We actually get a lot more people signing up through the footer on our website that forwards to the affiliate program than we do through Partnerstack’s marketplace. I think that there is an army of business service providers that looks for tools to evangelize and make passive income, so the first step is having some program in place for them to find. We haven’t had to promote the program much.
We started with 20% commission early on to incentivize more sign ups, since Partnerstack suggested it would be competitive with their best programs.
Later, when we understood our funnel better (commissions, gross margin, marketing, affiliate support) we reduced the commission to be sure the economics worked. This type of widely advertised program is a good catch-all for DIY affiliates, but we engage partners with more influence and larger networks differently to make sure it’s as successful as possible.