Chet Holmes gave us the Dream 100. @russellbrunson made it famous with Traffic Secrets.
Both pointed it at customers.
I point it at partners.
Same slow, personal outreach. But one yes gets you hundreds of buyers instead of 1.
Stop calling it an "affiliate" program.
Affiliates want a link. They're transactional.
Partnerships compound built on relationships.
Affiliates are simply one partner type. Not your whole program.
Subtle, but details matter when you're building a world-class partner program :)
๐งฑ ๐ชต ๐ชฃ
9 days into my 30 calls in 30 days sprint and one thing keeps coming up in my partner calls.
The person who owns the client relationship would rather introduce you than run the partnership in most cases.
Agency owners, consultants, coaches.
They don't want to learn your onboarding, sit in your partner portal, or manage another program on top of their clients. Some will but most won't.
The goal is to make it easy and frictionless for partners.
They want to make a good intro to someone they trust and get back to work.
I think most partner programs ask for way too much.
Make the intro the whole ask. Make it easy.
I love this idea of the "doorman effect"
So many companies right now are rushing to replace humans with AI without considering the second order consequences of what happens after.
The "doorman", relationships, culture, and environment of your business is also vital to optimize.
Relationships are a key moat and edge in a AI world.
I think it is important not to forget that.
That is why i'm so bullish on partnerships as the most AI resilient growth channel in the coming years.
A hotel replaces its doorman with an automatic door and saves $40,000. Two years later it's a mess. The doorman was never just opening the door.
Before you Delete something, ask Why five times. Find the hidden job first.
What was your doorman?
I have really been enjoying @boardyai the last week.
I've set a gaol to have 60 calls in the next 30-days. Boardy is setting up one call with someone from my ICP and another from my IPP each day.
Boardy essentially has a network of 250k+ and plays matchmaker based on who you want to meet. Very impressed with what @andrewdsouza has built.
I'm still very early but it looks impressive. Especially for those who want to tap into another network to find partners to grow your partner program.