The Affiliate Guy with Matt McWilliams: Marketing Tips, Affiliate Management, & More

Hosted by Matt McWilliams, Award-Winning Affiliate Manager

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731

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Oct 2026

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About the show

The Affiliate Guy Podcast is your source for affiliate marketing news, tips, and strategies to take your online business to the next level. Learn how to boost your commissions, manage affiliate programs, and so much more. More information at theaffiliateguy.tv and mattmcwilliams.com.

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60 recent

November 2, 202620 min

Affiliate Onboarding: How to Get New Partners Promoting Quickly

Getting an affiliate to say yes is only the beginning. If they sign up and then spend the next week hunting for links, swipe copy, graphics, dates, commission details, or even a way to contact you, there's a good chance they'll never promote. In this episode, I'm showing you how to onboard new affiliates so they can get started quickly, including what to send them right away, how to learn how they prefer to communicate, what to include in a quick-start guide, how to create a simple promotion plan with them, and how to help them get that first sale as fast as possible. The goal is to remove as much friction as you can and turn a new affiliate into an active promoter while they're still excited to work with you. Links Mentioned in this Episode Weekend Email Template Sample Affiliate Promo Plan How to Write Swipe Copy for Your Affiliates How to Warm Up Affiliates Before a Launch AffiliateHQ

October 26, 202645 min

How to Scale an Affiliate Program by Focusing on the Right Affiliates

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when growing an affiliate program is trying to recruit every type of affiliate at the same time. That's not how we took one program from about $15 million a year to more than $300 million. We focused on one type of affiliate, built momentum there, then moved to the next. In this episode, I'm showing you how to scale an affiliate program by focusing on the right affiliates, then stacking better communication, consistent training, smarter analytics, more promotion opportunities, and evergreen traffic on top of that foundation. These strategies helped us grow from a few thousand affiliates to well over 100,000 and turn the program into one of the biggest revenue drivers in the company. Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Training Templates and Scripts Promo Strategy Call Template Resources Page Guide AffiliateHQ

October 19, 202631 min

How to Make Your Affiliate Commissions More Competitive

Your affiliate commission has to work for two people: you and the affiliate. Pay too little and great affiliates won't bother. Pay too much and you can wipe out your margins. In this episode, I'm showing you how to set affiliate commissions that attract better partners by looking at your price, your costs, your time, what you need to make, and what competing programs are paying. I'll also share ways to make your offer more attractive without simply raising commissions, including tiered payouts, bonuses, free-trial bounties, better conversions, exclusive offers, training, and other perks that can make affiliates want to promote you Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Program Email Template Podcast Episode – How to Negotiate Affiliate Deals That Benefit Everyone What Affiliates Need to be Successful AffiliateHQ

October 12, 202628 min

How to Turn Around an Affiliate Program That Isn't Growing

If your affiliate program isn't growing, the answer usually isn't "work harder." You need to figure out where the program is breaking down. Maybe your expectations are off, your onboarding is weak, your commissions aren't competitive, your tracking is shaky, you don't have enough affiliates, or you're not giving the ones you have enough reasons to stay engaged. In this episode, I'm showing you how to turn around an affiliate program that isn't growing by identifying the most common problems I see, fixing the basics first, and building a clear plan to get the program moving again. Links Mentioned in this Episode How I Built a $1 Million a Month Affiliate Program In Only Two Years Without Any Connections or Credentials Find Your First 100 Affiliates Get Our Sample Affiliate Training AffiliateHQ

October 5, 202622 min

How to Recruit Affiliates from Your Competition's Program

Some of the best affiliates in your niche are already promoting offers like yours. That's good news, because you don't have to start from scratch. You can find the affiliates who are already active, already proven, and already looking for programs that treat them better. In this episode, I'm showing you how to recruit affiliates from your competition's program without being shady, trashing the other company, or making promises you can't keep. I'll share the story of how one competitor's acquisition helped us go from about $100,000 a month to more than half a million, why the right angle matters more than a slightly higher commission, and how to give proven affiliates a real reason to try your program. Links Mentioned in this Episode How I Built a $1 Million a Month Affiliate Program In Only Two Years Without Any Connections or Credentials Find Your First 100 Affiliates AffiliateHQ

September 29, 202619 min

How to Create Affiliate Emails, Images, and Social Swipe

Affiliate swipe copy should make it easier for partners to promote, but too often it turns into a copy-and-paste mess where every affiliate sends the same email with the same subject line. That doesn't help them, and it doesn't help your program. In this episode, I'm showing you how to create affiliate emails, images, and social swipe your partners can actually use, including why you probably shouldn't write the copy yourself, how to give affiliates images that make their emails better, why you need different versions for different audiences, and how to make swipe copy a guide instead of a script. I'll also share why social swipe gets overlooked, even though a real chunk of opt-ins can come from social media. Links Mentioned in this Episode How to Use Swipe Copy as an Affiliate Ultimate Affiliate Swipe File AffiliateHQ

September 21, 202641 min

How to Build an Affiliate Agreement Affiliates Can Understand

Your affiliate agreement shouldn't read like it was written by a committee of attorneys trying to win a boredom contest. It needs to protect your program, but it also needs to be clear enough that affiliates know what they can do, what they can't do, and what happens if they break the rules. In this episode, I'm walking through how to build affiliate terms and conditions that affiliates can understand, including what to include in your preamble, definitions, approval policy, link rules, website restrictions, domain rules, advertising policies, FTC disclosures, coupon rules, PPC guidelines, and reversal policy. You don't need to speak legalese, but you do need an agreement that sets expectations, protects the good affiliates, and gives you something clear to point back to when problems show up. Links Mentioned in this Episode Affiliate Terms & Conditions Template What the 2023 FTC Updates Mean for Affiliate Marketing How to Identify and Stop Affiliate Fraud AffiliateHQ

September 14, 202635 min

Affiliate Program Legal Requirements: What Every Affiliate Manager Needs to Know

Legal stuff might not be the most exciting part of running an affiliate program, but it's one of the areas you can't afford to just wing. If your affiliates are making false claims, skipping disclosures, spamming people, mishandling data, or breaking your terms, that can come back on you. In this episode, I'm walking through what every affiliate manager needs to know about legal stuff, including FTC disclosures, email rules, privacy and data protection, fraud monitoring, tax records, cookie consent, and why your affiliate agreement needs to be clear before problems show up. This isn't legal advice, but it will help you know what to watch, what to document, and when to get professional help so your program stays protected. Links Mentioned in this Episode What the 2023 FTC Updates Mean for Affiliate Marketing How to Identify and Stop Affiliate Fraud How to Write a Review Post that Ranks and Converts AffiliateHQ

September 7, 202640 min

How to Create Affiliate Relationships That Last

Affiliates stick around when they know you're not treating them like a name on a spreadsheet. Strong relationships are what keep partners engaged, responsive, and willing to promote again, even when another program comes along with a bigger commission or a flashier offer. In this episode, I'm showing you how to create affiliate relationships that last, whether you're working with experienced partners, brand-new affiliates, or people who haven't promoted in a while. You'll learn where to start, what to focus on, and how to build the kind of trust that turns affiliates into long-term partners instead of one-time promoters. Links Mentioned in this Episode Sample Affiliate Training

August 31, 202625 min

How to Tell Affiliates When Something Goes Wrong

Something is going to go wrong in your affiliate program eventually. A launch gets delayed. A tracking issue pops up. A commission changes. A promo doesn't go the way you expected. The mistake most people make is waiting too long, saying too little, or trying to make the problem sound better than it is. In this episode, I'm showing you how to tell affiliates when something goes wrong so you can be honest, protect trust, manage expectations, and keep your partners confident even when the update isn't the one t hey wanted to hear. Links Mentioned in this Episode AffiliateHQ Top 20 Affiliate Program Mistakes How to 10X Your Sales WITHOUT Spending All Day on Social Media or Expensive Paid Ads