I’m excited to share my monthly “Favorite Things” post with you. If you’re new around here, first off, WELCOME! And secondly, know that this post is a monthly glimpse into what I’m doing and buying for my own business, plus other fun resources you might be interested in. I hope you’ll enjoy reading through this post , and will take time to check out all the resources available to you! 🥰
PS: One of my favorite parts of January so far? All the snow we got this past Tuesday… Our yard was a true winter wonderland, and I loved it on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I was cold and over it… 😆
Favorite Business + Personal Resources
❄️ GET ORGANIZED
Want to get organized with your finances this year? Grab this Business Finance Tracker to make tracking expenses and income super easy in your biz.
I joined Melody’s Grow. Profit. Scale Membership last month and I love it so much! It’s super affordable, and has me getting into action each week. See all the details for yourself here.
I’m running another round of the Make More Together: 4-Week Affiliate Program Intensive for Product Sellers in March. Everyone on the waiting list gets super early bird pricing, so be sure to sign up here for the waitlist to be notified when doors open.
Comments Off on Affiliates vs. Influencers – What’s the difference?
Last week I received a reply to my newsletter asking what the difference is between Affiliates and Influencers.
This is actually a question I get fairly often, so I thought I would write a quick blog post sharing the difference between the two.
With affiliates, you are giving them a link to promote your products and in return, they receive a commission for anything they sell. You are only paying them if they refer a sale, and you aren’t giving them free products in order for them to promote.
With influencers, you are giving them free product and paying them a fee to promote your products – regardless of if they make a sale or not through their affiliate links or promo code.
What I like about working with influencers is that even if they don’t refer sales to you, they can provide you with user generated content and help get your business name out there further. And sometimes if you work with influencers who have a following of 5k to 25k (this is a sweet spot, in my experience), they won’t require a huge fee, and are sometimes happy to work in exchange for free product. They will also still generate sales because their audience is more engaged than people who have massive audiences and are posting all sorts of products all the time.
If you are a small product based businesses wanting more sales, I recommend starting your affiliate program first and inviting your existing customers to become your affiliates (there’s a way to incentivize them to join your program and give them affiliate perks without giving them free products) and then once you have that going, start layering in influencer marketing.
Having your current/past customers become your affiliates is the “easiest” path to more sales because they already are loving your products and if they can earn a little extra moolah for sharing it with their friends and family, that’s just the icing on the cake!
If you are wanting more user generated content regardless of if any sales are made, working with influencers might be the route to go first instead of working with affiliates.
Comments Off on Increase Your Candle Sales in 2025: 3 Reasons to Start an Affiliate Program
If you’re someone who is making and selling candles in-person and online via your Shopify store, you probably already know how competitive your industry can be. Between developing unique scents, coming up with innovative designs for your vessels, and sourcing premium-quality wax, you’re constantly thinking about ways to stand out and get noticed, in addition to figuring out how to sell more candles.
Have you ever considered starting an affiliate program? If not, you might want to add an affiliate program to your marketing mix in 2025. Why? Because an affiliate program can become a powerful tool to expand the reach of your candle company, increase sales, and build brand awareness without much upfront cost.
Here are three of my favorite reasons starting an affiliate program for your candle business should be a goal for you in 2025:
1. Affiliates will help get your candles in front of new potential customers quickly
You are already out there posting your candles on Instagram, and maybe even doing some in-person markets on the weekends. Affiliates can help you get your candles in front of more potential customers quickly, because instead of just you promoting your products, you’ll have an army of affiliates on social media doing the same!
Think about it this way: If you have 5 affiliate partners, each with 1000+ followers, sharing your candles on their Insta’s, that’s potentially 5000+ new people seeing your candles and visiting your website. Even if just 5% of their audience sees the post, that’s 250ish new people checking out your candles and visiting your website. What would it look like if you had 10 affiliate partners? 20? Even 100? Think of the reach your candles could get if you spent a little time setting up your affiliate program now and pitching a few affiliate partners to talk about your candles.
2. You’ll only pay your affiliates when they make a sale for you
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based model, which means you only pay affiliates when they bring in a sale of one of your candles. This makes starting your affiliate program for your candle business a low-risk investment. You’re not committing to paying for impressions or clicks like you would with traditional paid advertising; instead, you’re only paying your affiliates for actual conversions. Running Facebook ads can feel a little bit like a gamble (you have to pay Meta even if no sales are made).
3. Your affiliate program will help with your SEO rankings and your content creation
Creating an affiliate program for your candle business can help to boost your search engine rankings over time. When affiliates create blog posts, reviews, or social media content that links back to your Shopify website, those backlinks can improve your site’s SEO performance. Google values backlinks from reputable sites like your Shopify store, and more quality backlinks can translate into higher visibility for your store on search engines.
Another great benefit is that affiliates are often content creators. Depending on who you partner with to be an affiliate for your candles, they will generate fresh, engaging content that you can share, repurpose, or even use to refine your own marketing strategy. This content can be anything from candle care tips and home decor ideas to showcasing your latest seasonal scents or limited edition collections. It’s essentially free marketing content that promotes your brand without you being the one who had to spend all the time creating it. Win-win!
Whether you’re just starting out with your candle business or you are looking to scale, this guide takes the guesswork out of creating a successful affiliate program so that you can get affiliates promoting your candles ASAP.
Happy end of 2024! I love reading people’s end of year recaps and wrap up emails for two reasons: because I am nosey {lol} and because I find them inspirational and encouraging.
I personally love giving my community a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my own business, so today I’m sharing my own recap of 2024. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this and that you’ll take some time to do your own end of year recap. (Share it with me if you do!)
🤓 Favorite Work Project
I led three rounds of the ✨Make More Together✨ 4-Week Affiliate Program Intensive for Product Sellers and I loved each one of them! These group Intensives are really small, which means I get to give a lot of personal attention to the product sellers who join. I can’t wait to host the next round in March. Get on the waitlist here if setting up your profitable affiliate program is one of your 2025 goals.
My two absolute favorite products I created this year:
The Affiliate Program Checklist + Monthly Task List – with this Checklist, you’ll have the exact steps to make sure your affiliate program is dialed in and driving consistent revenue. It really is the ultimate resource to help improve your existing affiliate program and ensure that your affiliates are bringing in sales for you every single month. Go here to scoop it up for just $17.
The Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Affiliate Program for Your Shopify Store – this guide takes the guesswork out of creating a successful affiliate program that works for your Shopify business. Go here to scoop it up for just $10.
🧳 Favorite Trip of 2024
I went on a bunch of trips this year, and have narrowed it down to my top two!
The first was my trip to Arizona and California. I was headed to California to attend the Ultimate Product Party conference, and my mom and aunt came along and we made a vacay out of it. It was a great conference and I’m looking forward to going to some more fun conferences in 2025!
My favorite trip this year that was not business related was my cruise to Alaksa! I went with my boyfriend, his son, his dad, my mom and my aunt on a week long cruise to Alaska, then we did a five day land tour of Alaska that included a trip to Denali National Park. It was truly the trip of a lifetime, and I hope to go back one day!
📝 Favorite Learning Resource from 2024
My absolute favorite learning resource I invested in this year is the Sherose Content Club. I signed up in November and it’s already been a game changer for my Instagram content.
📅 What’s Next in 2025
I plan to host a round of the ✨Make More Together✨ 4-Week Intensive for Product Sellers every quarter. {Next round begins in March!}
I want to serve 1000+ product sellers with this checklist in 2025. Will work with affiliates and run FB ads to make it happen.
I’ve got a few events on the radar that I want to attend in person (Alt Summit, Rich Girl Cult, Powerhouse Women, and a few local-to-me events).
And I’ll continue to be just so dang grateful that I get to work with the most amazing clients and customers here at Create Your Affiliate Program.
Thank you to everyone in my entire community for being here, reading my newsletters and blogs, and purchasing resources to help you set up your own profitable affiliate programs.
Wishing you a great end to 2024 and a very Happy New Year!
Comments Off on 2 ways to make a little extra moolah this week
While normally I talk about setting up your own affiliate program so that others can promote your products for you, this week I want to switch gears temporarily.
What I share in this post will still help you make money, so keep reading.
Earlier this year I announced The Affiliate Program Directory, which is a list of affiliate programs you can join today!
It is designed to connect affiliates with amazing brands offering various products and resources your audience will enjoy, and that you can earn commissions by promoting!
If you are looking for great products to share with your audience, the Affiliate Program Directory is for you!
It contains a mix of physical products, services and digital products that you can begin promoting today to make extra income.
A little extra moolah is something I’ve created to show my fellow online entrepreneurs exactly how I earn a little extra money each month in my business through affiliate marketing, and how you can do the same.
This isn’t a course on how to make thousands of dollars every month sharing your affiliate links online while you sip mojitos on the beach in Miami…
This is a simple PDF of me sharing the realistic behind-the-scenes of how I, as an online course creator and digital product seller, make an extra $200-$500 a month through simple, repeatable, easy to implement affiliate marketing strategies.
Comments Off on Why Every Product-Based Business Needs an Affiliate Program
Ever wonder what it would actually take to get your products in front of hundreds or even thousands of potential customers every single month?
Maybe you’re already posting on social media but you find it exhausting having to post every day, keep up with the reel trends (very mindful, so demure! 🙄), and hope that the algorithm even shows your posts to people.
Yes you could run Facebook ads… but phew, that might cost a small fortune trying to DIY it and figure out how to make it work.
You could work with influencers if you’re selling physical products, but then you have to pay those hefty influencer fees to have your products promoted with no guaranteed return on your investment.
There are so many dang ways you can market your products, it can be hard to know what to do. 😕
Ever feel like that?
If so, you’re not alone. Many product-based business owners and eCommerce brands face the challenge of finding cost-effective ways to grow their audience and increase sales.
While yes, you can run Facebook ads and post on social 24/7 and work with influencers…
But what if instead you could have others promoting your products for you?
That’s why I’m so passionate about affiliate marketing and why I’m sharing this post with you to explain exactly why you you should leverage the power of partnerships to boost your brand’s visibility and revenue.
In this post, we’ll explore why your product-based business needs an affiliate program and how it can transform your marketing efforts.
🤓 What is an Affiliate Program?
Let’s start with the basics before I jump into the reasons why your product-based business needs to start an affiliate program.
An affiliate program is a marketing strategy where you have other people [your affiliates] promote your products for you and in return, they earn a commission for every sale they drive through their unique referral links.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved: your affiliates earn money for their efforts, and you gain new customers without the hefty price tag of traditional advertising.
Imagine you sell handmade jewelry, and a popular fashion blogger becomes an affiliate. They write a blog post featuring your stunning necklaces, including their affiliate link. When their readers purchase your jewelry through that link, both you and the blogger benefit. This is affiliate marketing in action—simple, effective, and scalable.
💹 Expand Your Reach Without Breaking the Bank
Having other people sell your digital and physical products also gives you the ability to reach new audiences without the upfront costs typically associated with running ads or paying influencers. Affiliate marketing is based on performance, which means you only pay a commission when an affiliate successfully drives a sale.
This pay-for-performance model is particularly exciting if you’re a small business owner without a huge marketing budget. It allows you to maximize your marketing efforts while minimizing financial risk.
Take, for example, a small skincare brand that launched an affiliate program. By partnering with beauty bloggers and asking their customers to become their affiliate partners, they could quickly reach a broader audience and see an increase in sales—all without spending a dime on ads upfront.
⚡Leverage the Power of Trust and Authenticity
I don’t know about you, but my Facebook and IG feeds are filled with ads. What sets affiliate marketing apart is the trust factor. Affiliates, especially those with established audiences, bring a level of credibility and authenticity that traditional marketing efforts simply can’t match.
Think about it: when you hear about a product from someone you trust—whether it’s a friend, a favorite blogger, or a business colleague —you’re more likely to make a purchase. Your affiliates will act as brand ambassadors, sharing their genuine experiences with your products. This word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly powerful and often leads to higher conversion rates.
💸 Boost Your Sales and Revenue
At the end of the day, the goal of any marketing strategy is to drive sales, and affiliate programs help you do just that. By tapping into the networks of your affiliates, you can increase your sales and revenue without having to be on social 24/7 or pay for expensive Facebook ads.
Affiliates bring pre-existing trust and credibility, which often results in higher conversion rates compared to cold traffic from ads. Plus, as your affiliate program grows, so does your potential for sales. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your business, an affiliate program can be a powerful tool to drive consistent revenue.
👭 Build Long-Term Relationships
One of my most favorite parts of starting an affiliate program is the opportunity to build long-term relationships with your affiliate partners. Over time, your affiliates become more than just marketing partners—they become part of your brand’s community. They’re invested in your success because it directly impacts their earnings, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
Many businesses I’ve worked with have found that their affiliates become some of their most loyal advocates, continually promoting their products and helping to drive more sales for them every single week!
If you are a digital or physical product seller, starting an affiliate program could be the missing piece in your marketing strategy puzzle. By expanding your reach, boosting sales, and building authentic relationships with your customers and affiliates, you’re setting your business up for long-term success.
If you’re ready to take your product-based business to the next level, there’s no better time to start than now.
🥳 Ready to get started?
There are a few ways I can support you!
🤓 FREE RESOURCE: Sign up for the free 5 day email series for Product Sellers… Create Your Affiliate Program. Each day you’ll get a bite-sized lesson to implement immediately to start creating a profitable affiliate program for your business so your products can start flying off the shelves because other people are selling them for you!
🛒 DIY Your Affiliate Program Set Up: You can also scoop up The Profitable Affiliate Program Template Bundle. These are the exact templates you need to create a profitable affiliate program so that other people {your affiliate partners!} can market and sell your products for you on a consistent basis! Access the template bundle today.
📅 LIVE GROUP PROGRAM: I’d love to have you join me inside ✨Make More Together ✨ 4-Week Affiliate Program Intensive for Product Sellers. This high-touch, low cost program walks you through EXACTLY how to set up your money-makin’ affiliate program so that you can sell more products every single week. Make More Together includes 1:on:1 support, 3 live group implementation sessions, templates galore, plus a Facebook community!Enroll in Make More Together here.
Comments Off on Favorite Business Resources for Product Sellers [June 2024 Edition]
June has been a super exciting month for me, personally and professionally. I returned from an amazing trip from Victoria, B.C. with my sweet boyfriend and I officially launched The Affiliate Program Directory {more on that below}. Today I’m sharing my monthly favorite things blog post with you!
If you’re new to the Create Your Affiliate Program community – WELCOME! Every month I try to share some of my favorite business and product resources with you as a behind-the-scenes of what I am using and loving in my own business and with the product sellers I work with.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading through this blog, and will take time to check out all the resources available to you! Have a great rest of your June. 💙
Please note this blog post contains a few affiliate links, but I only share products and resources I use, love and can personally recommend!
💸 I’m showing you how to create your own affiliate program in my FREE email series – sign up here.
🥳 The Affiliate Program Directory
I launched The Affiliate Program Directory this month… You can view all of the programs by clicking here – I encourage you to sign up for the ones that resonate with you!
My goal with this directory is to help those with affiliate programs get in front of new potential affiliates who will help promote their products to their audiences. Because more affiliates will equal more sales! 🎉
If you want more visibility for your business and affiliate program, you can simply head over here to join the Directory today.
Comments Off on 3 Ways to Get Ahead in Business This Summer 😎🌴
Tomorrow is the first official day of summer, but I honestly feel like summer starts when my nieces and nephew get out of school, which was back in May. So suffice it to say I’ve been in summer mode for a few weeks now!
One of the things I feel like I’m hearing a lot lately from other entrepreneurs and product sellers is that business can be slower during these summer months.
And I somewhat agree… things do tend to slow down in the summer in business because people are taking vacations, your kids are out of school, and people are spending their money on snowballs and pool floats {or maybe that’s just me? 😂)
But you don’t have to just sit around and wait til the fall to get into action in your business. There are things you can do this summer to set yourself up for an amazing fall.
Here are three things you can do to set yourself up for success this summer and beyond.
1. Clean up your business 🧹
Are there subscriptions you’re not using? Cancel them. And if you’re like me and worry you’ll disappoint the person who runs that membership you’re in, cancel them anyway. It’s not personal, it’s business, and I promise they won’t be mad at you.
Clean off all the files on your computer that you no longer need. And clean off your desktop while you’re at it. I don’t know why but this always makes things feel so fresh when I open my laptop.
Bring the junk in your office that you are no longer using to your local thrift store, or sell it on FB marketplace and use the cash to buy something new you might need.
Deep clean your office/workspace. Wipe down everything, including your keyboard.
If summer is slow, now’s a great time to learn something new in your business.
Read a business book you previously haven’t had time for while you sit next to the pool.
Learn how to effectively post on social media so you aren’t wasting time. I am using and loving Allison Carter’s Hot Content Summer – 8 weeks of social media Reels, posts, and emails DONE for you.
Listen to your favorite business podcasts while you get ready in the mornings, or while you’re in the car waiting on the kiddo’s to get out of camp.
There’s so many little things I think “I’ll do that when I have more time…”. What if this summer was that time?!
3. Get your affiliate program in place so you can make more sales this fall 👭
Having others {affiliates} sell your products for you is a fast way to get your digital and physical products in front of new potential customers who might buy your products. Use this slower summer time to get your affiliate program set up so that you can head into the fall with an army of people ready to sell your products for you!
👉 Want to DIY your affiliate program set up?This FREE email series will walk you through the five steps to setting up your affiliate program.
👉 Want me to set up your affiliate program for you? I’ve got space for two Affiliate Program VIP Days this summer. You can see the details and book your spot here. {Payment plan available)
How will you spend this summer in your business? Head over to IG and let me know! In July I’m heading on an Alaskan cruise… my first cruise ever! If you have any cruise tips, let me know that, too!
Today I thought it would be fun to give you a behind-the-scenes look into my business by sharing my “Top 3” in different areas of my business.
⭐ My Top 3 Reels on Instagram
Reel #1– This reel was a trend I jumped on and I was convinced I was going viral… but then the views stopped. 😂
Reel #2 – I have a feeling using a Taylor Swift song on her album release day is why this reel got so many views. 😊
Reel #3– Having a cute dog in your reel never hurts, imo. 🐩
⭐ Top 3 Events I’m Excited about in 2024
Event #1: I’m beyond thrilled to attend and be speaking at the Product Powerhouse Summit! This summit is THE go-to summit for handmade makers, shop owners and any one who sells physical products. It’s 3 days dedicated to helping you build, grow, & thrive in your online product business.
Event #2: I’m headed to Arizona on May 4th for a little exploring in Scottsdale before driving over to California to attend Ultimate Product Party. This is such a fun and helpful conference for product sellers who want to learn how to scale!
Event #3: I really, really want to go to the Powerhouse Women event in August. I’ll just be getting back from a cruise ten days before, so not sure it’s a great time for me to leave out of town again, but I am considering attending. I plan to make a decision by June! Are you going?
⭐ Top 3 Templates I Use Every Week
Template #1: For my private affiliate management clients, I use this pitch template every single week when pitching potential affiliate partners for them.
Template #2: I’m working on a few sales pages for myself, and I constantly refer back to this sales page template from Launch In Style.
Template #3: Danielle Canty’s 100 Email Subject line list (also I just realized this isn’t a template, per se, but I do reference it every single week!). Get on her email list here and sign up for it the next time she shares it.
⭐ Top 3 Must-Haves for Starting an Affiliate Program for Your Product Business
There are 3 things you’ll want to have in place when starting your affiliate program:
🛠 Affiliate Tracking Software 📝 Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions 💌 Welcome Sequence for Onboarding Your Affiliates
Comments Off on How to Make More Product Sales This Month
I’d love to help you make more product sales this month, so I’m sharing with you a few tips and resources in this post that I hope will get you into action this month so you can increase your product sales!
Are you up for the challenge? Keep reading!
📝 Draft 10 Pitches to Send Potential Affiliate Partners
I challenge you to research 10 potential affiliates this month and send them an email asking them to be your affiliate partner.
Some people you pitch might say no, but none of them can say YES if you don’t pitch them at all. 😊
One of the quickest and most efficient ways to grow your list, promote your services and products, and make more sales is to partner with affiliates to help spread the word about what you’re offering. The Invitation to Send Potential Affiliates Template is the exact template you need for pitching new affiliate partners!
📅 When to Send Your Pitches to Potential Affiliates
Now, let’s talk about when to actually send your pitches to potential affiliates.
I am the affiliate manager for 4 nationwide brands here in the US, and one of the things I do for each of them every single week is pitch new affiliates on their behalf. I use this same template when pitching – that’s how I know it works!
I recommend sending your pitches on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursdays only.
Why? Because on Monday people are coming back to their desks and their inboxes are full from the weekend and they are thinking about everything they have to do that week.
On Fridays, people are busy thinking about the weekend and just trying to clear their inboxes and wrap up their work week as quickly as possible, so they may not take the time to read your pitch and give it their full consideration.
Tuesday – Thursdays, in my own experiencing of pitching 100’s of affiliates, is more ideal timing, and the days of the week my pitches are more likely to be well received.
🤓 What to do once a potential affiliate says YES
The #1 mistake I see people who have an affiliate program make is that they are just giving their affiliates an affiliate link and hoping they’ll share it with their communities.
As you might have heard me say before, hope is not a very good affiliate marketing strategy.
Instead of hoping your affiliates share about your offering with their audience once they say yes to partnering with you, you need to set your affiliates up for success.
How do you do that?
💌 Create a welcome email sequence for your affiliates!
This welcome sequence is a series of emails you send your affiliates to make sure they have and can find everything they need to share about your products with their community.
{Remember: The big key to success with affiliates is making it easy-peasy for them!}
Here’s three main reasons you need this welcome series:
1️⃣ Set the Tone: Introduce your brand, share your values, and align expectations right from the start. This sets the stage for a profitable affiliate partnership.
2️⃣ Equip your affiliates: In this welcome series, you want to provide your affiliate partners with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed. Share tips, tutorials, and promotional materials to jumpstart their efforts.
3️⃣ Build Relationships: Use this welcome email series as an opportunity to connect on a personal level. Show appreciation, offer support, and foster a sense of community within your affiliate program.
🌟 Resource to Help You
To help you get your welcome emails for your affiliate program in place quickly so that your affiliates feel supported and part of a total win-win collaboration (one where you’re both making impact and money!), I’ve put together The Profitable Affiliate Program Template Bundle that will give you everything you need to set up your affiliate welcome sequence.
To help you get your welcome emails for your affiliate program in place quickly so that your affiliates feel supported and part of a total win-win collaboration (one where you’re both making impact and money!), I’ve put together The Profitable Affiliate Program Template Bundle that will give you everything you need to set up your affiliate welcome sequence.
