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How to Protect Your Brand When Working With Affiliate Marketers

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You’ve probably heard of affiliate marketing as a way to increase your income, but how about increasing four sales?

Yesterday I saw a Marie Forelo announcing B School was opening. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I saw the likes of Denise Duffield-Thomas, Amy Porterfield, and a host of other people start marketing the program as adorably as the beehive defends Beyonce. Why wouldn’t they? At $1000 a pop for signing people up, it’s an excellent source of income, even if it only comes around once a year.

Affiliate marketing is a brilliant way to get your good or service in front of your target customer by partnering with people they trust. In exchange for sharing your good or service with their audience, these partners, aka affiliates, often receive a percentage of the sale. This is a low-risk way to extend your brand’s reach. After years of watching Marie Forelo’s B School success, I’ll admit we decided to give affiliate marketing a try. In 2019 we launched the Launch Legally Blueprint, a high-value high-dollar course. I reached out to a few of my online business buddies and offered them a 20% commission for each person who enrolled in the program using their unique link. Affiliate marketing allowed me to enjoy my 1st 5 figure course launch.

FYI … We are currently working on an affiliate program for the Genius Insider, so keep your eye out for more information.

While using affiliates can be a great way to increase your sales, you can easily find yourself in affiliate hell if you’re not careful. From a legal standpoint, here are a few things to be aware of:

① Qualified Purchase. Qualified purchase refers to sales that quality for commission payout to the affiliate. To maintain the relationship, be clear on how the affiliate can earn their commission. If there are limitations on what qualifies for a sale, for example, if the commission is reserved for new customers only, let them know.

② The money honey. To avoid being blasted for not paying your people, discuss the payment terms upfront. Things like what the commission is, when they get paid, and how they will get paid is an important subject to discuss.

③ Protecting your brand. Although someone else is promoting your product or service, at the end of the day, your brand is still being represented. You must be clear on how your intellectual property can and cannot be used while promoting and when the affiliate relationship is terminated. You also want to require the affiliate to promote your product or service ethically and legally.

You can cover all of this plus more using an affiliate agreement. Using a written contract protects your interest while setting expectations with your affiliates.

Bottom Line, if you’re looking to increase your territory, affiliate marketing can be an excellent way to do so. If you choose this option, use a written contract to set expectations, protect your interest, and maintain the relationship.

P.S. Genius Insiders will have access to the Affiliate Agreement in August. Learn more about the Genius Insider here.

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