Create Your Affiliate Program

Note from Kelly: Before we dive into the good stuff, I wanted to let you know that some of the links in this blog are affiliate links. This means if you decide to make a purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend a product when I 100% believe in its value and think it could be beneficial for you.
_______________________________

Guest Blog by Amber Gilormo, Esq. | The Boutique Lawyer

Let’s dive into the legal side of affiliate marketing, shall we? Picture this: you’ve got this epic circle of friends (aka affiliates) raving about your products online. They’re your hype crew, your cheerleaders, the PB to your J. But here’s the kicker: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is like that attentive neighbor who’s always peeking over the fence, making sure everyone plays by the rules in this affiliate marketing block party.

So, how do you keep your affiliate party pumping without getting the cops FTC called on you? Simple: you have to make sure your affiliates are properly disclosing those affiliate links when they share about your products with their audience.

Here are three easy spots to remind your crew about those all-important FTC guidelines, so that everyone gets to keep the money they make (instead of having to pay it all back to the FTC, which is what happens when you don’t follow the rules and get caught).

The Boutique Lawyer’s Guide to Keeping Your Affiliate Marketing on the Right Side of the Law (And the FTC!)

1. The Rule Book: Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions

The foundation of a legally compliant affiliate program lies in its terms and conditions. This document should serve as the rulebook for your affiliates, clearly outlining the expectations, processes, and legal requirements of your program. Including a section on FTC compliance is non-negotiable. 

Here, you should: 

• Specify the necessity of clear and conspicuous disclosures on all promotional content that earns them commission. This means affiliates must clearly state they might receive compensation for promoting your products. 
• Define the acceptable formats and placements for disclosures to ensure they are easily noticed and understood by the audience. 
• Incorporate examples or templates of compliant disclosures to guide your affiliates towards proper implementation. 

By embedding these guidelines into your program’s terms and conditions, you establish a clear legal framework that educates your affiliates and protects your business.  

Pro-tip: The Boutique Lawyer’s Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions template has all this covered for you and more.

 2. The Welcome Wagon: Affiliate Onboarding Goodies

First impressions matter, and the onboarding process for your affiliates is a golden opportunity to stress the importance of FTC compliance. 

Create comprehensive onboarding materials, such as: 

• Training videos and webinars that walk new affiliates through the basics of FTC rules and show how to incorporate disclosures effectively. Even something like a quick reminder in a welcome video about the need to disclose affiliate links will go a long way here.
• Digital handbooks or guides give them resources on compliance, offering insights into why it’s crucial not just for legal reasons but for maintaining trust with their audience. 

These resources not only serve as educational tools but also demonstrate your commitment to ethical marketing practices from day one. 

Wouldn’t you know it? The Boutique Lawyer has you covered here too with their Affiliate Marketing Guide that is automatically included with your purchase of the Affiliate Bundle.   This guide has sample disclosure language and email templates for you to send to your affiliates reminding them of the FTC guidelines. 

3. The Reminders: Regular Communication

Ongoing education and reminders are key to ensuring long-term compliance. 

Utilize regular communication channels like: 

• Affiliate email newsletters to share updates on FTC regulations, provide tips on best practices, and highlight common mistakes to avoid. 
• Reminder again during campaigns and live launches. It’s always a great idea to drop a short reminder about the need to disclose affiliate links whenever you are doing a campaign or marketing push to your affiliates.  

This continuous dialogue keeps FTC compliance top of mind for your affiliates and fosters a culture of transparency and responsibility.

FTC Compliance Made Easy

Folks, wrapping your affiliate program in a cozy blanket of FTC compliance isn’t just about dodging legal bullets; it’s about building a brand that’s as trustworthy as your best friend. Weave these reminders into the very fabric of your affiliate interactions, and you’re not just complying with the law; you’re setting the gold standard for trust and transparency in the digital age.

Implementing each of these into your business can be the thing that protects you from having to deal with a disgorgement lawsuit from the FTC.

Because yes, the FTC checks for these things and the worse case scenario is that you could get sued. 😅

And just take it from someone who has had a front row seat to a lot of lawsuits… you don’t want that headache. 

So go ahead and do the simple and smart thing NOW to avoid any of that craziness later!

In The Boutique Lawyer Contract Shop, you’ll find everything you need to implement as soon as today and you can purchase each contract individually OR grab a bundle that has everything you need wrapped into one.

Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions

If you’re running an affiliate program, having solid Terms and Conditions is non-negotiable. Typically, these terms are presented to affiliates upon their registration to your program. While it may seem like a formality, it's a critical step towards establishing a mutually beneficial and legally sound affiliate program.

LEARN MORE HERE

I’m thrilled to share with you my Favorite Things for February 2024!

If you’re new to the Create Your Affiliate Program community – WELCOME! Every month I try to share some of my favorite business resources with you as a behind-the-scenes of what I am using and loving in my own business and with clients.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading through this post, and will take time to check out all the resources available to you!  🥰

PS: Please note this email contains affiliate links, but I only share products and resources I use, love and can personally recommend!

🥳 Business Tools, Events + Blog Posts I’m Loving

I’m obsessed with branded Confetti for my website… I am working to add it to my thank you pages, and it is SO SIMPLE and such an easy way to make my website pages more fun.  

I use my Ink+Volt dashboard planner every.single.day.  I am obsessed with it.. And also, I hope one day Ink+Volt asks me to set up their affiliate program.  It’s such a great product and I know they’d do great with affiliates.

Next week I’ve got a guest post from Amber with The Boutique Lawyer that will be posted on my blog… Can’t wait to share it with you!

I’ve been making my travel plans to go to Ultimate Product Party 2024, which is happening in California this May 8th & 9th. I’m flying Southwest – my favorite airline of all time.  If you sell physical products, you’ll want to make plans to attend.  Visit their website at ultimateproductparty.com to learn more.  Use code CYAP to save $25 when purchasing your ticket.

If you haven’t already, check out my recent blog post: 3 Tasks that Helped My Client Earn $33k in Product Sales from Affiliates in January.

Affiliates not making you sales every single month?  Access the Empower Your Affiliates pdf to not only engage your affiliates but also inspire them to consistently promote your products month after month.

If you haven’t sent a newsletter to your affiliates this month, let’s change that!  These Affiliate Newsletter Templates are designed to make it easy for you to know exactly what to say to your affiliates every single month to encourage your affiliates to promote for you and help them drive conversions! Use coupon code FEBRUARY to get them for only $27 here.

💕 Two Products I’m Thinking About Buying

I am considering adding pop-ups to my website, and am thinking about ConvertBox– my friend Lucy Reyes told me they are having a sale next week so I will try to decide by then if I want to sign up. Another entrepreneur I admire, Lizzy Goddard, uses these on her website and I really like how they look!

I also want to sign up for Lasso to beef up my blog – they just did away with monthly pricing though so I’m hesitant to make the splurge when this feels more like a want than a need for my business, and I’m not sure what the ROI would be yet.  I like to keep my monthly expenses low.

If you have experiences or opinions on the two above items, let me know – I’d love to hear from you!

In addition to helping product sellers create affiliate programs here at Create Your Affiliate Program, I also am an affiliate manager for four nationwide eCommerce brands.

What’s awesome about my affiliate program management work is that the same strategies that are working well for my bigger eCommerce clients, are the same strategies that I teach and share with my clients here at Create Your Affiliate Program so that you can also experience more sales every single week through your affiliate partners.

👉 Not working with affiliates yet? Start here.

In January, one of my management clients (they sell women’s clothing on their Shopify website) brought in $33,000+ in revenue just from affiliates.  In this post I’m sharing what I do every month for this client to make sure we hit and exceed our monthly affiliate revenue targets.  

We did these things in January, and will continue to do them every single month because they work.  They might seem simple, but I encourage you to read through this post and implement these into your own affiliate program if you aren’t doing so already.

📰 1. We send a weekly affiliate newsletter.

Without fail, every single month we send the client’s affiliates a newsletter.  We share new items we’d love for them to promote that month, as well as remind them where to find their affiliate link and how much commission they earn on each sale.  I use the templates inside the 12 months of Affiliate Newsletters Template Pack to make writing the client’s newsletters easy-peasy.  These are short and simple newsletters, but they keep our affiliates in the loop about ways they can earn commissions by referring us sales.  Sending a monthly affiliate newsletter is one of the most impactful things you can do for your affiliate program.

🤓 2. We pitch new potential affiliate partners.  

In addition to engaging the client’s existing affiliate partners, we research and pitch potential new affiliate partners who are aligned with the client’s brand.  We aim to onboard 10 new affiliates per month at a minimum, but obviously the more affiliate partners we pitch, the more we can onboard and the more opportunity there is to get in front of new audiences!  I use this exact template when crafting every single pitch.  Bonus tip: One of my favorite places to search for ideal affiliate partners is on Pinterest using keywords that align with the client’s brand.

💌 3. We re-engage inactive affiliate partners 

If you already have an affiliate program in place, chances are you have some affiliates who haven’t promoted for you recently (or maybe even ever).  I encourage you to brainstorm on ways you can re-engage them and empower them to actually promote for you. Could you increase their commission?  Run an affiliate contest? 

For my client, we send a personal reach out email to our top 40 affiliates from the same month the previous year to see how we can support them and to personally encourage them to promote. A little personal reach out can go a long way in encouraging someone to promote your products.  

If you have an affiliate program, I highly encourage you to implement the three to do’s I listed above into your own monthly management.  I know it will help you increase your own affiliate-generated revenue.

👉 If you do not have an affiliate program, a great place to start would be by signing up for my free email series here.

Questions? Comments? I love hearing from you – let me know! 😊