Things have been shaky in the brand partnership world lately, so I wanted to talk about some not-so-new developments in how I handle affiliate or sponsorship inquiries and negotiations that I’ve never shared with you before.

But first, some disclosures:

1. I am STILL an affiliate of many great SaaS products like SiteGround or Kit, for example, and plan to continue respecting these existing relationships and promoting the products
2. I just do not plan on joining any new affiliate programs… in fact, I have been turning down invitations from companies for a couple of years now
3. Exceptions to this self-imposed rule are offers by other creators or solopreneurs, such as courses and programs, partly because it helps me support other solopreneurs, and partly because they support me (the commission is great! Just one sale from John Bejakovic’s Copy Riddle promotion last week made me ~$500 richer instantly)

So, with that said, let’s dig into the rest of this post. I’m afraid the next few paragraphs are gonna be very, very venty and whiny before we get to anything really useful. I needed this. Don’t say I didn’t warn you….

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The thing about being a blogger for many years is that just by existing, you build up a reputation. I guess that’s one way to succeed as a blogger… keep writing and do not give up.

Sure, without building an audience (read: email list), or making offers, or learning marketing and copywriting, you won’t really grow or make any money. But hey, maybe you like to give away free value all the time. More power to you if so, and yes, I truly believe that just by sticking around and writing week after week for years will naturally attract many good things to you.

And bad things, too.

For example (of a bad thing): emails that ask you how to proceed with a permanent link on your so and so blog post that’s ranking high on Google or being recommended by the mighty AI… for a smol payment, or worse, for a link exchange, the latter of which is shady AF business and potentially penalizable by Google and other search engines.

Believe it or not, a few days ago, I received a link exchange inquiry from a certain (HUGE) company with a legit, good product that I would have otherwise loved to partner with for sponsored content.

So, here’s where I am right now.

After 8 years of blogging at the time of writing this, I’m at a place where every day, I get a ludicrous amount of junk emails asking for link exchanges or placements for peanuts, some of which land in the appropriate folder, while others sneak their way into where they’re not meant to be.

In any case, the content of these emails is exactly the same: some version of…

Hi. How much for a link placement?

Or:

Hi, let’s exchange links!

Fuck you.

But the worst of this is when founders of legit brands try to gaslight you into BS deals.

Why, just yesterday, I got an email from an indie founder of a SaaS product who wanted said product to be included in a certain blog post that drives a decent amount of traffic already, ranks in Google’s top position (after all the AI crap and the sponsored content, which is now really just toward the end of the first search-result page), and even gets cited by the mighty AI from time to time.

Upon checking, I genuinely liked the product.

So, I replied to this founder, asked what he wanted… brand awareness or signups… and when he replied with signups, I proposed a dedicated multi-day promotion in my newsletter, along with a spot in my popular post (that he wanted). I even offered him a lower, indie-founder price!

The amount I quoted was a generous $550 for the multi-day email promo targeting signups, or $750 for the email-promo + mention in the already-ranking post bundle, where he would have reaped the benefit of being in a post that’s already driving good traffic, in perpetuity. I want to point out that had he not been an indie founder, I would have quoted four to five times more for this service.

The guy replied with, and I kid you not…

I advertised in densediscovery newsletter which goes to far more people (30,000+) and this cost $99. I got 300 clicks and a handful of signups. Perhaps more my target audience too, so given your number of readers I don’t think newsletter would work at all. I’d only try it for a price in the $50 range I’m afraid.

For the record, DD (Dense Discovery) charges $99 for a classified. Way more for a feature ($699), and what I was proposing to him was a multi-day, timed promotion, designed to drive user signups for $550, which I’m sure DD didn’t do for him.

Yes, I’m venting…

But also…

There’s a lesson here:

Creators, DO NOT let brands lowball or gaslight you. 

Imagine suggesting $50 to a quote of $550, which I had mentioned was already low due to him being an indie founder. The blatant lack of respect in that email verbiage is what finally made me write this vent thinkpiece here.

Personally, I think DD should charge more for 300 clicks. But the beauty of the creator business is that we can do whatever we want. Nobody’s telling us how much we can charge for something… at least, not yet. And hey, if DD wants to sell classifieds for $99, that’s great! It’s their prerogative.

What I don’t like is being compared to another creator’s pricing model, which, by the way, isn’t even the same model (remember, I was proposing a dedicated featured promotion, while DD’s $99 placements are just that… a small shoutout).

Listen, I can empathize when a founder doesn’t have the funds for promotion. But I shall not tolerate disrespect, no siree.

But… enough of this venting, and let’s get to the good parts, because I wanna leave you with some solid takeaways.

Why I stopped accepting new affiliate partnership offers from B2B or B2C SaaS companies

Affiliate marketing is a lot of work since the income is tied directly to sales, and getting people to buy anything takes work.

Which is fine, if you’re primarily an affiliate marketer and have time to do the work. Also, if you’re just starting your blog, affiliate marketing can be a low-barrier entry into making some money with your content. However, if you want to scale, you gotta put in the work.

But that’s not my reality anymore.

The thing for me is that I’ve found the joy of making and selling my own offers, and creating content for advertising and promoting my own offers. So these days, I’m pretty much occupied with that. Creating affiliate marketing content for more brands is simply not sustainable for me at this time.

Another point is that if you want to make good money with affiliate marketing, it is often better to go hard on one or two affiliate products. Which means, you go really deep into it, and often get dependent on the one or two affiliates for your livelihood.

But it’s risky because you have no way of knowing how a company will evolve. They might close their affiliate program overnight. They may get acquired by a different company, and their policies may not align with yours. Etc.

So I like to keep a light touch on all the brands I promote… because you never know how things might change in the future.

With that said, I’ve decided it is better for me to:

1. Focus on marketing and selling my own offers, as that’s my primary goal now
2. Spend some time promoting the brands I’m already an affiliate for, so I can do right by them, instead of joining new affiliate programs
3. Partner with brands for sponsored content and a fixed payout that’s not tied to sales

Regarding the third point:

I find it is much more rewarding when I work with brands not as an affiliate marketer, but as a brand marketer or partner.

Why I prefer brand partnerships to affiliate marketing these days

Brand partnership… it’s not as widely recognizable a term as affiliate marketing, so, let me explain:

What is brand partnership or brand sponsorship?

When brands pay creators a fixed amount for pre-approved content promoting their products and services, it is called brand partnership or brand sponsorship.

Brand partnerships are great not only for me (short term, it’s more lucrative) but also for the brands because they get long-term SEO benefits from sponsored content to my site, brand awareness, trust transfer, and, for certain types of promotions, me actively promoting them to my list of 9k+ subscribers with multi-day events meant to drive signups (like the one I was proposing to this dude).

“But isn’t that the same as affiliate marketing?” — I hear you thinking…

Short answer:

In a way… when an affiliate marketer is dedicated to promoting the brand.

A better answer:

Affiliate marketing payments are directly tied to sales, and because of the reasons I already mentioned above (this is risky business for affiliate marketers to get too deep with a brand and have their income tied to it without knowing how the brand may evolve over time), more and more creators are preferring to ease up on their affiliate marketing efforts.

But brand partnerships are different. They’re short-term by nature. Brands (the established ones, anyway) typically have a marketing budget for each quarter. And often they prefer to partner with creators directly for a pre-approved number of content and promotional strategies.

It is more predictable and transparent for both the creators and the brands.

And brands understand that giving creators a bunch of money right from the start motivates them to create better content, so there’s that, too.

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For me, personally, landing a brand partnership is harder than joining an affiliate program. But the work feels much more meaningful and fun, because I’m not constantly trying to make a sale.

I can be more creative and know that the content, just by existing, will continue to bring business to the brands even in the future, but it’s OK if I’m not making a sale right at this moment.

Basically, brand partnerships are win-win for both the brands and the partners.

Now, before I move on to the next section, I want to point out something about the short-term lucrativeness of brand partnerships.

Long term, an affiliate partnership may stand to be more lucrative since there’s no limit to how much you can earn in commissions over time, especially if you go hard on selling their products. Again, as I mentioned, that is risky.

But in the short term, as a brand partner, you may be paid anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand and even tens of thousands (if you’re really big), in advance or in installments, and this income is not tied to direct sales… so you get paid this amount no matter what.

Of course, the expectation is that you will create stellar content that will continue to bring the brands business well into the future. And if you want to attract good brands, you need to treat your content with care, and you need to understand how marketing and promotions work.

FYI, if you want to get better at landing brand partnership deals, then I  highly recommend Justin Moore’s book, Sponsor Magnet.

Notes on combining brand partnership with affiliate marketing

One thing I like to do is to combine brand partnerships with affiliate marketing. And these days, if I join a new affiliate program, it’s for this.

Basically, it’s the best of both worlds.

You create content for the brand as part of your brand partnership deal and get a bunch of money paid upfront. And then, if you’re also an affiliate partner, if and when your content starts bringing organic search traffic, you may start making more money via affiliate sales.

But make sure you and the brand are both clear on this arrangement. Put it in the contract, even.

When to do it: If it’s a product that you know will bring a lot of sales, then it is definitely worth adding to your brand partnership arrangement. It can also be useful if you really want to work with a brand, but they have a small budget. So you negotiate to add the affiliate link deal alongside a smaller brand partnership payout.

When not to do it: Sometimes, a brand may not want to pay an affiliate commission to partners on top of the money they’re already paying you to create content. Some other times, it may be a product that’s not an easy sell, or a quick-enough sell for you to make good money any time soon-ish. If that’s the case, no need to bring up an affiliate partnership.

Some thoughts on link placements and exchanges

Let’s start with link exchange.

Don’t do it.

Google and other search engines do not like it. Now, they don’t have a good way to know for sure, but they do tend to penalize sites when a link seems out of place. So a good rule of thumb for me is to reject all such offers of link exchange.

Some companies will pay you, but will try to lower the price by trying to make it sound cool… like, “we’ll add your link to one of our high DA sites!”

Like, which high DA site, sir?

DA stands for Domain Authority, fyi.

Anyway, as a matter of principle, don’t partake in these types of shady, black-hat SEO tactics. It’s not worth it for any short-term gain.

Now, for link placement in exchange for payment alone…

Well, that’s complicated.

See, most companies will try to say that a link-placement doesn’t take too much time or effort, so it should be cheap… like maybe $50 for just adding a link to their site.

But beware the bad players!

Here’s what I mean…

Most of these companies reach out when one or more of your posts are already ranking on Google and/or getting recommendations by AI. So, you’re driving traffic to them by placing that link in your post. And quite possibly in perpetuity. (People expect you to add a link and leave it there forever.)

I once suggested a monthly link placement to a company that pitched me a paid placement (I.e., the link will stay on my site for as long as they pay me a certain amount every month).

They ghosted me quickly after that.

I’m not saying you cannot do a one-time payment for a link placement, but do not undersell yourself… unless you’re in bad shape financially, then do what you must.

But unless that’s the case, do not undermine your own influence over your audience and what that is worth. Or the long-term value of a link that stays on your site in perpetuity.

Personally, I have started turning down link-placement offers unless they are accompanied by other types of content, too. One recent example is my partnership with Squarespace, where they paid me to write a review of one of their newer features, and also to add Squarespace in one of my roundup posts (that’s the link placement bit).

So, TL;DR on links:

Link exchange: DO NOT DO IT.

Link placement for a payment only: You can, but be careful that brands are not lowballing you. Better if it is accompanied by other types of content, too.

One more thing about link placements:

Do not EVER place a link without context.

If you agree to do link placements in blog posts, make sure it doesn’t look randomly placed and has enough supporting text around it.

For example, Squarespace paid me to add them to my “Popular Blogging Platforms” post, and I added a whole section dedicated to Squarespace.

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Now, here are some things to remember when dealing with brands:

Things to remember when partnering with brands (as an affiliate or sponsee)

A few things:

First:

Brands pay the big bucks for the influence you have over your audience and the trust you’ve built up over time.

So, do NOT disrespect or break the trust of your audience by partnering with shady companies.

That’s the first rule of partnering with brands.

Second:

Do not undervalue your own authority and influence. Do not let brands lowball you (and if one tries, then you’re better off not working with them, in my honest opinion).

As far as how much to charge, personally, I think it depends.

You already saw an example. Dense Discovery charges $99 for a small classified newsletter ad and $699 for a featured ad. I’ve seen creators with a smaller list charge higher.

It all comes down to the audience quality. If you know your recommendation will bring the brand signups and sales, no reason you cannot charge higher!

Third: 

Do not charge by clicks. Clicks don’t tell the whole story. One may click a link today and not buy, and another may not click a link, but remember your recommendation and buy at a later date.

Also, most SaaS companies have a subscription-based business model, so keep that in mind when quoting.

For example, one buyer sounds kinda lame until you realize that one buyer may be paying a company month after month for years!

Let’s say your sponsor has a SaaS product that’s $29 per month. In just one year, that one subscriber will potentially make your sponsor $348. If you drive 10 signups, then that’s $3,480 in a year.

So yeah… think about the long-term benefits of partnering with you.

And when you’re negotiating with your rates, mention these numbers so they know you cannot be gaslit into thinking just 10 signups aren’t worth big money. Especially if said brand is VC-backed (that means they have the money to pay you fairly).

Now, if a certain company is not VC-backed and they’re new and bootstrapped, then maybe they don’t have a lot of money. In that case, feel free to adjust how much you’re charging, but still, do not let people take advantage of you. Remember, you’re potentially making them a lot of money long-term. That has to mean something.

Fourth:

It takes some time to figure out how much to charge. There’s no set standard, as I already pointed out. So, feel free to start at a level that you’re comfortable with, and increase it gradually to something more fitting.

Also, remember that different industries have different standards.

Different products may also require price adjustments.

You won’t charge the same amount for a $5/month product as you would for a $50/month product.

Keep an eye on what others in your industry are charging, if you can. Most people do not disclose the amount, so that’s hard. But if you keep an eye out, you may hear chatters.

Fifth and final:

Do not treat rates as done and done. Every company is in a different situation. If someone is negotiating reasonably, that’s good. You can work with that.

Now, if you quote $550 and they start their negotiation at $50, then no. That’s someone gaslighting you. But if they’re like… OK, but it’s over our budget and we only have $350 this quarter, then that’s fair, and you can find ways to make this work for both of you.

You can propose an installment payment (pay $350 now, and $250 next quarter, for example). Or you can adjust the services, too. Plenty of ways to negotiate payments and terms if the company seems to seriously value your work and a partnership with you.

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And once again, if you want to get into brand partnerships/sponsorships, Justin Moore’s book, Sponsor Magnet, is your textbook on the subject.

It’s not all doom and gloom

Yes, I have had some setbacks with some brands over these last few weeks, but here’s a reminder, to you and to me, too, that not all brands are out there trying to rip you off.

I’ve had some pretty great experiences over the years with some stellar brands, and I know creators who’re doing good work for their respective brand partners and are very, very happy.

So, definitely do not write it off based on me whining in this post.

Some things to remember for your own business:

• Don’t write off affiliate marketing simply because I’m not joining any new affiliate programs. And in fact, if you’re a newer creator or someone who hasn’t done brand partnerships before, it is better for you to start as an affiliate marketer. This will give you the practice you need to start selling a product beyond just dropping a link in an existing blog post.
• Say no to link exchanges, always.
• Be careful with link placements for a payment. Don’t do it unless it is relevant to your business and your content, and unless you’re paid fairly.
• Brand partnerships for content beyond just a link placement are always better (entire blog posts, maybe even multiple posts, a combination of blog and newsletter promotions, etc.)

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Okay, that’s all the venting I had in me for now.

Gotta love having a blog and an audience in times like these. Want someone to lend you an ear? There’s a blog! And an email list!

LOL

Anyway… if you’re just thinking about starting a blog but not actually doing it, this is your cue to start one ASAP. Lotsa shenanigans and annoyances and headaches, but oh so so so worth it just the same 😉

And brand partnerships or not, there are plenty of other ways to make a living, comfortably, with a blog and an email list. My favorite is obviously making and selling my courses and membership, but there’s also coaching, consultation, workshops, and so much more!

And hey, brand partnerships, too! There are plenty of good apples out there.

In any case, please give my Products page some love, and thank you for reading.