# How to recruit affiliates: the complete guide for brand owners | RecruitAffiliates.ai Source: https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/how-to-recruit-affiliates [Blog](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog) # How to recruit affiliates: the complete guide for brand owners Jimi Barkway · 20 October 2026 · 8 min read To recruit affiliates, find the people already promoting brands like yours, email each one a clear offer, and follow up. Then onboard the ones who join so they keep promoting. An **affiliate** is someone with their own audience who sends people to your brand. When one of those people buys, you pay the affiliate a cut. That cut is their **commission**. This guide works for a consumer brand, a Shopify store, a course, an app or a SaaS. The steps are the same. Only the places you look change. | Step | What you do | Time for your first 20 | |---|---|---| | 1 | Decide who you want | 30 minutes | | 2 | Write the offer | 1 hour | | 3 | Find them | 2 to 3 hours | | 4 | Find their email | 2 to 3 hours | | 5 | Write and follow up | 2 hours, then 10 minutes a day | | 6 | Sign them up | 10 minutes each | | 7 | Onboard and keep them active | Ongoing | ## Step 1: Who should you recruit? Recruit people whose readers or viewers already buy what you sell. Audience fit beats audience size. Pick one type first. The common ones: - **Niche bloggers and review sites.** They write "best of" lists that buyers read before paying. - **Creators.** A YouTube channel or newsletter in your niche. - **Customers.** Happy ones who already talk about you. - **Newsletters and podcasts.** Smaller, but the audience chose to be there. Write one line: "I want [type] who write about [topic] for [buyer]." It stops you adding people just because their numbers look big. Most affiliates won't send you anything. [FirstPromoter's data on 3,425 subscription programs](https://firstpromoter.com/blog/affiliate-program-management) (checked 20 October 2026) shows the median program has just 15% of approved affiliates sending a referral. So pick fewer, better people. ## Step 2: What should you offer affiliates? Offer a commission that makes the work worth it, in plain words, on one page. People skim past vague deals. Decide four things before you write to anyone: 1. **The rate.** A percentage of each sale. 2. **How long it lasts.** One sale, a set period, or every renewal for a subscription. 3. **The cookie.** The window after a click when a sale still counts for the affiliate. [FirstPromoter's data](https://firstpromoter.com/blog/how-to-recruit-affiliates) (checked 20 October 2026) says 60 days is the most common default. 4. **When you pay.** Monthly is the usual rhythm. For recurring products, [the same FirstPromoter guide](https://firstpromoter.com/blog/how-to-recruit-affiliates) puts the median recurring commission at 25%, with most programs between 20% and 30%. Shops with one-off sales tend to pay less per order, so make up for it with a bonus or a free product. Our guide to [what to offer affiliates](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/what-to-offer-affiliates) goes through each choice. Then put it on a page: the rate, the cookie, the payout date, and how to apply. That page is what you link in every email. ## Step 3: Where do you find affiliates? Start with the people already promoting your competitors. They've shown they promote products like yours for money, so you won't have to explain the idea. Search Google for each of these, with a competitor's name in place of the brackets: - `[competitor] review` - `[competitor] alternatives` - `best [your category]` - `[competitor] discount code` Open every result that isn't the competitor's own site. Note the writer, the site, and the post that made you pick them. Our guides on [finding your competitors' affiliates](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/find-competitors-affiliates) and [how to find affiliates for SaaS](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/how-to-find-affiliates-for-saas) show the full method. A few more places once that list runs dry: - **Newsletters and podcasts** that cover your niche. Check the sponsor lines and show notes. - **YouTube.** Search for reviews in your niche. Check the description for affiliate links. - **Your own customers.** Rewardful's guide suggests [inviting customers after a milestone](https://rewardful.com/guides/how-to-recruit-affiliates-for-your-affiliate-program) (checked 20 October 2026), such as a third purchase or a fifth teammate invited. - **Affiliate networks.** They give reach but take a fee. [Network or direct?](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-network-vs-direct-recruiting) compares the two. For a longer list of places, see [where to find affiliates](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/where-to-find-affiliates). Shopify owners can start with [the Shopify guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/find-affiliates-for-shopify-store). ## Step 4: How do you find an affiliate's email? Look on the site first. Most bloggers and creators list a contact route somewhere. Check these in order: | Place | What you might find | |---|---| | Contact or Work with me page | A business address | | About page | A name, sometimes an email | | Footer | A "partnerships@" or "hello@" address | | YouTube About tab | A business email (viewers must solve a check) | | Newsletter reply address | Often the writer's own inbox | Use a role address such as partnerships@ if you find one. It reaches whoever handles deals. If there's only a name and a domain, an email finder like Hunter can suggest addresses. Treat a guess as a guess and never email an address you can't trace to the person's own site. Note where each address came from. ## Step 5: How do you write the email and follow up? Write four short sentences: why them, who you are, what they'd earn, and one small ask. Mention a real thing they wrote. Here's a shape that works: Hi Sam, I read your post on the best trail running shoes under £100. The comparison table made it easy to choose. I run [brand]. We pay 25% on every order, with a 60-day cookie. Want me to send you a free pair and the details? Keep the ask to a yes or no. Our guide to the [affiliate recruitment email](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-recruitment-email) has subject lines and more templates. Then follow up. Most replies come after a nudge, not the first email. A simple sequence: | Email | When | What it says | |---|---|---| | 1 | Day 0 | The personal pitch | | 2 | Day 4 | A short bump with one new fact | | 3 | Day 9 | A last, friendly note with an easy way out | Stop the moment someone replies, bounces or unsubscribes. Send from a real inbox, a few per day at first. Ten a day, then twenty, then thirty keeps your domain healthy. Gmail asks bulk senders to keep [spam complaints under 0.3%](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126) (checked 20 October 2026). ## Step 6: How do you sign them up? Send them to one application page, then approve fast. A slow yes loses people. Ask for their site or channel and a payout method. Check it's live and real. Approve the good ones the same day. You need software that gives each affiliate a tracking link and pays commission. That's the job of a tool such as [AffiliateRail](https://affiliaterail.com). Whatever you pick, set it up before you send email one, because your first yes will arrive fast. Tell every affiliate to disclose the link. The [FTC says](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers) (checked 20 October 2026) a paid or product-based link to a brand must be clearly revealed next to the endorsement. ## Step 7: How do you keep affiliates active? Onboard in the first week. Most sign-ups go quiet without it. [FirstPromoter's July 2026 data](https://firstpromoter.com/blog/how-to-recruit-affiliates) (checked 20 October 2026) says just 19.3% of promoters who generate a referral are still producing at six months. Retention is the hard part. What to do in week one: - Send a welcome message with their link, your best sellers and your top three selling points. - Share assets: photos, logos, a sample review, a discount code. - Offer a free product or trial so they can write from experience. After that, check in monthly and pay on time. [FirstPromoter's analysis](https://firstpromoter.com/blog/affiliate-program-management) (checked 20 October 2026) found the top 10% of affiliates brought in 58.5% of referred revenue in the median program. Look after them first. ## Can software do the finding and emailing? RecruitAffiliates.ai does both. It reads your website and suggests your competitors. Then it finds the websites, blogs, review sites, newsletters and podcasts already promoting them, each with the page that proves it. It covers YouTube channels, plus Instagram and TikTok creators. It ranks them so the best fits sit on top, finds their email and shows the page each address came from. AI drafts a personal first email for each person, and three follow-ups come after it, four emails in one thread from your own Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or IMAP inbox, once you approve. A pipeline board tracks each person from found to joined. One click hands a signed-up affiliate to AffiliateRail, which tracks sales and pays commission. Launch is $79 a month for one brand. Grow is $199 a month for up to five. Trials run 14 days with no card. If you'd rather compare tools first, read [the best affiliate recruitment software](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/best-affiliate-recruitment-software) or the [by-hand comparison](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/compare/by-hand). ## In short ### How do you recruit affiliates? Decide who you want, write a clear offer, and find people already promoting your competitors. Email each one with a personal first line and follow up twice. Approve fast and onboard in week one. ### How many affiliates should you recruit at first? Start with 20. A small, well-chosen group shows you what works before you scale. Most affiliates never send a referral, so quality beats count. ### Where do you find affiliates for a Shopify store? Search for reviews of competing brands and invite your own customers. Our [Shopify page](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/for/shopify) and the [Shopify guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/find-affiliates-for-shopify-store) have the full steps. ### How long does recruiting take? Expect a day of work for your first 20 emails by hand, then about ten minutes a day to keep the follow-ups moving. ## Find your first 20 affiliates Pick one competitor today and run the four searches. Write down ten names. Want the list, the emails and the first drafts done for you? [We find your first 20 emails free](https://app.recruitaffiliates.ai/signup?from=blog-how-to-recruit-affiliates). It's 14 days free, no card. ## Sources - FirstPromoter, how to recruit affiliates (median recurring commission, 60-day cookie default, six-month retention): https://firstpromoter.com/blog/how-to-recruit-affiliates (checked 20 October 2026) - FirstPromoter, affiliate program management data (3,425 programs; 15% of approved affiliates refer; top 10% bring 58.5%): https://firstpromoter.com/blog/affiliate-program-management (checked 20 October 2026) - Rewardful, how to recruit affiliates (customer invites after milestones): https://rewardful.com/guides/how-to-recruit-affiliates-for-your-affiliate-program (checked 20 October 2026) - Google, Gmail email sender guidelines (spam rate below 0.3%): https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126 (checked 20 October 2026) - FTC, Disclosures 101 for social media influencers: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers (checked 20 October 2026) ## We find your first 20 emails free [Find my affiliates](https://app.recruitaffiliates.ai/signup?from=blog-how-to-recruit-affiliates) 14 days, no card.