Affiliate marketing!  Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay.

Here are our thoughts and why we fully embrace it.

Source: Forester Consulting

Last year, US companies spent almost $7 Billion on affiliate marketing. The number has been steadily growing at about 10% per year and shows no signs of stopping.

What is it?

Affiliate marketing is a way for companies to grow revenue by selling not directly to their customer, but through a third party. The company partners with marketers called affiliates who are paid an incentive or commission to promote and sell their products.

Some people have negative associations with affiliate marketing, and I myself was skeptical at first.

But if you are thinking they are anything like pyramid schemes and scams, you’re way off. This marketing strategy is a very legitimate way for companies to get the word out and grow. Some of the VERY BEST companies in the world use affiliate marketing. In fact, tens of thousands of reputable companies rely on these programs for a portion of the revenues.

Just some examples are HubSpot, Target, Shopify, Acorns, and even Amazon.

Why do people take issue with affiliate programs?

Well, the natural problem that folks point to with affiliate programs is that when an affiliate makes a recommendation, it may not be genuine. The supposition is that they are making the recommendation just to make a sale and earn a commission – after all, they are incentivized to sell whether or not they love the product.

We have seen our own affiliates being accused of providing recommendations based on their affiliation with us. Sadly, we have even witnessed our customers who are not affiliated, accused when making recommendations simply because they love the product.

Of course, this is silly.

There is NOTHING wrong with making money! Armies of salespeople do it for the companies they work at, athletes do it for contracts, influencers do it for every imaginable company, and even movies do it when James Bond drives the latest and greatest British sports car.

I tell our affiliates all the time, do not ever let anyone shame you for having skin in the game.

In fact, our affiliates have done a tremendous amount of work researching and then selecting the right accessories for their lasers and the right products for their business. They have run thousands of tumblers on the PiBurn, they have used the Vortex table countless times and they have lessons to teach, insights to share, and value to provide to other makers. They have become experts who can help others boost their business.

And yes, they will get a commission if they reach people I otherwise couldn’t reach. Good! They earned it!

One of the biggest reasons why we started this program is because we believe in the maker, we value content creators and influencers and we want to share our success and share the growth.

Still, the maker deserves transparency

At the same time, some of the criticism I felt was warranted.

The affiliate game does get a little “pushy” if some ambitious affiliates flood a group or a social media platform with repetitive content. Also, there might be confusion as to whether or not the person is an affiliate.

This is the reason why we recently updated our affiliate guidelines to include important points such as transparency and respect towards the maker community.

All common sense, but these guidelines give us a tool to enforce a higher standard – the same standard we hold ourselves to.

And… here they are:

Affiliate Guidelines

1. When you become an affiliate, you are not just a marketer but also an extension of our company and brand and are expected to project our shared values: we are here to serve the maker community.
2. Always be respectful of the customer and the community of makers. We are honored to serve the maker community and consider it a privilege. This is not just about hardware, we deeply care about the customer journey and want to help them along their way.
3. Create unique content that shows your own way of using our products or showcases your creations in a compelling way.
4. Be respectful of other affiliates. Do not post content in groups run or administered by other known affiliates. When in doubt, ask us first!
5. Do not be pushy with sales. We rely on the power of PULL not PUSH. Create great content, help the community by providing value and customers will naturally come to you with questions.
6. Do not simply post your link on forums or social media, always tell a story, answer a question with details, show a use-case, or add value in some way.
7. ALWAYS disclose that you are an affiliate, never hide your affiliation. Transparency is important. There is nothing wrong with being compensated as long as you disclose it upfront!
8. We do not tolerate “fake” reviews posted only to earn commissions. Only folks that have our tools and use them are considered for affiliation. Be sincere with your reviews and your advice to customers.
9. Do not spam groups. Be selective with your content. Too much content in a short period of time is no good and will reflect poorly on the brand and on your ability to earn the trust of your customers.
10. Help first! When someone has a question, please be charitable with your time and advice, even if that means helping someone who does not eventually make a purchase. If you do win a customer, check in to see how they are doing.