Hey Reader, Choosing an affiliate manager feels like a guessing game for most people, but it doesn't have to. In this week's episode, I'm breaking down the traits and skills that matter, where great affiliate managers tend to come from, and how to tell the difference between someone who "knows affiliates" and someone who can build and run a real program. CLICK HERE to listen to "How to Choose the Right Affiliate Manager" now! (or read the transcript) If you're about to make a hire, this...
about 15 hours ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, I read an article this week about the biggest affiliate marketing trends of 2026. One of them made me laugh out loud. "Turn Your Customers Into Affiliates." Uh... yeah, I've been saying this for 20 years. I've written probably 10 articles about it. Recorded at least a half-dozen podcast episodes. Used it as a core strategy in dozens of multi-million dollar affiliate campaigns. But sure. Trend of 2026. (YAY!) Look, I'm not annoyed. I'm glad more people are talking about it because...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Got a big promotion coming up? A launch, a holiday promo push, a summer discount event? This week's episode is about the single biggest lever you're probably not pulling: warming up your affiliates before the promo even starts. Click here to listen to "How to Get Affiliates Excited to Promote" now. Here's the pattern I see in more than half the affiliate programs I work with: No communication with partners for 10, 11 months. Then one month out, they announce the launch. The day...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Every summer I think about the same thing: how do I make more money while actually enjoying the summer? The answer, for me, has consistently come back to one page on my site. A resources page. And last month alone it generated more than $10,000 in passive affiliate income. Click here to grab the free updated guide and learn how to build yours. A resources page is one of the simplest, highest-leverage things you can add to your site. You build it once, update it occasionally, and...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Some affiliate program mistakes cost you commissions. Others cost you sleep. This week's episode is about the second kind. Click here to listen to "How to Avoid the Biggest Affiliate Program Mistakes (Part 2)" now! (or read the transcript if that's more your speed) Over the years I've made enough mistakes running affiliate programs to fill a small handbook. Most of them were fixable. A few of them weren't the kind you forget, because they came with real consequences, including one...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, It's December. Which means half your affiliates are promoting everything under the sun like it's the last Black Friday ever... And the other half have completely disappeared. (Are they okay? Did they quit? Are they just binge-watching Hallmark movies?) Meanwhile, you're over here juggling 47 promos, answering panicked Slack messages at 11pm, and discovering that Steve's affiliate link has been broken for THREE DAYS and nobody told you. Steve?!?! C’mon, man. Welcome to the holiday...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Want to know how strategic affiliate marketers think? Then CLICK HERE to listen to "Inside the Mind of a Strategic Affiliate Marketer" now! I interview my friend Kyle Young… He's worked with Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, and Fortune. He just launched his book, Success Is a Numbers Game. And he treats affiliate marketing like the long game it is. We cover: - How to play the numbers game the right way - Behind-the-scenes of his book launch - How to pitch yourself to major...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, 60% of our annual affiliate revenue at Shutterfly came between Black Friday and December 18th. More than half our year's income. In less than a month. That's the power of holiday promotions. CLICK HERE to learn how to maximize your holiday affiliate commissions! Right now, consumers are in buying mode. They EXPECT deals. They're actively searching for them. Their wallets are open. The question is: Will you be there with the right offer at the right time? In this article, I share...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Launching a book soon? (or any product really) Want more sales, exposure, and impact? Affiliates are your secret weapon. But most authors screw it up. CLICK HERE to get the blueprint that's launched 10+ bestsellers! In this episode, I walk you through: - The exact timeline for book launches with affiliates -What to do and when to do it - What worked (and what flopped) - How to copy it step-by-step This is from a private training for authors who've sold 3,000+ copies. Top 0.05% of...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, I only knew his name for 37 seconds. And I was about to walk up to him in a crowded bar and introduce him to a potential affiliate partner like we were old friends. This could go really well... or spectacularly badly. Let me back up. We had an affiliate visiting us in Franklin, Tennessee. They were considering sending us about 10% of their traffic… which would've been huge for us at the time. We'd spent nearly 20 hours together over two days. Hockey game. Local restaurants. Tours...
6 months ago • 2 min read