What the Hell is an Affiliate Program?
Hi Fellow Sex Geeks,
When I invited people to join my affiliate program, a bunch of you came back with:
- “Sure, but what’s an affiliate account?”
- “Is it kinky? Does it hurt? “
- “Does it come with a free Hitachi?”
So, I thought I’d explain what I’m inviting you to do.
First things first:
- It is a bit kinky.
- It doesn’t hurt at all.
- And in some cases, it may come with a free Hitachi!
What is an Affiliate?
An affiliate is someone who tells their friends, their email lists, their Twitter followers and Facebook friends about someone else’s videos, articles, products or services. Guess what? Most of you are already doing this! When you click Like or Share… When you re-post something or re-Tweet… You’re ostensibly being an affiliate for someone else’s stuff.
The twist (the kinky part, if you will) is that, as a “true” affiliate, you share things of mine you think are valuable/useful using a special link –your own, personal affiliate link– which my Affiliate Program can track. When any of your friends and followers click on your personal affiliate link (or when one of them sends YOUR affiliate link someone they know), that click is tracked and if they buy something from me (assuming your link is the first link they use to get to my product or site), YOU get credit for telling them and YOU get paid. Edgy, right?
This Sounds Super Complicated!
LOL! It’s not actually. The computer geeks of the world have already done all the work for us! And we promise to make it super easy on you. Cathy and I will walk you through it all, and even send you your affiliate links after you sign up. Just breathe. We got’cha.
Why Should I Bother?
In addition to making it really simple for you, it’s totally worth it because you can make some money doing what you’re already doing, which is sharing valuable information with your communities, friends, and peers!
I used to think affiliate programs were sketchy, but that was because I was running into people who were sketchy affiliate marketers, people who were out to make a quick dollar off a pushy salesy, hard-sell approach rather than take the time to improve the value and quality of people’s lives… Once I met people who were creating kick-ass content and products, people who stood behind their products and services 100% and who would rather have a customer not buy from them rather than resort to weird sales tactics… Well, that’s when I was able to see the value in affiliate programs.
For those of you who believe in the stuff I create SO much that you’re willing to recommend it to YOUR friends, to essentially risk your reputation, well, I feel like the least I can do it repay you somehow! And guess what? Affiliate programs allow me to do that in an easy and powerful way!
Interesting geeky factoid: Some people make more being an affiliate than they do selling their own products. Cathy of TheIntimacyDojo (my original affiliate manager who launched my 1st affilate program back in 2012–Thank you, Cathy!), gave me permission to share that she made over $1600 by including one of Brendan Burchard’s links with a couple of sentences at the top of her newsletter. That doesn’t mean you should quit your day job- just that this can be worth doing!
I’ve gathered some affiliate training interviews and ideas for those who are interested in such things and put them HERE. So, if you’re geeky and want to learn more, you can.
Where does the free Hitachi come in??
Occassionally when I release new products, I’ll do what is called a “launch.” A launch is where I ask you to share in your emails, posts and tweets your personal affiliate link (which we’ll send you) that will link to a few, free, info-packed videos I will have created specifically for that product or event. There will sometimes be prizes for the affiliates who help me the most, too! This is standard practice for folks who use affiliates often. It’s a way of gamifying your launches and thanking your affiliates for doing a great job. And, because I’m a sex and relationship geek, the prize up for grabs just may be a free Hitachi. But you’ll have to sign up and wait for such a launch to see! 🙂
Does Reid actually have any products to recommend?
Yes, actually. They’ve just been hard to find on my site before now. I’m updating my website to make them much easier to find, which I’m sure everyone (including my bank account) will appreciate. I’m launching my new relationship course in Mid-December, and we want to have you all set up before we launch, which is why I’m contacting you NOW.
You had me at Free Hitachi. What Do I have to do?
To become an affiliate, signup up at ReidAboutSex.com/affiliate/
You’ll need to enter your full name, mailing address, PayPal address* and EIN* number (see the info at the bottom of this post if you want to know more). If you need help, you can shoot me your questions to Support@ReidAboutSex.com.
That’s it! Easy!
~REiD
To set up your affiliate account, you’ll need 3 things:
1) Your full name and address
2) The email you use for PayPal payments*
If you don’t have one, you can set one up at no cost in 5 minutes at PayPal.com
Note from Reid: Regarding PayPal… If you have the word “sex” in your email URL like I do, since PayPal’s been known to shut down accounts of a sexual nature, do what Richard Anton Diaz of SexySpirits.com advised me of doing, which is using a “safer” email addy, one without the word sex in it. I ended up using Workshops@ReidMihalko.com rather than my standard ReidAboutSex.com addy. Just sound advice.
For my affiliate program, you must have a verifiable PayPal account. If you don’t, Kajabi won’t let you become an affiliate. My apologies. It’s just the way they do it.
3) Your EIN or Social Security number. Affiliate forms require this. (For non-US citizens or green-card holders, you may leave this blank)*
We strongly recommend you use an EIN Number to protect your Social Security number. You could get one at no charge, immediately, at https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp
Note from Reid: Set up your EIN. Cathy recommended it and it took me, like, 4 minutes to do it. Doh! Simple! xxR
Once you get those three things handled, you can set up your account at http://ReidAboutSex.com/new-affiliate-program
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at Support@ReidAboutSex.com.
Excited to have you as an affiliate,
REiD
Ps. If you’re curious about Kajabi as an online course portal meets kick-ass online marketing platform, I love them tons, and you can use MY Affiliate Link HERE to check them out!
[Updated on 02/14/20]