What if you could sell your services to people who’ve never signed up for your mailing list, never attended one of your webinars and never seen a sponsored ad from you? Welcome to the power of affiliate programs. Working with an affiliate means that someone else is promoting your product or service to their audience and every time they successfully refer a customer to you, they earn a commission. Almost any entrepreneur with something to sell can use this simple yet powerful way to expand their reach and increase their income.
Laura Sprinkle is an affiliate partnerships strategist and creator of the “Rock Your Launch” training program. She specializes in working with digital course creators. Over the past 4 years, her approach to partner programs has helped everyone from budding entrepreneurs to seven-figure industry leaders garner more than $15 million in partner revenues. One of her students was making $200K each time she opened enrollment for her signature course. After adopting Laura’s affiliate program techniques, her next launch brought in $2 million.
If you are curious about using affiliates to sell your products or services Laura outlines her win-win-win-win strategy.
How to 10x Your Online Sales Using the “Quadruple Win” | Stephanie Burns
Laura Bodwell
1. Offer A Solid Incentive To Your Partner
“The biggest incentive for your affiliate partner is that they get to earn money from selling your offer without worrying about fulfillment. They can concentrate on what they’re good at and still get paid for sharing an incredible product with their audience. In fact, it’s often easier to sell someone else’s work than our own,” explains Sprinkle.
“But to make it worth their while, take some time to think about your incentive package and how much money you’ll be sending their way. What percentage will you give your affiliates in commission? One of my students insisted on 10% commissions but was having trouble finding anyone to promote her offer. When I convinced her to go to 40%, she ended up securing a partner that brought in $60K in sales. That’s a lot bigger than holding on to 90% of zero dollars.
“You’ll need to find the sweet spot between something that’s high enough to be attractive to potential affiliates, yet reasonable enough to allow you to make income from this money-making venture! Remember: You’re reaching new audiences you wouldn’t have otherwise. You’re not ‘losing’ a percentage of the sale… you’re actually gaining more revenue for every new customer your affiliates refer to you.”
2. Deliver A Solid ROI To Your Customer
“Referrals make great customers because your affiliates transfer the know, like, and trust factor that they already have with their audience to you and your work. That’s not just a great benefit for you, but it’s also a benefit for the customer,” notes Sprinkle. “A source they follow has let them in on an incredible opportunity that will improve their life.
“Without your affiliate, they might not have heard about you—and the course, workshop, program or product that is about to take their life to the next level. When you deliver on your product’s promise and give them a huge return on investment, they’ll be incredibly grateful. That’s what turns your customer into the second winner in this equation.”
3. Create A Community Ripple Effect
“When your affiliate promotes your offers, you both make more money. With that money, you’re both able to grow your revenue, expand your teams, make bigger donations to the charities of your choice, and support other companies you believe in,” says Sprinkle. “The ripple effects of doing business this way are never-ending! It can be much more rewarding than paying big corporations for advertising. One of my students actually changed her launch goal from $200K to $1 million when she realized that doing so would allow her to pay her affiliates half a million in commissions from the sales.”
4. Revel In The Non-Monetary Wins For Yourself
“Yes, you’ll make more sales, but you’ll also impact a lot more people with your offer and have a lot more fun in your promotions. In fact, one of the biggest changes that I’ve seen in clients who follow my methods is that working with affiliates gives them a huge boost in confidence,” notes Sprinkle. “When you see other people sharing your work, it feels so reassuring. Plus, entrepreneurship can feel like a lonely journey at times. But when you get the support you need to go bigger in your business from other people, you have some company on that journey towards creating the business of your dreams.”
