The Two Kinds of Affiliates in My Program, and What Each One Needs
For a long time I thought of my affiliates as one group. One list, one set of materials, one email when I needed something promoted.
Then I looked at what my partners were actually doing and realized I had two completely different groups sitting in the same spreadsheet, and I had been sending both of them the same things.
Here is how I split them, what each one gets, and why sending everybody the same kit was holding both groups back.
Group One: The Event Partners
Most of my affiliates come in through an event. They apply to speak or contribute at one of my Creator's MBA events, they teach or sit on a panel, and while they are doing that they also promote the event to their own audience.
Everything about this group is shaped by a date. The event happens on specific days, the promo window opens about three weeks ahead of it, and once the event is over there is nothing left to promote until the next one.
Event Partners: The Calendar Does the Work
They promote one free event during a set window. They get the same kit as everybody else, because they are all promoting the same thing on the same days. I tag each one in my email platform per event, so I always know who promoted what.
What surprised me about this group is how little customization they want. They are busy, they said yes to a specific event, and they need to send something before Thursday. A generic kit is not a compromise here, it is the right answer, because everyone in the group is promoting the identical thing.
Where I do put effort with this group is the follow-up. After a Creator's MBA event I send two emails. The first goes out two or three days after it ends and thanks them and asks for a testimonial about the room. The second goes out a week or two later with their affiliate link and the next event on the calendar, so the relationship keeps going instead of ending when the event does.
Group Two: The Evergreen Partners
The second group promotes Newsletter Profit Club itself. There is no event attached, no window, and no date pushing anyone to act.
That last part is the whole problem, and it took me a while to see it. An event partner has a deadline doing half the work for them. An evergreen partner has nothing. They can promote today or in four months, and four months from now is always easier.
Evergreen Partners: You Have to Do What the Deadline Would Have Done
They promote a membership whenever they choose. There is no shared window, so a generic kit sits unopened. Each one gets their own page with their links, their own coupon code, their commission spelled out, and swipe emails written to match how they already write.
I wrote about how I build those pages in a separate post, so I will not repeat all of it here. The short version is that instead of asking someone to promote and then handing them a link, I build the whole promotion first and send them a page that is already done.
That changes the ask. It stops being "would you consider promoting this" and becomes "I built you a page, go take a look." The second one is a much easier message to send and a much easier one to say yes to.
"An event partner has a deadline doing half the work for them. An evergreen partner has nothing, so I have to build the promotion myself and hand it over finished."
Dr. Destini Copp, Creator's MBAWhat Actually Differs Between Them
When I lined the two groups up side by side, almost nothing matched.
What they promote
Event partners promote one free event. Evergreen partners promote a paid membership. Those are different sales, and pretending one set of swipe copy covers both is how you end up with copy that fits neither.
When they promote
Event partners work inside a window that opens about three weeks before the event and closes when it ends. Evergreen partners have no window at all, which sounds like freedom and functions like permission to postpone.
How I track them
Event partners get tagged per event in my email platform, so I can see exactly which event each person promoted. Evergreen partners have their own named coupon code, which does the same job in a different way.
What they earn
My event partners earn a higher rate on a paid event upgrade than my evergreen partners earn on a membership sale. That is on purpose. An event promo asks for concentrated effort inside a short window and it needs to be worth doing. Recurring products pay a lower rate on my side because that commission keeps paying out for as long as the member stays subscribed.
What follow-up looks like
Event partners get two emails after every event. Evergreen partners get nothing scheduled, because there is no event to follow up on, and that is a gap in my program I am still working on.
Ask what a partner is promoting and whether it has a date on the calendar. If it has a date, the deadline does the work and a shared kit is fine. If it does not, you have to do the work the deadline would have done.
What Both Groups Share
The terms are identical for everybody, and I think that matters more than people expect.
Same cookie window, same payout schedule, same tracking, and no minimum threshold before I pay out. There are no tiers to climb and no fine print separating my bigger partners from my smaller ones. Every partner can see the whole arrangement before they promote anything.
I kept it that way because tiered programs create a second job for me. Somebody has to track who qualified for what, explain why one partner earns more than another, and handle it when someone lands just under a threshold. I would rather spend that time building a partner a page.
Where This Sits in the Flywheel
Everything in my business runs through five stages: Attract, Engage, Nurture, Retain, and Advocate. Advocate is the stage where other people sell for you, so that is where all of this lives.
One Program Can Hold More Than One Kind of Partner
If half your affiliates go quiet, it is worth checking whether they are actually doing the same job. A partner promoting a dated event and a partner promoting an evergreen offer are in two different situations, and the same email will land for one of them and get ignored by the other.
How to Do This in Your Own Program
Sort your current partners
Open your affiliate list and put every person in one of two columns based on whether the thing they promote has a date. Most people find the split is not close to even, and that alone tells you where your materials have been aimed.
Give your event group a real deadline and a fast kit
Open the window a few weeks out, tell them exactly when it closes, and hand them something they can send without rewriting it. Speed matters more than personalization for this group.
Build the promotion for your evergreen group
Pick your three or four best evergreen partners and build each of them something specific. It takes longer per person, and there are far fewer of them, so the math works out.
Stop sending both groups the same email
This is the one that changes things fastest, and it costs nothing. An email about a promo window is noise to somebody with no window, and an email about an evergreen offer gets skipped by somebody who is heads down on an event.
The Bottom Line
I was not running a bad affiliate program. I was running two programs and treating them as one, which meant my event partners got materials that were too involved for a three week window, and my evergreen partners got materials that assumed a deadline they did not have.
Splitting them took an afternoon and it did not cost me anything. The materials I already had were fine. They were just pointed at the wrong people.
If you are setting up or fixing an affiliate program this fall, this is where I would start. We are working through the whole thing inside the Creator's MBA AI Mastermind during the Amplify Lab in late August, where members build their affiliate programs in one week.
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Yes, and most programs past a certain size already do without naming it. I run two groups. One promotes a specific free event during a set window. The other promotes an evergreen membership whenever they want. They need different materials, different commission terms, and different follow-up, so I stopped treating them as one list.
Not necessarily. My event partners earn more on a paid event upgrade than my evergreen partners earn on a membership sale, because an event promo asks for a burst of effort inside a short window and it has to be worth doing. Recurring products pay a lower rate on my side because the commission keeps paying for as long as the member stays.
A dated promo window, a plug-and-play kit they can send without rewriting anything, and their link. The same kit goes to everyone, because they are all promoting the same thing on the same days. What matters most for this group is that the deadline is clear and the materials take under ten minutes to use.
Something built for them specifically, because there is no deadline pushing them to act. Mine get their own page with their affiliate links, their own coupon code, their commission details, and swipe emails written to match how they already write. Without a date on the calendar, the only thing that moves an evergreen partner is how easy you made it.
Ask what they are promoting and whether it has a date. If it has a date, they are an event partner and the deadline does the work. If it does not, they are an evergreen partner and you have to do the work the deadline would have done. Some people are both, and then they belong in both groups.
