A lot of creators have an affiliate program that only comes alive during a launch. They send their affiliates a link and a few emails, the affiliates promote for a week and then everyone goes quiet until the next launch. The rest of the year, the program is there, but nobody is sharing anything.
An evergreen affiliate program is set up so affiliates can promote you any week of the year. You give them a partner pack with everything they need, you pick products that sell every day and you check in with them on a regular schedule so they keep sharing. This is one of the ideas on my Sales on Repeat list of 99 ways to make sales every day, in the section on other people's audiences.
In this post I'll walk through which products to put in the program, how to set commissions, what goes in the partner pack, how to find affiliates, how to keep them promoting and what to watch out for.
What an affiliate program is
An affiliate is someone who shares your product with their audience using a special link. When someone buys through that link, the affiliate earns a commission, which is a percentage of the sale. Your checkout tool tracks the link and keeps a record of who earned what. ThriveCart, which I use for checkout, has affiliate tracking built in and many other checkout tools do too.
An evergreen program works the same way, but the products, the materials and the check-ins are all set up to work any day of the year. Your affiliates don't have to wait for you to launch something before they can share it.
Pick products that sell every day
Not every product is a good fit for an evergreen program. You want products that are always for sale at the same price and that someone could buy any time.
- Your always-available products. Templates, courses and toolkits that are on sale all year are the easiest for affiliates to share.
- Your membership. If affiliates earn a commission on every monthly payment for as long as the member stays, it gives them a strong reason to promote it.
- A free lead magnet, too. Some affiliates would rather share a freebie than a paid product. If they send people to your freebie through their link and your checkout tool tracks it, they can still earn when those people buy from your welcome series later.
Leave out products that are only open during a launch window or products with prices that change a lot. Those work better as one-time affiliate promotions.
Set your commissions
Keep the commission simple enough that an affiliate can explain it in one sentence. A few things to decide:
- The percentage. Digital products cost very little to deliver, so you have room to pay a generous percentage. Pick a number that still leaves you enough after fees, refunds and support and run the math on your own prices before you announce it.
- Recurring or one-time. For a membership, decide whether affiliates earn on every payment or only the first one. Recurring commissions are more attractive to affiliates and cost you more over time.
- When you pay. Most programs wait 30 days or until the refund period ends before paying, so you're not paying commission on a sale that gets refunded.
- Who you accept. Decide whether anyone can sign up or whether you only accept customers, people who've spoken at your events or people you know. Write it down so you can answer requests the same way every time.
What goes in the partner pack
The partner pack is the thing that makes the program evergreen. It's one page or one folder with everything an affiliate needs to promote you on their own, any week of the year, without having to ask you for anything.
The basics
What each product is, who it's for, the price, the commission, how and when you pay and where to find their affiliate link. Keep it to a short paragraph per product.
Ready-to-send emails
Two or three emails per product that affiliates can copy, change to fit their voice and send. Include a subject line. Don't put any dates or deadlines in them, since affiliates will send them on different days.
Social posts and images
A few social captions and images sized for the places your affiliates post. Add a short line they can use in a newsletter or a resources page too.
A calendar of promo ideas
A list of times of year when each product fits naturally, like back to school, the new year or a holiday that matches your topic. This gives affiliates a reason to share again throughout the year.
Also include a short section on the rules, like whether affiliates can run ads using your name, whether they can bid on your brand name in search ads and what they need to say about earning a commission. Affiliates usually have to tell their audience they earn money from the link, so remind them to include a disclosure.
Put the whole partner pack on one page your affiliates can bookmark, with a link to download the images. When you add something new, add it to that page and send a short email letting affiliates know. They'll know exactly where to look every time.
How to find affiliates
The best affiliates are people whose audience already looks like your buyers. Here are a few places to start:
- Your customers. People who've bought and liked your product can share it honestly. Invite them in your post-purchase emails or after they leave a testimonial.
- Speakers and partners from your events. If you run summits or workshops, the people who've spoken at them already know your audience and your work.
- Creators you've collaborated with. Anyone you've done a podcast swap, a bundle or a freebie swap with is a good person to invite.
- A public sign-up page. Add an "affiliates" link to your site footer that goes to a short page explaining the program and the application.
When you invite someone, send a short personal note that says which product you think fits their audience and why. That works better than a general announcement.
Keep affiliates promoting all year
A common reason evergreen programs go quiet is that affiliates forget about you. A simple check-in schedule helps with that.
- A welcome email when they join. Link to the partner pack, give them one product to start with and point to the first email they can send.
- A monthly affiliate email. Share one promo idea for the month, anything new in the partner pack and any product updates.
- A note when they make a sale. A quick thank you when someone earns their first commission helps them want to share again.
- A quarterly check-in with your top affiliates. Ask what's working for them and what they need.
"The partner pack is the thing that makes the program evergreen."
Dr. Destini CoppMistakes to avoid
- No partner pack. If affiliates have to write everything from scratch, many won't get around to promoting you.
- Dates in the swipe emails. Swipe emails are the ready-made emails you give affiliates to copy and they get sent all year, so leave out dates, day names and deadlines.
- Public discount codes for affiliates. If every affiliate gets a permanent public code, it ends up on coupon sites. If you want to give affiliates a special price, use a private checkout page or a time window instead. I wrote about this in why to stop leaving your discount codes out in public.
- Paying before the refund window closes. Wait until the refund period is over.
- Accepting everyone with no review. Decide who's a fit and check new sign-ups before you approve them.
- Not testing the links. Before you invite anyone, buy through a test affiliate link and make sure the sale shows up.
- Going silent. If you don't email affiliates for months, they'll stop thinking about your products.
A hypothetical example
These numbers are made up to show how the math works. They aren't results from my business or anyone else's.
Say you sell a $47 social media template pack and a $29 a month membership for small business owners. You set up an affiliate program with a 40% commission on the template pack and 30% recurring on the membership, paid once the 30 day refund window is over.
Your partner pack has a short description of both products, two swipe emails for each, four social posts with images and a list of promo ideas, like "new year planning" for the templates and "back to business in the fall" for the membership. You invite 20 past customers and 5 creators you've done collaborations with.
Now say, in a typical month, 8 of those affiliates share something. Together they bring in 15 template pack sales and 6 new members. The template sales are $705 and you pay $282 in commission. The first month of the 6 memberships is $174 and you pay $52 in commission. Those 6 members keep paying each month and so do the commissions, for as long as they stay. Again, these are made-up numbers, but they show how a small group of affiliates sharing on their own can bring in sales in a month when you didn't launch anything.
How this fits with the rest of your funnel
Your funnel is the path people take from first hearing about you to buying from you. Affiliates send you buyers and subscribers from audiences you wouldn't reach on your own, so the rest of your funnel needs to be ready for them. A welcome series with a first offer catches the people who come in through a freebie link. And if your membership is in the program, an upgrade sequence for monthly members can move some of those new members to annual or lifetime later.
Wrapping up
Pick the products that are always for sale, set a commission you can explain in one sentence and build a partner pack with descriptions, swipe emails, social posts and a calendar of promo ideas. Then invite affiliates whose audience looks like your buyers, check in every month and test your links before anyone shares them.
If you'd like help figuring out whether an affiliate program is the right idea to start with, my free Sales on Repeat skill is a Claude skill that asks a few questions about your business and picks your first three ideas. You can find the other ideas on the full list of 99 ways to make sales every day.
Find your first three Sales on Repeat ideas
The free Sales on Repeat skill is a Claude skill that asks a few questions about your business and picks the first three ideas you should set up.
Get the free Sales on Repeat skill →Frequently asked.
How do I start an affiliate program for my online course?
Pick the products that are always for sale, set a commission you can explain in one sentence and use a checkout tool with affiliate tracking. Then build a partner pack with product descriptions, ready-to-send emails, social posts and images. Test a link with a purchase before you invite anyone.
What commission should I pay affiliates for digital products?
Digital products cost very little to deliver, so you have room to pay a generous percentage. Pick a number that still leaves you enough after fees, refunds and support. For a membership, decide whether affiliates earn on every payment or only the first one.
What goes in an affiliate partner pack?
Include a short description of each product with the price and commission, two or three ready-to-send emails per product, social captions and images and a list of times of year when each product fits. Add your rules and a reminder to include a disclosure. Keep it all on one page affiliates can bookmark.
How do I keep affiliates promoting after they sign up?
Send a welcome email that links to the partner pack, a monthly email with one promo idea and any updates and a quick thank you when they make a sale. Check in with your top affiliates every quarter to ask what's working.
Should I give my affiliates discount codes?
Permanent public codes tend to end up on coupon sites. If you want affiliates to offer a special price, use a private checkout page or a short time window instead.
Dr. Destini Copp helps digital product creators build sustainable, systems-based businesses through the Creator Growth Flywheel framework. She's the founder of Creator's MBA and HobbyScool, and has been teaching online business strategy for over a decade. Learn more →
