4 Strategies to Recruit Affiliates for Free
Whether you’re just starting out or need to tighten your belt due to the current economic climate, recruiting affiliates for free can be a great boost to your business. Fortunately, there are some great strategies that can help you.
1. Google
You can find just about anything on Google, including potential affiliates. When you’re looking
for content affiliates for a particular niche, just enter a keyword string. You can then go result by
result, four to five pages deep.
Google will show you many of the top websites in your niche. Many of these may be larger
companies or review sites, but you can still contact them for affiliate recruitment. You’ll then
need to perform your due diligence and execute your recruitment communications.
2. Similar Sites
This tool finds similar sites to websites. When you visit a website, you can click on the Similar
Sites icon and it will produce a list of websites with similar themes and products. You can even
use the websites from your Google search results to find even more potential affiliates.
3. Affiliate Networks
If you’re not already on a major affiliate network, this one will not work for you. Just about every
major affiliate network has a robust recruitment tool to help you to find affiliates. You can enter your
criteria and find affiliates that match your query. You can save the affiliates who may not be a
good fit for now and make contact with those who could work. You can send an email template about your brand and program through the network and then onboard them through your dashboard. Some networks even offer follow up features. So, you don’t need to keep track of the potential affiliates through a spreadsheet.
For these types of engagements, it is a good idea to promote a special offer, such as an
increased commission, so you can highlight that you’re proactive and attract the highest quality affiliates.
4. Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for most businesses, including affiliate recruitment. The three
most useful are Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Using Twitter, look for hashtags appropriate to your niche. On Instagram, look for influencers
within the niche that you can contact and build a relationship. However, the most exciting is
YouTube.
On YouTube, look for your niche or a keyword to find content creators. Look for creators with
high engagement and views to see if you can collab. The great thing is that you can literally
check their previous work, and while you may need to provide a sample, you can see your
product in action.
If you’re on a budget, these four ways can provide some quality affiliate leads. While you’ll need
to do some manual work, this can be outsourced to a virtual assistant. You can then
concentrate on bringing the quality prospects on board.
