BlackCardMarketingGroup.com @ #InfusionCon 2010

Grow Through Partners: Developing Relationships for Faster Growth

Presented By: Cindy Eagar and Rebecca Sprynczynatyk

© 2010 Infusionsoft. All rights reserved.

Agenda

• WHY? Benefits of growing through partners.• SHOW ME THE MONEY! How to pay your affiliates• GET MOVING! How to motivate your affiliates• DO THESE JEANS MAKE ME LOOK FAT? How to make your program

attractive to affiliates• MAKE ME A SUPERSTAR. How to give affiliate the resources they need.• COVER YOUR BUTT. How to keep your program out of trouble.• Q & A


WHY? Benefits of growing

through partners.


Benefits of Growing Through Partners

• Extend your reach• Lower your CPA• Increase conversions• Boost your brand


SHOW ME THE MONEY!How to pay

your affiliates.


4 Pillars of a Strong Commission Program

Ask yourself four basic questions:• Should I pay for leads or sales?• Should I pay a fixed amount or a percentage of sale?• Should I pay one lump sum, multiple payments, or recurring

commission?• Should I credit affiliates immediately upon purchase or wait until I

collect the cash from my customers?


Should I pay the Lead Affiliate or the Sale Affiliate?

Lead Affiliate Sale Affiliate

Role • First affiliate to generate the lead •Last affiliate to touch the lead before a purchase

Advantages •Cost effective (only pay for successful referrals)•Shifts the cost of lead gen outside of your company•Encourages affiliates to drive traffic to your site•Allows you to control the sales cycle

•Cost effective (only pay for successful referrals) •Shifts the cost of sales outside of your company •Encourages affiliates to help close deals

Notes • Infusionsoft allows you to limit how long lead referrals are good (ex. expire after 45 days).



Scenario 1: Pay Lead Affiliate

Acme Online sells an affordable array of products online and uses affiliates to drive traffic to their site. Andy Affiliate refers several leads to Acme Online through his newsletter. One of the leads submits a webform on Acme’s website and then buys a product a few days later. Andy Affiliate will get paid as the LEAD AFFILIATE because he was the first affiliate to generate the lead.



Scenario 2: Pay Sale Affiliate

A lead who has already visited the Acme Online website is undecided about buying. He does a web search for reviews and finds Alyssa Affiliate’s website, which is full of case studies and testimonials for Acme Online. After reading the testimonials, the lead clicks on a link to return to the Acme site and makes a purchase. Alyssa Affiliate will get paid as the SALE AFFILIATE because she was the last person to touch the lead and helped close the deal.



Scenario 3: Pay Sale & Lead Affiliates

Andy Affiliate refers a lead through his newsletter. A few weeks later, this lead reads the testimonials on Alyssa’s website and decides to buy. Andy and Alyssa are unrelated and do not know each other - they just happen to interact with the same lead. Andy will get paid as the LEAD AFFILIATE and Alyssa will get paid as the SALE AFFILIATE.


Should I pay a fixed amount or percentage of sale?

Fixed Amount ($50) Percentage (10%)Advantages • Easy for affiliates to understand

• Makes it easy to calculate actual cost of acquisition

•Easy for affiliates to understand•Makes it easy to calculate % cost of acquisition

Disadvantages •If you aren’t careful, you can end up paying out a large percent of your profits.

•On low priced items, you have to pay out a large % to make the commission attractive.

Recommended Uses

• Use when paying a low % on a high-priced item.

•Use when paying a high % of a low-priced dollar item.

Scenario 1:$100 product

• Pay fixed $50 (50% of $100) • Pay 10% of $100 ($10)

Scenario 2:$5k product

• Pay fixed $50 (1% of $5,000) • Pay 10% of $5,000 ($500)


Should I pay a lump sum, multiple, or recurring commissions?

Lump Multiple RecurringFunction • Pay once (fixed or

% of sale) •Series of equal payments over a set period of time

•Series of payments (fixed or %) for lifetime of client

Advantages • Motivating: Affiliates get full payment right away

•Helps cash flow by spreading payments over time•Reduces risk

•Encourages affiliates to help retain clients•Reduces risk

Disadvantages • Hard to recoup lost commissions upon cancelation

• Can be confusing for affiliates to understand

•Can be expensive (pay more over lifetime of client)


Should I pay a lump sum, multiple, or recurring commissions?Scenario 1: Pay fixed commission rate over 5 months

Carl’s Coaching Co sells monthly subscriptions for coaching services. Alyssa Affiliate refers a client that subscribes at $500 / month. Alyssa’s commission is $500, divided into 5 equal payments of $100. If the client cancels during the first 5 months, the commission payments stop. This allows Carl’s Coaching to pay a HUGE commission, while lowering their risk (if customer cancels, payments stop).

Month Payment Total $ to Date

1 $100 $1002 $100 $2003 $100 $3004 $100 $4005 $100 $500

Month Payment Total $ to Date1 $100 $1002 $100 $2003 (cancel) $100 $3004 $0 $3005 $0 $300


Scenario 2: Pay recurring commissions for lifetime of client

Alyssa’s referral subscribes at $500 / month. Alyssa’s commission is 10% recurring for the lifetime of the client.Every month, Alyssa will earn $50. Over one year, Alyssa will earn $600. If the client cancels, the commission payments stop.


1 $50 $502 $50 $1003 $50 $1504 $50 $2005 $50 $2506 $50 $300


7 $50 $3508 $50 $4009 $50 $45010 $50 $50011 $50 $55012 $50 $600

Should I pay a lump sum, multiple, or recurring commissions?


Immediately Upon Receipt

Advantages • Motivating for affiliates• Reduces questions like “Why

haven’t I gotten paid yet.”

•Helps with cash flow•Reduces risk

Disadvantages •You may pay commission for a sale that you never collect, and effectively lose money twice.

•Affiliates have to wait longer for payments, which can be de-motivating.

Recommended Use

• Use if you require immediate payment for goods.

• Use if there is a low chance of chargebacks or cancellations.

•Use if you accept checks or delayed payments.•Use if there is a high chance of chargebacks or cancellations.

Should I credit affiliates immediately upon purchase or wait until I collect the cash from customers?


Advanced Commission Program Options

• Should I create a multi-level affiliate program?• Should I make exceptions within my program?


Should I create a multi-level affiliate program?

• Motivates affiliates to recruit affiliate on your behalf.• Increases cost of commissions.



Scenario 1: Single Level Program

You have one affiliate, Alex, and an affiliate program that pays 25%. When Alex brings in a sale for $100, he will earn $25.

Level Payout % Commission1 (Alex) 25% $25



Scenario 2: Two Level Program

Alex recruits Bryan into your affiliate program, which makes Alex the parent affiliate to Bryan. You create a program that pays the following commissions:

It is important to note that these Level commissions are paid in addition to each other and not by subtraction.

Level Payout % Commission2 (Alex) 10% $101 (Bryan) 25% $25Total 35% $35



Scenario 3: Three Level Program

Alex recruits Bryan and then Bryan recruits Cassie. This makes Alex the “MASTER AFFILIATE,” Bryan the “SUB-MASTER,” and Cassie the AFFILIATE. You create a program that pays the following commissions:

Level Payout % Commission3 (Alex) 5% $52 (Bryan) 10% $101 (Cassie) 25% $25Total 40% $40


Should I make exceptions within my program?

• Pay more or less commission for a particular product. • Pay higher or lower commissions to a particular affiliate. • Exclude products or subscriptions from commissions.


GET MOVING!How to motivate affiliates.


Special Promos & Contests

• Identify your objectives• Define SMART goals for each affiliate• Create an incentive• Give ample notice• Examples

– Twitter Contest– Banners– Special Event– Product Launch/Seasonal Product


Affiliate Ascension Path

• Set ongoing goals for your affiliates• Reward them as they graduate to the next level


Build Trust

• Be fair• Hold up your end of the bargain• Over communicate


Ask them what they want

• Create a MUTUALLY beneficial partnership• I’ll scratch your back…


DO THESE JEANS MAKE ME

LOOK FAT? How to make your program

attractive to affiliates.


If you build it, they will come

• Start off on the right foot– Welcome– Access to resources and reports– Success Tips

• Link Placement• Top Performing Links• Sales Copy• Policies


If you build it, they will come

• Ongoing Communication– Newsletters– Engagement Campaigns– Special Offers– Tips and Tricks– Say Thanks

• Provide Training• Pay them on time and accurately• Offer a Quality Product• Increase your conversion rate


MAKE ME A SUPERSTAR.

How to give affiliates the resources they need.


Affiliate Resource Center

Portal for affiliates to access:• Marketing Resources

– Links– Banner Ads– Emails

• Resource Pages• Reports

– Commissions Generated– Link Tracking Stats– Products Sold– Subscription Sign-ups


Marketing Resources

• Links– Allow affiliate to link directly to your web pages and forms. – “Deep links,” which link directly to offer or purchase page convert

higher than links to your home page. – Links are dynamically generated and unique to each affiliate, which

is how Infusionsoft tracks referrals. • Banner Ads

– Allow affiliates to advertise you on their website.– Should link to your landing pages.

• Emails– Allow affiliates with big lists to market your services.


COVER YOUR BUTT. How to keep your

program out of trouble.


Be ware of:

• Black Hat• Bad Traffic• Spammers• Holes in your policies• Illegal transactions• Site leaks• Damage to your brand


Q & A

Date post:	16-Apr-2017
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BlackCardMarketingGroup.com @ #InfusionCon 2010

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