37. From A Single Sale To Brand Superfans
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SUMMARY
Flaunt Your Fire has always promoted relationships over numbers. And today we’re here to disrupt what you may think you know about affiliate marketing.
It’s not just about a transaction. It’s not just for influencers. And you don’t have to have a huge following to benefit from an affiliate program. Our guest, Laura Sprinkle, is here to break down some myths about the industry and share how any business can utilize the power of relationships in this way.
Laura Sprinkle teaches entrepreneurs how to grow their businesses using strategic, high-touch partnerships through her signature training, Rock Your Affiliate Program™.
She’s helped industry leaders such as Amy Porterfield, Selena Soo, and Todd Herman build their partner programs, has seen over $12 million in partner revenues come in through her methods, and supported thousands of partners across dozens of industries. Her motto is “Partnerships First, Fun Always,” and she sprinkles that message throughout everything she does.
Laura’s been mentioned in Amy’s Online Marketing Made Easy podcast and has been a featured expert for Selena Soo’s year-long mastermind, at events, and on podcasts. She loves sharing about affiliate partnerships, thoughtful business connections, branding, and marketing. She lives in Portland, Maine, and you’ll usually find her sipping on a maple latte at her favorite coffee shop, or at the park chasing her daughter Cadlee. (You’ll recognize Laura by her infectious laugh.)
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL HEAR HOW:
How to create demand through an affiliate program if you have an evergreen product or service,
The real numbers behind most commission structures,
Why people with under 100 people on their list are often more successful with affiliates than those with thousands, and
How your ability to ask for help is tied to your success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
You don’t have to have a huge community to benefit from an affiliate partnership.
Even if you aren’t launching a new product—or have a product at all—you can create a sense of urgency during an affiliate launch period.
The key to a solid partnership is to first define your vision and values.
If you’re thinking about creating an affiliate program, it’s best to act as one first.
People who really care about what you do will be the best salespeople.
Your success with partners is directly related to your ability to ask for and receive help.
QUOTED
LAURA SPRINKLE
“Partnerships can heal the world.”
“When something’s available all the time it’s probably quickly going to fall to the bottom of someone’s priorities list.”
“You can take someone from ‘Yes i’ll promote this because I can make a couple extra dollars’ to ‘I’m going all in and treating this as if it’s my own product.’”
“When I’m resisting something it’s often because I’ve put a ‘have to’ spin on it.”
INDIA JACKSON
“Taking the time to strengthen relationships and get to know others and make them feel valued might be the most important work we can do.”
“When you take on the role of being CEO, sometimes that role is attached to being the bottleneck of your business.”
“It’s what we call superfans: loving on a partner or follower so that they become one of the biggest fans of your brand—they not only share your brand but share it with passion.”
“Partnerships can change the world.” - Laura Sprinkle
When you think about visibility and branding and marketing, affiliate programs can often be a forgotten or overlooked aspect of business growth. Affiliate programs, in general, are a model to increase your overall revenue and your visibility and reach.
But before jumping in there are a few important considerations you need to make.
In order to find partners that are aligned, Laura Sprinkle suggests you first identify your vision and values. Once you do this it makes every other decision easier.
Once you’ve defined those essential elements, there are three next steps:
It should go without saying, but you must have an amazing product, program, or service that’s getting people results.
Create a promo plan and calendar with launch and end dates. This is something a partner can say ‘yes’ to knowing exactly when it’s going to be on their calendar.
Decide on other details such as commissions, what tech platform you’ll use, and how far in advance of the launch you’ll invite partners in.
How to make an affiliate program work for you.
Some people assume that if you have a physical product or done-for-you service an affiliate program wouldn’t be relevant. Even when you have something that’s offered all the time, you can still create a sense of a launch with things like a bonus with purchase within specific dates.
India’s seen this happen with course creators offering a free call with purchase and apparel brands adding a special gift with purchase.
Laura mentions that even when you’re planning to increase your prices, you can take advantage of the time before as a launch or push period.
When talking about percentages to pay your affiliates for each sale, Laura says it varies greatly, though typically somewhere in the 10-50% range. The higher the percentage, the more a business tends to value getting people in the door over making a single purchase.
As far as industry averages go, India and Laura said:
Apparel and makeup products: 10-25% commission
Product and done-for-you service: 10-20% commission
Ongoing memberships and lower priced digital products: 20-35% commission
More scalable, high-priced digital products: 40-50% commission
Laura says sometimes she hears people concerned about paying out this much to someone else. She counters that with: how much are you willing to spend on ad spend to reach new customers? Your affiliate is doing this for you. They are literally advertising on behalf of your business.
Some affiliates will actually put ad spend behind marketing your business. You can make a lot of money by being an affiliate for other people, Laura says. Some make hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, just as an affiliate.
Attracting the right partners.
The affiliate marketing industry has gotten a bad rap for good reason, Laura admits. When looking for your own affiliates you should be looking for one thing: People who really care about how your product is performing, believe in you, and value you.
When this is the case they’re going to go all in as if it’s their own program. Laura’s seen time and again businesses with 40 people on their list outperform those with 1000 on their list simply because they’re willing to get on the phone, talk to people personally, and be willing to put their heart and passion into following up with people.
The person who doesn’t have attachment to a program will send out a couple of emails and call it a day. They don’t consider the partnership a game changer for them so they don’t go all in.
These are what India calls superfans: loving on a partner or follower so much that they become one of your biggest fans, not only sharing your brand but share it with passion.
Success lies in your ability to ask for help.
We receive so much information about what it takes to get a certain level of success and 2020 has shown there are more ways to do things. We can actually do things that feel aligned with the impact we want to have on the world, who we are, and what feels good to do.
Laura says that when she’s resisting something it’s often because she’s put a “have to” spin on it.
There’s a story that owning a business has to be hard. But taking the time to strengthen relationships and get to know others and make them feel valued might be the most important work we can do.
In the end, Laura says, your success with affiliate partners is directly tied to your ability to ask for and receive help. The more you can practice, in small ways, asking for help, it will make everything easier.
India points out that marginalized groups especially have been programmed to think we have to push through all the time. Laura replies with a simple place to start: look at what help is already being offered and say yes to it.
When someone is checking in to see how you are, take a moment and answer honestly.
Part of having affiliates is being able to ask them to support you in building your business. You have to work on it just like you’re building your muscles. As CEO you can sometimes be the bottleneck and we have to notice when we’re micromanaging or keeping things from moving forward.
More than ever this year has made us realize how much we actually have bandwidth for. An affiliate program is an incredible way to get people in while you might have less time for your business.
In closing, India asks Laura: What have you found that has helped you flaunt your fire?
She says that she’s been inspired by seeing others flaunt their fire. There’s often a reluctance to shine, she says. She believes she has to shine because other people shining is what allowed her to do so. She’s committed now to light the way for others.
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