Top affiliates send 90% of their traffic to the top 10% of offers. Build the program that earns it.
You’ve got a hero product that converts. You know your numbers. And everyone’s telling you affiliates are the next channel.
Or you already have a program, and it’s not growing like it should.
Most programs launch, recruit a handful of partners, and stall…
… or one partner takes off, and now your business depends on someone you’ve never met.
For over a decade, we sat between the affiliates and the offers at ClickBank, one of the largest affiliate marketplaces in the world: over $3.8 billion in sales.
The Footer Link.
Most affiliate programs are a link at the bottom of the site and a commission rate. Then everyone wonders why they drive less than 5% of sales.
Are these questions bouncing around in your head?
You don’t need more affiliates. You need a partner channel.
Affiliates don’t promote programs. They promote offers that convert, and partners they trust. The best ones put their money behind the offers that pay.
Affiliate programs are a B2B sales channel. Your affiliates are your customers. Build it like one.
There are two ways to build an affiliate program.
Bolt one on
A commission rate, a signup link, and a hope.
It launches, recruits a handful of partners, and stalls.
Listed on four networks, with no single source of truth. Someone else owns your data.
Your manager spends the day chasing contracts and tracking links.
If it does take off, one partner drives half your sales.
Build a partner channel
An offer and payouts partners can win with.
One hub for your data that you own, plugging into networks and agencies when they add reach.
Onboarding that runs without chasing, so your manager stays on the $1,000/hour work.
A long tail of producing partners, so no single one can sink you.
A loyalty program that gives partners a reason to stay, and guardrails so growth doesn’t come with liability.
Both sides of the deal
We sat between the affiliates and the offers.
For over a decade and more than $3.8B in sales at ClickBank: thousands of offers on one side, and the affiliates deciding where to send their traffic on the other.
Super affiliates don’t spread their traffic around. The top 10% of offers earn about 90% of it.
Thomas McMahon
Then: Director of Business Development at ClickBank
“What separated the best affiliate programs from rest wasn't just stats and payouts, it was how the partner program and team were built form the ground up.”
I onboarded brands onto ClickBank and watched thousands of offers launch.
The ones affiliates fought over were the ones that converted, paid on time, showed their numbers, and treated affiliates like partners.
The rest could still get good scale. Just never great.
Dom Keenan
Then: VP of Sales & Account Management at ClickBank
“Some of them weren’t small. They were super affiliates running a test.”
On one of our biggest offers, nearly a fifth of sales came from hundreds of “small” affiliates, each making a handful of sales. Nobody on the affiliate team had ever talked to them.
But some of them weren’t small. They were super affiliates running a test.
They needed a call, the right creative, maybe a better payout. Someone to bring them up. Instead, they got left alone.
Every program has its next super affiliates hiding in the long tail.
Most never find them.
10% → 90%
The top 10% of offers earn about 90% of affiliate traffic
$3.8B+
In sales through the marketplace we sat in the middle of
The Partner Engine
Every program that scales has the same five parts.
There’s more than one way to build a program that works: in-house, on networks, with or without an agency. Programs missing a part stall. We help you build all five.
How we build it
We build or optimize the program. Your team runs it.
Not a replacement for your affiliate manager, and not a handoff to an agency or network. An in-house program you own, with your data and your relationships, that plugs into agencies and networks when they make sense.
Month 1
Discover and qualify
We dig into your offer, your numbers and your current setup. Already running a program? We assess it. Not ready for affiliates yet? We work on the offer first.
Month 2-3
Design and build
Commission structure and loyalty tiers, plus your affiliate tools page, CRM and onboarding workflows, built with your team.
Month 3-4
Operate
The bones of the program are in place. We train and coach the people running it, and turn the $10/hour tasks into systems.
Month 4+
Grow
Executing the strategy: recruiting beyond your circle, finding the next super affiliates, and adding networks when they’ll add volume, not noise.
Are you ready?
Is an affiliate program the right lever right now?
Probably not yet if
You’re still finding product-market fit, your offer only converts for warm audiences, or your AOV can’t support a payout anyone would promote. Affiliates amplify what’s already working. They don’t fix what isn’t.
Not ready yet? No stress. We’ll help you get the offer there first. And if you want an agency to run your program day to day, we’re not it. We build programs you own.
It’s not just your commission rate…
It’s not just your tracking…
It’s not just your affiliate manager…
It’s how they all work together.
You’re probably ready if you’re:
A DTC brand with a hero product that converts on paid traffic
Doing over $100K a month, and you know your CAC and LTV
Able to pay partners competitively, or have the LTV to justify it
Ready to own your program in-house as a major acquisition channel.
And you’re looking for:
Advisors who’ve sat on both sides: the affiliates and the offers
A program you own, data and relationships included
The right stack the first time, so you don’t rebuild at scale
A team trained to run it without you in every conversation
Sound like you?
Here’s what happens next.
No pitch deck. Just a straight answer on whether affiliates are the right lever for you right now, and what to build or fix first.
01
Tell us about your offer
What you sell, your AOV, and where your customers come from today.
02
Talk it through
A short call on readiness, economics, and what’s working or stuck in your current setup.
03
Get a clear path forward
Build it, fix it, or get the offer ready first. If we’re not a fit, you’ll still leave knowing your next move.
FAQ
Questions founders ask about affiliate programs
Will you manage our affiliates?
No, we don’t do day-to-day affiliate management. We build or optimize the program with you, train the people who run it, and make introductions when they’re a fit. You keep the relationships and the data.
Should we use a network, an agency, or build in-house?
Which affiliate platform should we use?
What commission should we pay?
We already have a program. Can you help?
What if we’re not ready for affiliates yet?
Won’t affiliates hurt our brand?
Affiliates, influencers, ambassadors: what’s the difference?
How long does this take?
How is this different from DTC Founder Advising?
How is pricing structured?
Affiliate & Partner Programs
The best affiliates are promoting someone else’s offer today.
Let’s make it yours.
— Thomas McMahon & Dom Keenan
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