons in this track
- 1Install the tracking and prove it fired before you invite anyoneGet the tracking script and signup snippet live on your own domain and confirm with a test referral that a click, a signup and a conversion are all recorded. 6 min read Video coming soon
- 2Connect payment tracking: Stripe, or the API for everything elseChoose the payment integration that fits your billing, Stripe Connect for Stripe users and the API plus webhooks for every other processor, and connect it at the start of a month. 6 min read Video coming soon
- 3Design a commission an affiliate will actually work forRun the affiliate-side test (monthly ARPA x rate x months x ten clients), pick a rate inside the 20 to 50% band, pay more and longer while you are early, and choose fixed term or lifetime on your churn rather than your generosity. 9 min read Video coming soon
- 4Set the program rules that decide who applies and how they behaveSet cookie window, payout threshold, approval mode, paid-ads policy, allowed channels, terms and clawback before launch, knowing that each setting changes who applies, not only what they may do. 8 min read Video coming soon
- 5Write the program page a professional affiliate says yes toGive affiliates what they check before applying: the offer in one line, assets they can use, a clear payout story and proof the product converts, then see it from their side by signing up to your own program. 7 min read Video coming soon
- 6Launch the in-app referral program alongside the affiliate programSwitch on the in-app referral program for your existing users on day one, with a double-sided benefit tied to what a new user should do in their first two weeks, so the people who already know your product start recommending it before any affiliate does. 6 min read Video coming soon
What "in trouble" looks like at this stage
Every academy teaches the happy path. These are the signals we see in programs that are going quietly wrong at this exact point, and the lesson that deals with each one.
You invited affiliates before running a test referral
If the snippet never fired, every early click is lost and the first affiliate to check their dashboard sees zero.
Fix it: Install the tracking and prove it fired before you invite anyoneYour commission looks generous on your side and earns an affiliate under $10 per customer payment
Affiliates do the arithmetic from their side. Below that line the program is not worth their effort, whatever the percentage says.
Fix it: Design a commission an affiliate will actually work forApplicants arrive with no website, from countries you do not sell to
Usually the paid-ads setting: it attracts affiliates who plan to run ads on your brand. Decide the policy, do not only reject the applicants.
Fix it: Set the program rules that decide who applies and how they behave