Who they are
- Comparison and review sites ranking for the searches your buyers make.
- Newsletter and community operators with an audience that matches your ICP.
- Course creators and educators whose students need the tooling you sell.
How they earn
A commission per signup, per qualified trial, or per closed deal — usually the highest volume and the lowest value per action.
What they need from you
Fast, reliable attribution
They run the same slot across several vendors. Whoever attributes cleanly keeps the placement.
Assets that convert
They are optimising a page, not learning your product. Give them the copy, the screenshots and the comparison points.
Payment on a schedule
This is a business with cash flow. Late payment moves you down the page.
When to build this channel
Affiliates work when your product is self-serve enough to convert without a sales conversation, and when buyers research before they buy. They work badly for anything needing a six-week evaluation.
When to be this kind of partner
Be an affiliate when you have an audience and no wish to be involved in the sale. Volume is the business model.
The thing that kills it
Paying on signups instead of revenue
Volume partners optimise for whatever you pay for. Pay on signups and you will get signups; pay on collected revenue and you will get customers.