4 builders who never spoke to each other

Pay referrers a recurring cut, and track every link

Run the affiliate programme from the start and pay a share of every month a referred customer stays rather than a one-off bounty, which is what makes it worth a partner's ongoing attention. Pick a checkout that bundles the programme so no second tool is needed, and give every placement its own link so the same system doubles as your campaign tracking, including promo and referrer codes.

The method

1. 01

   Run an affiliate program on your SaaS from day one and pay a recurring share of every referred subscription rather than a one-off bounty.

2. 02

   Pick a checkout that is merchant of record and bundles an affiliate programme at no extra charge, so the tax paperwork disappears and referrals need no second tool.

3. 03

   Use your affiliate tool as the campaign tracker too: give each placement its own referral link so you can see leads and paying customers per source.

4. 04

   Set up an affiliate arrangement with an established publisher in your niche as a distribution channel rather than paying for traffic.

5. 05

   Use the same hidden-field trick for non-campaign parameters - affiliate and referrer codes, promo codes, on-site search queries - to see which of them actually produce conversions.

What it returned

• 25%

  Transistor has paid 25% every month for each referred podcast customer since the beginning, and its top affiliates earn as much as $9,000 a month.

• 5%

  Rob Hope moved every digital product he sells from Gumroad to Lemon Squeezy, at 5% plus 50 cents a sale.

• Transistor uses Rewardful, which writes affiliate referrals straight into Stripe; Justin links from his YouTube descriptions with a via=youtube parameter and creates a fresh campaign link for any ad he runs.

• Zue piloted an affiliate arrangement with Budget Savvy Bride while expanding his Etsy listings

Sources

• I sold my first SaaS for $50,000Florin Pop · florin-pop.com · Growing the Platform · 2025-02-17
• Best affiliate programs for indie makersJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Best affiliate programs for indie makers · undated
• Do you need marketing tracking and automation?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · The only tracking we do is in Rewardful · undated
• 9 email marketing wins that take less than an hourNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 7. Track stats for each link · 2015-04-08
• How I custom-built my online course (tech stack, onboarding, costs, screenshots) - Rob HopeRob Hope · robhope.com · Payments: Lemon Squeezy · 2025-05-29
• Week 21 RetrospectiveCory Zue · coryzue.com · Comments · 2017-08-14
• Get URL + UTM Parameters with JavascriptGreg Kogan · gkogan.co · Get URL + UTM Parameters in Forms (Free and Easy) · 2017-07-04