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281
[00:00:43] April: Hi guys, and welcome back to the show. I’m April Beach and I am so glad that you were here.
[00:00:47] April: This is episode number 281, and we have. Favorite people and friends on the show back yet again to talk about how to build high level affiliate programs [00:01:00] with the best partners in the whole entire world. And so this episode is brought to you perfectly timed with our masterclass called the Offer Engineer.
[00:01:10] April: So before we can even build affiliate programs, we need to make sure your offer is ready. We actually talk about that. In this show and the steps to get your offer ready. And so if you need to level up your offers to scale so that you can bring in affiliates, make sure that you are checking out the offer engineer.com.
[00:01:28] April: It’s our latest workshop that helps coaches, consultants, experts, and SME scale. And it is coming up, especially if you’re listening to this show in real time. Definitely head over there so you can take action on what we talk about today. Okay. My good friend Laura Sprinkle is back on the show.
[00:01:47] April: And here is what we were talking about. When you are a coach and an author, a consultant, if you’re a subject matter expert, one of the things we need to do is make sure that we are increasing your sales. And one of the best ways [00:02:00] to increase your sales is to have other people who know you, who love you, who love your work, who love your program, actually refer people personally to you.
[00:02:11] April: I can attest to how good it feels to be introduced with total strangers by a high level colleague or friend of mine who knew my program well enough and knows their client base well enough that they make personal recommendations. It’s like handholding people from one world into your world, and it is the best way, first of all, to have clients that are ready to work with. Number two, increase your sales. Number three, it also levels up your brand. So I want you to think about that. Imagine having high level people tell other people about your program, receiving a personal email invitation, receiving a text intro, or an Instagram chat introduction from one of your very close, [00:03:00] reputable friends in your space that tell somebody else that they need to work with.
[00:03:04] April: And when we build your affiliate program correctly, when the structures are put in place and when you have the right partners, this is exactly what you can expect. And so this is what we’re breaking apart in today’s business coaching show. If you’re new here, Welcome to the show. I’m April Beach. I’m a business strategist and mentor for experts, coaches and consultants, and have been for 27 years.
[00:03:27] April: And the thing that we deliver to you here on this show are trainings and steps and processes that you can bank on that the only people that are in here pouring into you. On the Sweet Life Entrepreneur Podcast are vetted experts who have been in the trenches of online business for years and years and years, and this episode is no different.
[00:03:49] April: So my friend Laura, is absolutely the go-to person for affiliate programs. She is behind the creation of affiliate programs for Amy Porterfield. Todd Herman, Steven [00:04:00] Kotler, Salina Sue. She’s behind our affiliate programs as well, and she has a unique method that we’re gonna talk about here of making sure that you’re choosing the right affiliates.
[00:04:10] April: We don’t want all the affiliates. You’ve seen those launches before. We don’t actually want to go for that in many business cases. And so that’s what we’re talking about here today. She’s gonna break down how to find the right affiliate partners, and she’s gonna help you know where to start in the process, even to different people that you might not be directly connected with.
[00:04:30] April: And at the end of this show, you can expect to know three things you need to have in. For your offer to be ready for affiliates, we are also diving into the percentages of the payouts and what to pay affiliates, and you are going to know the first levels of affiliate partners that we want to go after for your business, your program, and actually how to do that.
[00:04:53] April: So this is episode number 281. All the show notes and all the goodies that we’re talking about here, including that [00:05:00] Offer Engineer workshop, and all of Laura’s rock, your affiliate program information can be found by visiting Sweetlifepodcast.com/281. All right, let’s go. Hey you guys. I am so excited to be back with my friend Laura Sprinkle on the NextGen of the Sweet Life Entrepreneur Podcast.
[00:05:22] April: You guys probably remember Laura was here hanging out with me a couple years ago, and she and I met at a mastermind. It was like Selena Suz Master Mastermind in San Diego. Feels like forever in a day ago. , but, and we had known each other before then I think we met in, we got to finally see each other in person then, and it was really, really special.
[00:05:44] April: And the stuff that Laura does in the way she orchestrates relationships are so powerful and the way that she helps us as entrepreneurs. Know how to look at our relationships with other [00:06:00] businesses and how it can be this win-win for everybody is just one of the reasons why I love her so much. Because it’s so genuine.
[00:06:07] April: It’s so real and it’s so mutually beneficial for everybody across the board. The way Laura helps companies grow and, um, you know, not diving into your official bio. But let’s talk a little bit so people know that you are the bee’s knee about , who you have worked with. You know, it’s okay to name drop on here, you know who you’ve worked with in the past to help them build their programs, in this case, their affiliate and referral programs to help them build their programs in how you helped some of these leaders big to small.
[00:06:45] April: Really create, uh, what we call an ecosystem of amazing relationships to grow their business. So welcome back to the show, Laura. I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you. Tell everybody about who you are, what, what lights you up, doesn’t have to be business [00:07:00] related, and who you’ve worked with in the past. And then we’ll dive into what we’re talking about today.
[00:07:04] Laura: I’m so excited. Thank you for having me, and thanks for, for listening. Uh, so who I am, so I am an affiliate program strategist and I have helped clients. My very first client in this realm was Selena Sue, which is how we got connected originally, which is so exciting. Uh, so. Set up programs for Salina Sue, Todd Hermann, Amy Porterfield, um, worked with Kate Northrop, um, heroic and Brian Johnson, Steven Kotler and the Flow Research collective, just a lot a lot of people who are incredible and like I just could talk about them all day long. Like seriously,
[00:07:48] April: they’re so, I remember when you sent out the email that you were doing stuff with Steven Cutler. I’m like, oh my gosh, okay. I’m a huge fan, obviously do a lot of flow state stuff in my kids even read his books as well, [00:08:00] and so I was like, I don’t wanna be a part of anything that this guy is doing.
[00:08:03] April: And I was so excited for you that, that, that. That was such a cool thing that you’re, you’re getting to work with that team as well. Yeah. So you’ve been doing this for a while, so you’ve been helping businesses create, um, really deep, not just surface level, but highly profitable affiliate relationship programs for a a hot minute and you know, some, and what is the number? You dropped it a couple weeks ago when, when we were in like a networking call. Really cool. Laura, by the way, does these amazing networking calls you guys, um, where she just brings together, she’s such a queen at bringing together just cool people who, who wanna connect.
[00:08:41] April: And we’re gonna be talking about that more today. But give us some of the figures of numbers and, and dollar amount of some of the sales that the affiliate programs that you’ve engineered have, have done.
[00:08:51] Laura: Yeah. And I wanna say too, the way that we set up affiliate programs and the way that we. I wanna, I wanna say a [00:09:00] require, but it’s not really a requirement, but the way that we help our clients think about affiliate programs, it’s not like a one and done thing, right?
[00:09:08] Laura: It’s not like, okay, only for your next promotion, only for your next launch. Like we’re gonna 10 x and then we’re gonna call it quits. Like the point is to create that ecosystem that continues to grow with you. So the number I’m gonna share is really like that initial. initial launch and therefore it is actually much bigger because I have been doing this for half a decade and these people have launched many, many times since that original launch with us.
[00:09:34] Laura: Um, but our clients have brought in over 30 million in revenue from their affiliate partner programs. And my favorite part about that number is that win-win that you talk about. We actually call it the quadruple win. So not only are millions of. Being generated for small businesses, but also millions of dollars are more in the hands of other small businesses that are their partners and affiliates that they care about [00:10:00] going to their families.
[00:10:01] Laura: You know, supporting their clients and their teams and their causes that they believe in. And like that is the thing that really lights me up. That’s what you asked about. And yeah, I would say the
[00:10:11] April: quadruple win. So it’s like, yeah, it’s 30 million, but that was only for the initial launch and, and now that has this, Afterburn, you know, snowball effect because these relationships have been built and I, you know, it’s so really important.
[00:10:23] April: If you guys have ever participated in an affiliate program before, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t been an affiliate for somebody, it feels so good because I remember the first time I was an affiliate for somebody, I’m trying to remember, it was like, I think it was Louis House, like back like 2012 or something, a really, really long time ago, and I still remember being part of that and it felt so good to help somebody else do something amazing that they had been worked, they had been working so hard on it.
[00:10:55] April: Felt so good to me to be able to be a part of that. And then like, the [00:11:00] monetary benefits or, or, or just honestly like icing on the cake as well. Um, but just being able to be a part of building somebody else’s a cool thing, um, is just, it’s so rewarding to, to feel like you’re helping with that momentum and you’re helping push that along.
[00:11:14] April: And, and I, and I know intimately the importance of affiliates and we need that. Like we need each other, especially. in an online business space. You know, we don’t have Amy Porterfield’s audience, right. And so, especially in an online business space that is, is so saturated, like relationships, all around relationships.
[00:11:31] April: So, um, I can just say that in going through with your stuff and, and being on the other side too, it’s just, it’s just so powerful. So, Let’s talk about what totally lights you up about the relationship side. So first of all, let me set the framework you guys today we are gonna help you know what you have to do to have in place in order to build your affiliate referral program.
[00:11:55] April: Okay, so in the next 10, 15 minutes, you’re gonna know exactly what you have to have into [00:12:00] place. But you know, unlike a lot of podcasts that we’ll just talk about service things. We also want you to know why these things are important. We’re just not gonna go through and say, Hey, here’s the things you have to do.
[00:12:10] April: We want you to understand the why and the reasoning behind these so that you can independently think through yourself as you’re going through the process of these things as well. First of all, let’s define what type of affiliate referral programs are we talking about that you help people engineer and build?
[00:12:28] Laura: Yeah, such a great question and I think so much of what we talk about in Rock Your Affiliate Program and in how we help clients can help no matter, no matter what kind of partnerships you’re doing. And we specifically love working with course creators and membership creators who want to have multiple people promote their offer at the same time.
[00:12:52] Laura: Like if you have a webinar or a workshop and at the end of that webinar workshop, you’re going to, you know, open the doors for [00:13:00] enrollment for your program and you know, you want 10, a hundred, a thousand. We don’t have a lot of clients that do a thousand. I wouldn’t have recommend different, most people, but you know, you want a few people sharing about your workshops so that you can get, you know, more registrants up.
[00:13:17] Laura: Those are the types of, uh, partnerships that we most frequently do. .
[00:13:22] April: Okay. Awesome. So those of you guys that are doing kind of that, that launch type of strategy, open closed cart type of, uh, a business model is, is what this can work great for what we’re talking about today. And you know, I will also say that there’s so many other things that we’re gonna talk about today that if you are not doing that business model, make sure that you are tapping in here because you’re gonna be.
[00:13:44] April: Deal a lot of these strategies and apply them to your business for incredible results as well. So what does, let’s just go right to the end and reverse engineer it. When somebody wants to actually build this type of a program, how do they start thinking [00:14:00] about how to engineer these, first of all, the relationships and, and who to reach out to and, and why is who they reach out to, um, you know, chosen in a certain way. Take us through that process of thinking.
[00:14:11] Laura: Thinking.
[00:14:12] Laura: Amazing. Yeah. Once you’re ready, and I know we’re gonna reverse engineer of. What does that mean? Once you’re ready, . But once you’re ready, I mean, to me, the thing that’s really, really exciting about partnerships beyond the revenue even is like, we can change the world, right?
[00:14:28] Laura: When I mentioned, you know, millions of dollars in the hands of small business owners that you care about, it’s like growing your business through partnerships means you get to pay people that share your values rather than sending money to corporations like Google and Facebook. And if you. And or you can do both, right?
[00:14:46] Laura: Like you can, you know, tap into pay the ads and also partnerships. Um, so for me that’s number one is do you share values and do they have something genuine to say about your offer? So, [00:15:00] I would recommend that you wait, and we’re gonna talk about this more, but you wait for partnerships until you have actually sold your program and had people go through it.
[00:15:09] Laura: Because some of the best people to promote your offer are your alumni, are the people that have that firsthand, tangible experience with you. Uh, and. Going outside of that circle of people, you’ll wanna start to connect with those who serve your ideal customers in a complimentary way. Like April and I serve in such a complimentary way. Yes. And we also share values. Yeah.
[00:15:32] April: And so let’s like unpack that for you guys. Okay. So first of all, thanks for hanging out with us here today on This Sweet Life podcast. Please like, share this with people because we really want getting, you know, everybody to get the word out about this amazing episode we’re talking about here.
[00:15:45] April: So we wanna unpack and kind of share behind the scenes of how Laura and I work together. So, our expertise, our area of solutions that we provide to clients go so well together, you [00:16:00] guys. And so we want to use us as an example of when you’re looking for great partners. So I help entrepreneurs engineer their leading programs and offers.
[00:16:12] April: You can’t bill the referral program until we have that done. And so I make a perfect prerequisite partner for Laura because people need to go through the process of doing the work and completing their actual structure of engineering their offers with me before we can go into that process of, of then bringing in others to, to market that out.
[00:16:36] April: Think about like, who is a prerequisite for your offer and, and who are the people that you know, need as far as, for what they do is, is delivered better when they’ve completed what you do. Right? I probably did not say that in as well as you could , like
[00:16:55] Laura: you wish that they would take this person’s program. Yeah, before [00:17:00] yours because then they could get just astounding results. Like yeah, if you’ve worked with April before you create a affiliate program, like that’s really like that’s kind of end of episode right there. Like work with April 1st and then come to me and we can get tons of eyeballs on your offer.
[00:17:17] April: We need to, here’s the deal you guys. We need to have a transformational me. Signature program or offer. That’s it. We have to make sure it’s great. And so what Laura was saying is we have to test it, right? So we have to make sure we get people going through it. And so once people ha have clients going through their program, uh, so you’re saying that really is that very first step to go through the engineering of the program and then bringing in the clients and, and having them receive those transformational.
[00:17:48] Laura: yes, you definitely like, wanna make sure you have a solid offer. And, and even beyond that, you also wanna make sure that you have solid messaging around [00:18:00] your launch mechanism. So I mentioned, you know, doing a workshop or a webinar, you’re gonna wanna have some type of marketing, some type of sales mechanism in place because you know you wanna have something that your affiliates and your partners can actually refer to, can actually send people.
[00:18:17] Laura: Right,
[00:18:17] April: right, right. Um, and so just outta curiosity, because we always try to update this show on those latest information, what have you seen in the last year or show is that sales mechanism that seems to be the most popular, that’s working the best. I know this is totally a random question, but I’m sure people are thinking it, so I just wanted to, to ask that what are, what are people that you’re working with most commonly doing?
[00:18:39] April: Is it still webinar? They’re kind of, you know, seeming to get outta date a little bit with certain audiences. Are they live virtual events? What, what are the trends that you’ve seen lately?
[00:18:48] Laura: Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of boot camps and challenges where it’ll be, you know, free to sign up for a certain portion and then it’s like a paid upgrade to stay later or to have coaching involved [00:19:00] as well.
[00:19:00] Laura: There’s a Facebook group involved. Um, so I mean, I would say that that’s like on the high end. Of output and activity and like all the things, and there’s giveaways and pr, you know what I mean? There’s all sorts of stuff happening. So I definitely have seen that and I’ve also seen people go even more low key of like, we’re doing, you know, uh, a low cost paid workshop.
[00:19:21] Laura: Come do this thing. Come hang out with us. Come learn something valuable. And if you wanna take the next step, great. If you don’t, great, you’re gonna get value from it anyway. , you know, I think people are also going back and doing more live events, um, in person, which can also be a launch mechanism, not one that I’m like super savvy on.
[00:19:41] Laura: Um, But people like you will hear all the time like, oh, webinars are dead. Or like, you know, this thing is email’s dead. And at the end of the day it’s like, this stuff has been around, well, email’s not been around forever, obviously, but like direct communication has been around forever. Like it’s not dead, [00:20:00] it’s all still working.
[00:20:02] April: It’s like, know your audience. To know what your audience wants. Right. You know, if your audience isn’t responding to it, then engineer something and tweak it and, and build something distress amazing that your audience totally wants. Okay. So we have to have their program and, and then we have to have a really well-engineered sales.
[00:20:18] April: Process that you can communicate to your partners and say, Hey listen, here’s what we’re doing and this is when we’re doing it and this is where we want you to drive traffic to. This is where please send people here. And I, you know, for me, so we as a company went through Laura’s program. You guys rock your affiliate program a while ago.
[00:20:37] April: Um, and, and we act as affiliates now for Laura. And I remember going through that process and even as a coach who engineers these things and realizing. Wow. This is really the test on how well organized your offer and your sales conversion process is because you are going to be communicating it with others on a really, really, um, detailed, uh, [00:21:00] organizational project plan.
[00:21:01] April: And you better make sure that everything is structured right. So that is a huge prerequisite because here’s the thing with this, you guys, you, anybody that’s representing you, let’s. an affiliate is, is, is sharing how amazing you are. If something goes wrong, no matter what, it’s gonna reflect on them. And so we really wanna make sure that you have these things in place very well because they’re, they’re sticking their nick out to say, Hey, listen, you know, April’s awesome at this, and then they send somebody to my thing and if the whole thing fails, I’m gonna make my affiliate like, Look like shit.
[00:21:38] April: Right? . And so that’s really, you know, we need to honor our affiliates in making sure we’re structuring things really, really well. Um, because, because they’re endorsing us. And, and that’s as a whole across the board, not just with the program, with the, with the sales process
[00:21:53] Laura: too. Yeah, for sure. And it doesn’t mean that it has to be complicated or, or have a bunch of bells and [00:22:00] whistles or, you know, have a hundred thousand dollars affiliate prize.
[00:22:03] Laura: Like some, you know, some big names too. Sure. It doesn’t mean that it does. Like, you know, you wanna have your dates in place and, and stick with them. And I’ve broken my own rules probably more than any of my clients have for sure. Of like, oh, I’m gonna change this thing. And it makes it harder. Right? If someone tells you a date and then they change it on you. Yeah. It’s gonna be harder to share that thing. Right.
[00:22:27] April: Okay. So, uh, our listeners, they have their offer engineered, they have their sales process. Now what. .
[00:22:34] Laura: They are also going to wanna make sure that they have the price point on their offer and know how much they’re really excited about sharing with the affiliate for commission.
[00:22:46] Laura: And people ask me this all the time of like, what’s the general commission? Like what’s best practice? And like there is best practice and there’s also like, you need to know your numbers and you need to know how much delivering your. [00:23:00] Costs. Mm-hmm. , because I would hate for you to get into a scenario where you’re actually going in the negative because you’re using affiliates, right.
[00:23:07] Laura: And. Paying affiliates is not like you’re losing money. It’s not like you’re giving them money. You know? It’s like you’re gaining the revenue from those new clients that you would not have been in front of without your affiliate partners and taking the time, energy, resources to pay ads or to get out there in the world and to meet those customers yourself.
[00:23:30] Laura: That takes, again, time, energy, money, , all those things. So it is definitely worth it and you need to come up with, you know, a percentage. So if you’re in the course space, I typical, I, you know, I hesitate to say typically, but I typically see anywhere between 30 and 50% for courses. .
[00:23:48] April: Mm-hmm. . I love you said that. I love that you said that. Okay, you guys, so know your numbers. Um, and we always like to say, we want you to have at least a 70% profit margin on your offer. [00:24:00] So if you’ve engineered your offer, this is just a side note for tech, like, and we talk about your cost of engineering, your offer and running it on ongoing basis, we want you to have at least a 70% profit margin.
[00:24:09] April: Ideally with online businesses, we want it up to a 90% profit margin and that way. It’s fine for you to then give away 40 or 50% you can afford it because you know that your cost and your profit margin in order to operate it is, you know, besides like a, a boost in ad cost or whatever that would be for you.
[00:24:27] April: Um, so that’s usually kind of the overall profit margin that we want with online programs is 70 to 90% just with your cost to run it. So you guys can take those two numbers, like Laura said. 30 to 50 and then you know, an overall profit margin in of 70 to 90 and kind of tweak your numbers accordingly and just make sure you guys aren’t paying out like online business.
[00:24:47] April: We have very low overhead and we tend to see a lot of extra costs on so many different software that. You know, might be excessive, so you might wanna be able to even take a look at your operational expenses and reduce some [00:25:00] costs so that you can pay your affiliates more like how it would be so much better.
[00:25:04] April: Just like Laura said, rather than paying Google or another software, you might not need to increase the amount of money you can pay out to an affiliate, and that would be super awesome. That would feel a lot better too.
[00:25:14] Laura: Yeah. And it’s like paying, like instead of needing to go create this whole marketing team for your company, it’s like you get to pay, pay your affiliates to spread the word for you.
[00:25:25] Laura: Um, and of course you’re gonna support them and, and you’re gonna have cost associated with that. And. . Yeah, I, I just love it if you can’t tell . But, um, so you’re gonna wanna know, um, that you’re also going to wanna make sure that you have, you know, your tech set up, like you said, in order to get payments. Um, so you wanna be clear on what tech stack you’re using in order to make those sales.
[00:25:48] Laura: You wanna have customers coming through your funnels. You wanna have them loving your program, probably already starting to refer, uh, even before you set up the systems to optimize. Um, with [00:26:00] us and you wanna get excited about what you can do and the possibilities and wanna make sure that you can handle, you know, the volume.
[00:26:09] Laura: You know, if you have 10 partners sending, like if you got, you know, 10 partners sending one additional client your way in the next launch. So 10 additional, like, are you gonna be able to handle that on the back end? Like make sure that you are
[00:26:22] April: right. Right. Oh my gosh. What a wonderful and terrible and super scary problem if you can’t, and that happens. Yes. . It’s like, it’s like, it’s like be careful what you wish for. Um, yes. Okay, so now we have all this like prerequisites in place now. What is, you have the most amazing philosophy on actually the structure of the affiliate program and, and how to reach out to people. We kind of talked about it a little bit in the beginning.
[00:26:49] April: Talk to us about, you know, why relationships are so important to you and, and how you really want entrepreneurs to, to look at this, this network and these, this [00:27:00] beautiful depth of ongoing relat. .
[00:27:02] Laura: Yeah. So I think that you’re referring here to the relationship rings, um, which is one of our beautiful exercises we take our clients through.
[00:27:11] Laura: And for me, again, I do believe that this can, this can change the world if we pay people that we care about. Um, I love sending my affiliates including April money, uh, every month. I love getting it so much fun. Yes. , I’d much rather pay you than corporations I don’t know or care about. Uh, and so we look at it as, You know, the inner ring are the clients that have come through your circle.
[00:27:36] Laura: Um, then we go into your colleagues, people you’ve met in masterminds and such like us. And then when you go out, you start to look at those categories of people. And when we say like, oh, someone who engineer helps engineer an offer will be a great partner for somebody who creates an affiliate program.
[00:27:52] Laura: That’s true. And. Don’t want anybody listening to do because this is a surefire way to break relationships [00:28:00] is start cold pitching and hopping in those dms of like, Hey, I wanna be an affiliate. Yeah, ,
[00:28:08] April: why do we hate? I can’t put my figure on it so bad, but why do we hate that so much?
[00:28:13] Laura: It just feels so. Give something to me, right? It’s not something, it’s not a win-win. It’s not, Hey, let’s connect first on a values basis. It’s like, I don’t even know you and you want me to do something for you. It makes no sense. It feels really icky. And so our thing is like no cold pitching and like real, true, genuine relationships that feel good because the truth is, Partnerships, like let’s say that you sent 200 of those dms and we actually have had clients before working with us do this.
[00:28:49] Laura: Let’s say that you sent 200, you might hear back and get positive results from like two. Okay, great. That’s a 1% conversion rate. And if you wanna play those numbers, you could [00:29:00] totally do that. There are people that teach this, by the way, so you could play those numbers and you can. Those two people are probably not even gonna convert that well.
[00:29:09] Laura: They’re gonna send you crappy customers that you don’t wanna deal with, and it just doesn’t feel good. So not only does building genuine relationships convert better, , it’s also gonna feel better, right? Like I think people try to disassociate of like, you can either do stuff that feels good or you can make money.
[00:29:28] Laura: Mm-hmm. , and I’m like, Hmm, let’s, that’s actually the same. Like, let’s have a party and make a butt ton of money together.
[00:29:37] April: Okay, so, so what, so what do you recommend, how do you want people to really, um, move forward in this? And, and obviously this is what you guys do, um, but, you know, where, what do you recommend as far as somebody saying, okay, I really want to, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve built my signature program.
[00:29:54] April: I know, you know, I know our, our marketing process and our sales processes in place and buttoned up, and I’ve brought people [00:30:00] through what I do and, and I. created raving fans. Now I’m ready to have other people share this. Yeah. What really is that Very first, next step and call to action. .
[00:30:11] Laura: Yeah. Like you said, besides coming and working with me and taking one of our workshops, you should definitely do that.
[00:30:17] Laura: Yes, for sure. But to even get prepared to do that or to come, not even prepared, but like to come ahead of the game. Right. This is like prerequisites, but if you wanna get a step ahead before coming and working with us, I would really start making a list of dream partners. Start giving generously. Like how can you.
[00:30:36] Laura: Uh, you know, share their content, hop on coffee chats with them, you know, move their businesses forward without asking for anything in return. Like give generously, uh, and really just start to build relationships. Hey, I’m, you know, considering creating an affiliate program or interested in partnerships, like start to hop on and just start to orient yourself toward relationship building well before you need [00:31:00] it.
[00:31:00] Laura: Honestly, I would do that even. Right. You have your offer in place, like just start meeting people and networking and not in a networking, like, I need to collect all the names, but like genuine. I wanna know you, I wanna cheer your kids on like, I want to love up on you, like even 10 people. Like start doing that now and you’re gonna be so much further, uh, when you’re ready.
[00:31:24] April: You.
[00:31:24] April: That’s so good. That’s so good. And do you recommend, you know, one last question. Do you recommend people become an affiliate for the people that they, because it is, it is it, is it this feeling of like, Hey, I need you to be an affiliate for me, but then I need to be an affiliate for you? I mean, how does that actually work in the scheme of, of basically marketing and, and how we fit promoting other people’s programs into our market plan as well. Is there an expectation for that that you’ve seen or how do you recommend, um, people people approach
[00:31:57] April: that?
[00:31:58] Laura: I love this question so [00:32:00] much and I have such a different philosophy, I think than than most people talking about partnerships. And I wanna say I love reciprocity. and if I am doing something only to get something in return, that creates a really sticky, yucky energy.
[00:32:18] Laura: And that is like you’re setting yourself up for someone to be disappointed and for a relationship to be broken. I’m not. Yeah, , I am not saying don’t promote people who promote you like I would a hundred percent. I actually, as we’re talking, I was like, oh, I need to send someone, you know, April’s way and like.
[00:32:39] Laura: It’s not that I don’t promote people who promote me cuz I’m like, send everybody my way and I can’t promote you in return. It’s not that at all. It’s whoever you are going to promote. Well, and actually I also wanna separate your question out. Number one, I would definitely recommend becoming an affiliate for people that you care about and you love their programs. It’s a great way to make money. It’s a great way to learn. It’s [00:33:00] fantastic. It’s a great way to
[00:33:00] April: make friends. You guys. I have made so many friends by work I’ve been and Lauras thing of meet the coolest people. .
[00:33:08] Laura: Yeah. Mm-hmm. like you can, you can meet, yeah. All the people, you can win prizes. Like Yeah, it’s a party.
[00:33:13] Laura: It’s, you don’t have to deliver the program. Like it’s great. Yeah. Yes. Become an affiliate and never, well, I’m just gonna say it. Never do it. Only because you want them to promote your thing. Cuz again, you’re just setting yourself up for a sticky situation. Like promote people because you want to promote.
[00:33:34] Laura: And expect that they’re gonna be doing the same for you, and then you’re just energetically clean and it just feels
[00:33:41] April: good. Right. Well, and I think that, I mean, I mean, you know, this is, this is business. You know, we’re, we’re adults, you know, we’re, we’re big girls. We can talk about this, but you guys. If it doesn’t make sense for you to ethically promote somebody else’s program, not ethically meaning like it’s good or bad, but like it doesn’t fit into the, the [00:34:00] things that you talk about with your community, then, I, I don’t feel like there is a way, like when people, when I promote people’s programs, I don’t have any expectation like, oh, they’re gonna now become an affiliate for me at all.
[00:34:13] April: Because talking let’s, you know, as a business strategist, if I asked them to become an affiliate and it doesn’t fit into their content strategy and their messaging. It’s gonna be really weird, and I’m actually putting them in a, and jeopardizing their messaging and their brand. So it doesn’t mean that they still won’t send people to me.
[00:34:32] April: Kind of like one off if, if they know, oh, you know, April can really help you in this area. But I honestly, my personal opinion, I don’t have any expectations on people that, you know, I become an affiliate for them, that they’re gonna turn around and then be an affiliate for me, because I actually think it’s a case by case basis of what fits into the ecosystem.
[00:34:53] April: That each business is creating in their relationships with their audience and what, you know, might be [00:35:00] good for one, just might not necessarily be a fit. And it’s nothing personal. It’s just not necessarily a, a fit. Um, and, and I think that that is, I think I would just encourage people to, you know, be affiliates with other affiliates that are totally cool with that.
[00:35:12] April: They’re like, oh yeah, no, it totally, you know, you can promote my way, but it wouldn’t make sense for me to promote back to you because it isn’t really like what we talk. Totally fine. I mean, this is business, but again, you know, and this is aside from what we’re talking about in building an affiliate program.
[00:35:29] April: But always having like those people’s names and contact information on hand and just sending people’s like, oh, this person’s great at this. So any chance you get, just, just sharing how amazing that other person is, even if it doesn’t fit for you to promote their program is, is, is something that we always wanna do, but I just feel like it, it might not always be a fit and that’s, Right.
[00:35:51] Laura: It could be, again, it doesn’t like the, the ones that are set up where it’s like I have to send five emails and then you’re gonna send five emails. I [00:36:00] think for me, that’s where things get sticky. Um, like it’s more. Like it could be. Yeah. Like I, you know, you’re featured on a podcast here and then they become an affiliate there.
[00:36:12] Laura: It’s like, it doesn’t have to be tit for tat. Like, I’m keeping this spreadsheet score of how many leads you’ve sent and then how many I’ve sent. Like, I think that’s where people just like, yeah. Take it a little overboard on the recipes. .
[00:36:25] April: Doesn’t that sound exhausting? I mean, I can think of so many better things that we could be doing of our, with our time than, than, than tracking that Totally.
[00:36:35] April: Yeah. Okay. I’m so glad we talked about this. We weren’t even planning on talking about this. All right, . So, uh, so today on the show, we helped you guys know what you need to do to prepare to create an affiliate program. Um, that is, that’s most important, that you have your prerequisites checked off. Let’s make sure that you guys are ready to go, um, when you’re ready to work with Laura.
[00:36:56] April: Um, Laura, I’ll make we make sure of. We have all of her [00:37:00] information. If you ever lose her information, send me a DM on Instagram and I will directly send you Laura’s information, right? That’s how it works. You don’t have to join. Clicky link or something. I don’t care what goes wrong comes around. Right. And the thing is, is we just want you guys understanding that, like I think that what Laura has really done a good job leading the way in is that it’s not just about the financial structure and the benefits of affiliate programs, but it’s really about creating ecosystems of relationships with the most amazing humans that all are rallied together for a cause of leveling.
[00:37:34] April: Others towards the same goal. And I, I, I love that that’s how you lead this. I love that. You know, we didn’t spend this whole episode, you know, talking about numbers and structure and, and links and, and money and all those things because the strategy behind it, those are just the details. That’s not the actual strategy. and I love that we got, we gotta talk about that today. .
[00:37:59] Laura: Me too. [00:38:00] Thank you so much. I hope, yeah, I hope it was valuable for everybody last
[00:38:03] April: night. I’m so excited you guys are here. So good. So good. So we will make sure that you guys have links to share , Rock Your Affiliate Program. And I wasn’t even, we weren’t even gonna talk about this on the show, but let me make sure that you guys know.
[00:38:13] April: Rock Your Affiliate Program is, I can tell you this, a step-by-step process that actually Laura and her team actually give you the frameworks and swipe copies and just like, it’s amazing that walks you and your team through the process of building an incredible affiliate program from this strategy into those details and making sure you don’t mess it up.
[00:38:33] April: Okay , making sure that you don’t screw it. All your ducks are in a row. Everything’s, you know,, you know, working the way it should be. , it’s, it’s a really powerful process. And, and we obviously love referring clients over there. Laura, I know that. As we are talking about where we are in the year when this episode drops, you have a couple of workshops coming up. How would somebody find those workshops so [00:39:00] that they can, when they’re ready to move into this process with you?
[00:39:03] Laura: Yeah, for sure. So we’re gonna create a special link, so it’ll be at laurasprinkle.com/sweetlife. So you can, you know, get on the list for the workshops. You can. Come work with me and my team for free to start to put these pieces in place. And if you wanna take the next step in Rock Your Affiliate Program, we would be super happy to have you.
[00:39:24] April: They’re awesome. You guys are gonna love it. You’re gonna love it, and I love that you guys do that, um, prerequisite time for free as well, so you can get into their ecosystem and see what it’s like hanging out with them and learning from them.
[00:39:34] April: And it, it’s really a beautiful place to be. , so thank you so much for being on the show. I can’t wait to see you again in person. I think we’re gonna do that here soon. We have to do that here soon. All right. Yes, please, . Okay. All right. Well, you guys be awesome. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll talk to you next time.[00:40:00]