The first hundred affiliates will not come from a launch announcement. They come from a list you build by hand, a message that explains why each person's audience fits, and an offer that is easy to accept.
That is slower than opening applications and waiting. It is also the only approach that reliably produces active partners instead of dormant sign-ups.
Fit before volume
An affiliate who never promotes is not an affiliate. They are a support ticket.
Before looking for names, define the partner you actually want:
- Audience: who do they reach, and what problem are those people trying to solve?
- Format: newsletter, YouTube, blog, community, podcast, or social posts?
- Trust: do they explain trade-offs, or only promote whatever pays best?
- Reach: is the audience large enough to matter, and small enough to stay relevant?
- Activity: have they published something in the last 60 days?
A good partner profile often looks like a smaller version of your best customer. If your product is for freelance designers, the partner is probably a designer who teaches other designers, not a general tech reviewer.
Where to look
Your existing customers
Start with people who already use the product and talk about it. Search your support inbox, social mentions, and community posts for customers who explain the problem well. A customer who already recommends you is the lowest-risk partner you can recruit.
Newsletters in your category
Small newsletters are underrated. The writer has a direct relationship with readers, the format allows a real explanation, and the audience is usually specific. Look for newsletters that cover your category, not general startup news.
YouTube and short-form creators
Search for reviews and tutorials about the problem you solve. A creator who already made a video about "how I track client projects" is a natural fit for a project-tracking product. Watch the video before reaching out; reference the specific angle.
Communities
The person who runs a Discord, Slack group, forum, or subreddit has the audience's attention. They may not call themselves an affiliate, but many are open to a partnership that benefits their members.
Roundups and comparison sites
Sites that compare tools in your category can be strong partners because their readers are already evaluating options. Be careful about placement that looks like pay-to-play without disclosure; readers notice.
Other founders and indie hackers
They understand distribution, they are easy to reach, and many have an audience of builders. A founder whose product complements yours can recommend it without competing with it.
The outreach message
The goal of the first message is not to close the partnership. It is to start a conversation with someone who has a reason to care.
A short template:
Hi [name] — I'm [your name], and I built [product], which helps [audience] [outcome]. I found your [specific piece] while looking at how people handle [problem], and the part about [specific detail] matched what we see.
We run an affiliate program that pays [commission], and I'd be happy to set you up with a free account so you can judge whether it fits. No pressure either way.
Why it works:
- It names a specific piece of work, so it cannot be mistaken for a mass email.
- It explains the audience fit, not the feature list.
- It offers a low-commitment next step.
- It gives the recipient an easy way to say no.
Do not attach a media kit to the first message. Do not ask for a dedicated video. Do not promise a specific revenue number.
The offer that gets a yes
A publisher is deciding whether the work is worth it. Make that decision easy.
- A commission that fits the price. A percentage of a cheap product may not justify a full review. A fixed amount or a higher rate for the first sale can help.
- A recurring commission if you sell subscriptions. It rewards the publisher for bringing customers who stay.
- A sensible cookie window. Long enough for a considered purchase, short enough to stay honest.
- Assets and access. A demo account, screenshots, a short walkthrough, and a clear description of who the product is for.
- A reason their audience will thank them. A discount, an exclusive template, or a genuinely useful guide.
The offer should be easy to explain in one sentence. If you cannot write that sentence, the publisher cannot either.
Onboarding is part of recruiting
Approving an application is not activation. A new partner needs a path from "interested" to "published."
Send a short welcome with:
- Their tracking link and how to use it.
- A one-paragraph description of the product and audience.
- Three honest talking points.
- Links to creative assets.
- A direct question: "What would make this easy to cover?"
Then follow up once. A single check-in after a week catches the partners who meant to publish and got distracted. It also identifies the ones who will never activate, so you can stop spending time on them.
Avoiding the wrong partners
Volume brings risk. A few patterns to watch:
- Coupon and brand-bidding traffic. Partners who bid on your brand name or farm coupon searches can take credit for sales you would have made anyway. Set promotion rules and enforce them.
- Undisclosed paid placement. Readers lose trust when a recommendation looks organic but is paid. Require disclosure where the law and platform rules demand it.
- Traffic that never converts. High clicks and no sales can be a sign of low-quality traffic. Look at the conversion rate, not just the click count.
- Concentration. If one partner produces most of your revenue, you have a dependency, not a channel. Keep recruiting even when the numbers look good.
A 90-day plan
Days 1-30: build the list and the offer. Define the partner profile, write the one-page brief, set the commission and rules, and install tracking. Test one purchase end to end. Build a list of 50 specific people; do not contact them yet.
Days 31-60: contact 10 per week. Personalize each message. Track who replies, who asks questions, and who goes quiet. Offer a demo account early.
Days 61-90: activate and measure. Help the first partners publish. Measure activation rate, click-to-conversion rate, approval rate and refund rate. Ask the best partners what would help them do more.
The target is not 100 names. It is a repeatable process that produces a handful of active partners, then another handful. A hundred dormant affiliates is a vanity metric; ten partners who publish every month is a channel.
What to track
- Invitations sent and replies received. Tells you whether the pitch is working.
- Activated partners. The percentage who published at least once.
- Clicks and conversions per partner. Separates reach from relevance.
- Approval and refund rates. Shows whether the customers are real.
- Revenue concentration. Shows how fragile the program is.
Review these monthly. The first number to fix is usually activation, not reach.
If you are still validating the channel, read affiliate marketing for startups. If you are building alone, affiliate marketing for indie hackers covers the zero-budget version. When you are ready to set up the program itself, the advertiser documentation walks through the product, campaign and tracking steps.
Written by the Slice team
We build the free affiliate marketplace where advertisers pay only for validated sales and publishers keep 100% of the commission. These guides come from the same design decisions behind the product.