The Affiliate Marketing Podcast

Why personalised affiliate recruitment still outperforms automation (and what the best affiliate managers do differently) If your affiliate recruitment is generating lists but not conversations, this episode is your reset. Frederic Jean-Bart, founder of Performance Partners, has spent 17 years building relationships across every side of this industry: affiliate networks, brand-side program management, and as an affiliate himself. Lee-Ann and Fred get into why the era of AI-generated outreach is actually making human connection more valuable, not less, how deal making with high-quality affiliates is where real program growth happens, and what separates elite affiliate managers from everyone else hitting send on the same mass email. Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [01:51] Fred introduces his 17-year career spanning network, brand, and affiliate sides of the industry and why building Performance Partners came out of working with nine-figure e-commerce brands [05:05] Lee-Ann shares the exact outreach emails she receives that get deleted instantly, and what three pieces of information every affiliate needs before they'll respond [09:35] The case for getting on video calls with key partners and why the human ability to convey excitement and credibility over a call still closes deals that email cannot [15:30] Why media buyers are the most powerful affiliate type for scale but also the most burnt out by programs that overpromise, and what building genuine trust with them requires [17:40] Partner diversification as risk management, why brands default to influencers and coupon sites, and how Fred approaches segmentation from day one of a new program Call to Action A huge thank you to Frederic Jean-Bart for joining us this week. If this episode has made you rethink how you're recruiting affiliates and managing partner relationships, KonverJ works with brands at exactly this level, building programs that are built on strategy, not spray and pray. Find out how we work with brands here. And if you want conversations like this one landing in your feed every week, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you never miss an episode. Share this one with an affiliate manager you know who's still relying on volume over quality. It might be the nudge they need. Send me a text with your questions

Why tracking everything your affiliates do matters more now than ever before (and what conversion protection tells us about lost revenue) If your affiliate program isn't tracking properly, you could be losing millions without realising it. Adam Ross, CEO of Awin and 21-year industry veteran, reveals exactly how AI-powered search is fragmenting the customer journey, why deterministic tracking alone won't survive the next five years, and how Awin's Conversion Protection Initiative has already recovered over $250 million in previously untracked revenue. Lee-Ann and Adam discuss his leadership approach, why probabilistic tracking methods are becoming essential, and what the convergence of influencer and affiliate marketing means for program growth. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [01:15] The unlikely journey from dentistry student to affiliate marketing through a recruiter who saw potential beyond experience [18:55] Why different affiliate traffic has different value and needs different tracking methods and reward mechanisms [27:00] How Awin's seasonal product releases bring quarterly improvements and what the winter release means for platform simplification Call to Action Master the tracking evolution that's reshaping affiliate marketing success. Adam's insights into probabilistic measurement, AI disruption, and conversion protection reveal exactly why upgrading your technical infrastructure isn't optional anymore. [Subscribe to the Affilia Send me a text with your questions

If you're running an affiliate program based purely on last-click attribution, you're missing the complete picture of how customers actually buy. Phil Thompson, Partnerships Manager at fintech publisher Zilch, shares insights from their platform's 5 million UK customers to reveal shopping behaviours that challenge everything affiliate managers assume about consumer loyalty, price sensitivity, and partner value. Lee-Ann and Phil discuss why traditional cookie tracking leaves critical gaps, how to leverage first-party data without expensive integrations, and why the grocery shopper who seems loyal to one brand is simultaneously spending three times more with competitors. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [09:05] How Intelligent Commerce works: using merchant ID and payment processing data to fill attribution gaps that traditional cookie tracking misses [13:16] The consistent age-group patterns Zilch sees in 2025 spending data, and why everyone hunts for value right now, not just younger demographics [22:22] Why one-month campaigns don't typically move consumer behaviour needles, and the longer timeline required to shift shopping habits permanently [25:07] Phil's call for affiliate managers to stay open to testing and learning, even after being burned by publisher types in the past Call to Action The affiliate programs that thrive this year won't be the ones clinging to 2019 playbooks. They'll be the managers who embrace data partnerships, extend attribution visibility beyond cookie tracking, and recognize that publishers deliver value across the entire funnel, not just at conversion. Ready to build a program that leverages first-party shopping intelligence? Work with the KonverJ team to audit your current partner mix and identify the data gaps costing you revenue. We'll help you move beyond last-click thinking and build partnerships that capture the complete customer journey. Send me a text with your questions

When Tricia Meyer's name was called as this year's Pinnacle Award winner at Affiliate Summit West, there was a moment of silence. Not because the room disagreed, but because Tricia herself didn't believe it. After two decades of watching her heroes receive that same recognition, the publisher-turned-executive director of the Performance Marketing Association finally earned the industry's most prestigious honor. This conversation explores what it actually takes to reach the top without losing yourself, why being kind isn't a weakness in business negotiations, and how staying curious about industry changes for 20 years reveals patterns that help you stop panicking about AI, zero-click search, and whatever disruption comes next. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Open Attribution Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [06:02] Working from the bottom of PMA working groups to executive director, and why being an attorney made Tricia the perfect fit for part-time leadership [[19:54] Three critical areas where affiliates need preparation for 2025: LLM optimization, proving publisher worth through journey tracking, and staying educated on rapid changes [27:00] Why affiliate program terms and conditions need AI clauses now, covering content generation, plagiarism, and disclosure requirements [30:11] The five-year prediction: fundamentally everything stays the same but with different technical details, just like the last 20 years of disruption Send me a text with your questions

The OG Publisher's Blueprint for Building Partnerships That Actually Last Your affiliate program has hundreds of approved publishers, but only a handful are actively promoting you. Sound familiar? Stuart Miles, founder of Squirrel and former owner of Pocket-lint (which he grew to 12.5 million monthly readers before exiting), reveals why most affiliate managers are accidentally destroying publisher relationships before they even begin. Lee-Ann and Stuart discuss why product feeds matter more than commission rates, and the six tactical shifts that separate transactional affiliate programs from genuine partnerships that drive consistent revenue. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Call to Action Ready to transform how you work with publisher partners? The strategies Stuart shared didn't come from theory – they came from two decades in the trenches building one of the world's most successful consumer technology publications. If you're serious about moving beyond transactional affiliate relationships into genuine partnerships that drive consistent revenue, subscribe to Affiverse's Affiliate Marketing newsletter for weekly insights that help you stay ahead of industry shifts. Our team translates complex partnership strategies into actionable frameworks you can implement immediately. Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts "I love the Affiliate Marketing Podcast." If that sounds like you, please give us a 5 Star rating here! Taking the time to do that helps us support more people in our community to access affiliate marketing insights, expert-led learnings, and allows us to share the latest tactics that help affiliate programs and businesses grow. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Send me a text with your questions

Why Your Affiliate Program Might Be Losing Traffic Without You Realising It When 62% of AI citations reference affiliate sources but only 20% link to direct providers, something fundamental has shifted in how consumers discover financial products. Jon Ostler, CEO of finder.com and digital marketing veteran since 1997, reveals research that should worry every affiliate program manager: AI is scraping content from publishers, summarising their expert analysis, then sending consumers directly to providers while cutting out the affiliates who created that value. Lee-Ann and Jon discuss what this means for content publishers who've invested millions in editorial teams, how the performance model needs to evolve beyond last-click attribution, and why the publishers who survive will be those who understand their true value isn't just traffic anymore. Talking Points Include: The research findings that sparked this conversation - Jon analysed best-for-finance product searches across AI engines and discovered AI overwhelmingly cites affiliate content while bypassing affiliate links, fundamentally disrupting how publishers monetise their expertise Why this isn't plagiarism in the traditional sense - AI doesn't reason from first principles but delivers consensus answers by absorbing content investment from publishers, raising urgent questions about compensation models when your editorial work powers AI responses but generates zero clicks Listen to Find Out More About: LinkedIn research Ready to Master the Next Evolution of Performance Marketing? If this conversation with Jon Ostler revealed gaps in your current affiliate strategy, Affiverse Agency can help you navigate this transition with confidence. Our team specialises in helping affiliate program managers rebuild their partner ecosystems for an AI-influenced world, from identifying which publishers bring genuine value beyond last-click attribution to structuring commercial models that reward upstream influence. Whether you need strategic partner segmentation, innovative attribution frameworks, or simply expert guidance on what deserves your budget investment right now, we've worked with programs at every stage of this evolution. Visit Affiverse Agency to explore how our consulting services can transform uncertainty into competitive advantage, or reach out directly to discuss your specific program challenges. The publishers and program managers who thrive won't be those who mastered yesterday's best practices but those who understood tomorrow's fundamentals before their competitors did. Send me a text with your questions

Why Auto-Approving Affiliates in 2026 Is Like Leaving Your Front Door Wide Open If you're still auto-approving affiliate applications or letting every partner type into your program without a clear strategy, this episode explains exactly why that approach will cost you this year. Ishtvan Torpoi, known industry-wide as "that affiliate guy," joins Lee-Ann to unpack the MegaLag controversy, distinguish between coupon browser extensions and cashback models, and reveal why the vast majority of affiliate management work happens after launch, not before. This conversation delivers the strategic framework you need to build programs that actually drive incremental value rather than just revenue on paper. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [12:10] How to determine which of the 18-19 affiliate types make sense for new program launches based on internal marketing capabilities and desired speed to revenue [22:00] Why brands at every size from startups to £30 million operations struggle with data aggregation and proper tooling investments [27:45] The three non-negotiables for 2026: watching data like a hawk, changing default payout models, and implementing compliance monitoring [30:50] Quality control processes that prevent fraud, including conversion validation checks and why auto-approval creates cleanup work rather than preventing problems Call to Action Huge thanks to Ishtvan Torpoi for sharing the frameworks he implements across diverse client programs at every stage of maturity. If this episode clarified where your program strategy needs adjustment, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you catch every tactical insight that helps you build programs delivering genuine incremental value. Join us at the ELEVATE Summit in July 2026 in London, where strategic conversations happen between sessions and partnerships form that transform programs. Early bird tickets launch in January. Send me a text with your questions

The Year Affiliate Marketing Proved Its Power While Rewriting All the Rules If you thought affiliate marketing was mature, predictable, or figured out, this year proved you spectacularly wrong. Lee-Ann Johnstone takes you inside the most transformative year our industry has ever experienced, where UK brands delivered £16 for every £1 invested while simultaneously watching 60% of searches end without a single click. This isn't just a recap of what happened. It's a master class in how the smartest operators adapted when zero-click search, AI integration, and algorithm chaos threatened to upend everything we thought we knew about performance marketing. Talking Points Include: The three business lessons that changed how Lee-Ann runs Affiverse including why saying no to clients actually increased demand and how community building became the antidote to algorithm dependency. Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [10:30] The UK and US industry numbers that prove affiliate marketing delivers ROI other channels can't match, with specific sector breakdowns [35:45] The three business lessons that changed how Lee-Ann approaches agency work, event planning, and community building [56:00] What's coming in 2026 and 2027, including specialized roles, attribution evolution, and data privacy defining winners [1:02:15] Affiverse milestones across media, agency, and community impact, plus what's launching in 2026 Call to Action This episode captures the year that separated operators who adapt from those who wait for best practices to emerge. If these insights sparked ideas for how you'll approach affiliate marketing differently in 2026, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you never miss the strategic frameworks that help you stay ahead. Join us at the ELEVATE Summit in July 2026 in London, where the industry comes together not just to learn, but to actually move forward. Early bird tickets launch in January. Send me a text with your questions

A Christmas Day Special Celebrating the Insights, Breakthroughs, and Bold Conversations That Defined Our Season Welcome to this very special Christmas Day edition of the Affiliate Marketing Podcast. Throughout Season 23, we dug deep into the engines behind impactful content, questioned the role of SEO and AI algorithms in a world that still craves human connection, and spotlighted the evolution of affiliate marketing from community-driven growth to loyalty-first strategies and consumer discovery beyond the usual channels. Today's episode is a moment to look back on all we shared this season, appreciate how far we've come together, and celebrate the insights we gathered along the way. Grab a cup of something warm, settle in, and enjoy this Christmas Day Special as we wind up the season that's past and get ready for an even bigger one ahead. What You'll Hear in This Episode: Call to Action Season 23 gave you the frameworks, now it's time to implement them. Whether you're rebuilding your onboarding process using Alex's white-glove approach, restructuring your content strategy around Saurabh's 6:1 ratio, or preparing your team for AI adoption using Katie's governance roadmap, the insights from this season only create value when you put them into action. Subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you're ready when Season 24 launches on New Year's Day with bold predictions for 2026 and conversations that push the boundaries of where affiliate and performance marketing are headed. DM Lee-Ann on LinkedIn and share what you're struggling with or want to know more about, and she'll find the right expert to get on the mic and talk us through it. Send me a text with your questions

When Automation Becomes Dehumanisation (And How to Stop It Before You Lose Your Best Partners) If you're using AI to manage your affiliate program but wondering why engagement keeps dropping, this episode explains exactly what's going wrong. Leanna Klyne, Affiverse's Agency Director with 18 years in the trenches, joins Lee-Ann to dissect the hidden cost of over-automation. They explore why AI-approved partners sometimes include your competitors, how content creators are being misrepresented by tools that don't understand context, and why the human touch still drives the partnerships that actually convert. This conversation offers practical guardrails for using AI responsibly without sacrificing the relationships that make affiliate marketing work. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [18:08] The segmentation strategy that achieves industry-leading open rates by speaking directly to six or seven partner types instead of mass-blasting generic content [27:00] How to use AI for trend spotting within partner data to identify optimal booking windows that increase performance 7% above industry mean while cutting wasted spend [37:09] The essential ethical guardrails that preserve humanity while enabling innovation, including the perspective shift that changes how you evaluate every AI decision Call to Action Huge thanks to Leanna Klyne for sharing the real-world AI frameworks she implements daily across Affiverse's agency clients. If this episode helped you see where automation enhances relationships versus where it destroys them, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you catch every practical insight that helps you build programs partners actually want to join. Share this with another affiliate manager wrestling with AI adoption, and let's raise the standard for ethical partnership management across the entire industry. Send me a text with your questions

Why Your Clicks Are Down But Your Impact Might Be Up If your affiliate traffic feels fragmented and you're wondering whether to panic about AI search, this episode cuts through the noise. Ewen Finser, CEO of ScaleVisible, shares battle-tested insights from managing over 100 websites through Google's algorithm upheavals and into the AI era. Lee-Ann and Ewen discuss why Reddit threads now outrank traditional reviews, how zero-click searches create hidden value for brands, and why YouTube might be your smartest investment right now. This conversation reveals a counterintuitive truth: the scariest disruptions often create the biggest opportunities for those willing to adapt strategically. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [16:03] The real-world shopping journey example that illustrates search fragmentation across Which, Google, YouTube, ChatGPT, and Amazon [20:43] Why PayPal's Perplexity partnership signals the zero-click future and what affiliate managers should watch for next [32:39] Original content versus AI-generated spam: what works now versus what will work as AI engines develop their own web spam teams Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts "I love the Affiliate Marketing Podcast." <-- If that sounds like you, please give us a 5 Star rating here! Taking the time to do that helps us support more people in our community to access affiliate marketing insights, expert-led learnings, and allows us to share the latest tactics that help affiliate programs and businesses grow. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Send me a text with your questions

Why Trading Programs That Move Fast Break Everything (And How Slow Growth Built a 115-Country Empire) If your affiliate program chases explosive growth with aggressive spend and flashy campaigns, this episode reveals why you might be building on sand. Yana Ivanova and Nir Iter from Exness share how they scaled from 18 to 115 countries not through brute force marketing, but through something radical in trading: patience. Lee-Ann and her guests discuss why daily payouts matter more than commission rates, how localisation means hiring humans who actually understand regional nuances, and why the Latin American market demands emotional connection before transactional relationships. This conversation reveals a counterintuitive truth: sometimes slow and steady really does win the race. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [08:17] The long-term mindset explained through hotel guest analogies and why three-year plans beat quarterly targets [16:29] Daily payment implementation and the risk mitigation strategy that made it viable without enabling fraud [20:34] Team scaling from a handful to 11 professionals and how specialisation by region prevents global chaos [33:03] Honest advice for newcomers: pick your niche, build community, trust your data Latin America: The Opportunity Ahead For affiliates considering Latin America in 2026, both guests offered clear direction. Yana's focus centres on local communities, as the region values authentic, community-driven marketing over impersonal automation. Nir emphasised mobile optimisation, noting that with young, mobile-first audiences, ensuring your tracking, creatives, and user experience are optimised for phones is non-negotiable. Tools like AppsFlyer or other mobile measurement platforms are essential. Send me a text with your questions

Guest: Katie King, Author of AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing: Connecting Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience If you've been treating AI like a search engine or worrying you're falling behind, this episode cuts through the noise. Katie King, who's been tracking AI developments since 2019 and advises major brands like O2, Arsenal, and Virgin, joins Lee-Ann Johnstone to reveal why 80% of AI success depends on people, not tools. She shares the strategic frameworks that turn scattered experiments into measurable business impact, explains why board-level resistance creates organizational AI imposter syndrome, and demonstrates how affiliate marketers can build competitive advantage through ethical implementation and agile adoption. Talking Points Include: Why AI projects fail without frameworks – how creating AI champion groups, weekly strategy meetings, and clear codes of conduct transforms random tool adoption into systematic competitive advantage The ethics gap that threatens customer trust – why transparency, attribution clarity, and responsible governance must be designed into affiliate programs before regulation forces it Strategic agility over early adoption – how building continuous learning and due diligence into your operations prepares you for agentic AI and quantum computing without burning out your team Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [12:35] Why you don't need technical skills for AI success, and the hospitality management principles that make AI adoption feel natural instead of overwhelming [18:51] The reality check on organizational AI maturity: why even brands with impressive case studies struggle with board-level adoption and what that reveals about implementation gaps [27:42] Ethical AI requirements for affiliate marketing specifically, including transparency obligations, attribution clarity, and avoiding black-box decisioning that erodes partner trust [34:20] Katie's final advice for marketers who haven't started their AI journey: why strategic agility matters more than early adoption, and how to build frameworks that prepare you for what comes next Send me a text with your questions

If your affiliate program has hundreds of inactive partners gathering dust, this episode reveals exactly how to bring them back. Alex Hitt, an affiliate marketer who built thriving communities of hundreds of active members, shares the hotel management principles he uses to create loyalty that goes far beyond commission payments. Lee-Ann and Alex discuss why most programs accidentally kill engagement, how to scale personalisation without burning out, and why one 30-minute weekly call does more for retention than any email campaign. Talking Points Include: Listen to Find Out More About: Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct: [01:15] How getting laid off from a dream hotel job in Hawaii on day one forced Alex into entrepreneurship and eventually affiliate marketing [18:55] The efficiency math explained: one 30-minute Zoom call with 50 people versus trying to schedule 50 separate one-on-one meetings [27:00] What Alex tracks to measure community health beyond sales: last login time, external business growth, and engagement patterns Huge thanks to Alex Hitt for sharing his community-building strategies with us. If this episode sparked ideas for transforming your own affiliate program, subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast so you never miss practical insights like these. Share this episode with another affiliate manager struggling with retention, and let's raise the standard for how we treat our partners. Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts "I love the Affiliate Marketing Podcast." <– If that sounds like you, please give us a 5 Star rating here! Taking the time to do that helps us support more people in our community to access affiliate marketing insights, expert-led learnings, and allows us to share the latest tactics that help affiliate programs and businesses grow. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Send me a text with your questions

In this episode of the Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with search industry veteran Colin Jeavons to unpack one of the most significant shifts in digital commerce since Google's CPC revolution. With 25% of global search queries now bypassing Google in favour of AI-powered answer engines, affiliate managers and publishers face a crossroads: adapt to emerging channels or risk becoming obsolete. Colin, whose career spans from the Yellow Pages era through to building semantic search technology for defence and intelligence, brings rare historical perspective on what's actually changing—and what isn't. This episode is essential listening for affiliate managers questioning their channel strategy, publishers wondering if SEO is dead, and any e-commerce brand trying to understand where consumer discovery is headed. Talking points include: Beyond Traditional Affiliates: How CPA models are expanding into apps, creators, influencers, and AI search—creating entirely new verticals for performance marketing. Listen to find out more about: Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: [11:45] The case for not abandoning traditional search. [13:57] The 10-month revolution: how AI answer engines captured 25% of search volume at unprecedented speed. [29:13] Colin's advice for publishers and affiliate managers: always ask for help and don't fear failure. Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Never miss out on FREE insights and training! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send me a text with your questions

In this episode, Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with Dennis Yu, CEO of BlitzMetrics and co-author of bestselling books on Facebook and TikTok advertising. With a billion dollars spent on social ads and clients including: Nike, Starbucks, and the Golden State Warriors, Dennis brings battle-tested insights on what actually works when technology threatens to commoditise every tactic. This conversation is essential listening for affiliate managers navigating the tension between bringing capabilities in-house and maintaining profitable partnerships, as well as performance marketers seeking sustainable competitive advantages in an AI-saturated marketplace. Talking points include: Listen to find out more about: Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Send me a text with your questions

What happens when passion meets persistence in affiliate marketing? George Sullivan turned repeated program rejections into fuel for building The Sole Supplier—a content-first publisher that now drives millions in sales across Europe's biggest fashion retailers. In this candid conversation with host Lee-Ann Johnstone, George reveals the brutal early days of building an affiliate business, the moment everything changed, and why the industry's future belongs to publishers who can make people feel something. This episode is essential listening for affiliate managers who want to understand what life looks like on the other side of the partnership—and for aspiring publishers who need proof that starting with nothing but conviction can lead somewhere extraordinary. Talking points include: Listen to find out more about: Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: [03:03] The backstory: from ten failed jobs to founding The Sole Supplier at 22 [13:28] The post-COVID shift that killed top-of-funnel budgets—and why brands are reversing course now [26:10] The five things every affiliate manager needs to hear about building genuine partnerships Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Send me a text with your questions

In this essential episode, we sit down with Florin Simovici, CEO of TrafficManager and author of the industry's most comprehensive guide to building and managing affiliate programs. With 15 years of experience across multiple verticals—from iGaming to e-commerce—Florin shares the hard-won lessons that separate scaling programs from struggling ones. Florin pulls back the curtain on what actually drives sustainable growth, revealing why most networks fail before they even begin and how the industry's smartest operators are positioning themselves for the seismic shifts ahead. Whether you're managing your first program or your fiftieth, this episode will challenge your assumptions and equip you with actionable strategies to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. Talking points include: Listen to find out more about: Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: [00:52] Background on TrafficManager and Florin's journey from affiliate to network owner to SaaS provider [02:00] The story behind writing a 519-page book on affiliate program management (without AI assistance) [30:52] Final advice for affiliates: Give up the ego and communicate your needs Want to dive deeper into Florin's proven strategies? His comprehensive guide covers everything from post-back integration to fraud prevention to affiliate relationship management. Purchase How to Build and Manage an Affiliate Program or Network here. Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Send me a text with your questions

What if everything you've been taught about promotional content is backwards? In this explosive Season 23 opener, host Lee-Ann Johnstone welcomes Saurabh Singh, co-founder and CEO of Flickstree and Zanopy AI, who drops a truth bomb that's making affiliate managers and content creators rethink their entire strategy: for every promotional post you publish, you should be creating six educational ones. Yes, you read that right—six to one. This isn't armchair theory. Saurabh has studied hundreds of thousands of successful brands worldwide, built an AI platform that's produced 47,000 videos this year, and personally grew an Instagram account from zero to 40,000 engaged followers in under 12 months using this exact formula. If you're an affiliate manager battling with partners over content guidelines, a creator watching your conversion rates flatline, or a brand drowning in a sea of AI-generated noise wondering why nothing's sticking, this episode hands you a data-backed blueprint that flips conventional wisdom on its head. The kicker? Most brands are doing the complete opposite—and wondering why their audience keeps scrolling past. Lee-Ann and Saurabh break down why content has become the only way to build trust in digital commerce, which content hooks make people stop mid-scroll, and how AI tools are levelling the playing field for marketers who can't afford £300-per-video agencies. Buckle up—this one's a game-changer. Talking points include: Listen to find out more about: Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct: [05:27] Breaking down the secret 1:6 content formula with real-world examples. [09:20] Content hooks that stop scrolling: myths, facts, secrets, and step-by-step guides. [26:19] Rapid-fire insights: Will AI outperform human content? Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Send me a text with your questions

After eleven episodes dissecting partnership dynamics from every conceivable angle, this season finale doesn't just recap — it crystallises the precise tactical moves separating forgettable affiliate relationships from decade-spanning strategic alliances. Industry veterans have shared frameworks that actually work in the trenches, not theoretical models that collapse under real-world pressure. Their insights reveal how data transparency reshapes power dynamics, why treating affiliates as vendors guarantees eventual churn, and the micro-moments that compound into sustainable competitive advantage. Who should listen to this episode? This wrap-up serves affiliate managers tired of surface-level networking advice and operators questioning why their partnership retention resembles a leaky bucket. If you've built programs that plateau after initial wins, or wonder why competitors maintain relationships you can't seem to sustain, these consolidated lessons expose what's missing from your approach. Program directors evaluating their 2026 strategy will find tactical adjustments that don't require massive budget increases — just sharper execution on overlooked fundamentals that compound over time. Talking points include: building sustainable affiliate partnerships Listen to find out more about: Leanna Klyne's "five P's" flywheel Tero Paivarinta's strategic partnerships Our thanks go to Mate Affiliates as this season's sponsor. Would you like to talk about sponsoring our podcast, or gaining a brand mention? Take a look here. Send me a text with your questions